Samsung plasma

[Schmoe]

Geesh....warranty expired 4 months ago. It's a PN43D plasma. Picture just went out while watching it after pixelating for a few seconds. Took it apart and researched. Common problem. Not the power board, don't have the "clicking" death...I wish, that's an easy fix. Still have sound, can see the TV actually change different hues of black when pushing the volume control on the remote. Logic board is blinking once per second, which shows "all is good." Disconnect the X board, logic light stays steady for 5 secs and then blinks. Checked voltages on power board for Vs and Va, and all are right where they should be. On the x board, no voltage on the X SE technician port. Took the board out and no obvious signs. Got ahold of a tech at shopjimmy.com and he sent me a pdf pic to test two mosfet transitors....two outside legs are showing ground, the middle is showing 2 ohms.
When it was connected, the X board was making a buzzing sound, never heard that before. I checked the front picture and after I'd press the volume on the remote, you could see the screen change hues slightly, every once in a while, I'd see a little white in the middle, but still dark. This is weird, I'd press the media button on the remote which use to light up the screen in blue color and show "no media selected", but that was it. Anyway, right after I'd press that button, the X board stopped buzzing and the logic board light went to 5 secs of solid color. Sure pointing to the X board, but could there be a problem with the Y too?
Went by the PX where I bought it, and of course, they can't help me. This is the most funniest part, actually got on a chat with Samsung.com. Explained what was going on and they said they've never heard of this problem.....
Soooooooooo, don't know what to do. I'm thinking of buying an X board, but I don't want to be chasing ghost if I don't have to. Appreciate any replys.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Any burned or odorous components noticed?

 

[Schmoe]

Not at all. I was watching it and all of a sudden it started pixelating, like when you get a bad signal. That's what I had originally thought but it started turning itself off and on. First time that ever happened. I know the power board is good. I'm pretty confident the logic board is good. I'm getting sound so I'm pretty sure the tuner is working. Thought the signal might be bad, but when I push tools or options on TV, I get nothing. X board is about 70 and the Y board is about 50. So, let's say I'm out 120 bucks if this doesn't fix it....save the money and buy a new one? I just can't BELIEVE it went out in 2.5 years.

 

[Schmoe]

Wow....just called shopjimmy.com and actually talked to a tech within 2 minutes!!!! And...knew what he was talking about. He said this, next to the clicking power boards, are very common problems with Samsung. We went over some technical stuff and I must say, I was impressed. Probably going to order the X board, but still want to check in with others that may have had a similar issue. Hard to pinpoint a problem by talking about it, but others may have had similar issues.

 

[dparm]

Get your hands on the service manual and follow the diagnostic steps. Same thing you do for a car.

 

[MolaKule]

I am just glad you are not my plasma neighbor.

Nothing personal, but Amateur Radio Operators despise plasma TV's because they generate all kinds of RFI/EMI noise all over the spectrum.

 

[SLATRON]

I'd go buy a new LED, TV's are cheap now and plasma suck IMO. They use way more power, have glare problems, a lot heavier, only good thing is fast refresh
I just got great deal on one.

 

[Schmoe]

Refresh rate and brightness sold me on them. I'm sorry, but they have the best color and picture, especially moving images like car racing and football, out there. I knew they were known not to last more then 7-8 years, but 2.5 years??? Geesh. I'm going to fix it....was just at Sam's looking at some LCD/LED's...they just don't compare to plasma's.

 

[badtlc]

Originally Posted By: SLATRON
I'd go buy a new LED, TV's are cheap now and plasma suck IMO. They use way more power, have glare problems, a lot heavier, only good thing is fast refresh
I just got great deal on one.


You haven't viewed a good plasma in a while. New model plasmas 55"+ consume less than 90W under normal viewing. The higher end models have great anti-glare films that work well. They are almost as thin as LEDs and they don't weigh any excessive amount.

When you throw in the picture quality, the bang for buck you get for modern plasmas are dang good. They aren't perfect for every application but anyone not considering a plasma is really shorting themselves.

 

[badtlc]

Originally Posted By: Schmoe
Refresh rate and brightness sold me on them. I'm sorry, but they have the best color and picture, especially moving images like car racing and football, out there. I knew they were known not to last more then 7-8 years, but 2.5 years??? Geesh. I'm going to fix it....was just at Sam's looking at some LCD/LED's...they just don't compare to plasma's.


It is a samsung thing. My dad's first samsung 55" plasma lasted about the same time period. The warranty replaced it with a much better, newer model for free. Great upgrade for him for only the cost of a new warranty.

Samsung's quality is not good but they sure pack a lot of features and produce a great picture.

 

[punisher]

Don't get me started on Samsung TVs.

My old Samsung ate a power board (capacitor) 3 months out of warranty. Ordered new power board from EBay, swapped it and all was well. Fortunately I decided to re-cap the old board and sure enough, 16 months later, the new board I swapped in took a dump. The board I recapped got Nippon Chemi-con caps instead of the "Samwha"

 

[Cutehumor]

my sony flatscreen from 2001 is still working fine. although, it sounds like a spaceship taking off when you turn on (must be the darn fans!)

 

[Schmoe]

After copious amounts of research....that indeed seems to be the problem, heat. Cutehumor's TV lasting so long is probably because of the fans. Those TV's put out crazy amounts of heat. There are about three metal heat sinks on two panels, but they just can't get enough heat out. Once I get that one fixed, I'm putting some small computer type of fans in it. I found some fans that work off the USB ports. Will probably have to rig them somehow externally, but fans are going to be installed somehow.

 

[mcrn]

Or buy a Panasonic plasma before they are gone...or are they gone already? Not trying to be a pain at all I just love the pics on them Pan plasmas!

 

[JustinH]

Just looked at a 4k Sony TV at best buy yesterday.

This will be the next game changer in the TV market.

They upscale current HD content, which looks fair at best. Nothing major.

Then they showed true 4k content, from a sony concert.

Mindbending how good it looks.

 

[GrtArtiste]

Originally Posted By: JustinH
Just looked at a 4k Sony TV at best buy yesterday.

This will be the next game changer in the TV market.

They upscale current HD content, which looks fair at best. Nothing major.

Then they showed true 4k content, from a sony concert.

Mindbending how good it looks.


The infrastructure we now have in place can't even deliver the 1080p that most of us have. The bandwidth just isn't there. How long do you think you will have to wait before broadcast 2160p is available? Meanwhile, I'm very happy watching 720p/1080i on a 3 yr old Samsung 46 LCD and have no desire to change unless it croaks.

 

[JustinH]

Right now it is a niche market, and a luxury good.

If you are buying a $4000 TV, and a $800 media box then probably you have 50MB bandwidth at the house.

Fiber internet is rolling out to certain areas, slowly but it is rolling out.

I read the amazon reviews for the Sony 4k media box. People hate it because it takes 4-5 hours over a broadband connection to download a movie, also the movies start at 25 bucks a pop. Not sure if that is a rental or you own it, but either way pricey.

My current setup at home is a $279 dollar LCD Insignia 40 inch TV from best buy, a time warner cable box, and a 35 dollar chromecast.

I'm plenty happy with that and don't plan on upgrading any time soon either.

But if I was looking for a way to spend money, I could figure out how to do it for sure.

 

[D189379]

I had to replace the main board on my Samsung plasma. $120 + shipping.

 

[Rand]

I have a busted samsung for sale

I has 2 patches of green moss on the screen and some minor ghosting

anyone need parts?

my panasonic 1080p 42" plasma is still fairly amazing.. however if you turn the brightness up it uses 290W
on "normal" brightness which is anemic in a bright room(great at night) its 150W

The best reason for plasma is motion, sports etc.

they still look the best even against 1200$ LED tv's (the plasma was 550$ on sale 4 years ago)

I havent seen to many 2000$+ hdtv to compare it to.

You do have drawbacks as many have mentioned.

 

[dja4260]

I have a 50 inch Samsung 720 plasma. I've owned it for 3 years. I had the panel replaced once under warranty and now a single vertical line has gone bad. It's not noticeable but I know it's there! My next TV will be a LED of some sort.