[Samsung-Guy]

Whoever is good with this kind of stuff...


Anybody here know a bit about components like capacitors. My TV has been powering on, staying on for ~15 seconds, then turning off and restarting, over and over. From forums I have read, people with my TV have had issues like this and it has been the ballast board and/or main board. I took my rear cover off of my TV to look around, and I turned it on while watching, and when it kicks off, I can see on the ballast board a thing that looks like a capacitor glows blue and makes a high pitch buzz noise when the bulb goes out and the TV resets. I assume this is not normal. I have heard this noise since I have had the TV though, which has been roughly 3 years. Never had this shut off and back on problem before though.


Here it is, and it making light. (tough to see, it's hidden behind plastic crap)

Looks like it has an opaque cover that still allows light through. What is that thing?


I'm worried because they also said that when Samsung does the repair, they also replace the main board with the ballast board. I can buy the ballast board for $60, but cannot purchase the main board anywhere. I think maybe I could swap out the ballast board and be OK, at least for another 3 years, since that is how long it's lasted. Samsung seems to think something on the main board causes the ballast board to fail.


Anybody have anything helpful for me? I'm confident I can do the repair myself, I just lack the technical knowledge to know exactly what is going on, just going by what other people have said fixed their issue. Really wanting to avoid sending in, or having someone come out to repair my TV out of warranty.


Just purchased the ballast board anyway, I think that may fix it, I'm just wondering if anyone has had similar problems, or has any insight as to what may be causing this, or what that little thing in the picture is. Thanks

 

[Samsung-Guy]

After even more research, I have seen that maybe that is a spark gap, and that noise and light is normal, which basically tells me the ballast is working correctly... I have also removed the mainboard and power supply and nothing on those looks to be burned out or damaged. Could it be as simple as a bulb issue and nothing else is wrong? I've seen a few people have had these issues and a bulb actually fixed it. I guess one should always start with the most logical and simple fix.


What do you people think?

 

[Samsung-Guy]

Maybe I'll just get a new TV. Everything I read about this TV, it's nothing but trouble. Shame on Samsung for making such a trouble prone TV and not putting out a recall.

 

[Samsung-Guy]



SAMSUNG!!!!! I'm beyond angry at this point. I have been without a TV for several months now, and have been slowly researching and replacing parts, and nothing has fixed the problem. I started with a new ballast, that did nothing. I then bought the Samsung service manual for this TV and read through the troubleshooting guide and thought I needed a main board. Bought it, and still the same problem. I read the manual again and noticed I may have misinterpreted something and gotten the main board by mistake instead of the power supply. So I then purchased the power supply, sure this would be the fix, since the steps in the manual state that what I am seeing should be the power supply. Bought the power supply... STILL the same problem. I don't see what else it could be. Now I'm a further $500 into this $1500 DLP set, and still it is broken. More than half of the components have been replaced, and I don't see it being an issue with anything in the light engine, and I wouldn't think the bulb since it's still as bright as it ever was. I know most people suggest start with the bulb, but I just don't think it could be the problem. Would it be foolish of me to drop another $100+ on a bulb at this point, or just ditch this lemon of a TV that Samsung refuses to recall, even though many thousands of people have had this same failure, and purchase something else?