A few weeks ago my Samsung 46″ LCD TV starting acting up. It’s just over two years old (Model Number LN-T4665F), but that’s long enough to be out of the warranty period. Every once in a while purple dots would cover the picture, but if you turned the TV off and then back on, the dots would go away.
Right around the same time the TV had another issue where it would power on a couple times before the picture would actually appear on the screen. The Samsung plays a start up sound when you first press power on your remote. Normally the picture appears shortly after the start up sound, but my TV would play the sound two or three times before the picture would appear.
A Google search turned up a number of people with the same symptoms. AVS Forum has a huge thread on this series of Samsung LCD’s, and includes a bunch of advice on how to fix the problem. Long story short, you need to replace some bad capacitors on the power supply board.
Step one is opening up the TV. There are a bunch of screws to remove on the back, don’t forget the big wall mount bolts. Here’s a picture with the back cover removed.
And here is a close up of the bad capacitors.
I replaced three of these (total cost was < $6 at Fry’s). The bad ones are the medium sized black capacitors with a bulge on top. I put everything back together and the TV is working great!
UPDATE: Several readers have been able to get Samsung to fix this issue even if your set is out of warranty. Read the comments below for more information.
Wow! That is a pretty gutsy move!
Mike,
I trying finding the capacitors on Fry, but could not locate them by the TV model number. How did you know which capacitor worked for your TV? My model is LN-T4066F.
Thanks.
Amy
You’ll need to take your TV apart and see which capacitors are bad. You can look at the numbers on the bad part to find the ones you need.
Thanks. You’re so smart!!!
How do you know which ones are bad?
@Jeff – The tops of the bad ones bulge up, the good ones have flat tops. You should be able to see it in the last picture.
I have the TV and model 4665F with the same problem . It started after the TV was 2 years old. Customer Service told me Samsung will only fix this model if it was purchased after Oct. 2007. I bought mine in June. I still think Samsung should fix it but it looks as if it can be fixed by a local repair person. I have all your information.
Thanks
@Janet – Hopefully it won’t cost that much – the parts (for my repair) were only a few dollars. Labor shouldn’t be more than 1 hour if it’s the same problem.
Mike,
I have a 52″ that is doing the same thing. What capacitors did you buy? Do you have a p/n or link for the ones you bought at Fry’s.
Best,
Alex
@Alex – I don’t, but it’s not always the same ones that go bad. You’ll need to open up your TV and check it out.
Are the capacitors plug and pull, or do they need to be soldered?
Thanks
How easy was it to take off the back of your TV, too?
@Dave – The caps need to be soldered. The back was easy to take off, just a bunch of Phillips screws.
Mike,
I really appreciate you putting this on your blog. I may be back soon for some more detailed information. I see myself doing this for a customer of mine. THANKS!
I’ve never soldered before……this isnt a big deal is it? Can I do this myself or should I take it in? Thanks….very helpful sight.
Hi,
I work for a law firm that is investigating complaints of clicking and power cycling in Samsung LCD and plasma HDTVs. We have spoken with several Samsung TV owners who have similar experiences to the one described in this post. If you would like to share your story with us to help with our investigation, please feel free to give me a call at the firm’s toll-free number (866) 981-4800 or email me at jwh [at] GirardGibbs [dot] com.
Thanks,
John
Thanks Mike,
My Samsung TV is having the same problem. Is there any danger or precautions that should be taken in doing this change?
Darrell
@Trey – This is probably easier than a lot of other electronic parts you could solder, but you should probably practice on some spare parts before going at it on your TV.
You can find some soldering tutorials on Google or YouTube.
@Darrell – There are a bunch of places inside the TV that could cause electric shock if you touch them. Make sure the TV is unplugged and give it some time for the capacitors to discharge before you poke around too much. Of course you could always break your TV too.
THANKS MIKE! Google returned your page and our TV’s symptoms matched yours. I opened it up and the three capacitors had dome shaped tops. I replaced them with some 1000 microfarad/35 volt caps I got from Rad Shack and it is working perfectly. It took all of 4 dollars and a couple of hours. Thanks for your excellent article!
BTW… I heard that these are part of a bad batch of caps that has made it into other electronic products as well, which are failing now too.
@Rod – You’re welcome!
Hey Mike,
I have the exact model as you and the same three capacitors that are blown, however; I’m having some trouble figuring out (never bought capacitors before) what they are exactly on Fry’s website. Any chance you could post the link you used to order yours?
@Eric – I don’t remember the exact ones I bought. You should see some numbers on the side of the cap that can help you find the right ones.
I considered doing this work myself, but called Samsung support first (1-800-726-7864) and I was told I qualify for a free one time repair. I’m far outside my warranty (my LNT5265 is over 3 years old now) but am looking forward to letting someone else do the work. I don’t know if I qualify because I’ve never called before or because it is a known issue with bad capacitors, but it may be worth a try for all.
@Josh – Good to know, thanks!
Mike,
Thanks a bunch for this post. Fixed my TV today for under $5 in parts. Took about an hour to do.
Mike:
I was reading the comments today on the Samsung tv problems which exactly match mine on my three year old lcd set. I read Josh’s post about calling Samsung and decided to give it a try as well and lo and behold I also am getting a free one time service call from a Samsung contractor that will come to my house and repair the set (capacitors) . I’ll let you know the outcome. Thanks for the info.
Man, your post is the best. First search and first read on the internet. I cracked open my LNS4051 to take a peak. The TV wasn’t even turning on anymore. As soon as I took a look, I noticed 4 bad caps. Hopped on over to the shack and got me some new ones. Soldered in the new ones and the TV works like brand new. All for less than $7. Pretty much saved me $200. Thanks a ton!
My tv is doing the same exact thing with the dots, and it takes a while to show a picture after being turnedon. It’s 3 years old. It’s been doing it for a while, but I thought it had something to do with comcast. Samsung is coming out Monday to fix it. I will be extremely pissed if they charge me. We spent almost $3,000 on it. I will never make that mistake again.
Great news on the purple dot issue. I have a LNT4665F and it started with the purple dot issue. It then started turning off and on by itself. I called Samsung( 1-800-726-7864) about the issue and they treated me with great respect and was very appoligetic. They told me that they were aware of the problem and offer a 1 time free repair. The repair is generaly done in your home. Samsung did tell me that they even take care of the bill outside your warrenty. I hope this helps.
Chris
Not the response I got. I called the same number, the guy offered to refer me to a local service center and pretty much said I was SOL. They didn’t offer to pay for their faulty TV or offer any compensation. Wouldn’t even escalate the call for.
Guess I’ll be having to fix this problem my self despite this being their defective product.
Just called Samsung, there was def an issue with the caps in this series (LN-T4066F), and they offered to repair for free
Of course, didn’t write down the serial, but I’m willing to do it myself
I’m trying to track down the exact the exact values for this, they didn’t have and gave me the parts dept # (800 627-4368). Going to try and call them now…
Anyone have the exact values? Best I could find so far are 2 1000 microfarad, 4 1000 microfarad (not sure the diff between the 2 types, diff voltages maybe?) and a 220 microfarad
Mike, I have the same exact three bad capacitors on my 4665. Can you tell me the model number and spec? i think it is 10 volt and 1000 uf but i need more info. Are they eletrolytic? What is the case size?
thanks
@frank – Sorry, I don’t remember which ones I bought.
Mike:
Thanks, your blog is great. Spent several hours reading through other blogs where all people were doing was complaining. Starting to think I was either going to have to buy a new TV? Then I found your web site start doing reading and realized three capacitors I should be able to do this. What the worst I could do break it even more?
Then I found “Josh’s” comment on “January 28, 2011 at 1:29 pm” so I called Samsung and found that problem was under a one-time service call warranty and they are sending out a technician who will fix my TV. I’ll let you know how it all turns out after the technician as come by.
Having the clicking/long time to turn on the television (LN-T4665F) and purple dots issue and found this site.
I just called the service dept (800 627-4368) and was also offered a free one-time repair as long as the issue matched what I was describing and it only required a capacitor replacement.
Great job owning up to the issue Samsung! Cust service was extremely helpful. Just hoping everything works out with the repair …should be hearing from them in next 2 business days.
After reading this blog, I called Samsung and they are sending out a repair tech FREE OF CHARGE (only if it is the capacitor issue, otherwise I would have to pay for the repair). The rep indicated that, for certain models, they recognize the capacitor issue as a manufacturing defect and has extended the warranty to 3 years. A big thanks to Mike who initiated this blog and to everyone who contributed.
The Samsung Serviceman just left and my TV is a good as new. It took the serviceman longer to take the back off the TV then it did to replace the capacitors. Total time form when the serviceman walked in the door to when he left was 17 minutes. I am sure glad I read this blog and made the call to Samsung.
I just called in to 1-800 627-4368 and was given the your “SOL” line. Model TV LN-T4661F. Had to repeat myself a number of times giving my information, customer support was NOT very helpful in this case. I’ll try calling back to get a different rep.
Called back a 2nd time, and received a better answer. There’s no one time support call for that model of Television even though it’s displaying the same issues as the 4665F. Guess I’m going down to radio shack.
I found your link when my 46″ Samsung LCD TV developed the dreaded purple dots. I called Samsung and they said that I was not covered under the one time fix as I bought the TV in July 2007 (so much for helping out the customer). So I decided to try and fix it myself. I bought 3 capacitors 1000 microfarad ( I had to buy 50 volt ones as capacitors seem hard to find in Ontario).
When I pulled the TV apart 3 of them were bulging just like in the picture on this web site. The replacements were a bit big but I was able to fit them in and when I put everything back together it worked great, no purple dots or power cycling.
The repair cost $6 and about an hour of my time. Thanks for the info posted on this site. Dave
called samsung (1800-726-7864) and they sent out a tech for free to fix it. My TV is 4 years old and out of warranty.
this is why i will buy another samsung! great customer service.
The purple dots just started recently on my tv (LNT4665FX), which I purchased in July 2007. Samsung was no help to me.
I found that Active Surplus in Toronto has boxes of 16v 1000uf for 50 cents, and 25v 1000uf for $1.
Ive bought a samsung with the cycle clicking symtoms from the junk yard, there are three capacitors that look slightly bulgy, but not really bad. im hoping if i replace them i can have a 42′ plasma tv.
I called samsung at the number provided and got denied for the one time service because my TV did not display all the symptoms. I told them i was only experiencing purple dots, my model LNT5265FX
****Important, to get samsung to do the free house call you must tell them you are experiencing Purple Dots, a Clicking Noise, TV powering on and off by itself, and a longer than normal powering on time. if you only tell them a few symptoms you will get denied******
Just called Samsung about the purple dots and the service tech said they would NOT do a onetime service call. I would have to call a local service person. I have always been a huge supporter of Samsung but because of this issue we will not buy another. Why not take responsibility and prove that you have excellent customer service? Seems so simple but it come down to $$$$$!
Thanks a bunch. Just swapped out 5 capacitors with 1000uF, 35 volt from Radioshack. They are not the high temp ones, but we’ll see. I watched the youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNHHrgX_6cs&feature=related and it was easy as pie. My wife thought I was crazy until she saw the results. Very happy!
My tv had all of the symptoms. Model LN T4665F. Samsung told me that they have now established a 3 year limit on these “free repairs”. Customer service was horrible. Not to mention that I could not even remotely understand “Chad”. I always thought Samsung was the one to look up to in electronics. Needless to say, they have lost me as a customer.
Called Samsung and they blew me off….tried to tell me it was magnetic interference. Jerks….and I could forget about any “one-time” or any kind of a fix.
So I took your advice and swapped out four bad caps. Put the set back together, and presto….no picture. Bummer. So I took the back back off and lo and behold…I forgot to hook back up two leads. This even with a picture I’d taken with my camera before disconnecting them. So I hooked them up and abracadabra: back in business again.
I’d never soldered crap before in my life, but it was easy (thanks Ernesto for that link). Thanks for the clue, Mike.