Official Samsung LN-TXX61F/65F/66F Owner's Thread III - with *updated* first post. - Page 647

I called Samsung 1-800-726-7864 to check on the status of my serrvice call. Supposed to call me in 24 -48 hours. No one ever did so I called back. Samsung heldesk cut the ticket to the wrong queue. He then said the TV is NOT covered. He said my TV is a 2007 model and 2007 years are NO LONGER COVERED ended Dec 31, 2010. @$!%# Samcrud. I called, they said it was covered, they put it in the wrong que, then its not....

Curious, anyone get their 2007 model fixed this year yet? Are you from Canada or US? Thanks

Ed, only thing I can think now is one of two things:
1. Pay to have a Geek Squad do it.
2. Buy a new 240 Hz set.
Enjoy what you got. I remember black and white tube TV's........

I just scheduled a repair of my 2007 LNT5265 "Slow Power-On/Pink Dot" problem, which Samsung agreed to cover as a warranty repair. As noted in this thread, the "pink dot" issue is not something Samsung is recognizing as being part of the capacitor power supply board "recall", but rather they are recognizing the long power-on time as being symptomatic of the problem that they will cover as a warranty repair, even for out of warranty sets. The service center tech used the term "recall", although this is not a formal product recall as as most of us know it, but it is why warranty service is being authorized for out of warranty products (provided the trouble is found to be related to the power supply board capacitors).

I scheduled my repair through the Samsung website (in the US the site is www.samsung.com/us/support/). When the authorized repair service center called they indicated that the problem described in the submitted ticket (Long Power-on times) was indeed likely to be the known capacitor problem and that I would need to get Samsung to authorize the repair to be done as a warranty repair.

The repair center guy provided me the Samsung Executive Customer Relations telephone number (North America, 800-522-7341). I called the number, provided my existing ticket number, explained the issue and that I understood it was being covered as a warranty repair. Samsung authorized warranty repair to be done under the existing ticket and I am now waiting to schedule a service appointment with the service center.

So far no hassle and everything has been professionally handled.

--
Rob

Quick Update: I was able to schedule an in home service appointment the day after receiving the warranty repair authorization from Samsung for fixing the Slow Power-On problem with my LNT5265FX/XA. The repair tech found 5 bad capacitors (bulging tops) and completed the capacitor replacement in about 30 minutes. The repair was a relatively simple operation that I could have done myself, but if Samsung will do it for free, then why not? Interesting to note that he had a box with bad capacitor, so apparently I was not the first such service call for the day.

Overall I give Samsung an A+ dealing with this problem. My long power-on times are gone, as are the intermittent pink dots.

Going by the first post in this thread, it is a 2007.

The tech came by today. 3 of the capacitors were swelled up. He replaced 7 and it turns on right away now. No pink dots either =)

How long is "Long" when it comes to powering on, because mine is a bit slow for the screen to come one. No pink dots that I'm aware of, though.

My set would not turn on this morning, capacitor problem. I called Samsung at 9am this morning, by 1pm a tech was at my house, brand new power supply in hand, my tv was working good as new by 1:20pm. Nice! I knew nothing of this problem until today. Very glad I read about here and was able to articulate it correctly to samsung so they would cover my 2008 ln52a650.

Update: Samsung's hypothetical extended 3 year warranty

I called Samsung three times. Each time i got a different agent working in different countries.

The last agent seemed to provide the best information yet it was disappointing.

What I was told was Samsung will repair the TV for up to 3 years based on its manufacturing date. Mine was made in Jan 2007 therefore 3 years takes my warranty to Jan 2010 (1 year 19 days out of extended warranty)

However PLEASE don't let this post stop anyone from calling Samsung first. If you can get your TV fixed and its a 2007 then thats great. Just let others know you managed to do so so we can keep trying. Besides Samsung should know how many customers they are screwing over with a faulty design.

If anyone sees a good articular on how to fix it yourself please post. I have seen a few myself. When I get a chance to repair mine I might make one myself for others to use

My Manufacture Date is August 2007, purchase date was October 2007. So this is beyond three years and no issue getting the no-cost repair of the capacitors on the power supply board.

Note that my approach was to open a service request online, and then contacted Samsung by phone (Executive Customer Relations) to get a no cost repair waiver added to the service ticket. Not sure that played into my results.

My power-on time was on the order of 15 seconds during which it appeared the TV made two attempts to power-on (i.e., the power-on chime occurred twice during the 15-sec interval). In my case the pink dots came first, then within a week the long power-on times began occurring. The long power-on time appears to be what Samsung considers an official symptom of the capacitor problem (not the pink dots)

--Rob

I know it's daunting but the repair is really quite easy. It took about ten minutes to take the tv apart and remove the board. The caps that are bulging are very obvious. You simply replace them with new, bigger caps and then put it all back together.

I googled "samsung capacitor repair" or something like that and found detailed step by step instructions with photos. I followed them, installed larger caps and my tv has been fine since. I did it before they were offering free repairs...

Joel

Called Samsung on Thurs about the long turn on time. They agreed to the one time repair! Repair man just left. He replaced two capacitors.

Great customer service!! Especially for a tv that is three years old.

Btw. The tech said that the capacitors were bad due to bad insulation inside them. At least that's what Samsung told him.

What year is your TV made? Can you please look. It might be on Serial number sticker.

Thanks

It was made in 2007. The tech said the capacitor problem affects some models from 2007 to 2009

You might want to take the Samsung Executive Customer Relations approach. (North America, 800-522-7341) It may be best to have an existing ticket open before contacting them (because they are likely to ask for your ticket # when calling). Create a ticket by opening a service request via the Samsung website (if you do not have an account, create one). Also note it seems Samsung will not authorize a warranty repair on an out of warranty TV for the "pink dot" problem, but only related to long power-on time symptom, even through both seem to be related.

You said you were only having the pink dot issue, which Samsung will not repair. You need to have the long startup issue.

Fellow Samsung LCD owner

I've been unable to coax Samsung into giving me an updated firmware that fixes the HDMI drop out and periodic green flash problem with the LN-T4061F. As I understand it, the firmware was available for download but they pulled it because there is some "advanced" setup needed after the firmware is applied to get the TV working again. Is there any chance someone on this board has a copy of the new firmware they can send me??


P.S. I've been through the pink dot, slow startup, bad capacitor problem and I feel for all of those on this thread with that problem. Samsung arbitrarily set a cut-off manufacture date to cover the repairs on these TV's even though the exact same crapacitors were used in my model as the ones in the covered period. Had to pay for the repair myself!!! [/rant]

Edit- Finally, I found a link in this thread that isn't dead! Thanks taphil:

I would now like to take this time to give Samsung a very big public F*U! For the bad capacitors and for not giving me the firmware!

I understand this thread may not see much activity now-a-days, but I do have a question, pertaining to an lnt4061f specifically. My family and I currently subscribe to a limited basic cable package. The cable lines plug directly into our TVs, no boxes involved, but we can get our local channels in HD (just have to do a scan first). Well here's the thing. The wiring goes like this. A line from the outside runs about fifteen to twenty feet up to the second floor of the house then splits. One split travels about eight feet and then enters into my room where it is split again, one end into my TV and the other into our HSI modem. The other outside split travels about twenty to thirty feet outside before it enters into my parents' room. From there it travels a couple feet into the TV. I can on my TV pick up all the local channels in HD with zero issues. On my parents' TV however they have issues. They can't pick up all the local channels and when they do some of them produce screen garbage and sound pops. Sometimes they will even just randomly switch to another channel.

Can anyone tell me is this an issue with the TV or with wiring from Comcast? I just want to make sure so that if I have Comcast come out here they won't charge us an arm and a leg for nothing. If it helps the TV has a 1014 mainboard, has had its caps replaced and has never been updated. If it also helps, they use to be able to get HD channels before at one point (can't remember if this was before or after the cap replacement).

Oh and for kicks, I did try to bypass the outsider splitter and just let the line run straight into their TV, but that didn't improve the quality at all. So anyone have any ideas on this one? Oh and forgive me if this is the wrong place to ask this.

I'd try swapping the two TV sets to see if the issue follows the TV or stays with the outlet. It sounds as though there may be some sort of interference from the HSI modem. If it stays with the outlet, you'll at least know that the TV is not at fault and some change in the cable configuration would likely fix the problem. I don't know whether or not Comcast would claim any responsibility in either case though.

Well the HSI modem couldn't be the problem. As I said we have a line outside that runs into a splitter. One end into my room and the other end into their room. The end in my room splits again once into the modem and the other into my TV. In their room the line goes straight into their TV. When I take away the outside splitter and have the line going straight into their room, I still cannot get a clear signal. So then basically either something in the TV is causing itself not to pick up HD channels clearly, if at all. That or parts of the outside line are bad. I'd like to try my TV on their outlet or their TV on my outlet, but their TV is mounted, and well mine's a semi-heavy 46". So I'll see what I can do.

EDIT - Well I believe I figured out the problem. Finally, after having Comcast pay us a visit with no luck, my parents finally decide to share something interesting with me. That is that the TV is exhibiting issues similar to those of when a capacitor has gone bad. We had the caps replaced once already, but my question is this, even with a replacement set could the caps go bad again? I mean they claim the symptoms aren't as worse as the first time around, but still annoying. I could easily believe this to be the reason why HD channels will not come in clearly.

Also I have one off-topic question. A Comcast QA rep stopped by today just to check on the work that the tech did a couple days back. In chatting with the rep he tried to tell me that we shouldn't be getting HD channels at all that in order to get channels in HD we require a box. I tried to tell him that if all you are trying to pick up is local channels (FOX, CBS, ABC, etc.) that you needn't a box to do so. He didn't want to believe me and I was in a bit of a hurry so I didn't have time to get technical with him. However please tell me if I am wrong, but I am to understand that normally if you are trying to watch a scrambled channel SD or HD then yes you require a box, but because local channels are not scrambled (and I believe law dictates that they can't be?) you can pick those up with or with out a box, right? Also it would be stupid of Comcast to say that you need a box in order to get local channels in HD because one could simply tell them to bug off and then just go buy an antenna, especially considering if local channels is all they ever wanted to begin with.

You probably need a DTA, a small black box that translates the Comcast signal into something your TV can tune. Comcast usually provides up to 2 of these for free if you ask.

Cableco's typically dont encrypt local network channels so a TV with a clear QAM tuner can receive them just fine. However, they might get moved around from time to time requiring a rescan to relocate them. The cableco could insert a filter to prevent a basic only subscriber to receive them though. However, if you also subscribe to their internet service, that typically precludes the filter...

Well that's what I figured then, as per the way things are setup now then, I am right, I do not need a box to receive local channels in HD. Yes I know they may get moved around from time to time, but I needn't a box to get them.

Also to the guy who mentioned DTAs that's a different subject matter. Those are required if you wish to continue to receive extended basic channels (2-75) without using a box. also, with those if you want to receive channels 2-75 and local channels in HD you would need a switch in order to do so. This is all topics for another discussion though.

Back on topic, If I've had the caps replaced in the TV once already, could they go bad again and need replaced once more. If this so be the case, then what else, just beyond replacing the caps, could be done to prevent the caps from blowing again in the future? Also would Samsung approve sending out a tech a second time to replace the caps once more, at no charge?

Hello AVS!

I would like to thank everyone here who helps eachother make the most of their AV products.

My latest reason for visiting is that our Samsung LN-T4061F recently started having the pink speckles and now slow power on problems. II am grateful to learn here that this is a known issue that Samsung will fix!

After studying this forum, I also learned that another issue we are having may be solvable with a firmware upgrade, namely HDCP handshake problems. We have the handshake problem often with our Roku, can't use HDMI at all with our DVD, and sometimes get flashes with our DTV Pal-DVR.

However after reading the first post several times and reading many posts on this thread about this upgrade I still feel I need to verify that the new firmware is suitable for my TV. There is a confusing statement in the first post about not using the firmware if "the first line..." of the firmware display on the TV is 1007, 1011 or higher I think this is actually referring to the mainboard version, but the mainboard version is actually shown in the second line, so therefore my confusion and need to verify...

Here are my TV details:

Model:: Samsung LN-T4061F
Mfd date: March 2007
Serial: AHBA3CLP306878Z

Firmware display:
T-TULPAUS0-1016, MAR 5, 2007
T-TULPAUS5-1004 CSE[E3BB] 40(AM)-inch

Is it safe to upgrade to the new 1037 firmware and will that firmware fix the green flash and handshake problems with the 1004 mainboard? Also, will I have to go into the service menu after upgrading to 1037 and change the mode back to VESA and other changes described for the earlier firmware versions?

Thanks so much! I will be called Samsung to schedule my cap replacement soon, and would like to take care of the HDMI annoyance also if that is appropriate.

-- Mike

Hey guys, I have got a 4065F with updated firmware (1037/1009) and something weird is happening with the TV.

I have an antenna plugged in and while watching TV: the screen would freeze, green lines would show up, a loud buzz noise would sound, and then the TV would reset itself. It then repeats itself until I turn the TV off or change the input.

This only occurs with the OTA input, HDMIs work perfectly fine. Anyone know what the issue may be?

I have Samsung 65F with version 1008 that display the lost connectivity issue and I need firmware 1032, 1035 or 1036.

Can someone post those firmwares on Net? The link on this thread no longer works.

Indomanna, check your PM.

I was hoping that some of the old timers here could help me figure out if upgrading to firmware 1037 will fix the HDCP bugs (HDMI green flash and dropout) on mainboard 1004. The nice spreadsheet from 2007 only covers up to firmware 1024 and THAT did not fix it for 1004 mainboards, but I have not found any reports about 1037 with 1004 mainboards. Is the only fix a mainboard replacement?

Here are my TV details again:

Model:: Samsung LN-T4061F
Mfd date: March 2007
Serial: AHBA3CLP306878Z

Firmware display:
T-TULPAUS0-1016, MAR 5, 2007
T-TULPAUS5-1004 CSE[E3BB] 40(AM)-inch

Does anyone who knows care to help me out with the answer?

Thanks,

-- Mike

Does anyone know what is causing the vertical colored lines on my LN-T4661? Started with one on the left hand side of the display and is now up to four. They tend to go away after the set warms up for 20-30 mins. Is it Tab Bond related on the display?