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Blown Power Supply on Philips Plasma

I’ve been bean to post this blog entry for some time – but better late than never. In late February, as the kids were getting ready to leave for school in the morning, they mentioned to me that the TV in our Sunroom was not working and it had a blinking red light. I went downstairs sure enough my 42″ Philips Plasma TV (Model: 42PF9631D/37) would not turn on. After the jump I’ll explain how I fixed the problem for under $30.

Picture 2.pngI’ve been meaning to post this blog entry for some time – but better late than never. In late February, as the kids were getting ready to leave for school in the morning, they mentioned to me that the TV in our Sunroom was not working and it had a blinking red light. I went downstairs sure enough my 42″ Philips Plasma TV (Model: 42PF9631D/37) would not turn on. After the jump I’ll explain how I fixed the problem for under $30.

First of all let me start by giving a little background on the TV. It was a extremely nice house warming gift from my parents when I bought my house just over two years ago. This was my first flat screen and I was so very excited. So much so that at the time it was delivered at 7:30 am, I rushed over from my old house, where I was still living, to meet the delivery guys at the new house — I was still in sweats. I even had that box cracked opened before the delivery guys had left the driveway.

Fast forward two years and poof – the plasma decides it won’t turn on. I’m sure that a lot of you can relate, in a large family it really hurts to have one of the TVs down for any amount of time. Everyone’s daily routine is thrown off, rules start to get ignored (evidence: crumbs on the carpet in the “no-eating” rooms that had working TVs), the arguments start on what shows to watch, etc. So it behooved me to get the plasma fixed as quickly as possible to avoid losing family members. However, I was not looking forward to the repair bill.

Before I started calling around for repair shops, I broke out the warranty paperwork. Of course – just out of warranty. Luc200903260917.jpgky me. Typical. Fortunately I didn’t pay anything for it.

However, on a hunch I jumped on the internet and did some research on the model in question. In my research, I found out that the first year to 18 months of this line of Philips plasmas had been out, there were very few issues. At least not enough to cause any concerns regarding any major defects. That was until January or so of this year (2009) – I started seeing dozens of complaints of blown power supplies and the horror stories surrounding getting the plasmas fixed.

Once again the AVForums had all the answers a guy with A/V problems needs. I discovered this thread that deals with a number of Philips plasma models exhibiting the same symptoms. Here were my symptoms: Power On, Green Power Light, 2 “relay clicks” (you can hear the clicks clearly), Power light goes red and flashes 7 times, Power light stays red. Basically all of this pointed to something wrong with the power board(s) in the plasma. A majority of the reported issues were with blown capacitors. I believe that one person reported that the specific capacitor was rated for 1000 hrs – no wonder so many of them were failing just outside their warranty period and all at once!

Message #70 of the thread really sank it home for me, as the poster had exactly the same model of plasma I had and he had posted pictures of the blown capacitors. At this point I figured that I might as well see if I had the same problem – and maybe attempt to fix it myself to save on the repair costs. I thought I would post some pictures about this project – hopefully it will help someone else out.

Here is a picture of the plasma with the back taken off. I’ve edited the picture to show the capacitors that were blown:

OpenPlasma.png

Here is a close up of the blown capacitors:

blowncaps.png

You’ll notice that the top of the capacitors are not flat, but rather blown up.

I took the board to a local electronics store, Green Brook Electronics, that had some guys on hand that knew their stuff. Frank, the guy that help me through this mess, confirmed the blown capacitors. He also inspected the rest of the board and gave me a little bit of advice on some of the parts. He then said that he didn’t have the appropriate part on hand, but I could find it online readily enough. Once I got the part, he would put them on the board for me.

One bit of advice Frank had was that when attempting to get the part online – make sure I have the correct measurements of the capacitors (12.50mm x 25.00mm). I didn’t realize at the time how important that was until I started looking for the part online. I was stunned at the number of choices of electronics parts – I’m such a nubie with this stuff.

In any event, I took Frank’s suggestion on using Digi-Key. After about an hour of trying to find the part myself – I resorted to using the online chat with their tech support. They were extremely helpful. They found two appropriate parts in 3 minutes. One part rated for 1000 hrs and the other for 7000 hrs. I got the 7000 hrs version. Here is the link to the specific part I ordered: 493-1754-ND. It cost me $1.07 for each capacitor – shipping was more expensive than the parts – about $6 on the slow truck.

Once I got the capacitors three days later, I went back to Frank and in 10 minutes he had the new parts put on the board. Frank charge me something like $16 and change – I gave him $17. I raced home with the newly repaired board and installed it immediately. WORKED LIKE A CHAMP!

In total – I spent about $27 and 8 hours of effort (research, two electronic store visits, moving the tv – with a friend – Thanks Mark!). A lot better than the $800 repair bill I would have to pay. A great big THANK YOU to the community of AVForums.

I hope that this article helped someone out – and if you are in the Greenbrook, NJ area and need some electronic work done, go to Green Brook Electronics.

-JT

324 replies on “Blown Power Supply on Philips Plasma”

Hi I have been reading responses and am very suprised at th knowlede you bring to help others out in repairing there TV’S.I have a phillips 42″ ambient light plasma.I was watching it the other day and out of no where the TV settings came on ,It is locked and will only show a pic for a few seconds and then will pu me back in settings.Purchaed a central remote but the TV still does the same thing.Do have any Idea what may be causing this problem.Thank you.

philips 42’plasma 42pf9631d/37 wouldnt power up changed caps myself still getting 7 blinking red lights anything else to do before going to shop any advice appreciated thanks

Just changed mine and I think I plugged in one of the connections in the wrong spot, the lights on the power supply come one but she is dead…I fear I blew the SSB board!! So beware with the 50’s….and the sad part is I am an Electronics Tech! I should have know better!

JT et al, I googled this and found this VERY interesting. I have same problem (light that b links red 7 times) and had called Philips yesterday for options since my warranty was out. They offered a refurbished 42″ 2009 model for $460 plus $30 shipping. I literally stumbled on to your blog by accident. I am going to try your way then have another “chat” with Philips.
Many thanks as the problems sounds the same and I hope I get the same results!
Cheers!

You are my hero; at least you will be if this works. I bought my Philips 50’ Plasma 3 ½ years ago and bought an extended warranty that lasted 3 years. 1 ½ years into the warranty period I sent it in because I would get colored moving sparkles where the screen was dark, like in a night scene or in the shadows in the picture. I was able to show the tech that picked it up that you can see the sparkles even in the TV’s menu if you looked close, so it had nothing to do with my cable box or DVD player. Also I have my TV plugged into a battery backup that cleans the power so it was not bad local power causing it. My point here is that what they did to try to fix this was to replace the Power Supply. While they never were able to fix the sparkles (after sending it back 3 times they told me that it was fine and if I sent it back again they would charge me!) I believe that getting the new power supply bought me time to get another 2 years in without the dreaded “Black Screen of Death.” Of course now my extended warranty is as dead as my screen.
I removed my Power Supply and sure enough there are 2 – 3300 capacitors that are blown on it. The configuration on my board looks a little different than yours but basically they are in the same place. I haven’t read all posts here because there are just so many but please, anyone considering taking apart any type of monitor that some of these components can keep a charge long after they are unplugged and can pack quite a punch if you make a connection.
I expect my capacitors in the mail in a day or so (Radio Shack didn’t carry them) and I can’t wait to give this a go. I will post my progress. Thank you for this incredibly useful article. And the next time I buy a TV I won’t be giving Philips my money and since I noticed that Samsung’s name is all over the inside of my TV, they are out too.

Best Regards,
Shane

Well I removed the two Caps. One of them showed that there was heavy spark on one of the connectors I replaced both Caps. Pls note that on my set, there is a 4 amps fuse between the capacitors that was also blown.
Apparently that protected other modules for been affected. Well after installing the new components the Set worked pretty good. Thanks for the informations provided above.

Note: In my case, the capacitors looked ok at the top. No sign of blown capacitor.

JT,
I really appreciate the info. I got my 42″ plasma working again. i had the same problem everyone else seems to have. Cheap capacitors being put in these TV’s. Bought 2 new ones from Digi-Key installed and “BAM” TV is working like new again. Thanks again!!!

Hi all…great info, Jt.

I’m also attempting to fix a Philips 42PF9631D/37 42″ Plasma with the 7 blinking light issue.

After a bit of research and opening the TV, I’ve discovered that there are at least two different power supply boards used in this model.

First board: The one I’m looking at is Part # LJ44-00119A (996500042146) Here’s a a pic: https://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i265/hustlaj34/DSCI0017.jpg

Second board (more common and shown at the beginning of this blog): LJ44-00117A (996500036816)

It seems the second board is discussed heavily on the net, including here, with the typically bad capacitors identified. Unfortunately, this is not the case with the board I’m troubleshooting and there are no obviously blown caps.

So, has anyone successfully repaired the first board? If so please provide details for reference. I’ll also do my best in the meantime and post results.

I’m just going to join the “thank you parade”. 50″ Philips Plasma. Same problems described above. Did the trick of unplugging it, plugging it in, and turning it on……rinse and repeat…….

That worked for about two months (annoying as it was) until finally nothing would happen at all.

Took the TV apart last evening after reading your article. Found the blown capacitors. Went and picked up a couple today. Soldered them in and then tried the TV…..nothing.

I then moved on to the fuses. Metered each fuse and found that the 8amp fuse right beside where the AC power plugs to the circuit board was blown. Went and picked up a fuse, snapped it in, and voila………

I’m now back to the glory of 50″ HD after 6 months of making due with a 28″ plain tv.

Total Cost = $3.00 (capacitors) + $3.00 (fuse – pack of 3) + 2 hours of driving around the city to find the parts = $6.00!!!!!!

New lease on life for my 50″ HD Plasma = PRICELESS!!!!!!

just fixed a philips 42 inch. the addition of pic was great thanks. so easy to follow. i did the soldering myself. BnQ were assholes (sold me a soldering iron with a tip too big then didnt have any replacement tips…long story, basically go to MAPLIN the lads sorted me ot with proper stuff.

anyway all done telly comes on everytime and fine. nice one for the help.
Cost for me was soldering iron 12euro replacement fine tips 8 euro and the capacitators 5euro. (two were blown)
getting one up over philips and tv repairman PRICELESS

I have the same issues, but without the red blinking lights..
When I opened it up the “alarm signal” chip beeps 3 times meaning VSCAN. Any ideas what this could mean??
I looked at the most commonly blown caps and they don’t look obviously blown, but I ordered them anyways. I also ordered a new cap for C8057 its above the other two and is a little larger but mine has a slight bulge on the top so I figure it wouldn’t hurt to order that too.
I should be getting mine for Digi-Key and hope for the best!!
Thanks!!

I simply want to say thank you. I also have a 50 inch plasma by Philips. The exact same thing (blink on, blink off…red light) was happening to my TV until it finally went out. It was in my parents house so my father ended up replacing the TV but then I found this blog. I had my boyfriend take the back off and remove the panel. I took it to my local TV repair shop up the street. They charged me $90 all together… Yes, that is more expensive than I should of paid but SOOOOOOOOO much cheaper than what I could have paid. I didn’t buy my own parts soooo…that was part of it… They were charging me $10 per capacitor when I already knew they only cost like $1.50 each. Either way…I am happy and wanted to say THANK YOU!!!

I replaced the capacitors plus another one that looked to have a little bulge but did not fix the issue… Any other Ideas?!
It still turns on, clicks twice starts to power up then shuts itself down into protect mode, with the “alarm signal” board beeping 3 times meaning VSCAN?

Well, I too bow down before JT for giving me the first real hope that what I had read elsewhere on the web is for real. I have the same 42″ Philips Plasma (42PF9431D/37) that so many others have, same vexing power issue (unplugging and plugging back in worked a few times), and the same trepidation about taking it to a bench shop.

So this is first a thank-you and then just a few questions that I couldn’t find clear answers to in this thread. Is it really simple to remove the power-supply board? Are there illustrated instructions anywhere? And what are the minimum/maximum number of capacitors that would need to be replaced? Replaced only the ones with the blown (puffed up) tops? And would folks concur with the suggestion above of going for the 10,000-hour capacitors?

I feel better after reading this thread than I have felt in a while.

Thanks in advance to all.

I wish I knew how to thank everyone here appropriately, but chalk mine up as yet another success story. I got the new caps from Digi-Key (ten of ’em, ’cause they were cheaper), took my Philips set apart, and could see the blown caps right away . . . just as everyone predicted. I found a local A/V shop to replace the capacitors for $50; I would have down it myself but I would have had to buy the equipment and trust that I could get it right the first time. So I sprung for the $50 (the guy did the work while I watched), and he gave it it a 90-percent-plus chance of working. That made me feel pretty good. Oh, and he bought the eight other capacitors from me!

I got home, reinstalled the power-supply board, put all those damn screws back in, got everything cabled back up, and–wonder of wonders–the sweet little green light came back on just as in the old days. In a couple of minutes I had the picture back, just as before. Thank you all, thank you, thank you, and thank you.

One more thing to all those like me out there: IF I COULD DO THIS, ANYBODY CAN.

It’s a sweet feeling.

Thank you!!!!!!
Ordered the caps a couple weeks ago ( $2.17 + $7.50 shipping )
Decided today was the day. Took it apart, took pics of the cables,
which helped when putting back together,
30 minutes to remove and about 1 minute to solder the new ones in, about 2 hrs total.
Works GREAT !!!!!!!

I want to say thanks to all. I bought the capacitors from Digi-Key as instructed, took the back of the TV off and sure enough you could see the 2 capacitors that had “ballooned” tops on them. Replaced them and fired it up and BAM, my 50 inch plasma works again as if new. As a sidenote, I called Phillips and complained. I was told they are/were aware of the problem and were will to sell me a new 50 inch for $460. Instead, I spent $6.00 and got my TV back good as new. Thanks for this to all.

I’m glad I found all your comment. My Phillips Plasma also died. Red green lights on and off with the remote but did not blink. No screen lighting up. Took the back off and sure enough the exact same capacitors were blown (swollen tops). I replaced then with 16 volt ones, put the board back and amazing it works all ok! Thanks JT. Chris from New Zealand.

I am experiencing the same symptoms with the samsung S42AXYB01 as everyone else.
No sound or video and just clicking noises when it is plugged in. I have removed the back panel and can’t find any damaged components. I have had it plugged it in for several hours now and all components are cool to the touch. Is there someone out there who may have the answer and save me an exorbitant repair bill?

My wife and I purchased our 42 inch plasma a little over 4 years ago, and about a week ago came across the 7 red blinks of death! We are very fortunate to have come across a write up that’s very detailed, and more importantly a step by step help guide to fix the same problem we were having. Soon as I found this post, I went online to Digi-key and purchased the two capacitors for $16 shipped-3 days shipping. Soon as I got the part in, I took the gazillion screws out the back to access the board and sure enough, the two capacitors was a little plump on the top with a little bit of black on it. I took the board to a local TV/Fix-everything you can think of-store near by and told him my problem, 20 dollars and 1 hour later, he called and said it was ready for pick up, so we rushed to pick the little sucker up and put the board back on. This is the part where I had all my fingers crossed including my toes… and WAH-LA! Power is on, green light stays put and no blinking red light. A Big Giant THANK YOU JT! your a life saver, I didnt know how much a person can miss his/her TV and it was only out of commision for about 4 days (which seemed like 2 months on a tube TV as back up) but now I know that it’s not the end of the world, you just need to do a little research, 40 dollars and don’t panic. again THANK YOU!!!!!

I have the same prob dave has 542ax-yb01 green light on, two clicks from board after eight seconds and the led light on power board click off, any hope it could be caps? i took the board out and tested cont on most circ and ceramic fuses all ok…….help plz

Had the same problem. Blinking red lights. I replaced the capacitors and still getting the red lights. maybe I didn’t solder them in well. I did check the +/-. hopefully I didn’t ruin the board when I was soldering.

Thanks for your post. It worked great as a starting point for me and I was able to replace two blown capacitors and for about $30 bucks I am once again enjoying my plasma tv. But one thing I did notice, having the one an only tv out was refreshing. I am looking forward to more days and hours with it off.

Al on 19 Nov 2010 at 10:26 pm #

Had the same problem. Blinking red lights. I replaced the capacitors and still getting the red lights. maybe I didn’t solder them in well. I did check the +/-. hopefully I didn’t ruin the board when I was soldering.

Does anyone know if there is a certain way of soldering the capacitirs in?

JT, thanks for the insiteful information. I have a 50″ Phillips Plasma with the same symptoms. Lo and behold, there were 4 of one type of capacitor blown and one smaller capacitor blown.

Question, would it be prudent to replace the other 7 capacitors in that group at the same time with the higher hour rated parts?

thanks again, Joe

REPLACED CAPS, STILL HAVE A PROBLEM

Same old story, Philips 42 plasma, 7 blinking red lights.

I replaced the two bulging 10v caps with 16v caps. My soldering work isn’t going to be featured in any training videos, but I think it’s a fair job.

After replacing the caps, I was able to turn the tv on/off several times with no problems. Then, after about an hour or two of having the tv on, the picture/sound turned off, and the 7 blinking lights came back.

Before replacing the caps, the blinking lights would only happen when trying to turn the tv on. Once it was turned on, it would stay on as long as I wanted. So, the fact that it “turned off” by itself feels like a new problem, even though it’s the same symptom (7 blinking lights).

I opened up the tv again, and no capacitors look like they are bulging (including the ones I just put in).

Any other suggestions on where to look?

You can add me to the list of people who have a Philips plasma (purchased July 2005) that started having the six long-3 short red blink problem (that would eventually come on after repeatedly unplugging and replugging it back in) till the other day it went to seven quick red blinks and didn’t come on at all. I had already ordered the two capacitors from Digi-key in anticipation of this. Opened up the back and sure enough it showed ‘those two caps’ having raised tops. I carefully removed the power supply board on the plasma and took it and the new caps to a local store (took awhile to find one as this seems to be a dying art) and the guy unsoldered the old caps and soldered in the new ones. Took it back home, re-installed it, put the back on and turned it on….VOILA…IT WORKS. For a total of $54 and some gas it’s back up and running.

Thanks JT

I have the same tv with the same cap. buldged out, was only clicking and wouldnt power on, I removed the board and replaced the cap. without any effort (have done this in boards before) assembled it and tried to power up….. I now have no clicking or lights at all…… checked power at fuses and I have power going to the board…….. I even removed the new cap and replace with another new one but still no go…… any idea why it would be completly dead now ?

Thanks, R

I have a 42PF7320A that I have owned for 5 years. The other
day we had short power outage. The TV was off at the time but
plugged in. When the power returned, the TV would not come on. No
green or red lights…just dead. I tried unplugging and replugging
but nothing works. Does anyone have a suggestion before I begin
disassembly?

I have the philips 42PF9431D/37 and no lights turn on. I was wondering if I can try this and how to tell if they need to be changed, like how to tell if they are blown?

Thanks

JT,
Just wanna say thanks a bunch. Same problem red blinker seven times. Looked it up on the web and found your site. Not only did you save me a load of money, I turned it into a father/son project with my nine year old. We ordered the capacitors from Digi Key and soldered them in ourselves. Put the TV back together and it came right on. Seeing his face light up knowing he had a part in fixing it was priceless. Total cost $7.63. Thanks again.

Just wanted to leave you a quick thanks for the work you did in posting this fix. I have a 42 inch Philips plasma and just installed two capacitors and fixed it! The power light was blinking 7 times so I ordered the parts from Digi-Key. Thanks you!

Another successful story. I had the same issue but with a 50 inch. I was a little hesitant about taking it off the wall to look at the back. It took 3 of us to do it. Two men and myself to direct.  I didn’t have anything to lose because we bought it at Costco and still had the lifetime warranty on it (grandfathered in). I checked with a few TV shops and all of them said $75 to pick up the TV and then $280 minimum charge to fix it. Yowza! I told one guy that I think it is just the capacitor and could I bring it in for him to replace it. Well, since I am a women, I must be wrong! So that was a no go from him. I took the board out and it was obvious which one two were bad. I ordered the parts online and then took it down to our handy dandy Electronic Parts Outlet in Dickinson, Texas. What a great group of guys. They replaced the two capacitors in about 10 minutes and sent me on my way for about $26. I read through all of the stories above and figured that I should at least give it a try. SUCCESS! Thank you so much for everyones responses and for the initial post from JT.
Leslie

I have a Philips Plasma Model No. 42PFP5332D/37. I had the same six flashing lights. I took the cover off and found that I did not have any blown or leaky capacitors. Do the capacitors need to blown or have any evidence of leaking to be replaced or should I just replace them? Thanks

I have an older Phillips plasma (42FD9954) purchased in 2003. I also have the blinking red lights of death. Took it off the wall, but can’t figure out how to get the back panel off. Looks like there is a special tool required (doesn’t work with a screwdriver or 1/32 allen wrench). Can anyone help? Thanks.

Hello everyone, i did the opposite of most……i didn’t have a tv that went bad….instead i found someone selling the 50inch plasma that did not power up for $100. I called them, they explained the problem, got the model number from them, and did the research about the common problems. I then went to see the tv….excellent shape! The owner couldn’t get it to work so i offered $80 and they said sure. I couldn’t wait to get home to take the back off. Once home……10 mnutes later and just as i hoped……the exact same two capacitors bad. Went online and ordered the parts $2.00 plus shipping. Parts came in……the longest 4 days of my life……was to excited about fixing it, lol! So now i have nice tv for almost nothing…..awesome! Thanks a lot for the posts……got to luv the Internet!

Hi,

Add my name to the list of happy readers of your blog!!!! My husband and son are addicted to our Philips 50″ Amblight TV! It was slowly dying the death. My son was the one that first searched and learned the plugging in and out trick. That stopped working after a few weeks and turned into the red light that blinks 7 times! He gave up dejected, so I searched and found your blog. Thank God for you and those perfect photos!

It was all my son and i could do to lift the TV out of its stand and put it in the middle of the family room. I also learned about the 5 point screw driver, which I had never used before! But all was well and I unscrewed everything to find the 2 blown out capacitors. BTW, my brother, the EE said to make sure it is unplugged for a long time before you touch that mother board. I left mine unplugged overnight, and all was fine. I took the board in to a TV repair shop, asked if they could do the job, and they said they were impressed with my diligence…..although, I think they really were peeved that I was doing it myself. I supplied the parts via your link and they charged me $35 to replace. A bit high, I guess, plus I ordered the $2 parts with express shipping for $25! My husband was coming home from a very long business trip and it would have been a very sad homecoming without his beloved TV.

When he came home, I had him help get the TV in the stand, my son hooked the cables back and voila! Magic performed by a middle aged housewife! I am a star around the house now!

The guy at the TV repair shop said that they normally replace the whole board on a Philips TV, and that the blown capacitors are only a symptom of an overheating problem. So I am hoping for another 4 1/2 years before we need to do it again. (although with 7.000 hours, I am really hoping for more! I am the ambilight fan, so I will only use on movie nights!

THANKS AGAIN SO VERY MUCH! YOU ARE TRULY AN ANGEL FOR POSTING THIS!

BTW, Shortly after we bought the Philips TV 4 1/2 years ago, they sold their large TV division to LG. I know because my husband’s former company was bought by Philips, so he is now a Philips employee!

Ahhh – The blinking (7) red light symptoms. I’m ashamed to say I never researched the problem this deeply when I first encountered the same problem with our 50″ Plasma. I did my own investigation of the boards and noticed the caps were swollen at the cross-hatched top. In my experience working in PCB assembly, I realized that short of diagnostic equipment, visual troubleshooting was all I was going to have to work with.
I tried Radio Shack for the caps (no go) then I searched the web and used mouser Electronics. Caps were .30 each and I bought 10 just in case. I had the proper soldering equipment and I was able to cut out the old parts and extract the old solder with solder wick and installed the new parts.
I wish I can say “SUCCESS” but alas, I didn’t get the TV to work. I was just researching spare PCB’s on ebay. The are many out there starting around $60 but you have to trust that the seller isn’t passing on his dead board to you. As I was reaearching a new PCB, I found this discussion. Imagine my surprise when I read all the success stories and a few unsuccessful attempts.
Now that I see all these, I may take the board out and check again. I know the parts are in right (polarity). If you’er not sure about the caps lead length as an indicator, there is a HUGE shaded stripe down the entire “can” with a negative (-) symbol in it. That is negative. The positive orientation on the PCB is indicated on the component side (top) of PCB adjacent to the circle depicting where the cap is placed. There is a (+) sign to indicate positive. Just make sure that BIG, FAT shaded line is opposite the (+) sign. I sure hope I can report back that I fixed mine for 60 cent (plus shipping) and the hassle to unscrew all those screws TWICE. Yes, I put them back on thinking I was just going to donate it to the E-trash place. THANKS to all who have comtributed to this thread and to originator and his pics. I hope to post good news soon as I go back and double / triple check.
Scott
P.S. I had called Philips as well when the problem started…….no thanks to them. And I love the offer for a “deal” on a refurbished unit….what do you think was refurbished on those units (and for less than $2.00).

Here’s another success story. I was researching the price of a new power supply board and stumbled across your very informative blog. My 42″ Phillips plasma had already been repaired under warranty once and foolishly I let the warranty expire after the 3 years. Needless to say it quit soon after with the same indications as before. We replaced it with a new 52″ LED but never trashed it. On a whim I opened it up after reading your instructions, found the blown caps, got 2 new ones locally and installed them. I now have a 42″ plasma that works perfectly fine. Thanks for taking the time to post your story and the very concise directions. The first time we had it fixed the service man told us it was a 900.00 fix if it would have been out of the warranty period. At 3.50 ea for the caps, soldier and soldiering iron, and 3.00 in gas I figure the whole repair was less than 35.00.
Thanks again for taking the time to save so many of us tons of money!

Success here as well — thanks to all for sharing. My repair cost $3.24, and only because I bought 3 capacitors to replace the 2 that blew in mine. I was able to get a colleague at work to do the soldering. A week later, still going strong.

Thanks so much JT!

This was my son-in-law’s 42″ PhilipsTV. I found this post and understood it perfectly. I’m truly amazed I could fix this TV for less than 10 bucks. It had been 20 years since I had done any component level board work. I was so proud as I fired that BABY up. It works perfectly! My son-in-law ended up giving me the set to replace my old Sony non-digital WEGA 34″.

Al

Hello;

Thanks to this blog site and others like it I was able to repair my 42” Phillips plasma
HDTV with a blank screen, clicking relay noise, and seven blinking red light problem.
The usual suspects were two brown 3300 uF, 10V aluminum electrolytic capacitors near
the middle and bottom of the LJ44-00117A power supply board.

I am writing this entry to provide technical insight into this problem and thereby help others fix a similar problem without inadvertently causing a new problem down the road.

The failed capacitors are miniature type aluminum electrolytic capacitors made by a Korean conglomerate company called Samwha Electric. Not surprising since the plasma
panel itself is made by Samsung, another major Korean vendor. The capacitors are
middle grade WB series, 3300 uF, +/- 20% tolerance, 5000 hour, 2.77 Amp ripple current capacitors, with 12.5 mm wide by 20 mm tall dimensions, along with a standard 5 mm lead spacing.

The key to fixing this problem is to first identify the bulging capacitor tops and then selecting a replacement capacitor that is just as good as the original capacitor or what we call ” better than” in the electronics industry.

The key specification is the 2.77 Amp ripple current specification. The replacement capacitor must have a ripple current specification greater than or equal to 2.77 Amps. If
the replacement capacitor has a smaller ripple current specification than 2.77Amps, then the new capacitor will work for a time, overheat, and then fail just like the original Samwha capacitor, and you will be back to where you started. Most replacement capacitors will meet the original Samwha specification of 2.77 Amp ripple current, 10V, and 5000 hour lifetime. Several examples are available from Mouser electronics and/or digikey electronics all for less than $5.00 for two caps. It will cost more for shipping than the
actual component cost. An equivalent replacement to the original Samwha component is
digikey pn# 565-1651-ND, United Chemi-Con KZE series.

Another option is to buy a “better than” component similar to buying upgrade tires after the generic factory tires have worn out in your new vehicle. I t will cost more but the performance will be much better long term.

In such a case a suitable “better than” capacitor would be digikey pn# 493-1536-ND, made by Nichicon HE series with a 16V rating, 2.88 Amp current ripple, and 10000 hour lifespan. The ultimate “better than” replacement capacitor for this application, which I
used, is digikey pn# P14404-ND, made by Panasonic. The Panasonic has a 3.63 Amp
ripple current rating, 16V, 10000 hour lifespan. Both “better than” Nichicon and
Panasonic capacitors have the same 12.5mm width of the original Samwah capacitor,
however, they are slightly taller ( 35.5 and 30 mm taller, respectively ). A wider or fatter
capacitor would not fit into the spot on the power supply board, but a taller capacitor will fit because the top of the capacitor will not bump into or interfere with anything on the
power supply board or the mechanical enclosure. The “better than” capacitor will provide
far, far better reliabilty and long term performance for approximately 2 or 3 dollars more
in cost. The choice is yours.

Check out Mouser.com electronics and/or digikey.com to see which vendor has available
stock on hand.

This user utilizes this information at his own risk.

I am an electrical engineer and I design high reliability power supplies for the medical
industry.

Once again I thank all of the bloggers that helped me quickly identify this problem
and resolve it successfully!

Regards.

JT – I have 2 42″ Philips plasma’s, about six months ago the first one went out with the same problem as described several times above. I brought the board in, got the capacitors changed out and it worked fine. Now the 2nd tv is doing the same thing.

I took this one apart, just as the other one it had the 2 bulging capacitors. I took the board to the same guy I did last time, he put in two new ones, but this time I get nothing. Plug it in and I still get the 7 blinking red lights. Do you know if it could be something else? Or is there a way to tell if he damaged the board when he soldered the new capacitors?

I was hoping for another quick fix, but this one doesn’t seem to be cooperating…

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