Samsung TV makes a strange clicking sound
My Samsung TV (52″ LCD) started clicking several times before finally switching on after 30 seconds, this relay clicking gradually got worse each time I turned the set on. ( It turns out that this is quite a common problem with Samsung TV’s of all sizes). The problem seems to start after the TV is a year or two old (normally outside guarantee) and sounds like a relay clicking on and off. Samsung deny there is a design problem, so I thought rather than spend money on an engineer, I would try and fix the problem myself.
I thought the first place to look for a problem like this is in the power supply.
- I unscrewed the back cover of the TV (20 screws)
- Removed the metal cover of the power supply (4 screws)
- I carefully looked over the power supply looking for anything out of the ordinary, low and behold I could see a few capacitors (the cylindrical shaped components) that had raised tops. These raised tops are caused when the capacitor breaks down and forms hydrogen gas, if left, eventually the capacitors will blow, and hopefully the top will split open and release the gas pressure, if not, they may just explode.
Check out Capacitor Lab for more details on what to look for when a capacitor fails.
I checked out the replacement cost of a new power supply board, I couldn’t find the exact power supply online but this company has ones for smallers TV starting at around £160. So I was guessing it would be around £200 for a new one. Ouch, definately time to DIY.
I decided to replace all the capacitors in the power supply, I guessed if some were bad, then probably Samsung use cheap or poorly designed capacitors and at some point the others would go bad too. and replacing all the capacitors wouldn’t cost much more .
Each Capacitor has 3 important values
- The capacitance measured in μF (micro farads) eg (1000μF)
- Voltage (eg 50V)
- Temperature (eg 105°C)
This particular Power Supply Unit (PSU) has 3 different types.
- 1000μF 105°C at 10V
- 1000μF 105°C at 25V
- 47uF 105°C at 50V
RS Components have a good selection, so I opted to buy from there. It cost about £12 including postage for a 5 pack of each of the capacitors. I took a few photos of the circuit board so I wouldn’t forget what I was doing and set to work.
I re-opened the TV, and completely removed the Power Supply Circuit Board, you need to remove several connectors, again, I took some photos just in case I couldn’t work out where they all went when putting it back together. I made sure the Power Supply didnt have any residual power stored in the capacitors by unplugging the TV (whilst it was turned on) from the plug. This is very important as messing with a power supply even 30 minutes after it has been turned off can still give you a nasty shock.
I then drew a simple diagram marking the polarity of each capacitor. To remove each capacitor takes a little time, you need to heat each pin using a soldering iron and whilst it is still molten pull or wiggle each leg out in turn. I found it easiest when I used the other leg as a pivot and rotate the capacitor around the fixed leg.
Anyway once removed, you I used the de-solder pump to clean up any solder that was clogging up the hole and then I inserted a new capacitor (checking the values again) and making sure the polarity was same as the one I had just removed. turning the board over, I bent the pins a little, soldered the joints, and snipped off any left over wire.
I put the board back in and hey-presto it all worked beautifully. Job took about 2 hours in total and excluding tools £12 for the components and postage.
[Added 21th May 2009]
If you snap off the solder connector on the PCB when doing this replacement, it is worth noting that you can re-attach your component in another place as long as it is electrically equal. The Red Line in the diagram below shows where an existing component was, this component could then be re-soldered into any of the positions marked in green. But in the case of a capacitor which has + positive and – negative legs, you must make sure that the leg is re-attached to the same track, I have marked with a + plus sign which track it must be re-attached too.
[Added 7th Dec 2009]]
After replacing the capacitors a few people are still having problems, it appears that this can be fixed by resetting the EPROM chip (apparently – a simple matter of shorting two of the pins). http://www.tv.quuq.org/forum/index.php?topic=2377
and http://www.tv.quuq.org/forum/index.php?topic=1744.0 both detail the procedure, although it hasn’t worked for everyone who tried it. (Thanks to Jason for these links)
[Added 10th March 2010]
You are not alone, there have been almost 65,000 visits to this page in the last year. The answers to many of the questions people are asking are scattered through the previous comments, Most people with little experience have been successful in fixing their TV’s although for a few, it didn’t work, the symptoms were similar but cause was different. A few of the more recent comments reveal that people are becoming more successful with getting Samsung to repair their TV’s, its definitely worth trying before you launch into a self fix.
[Added 28th June 2010]
Before attempting repairs yourself it is probably worth trying to see if Samsung will repair the TV for you, Samsung seem to now accept (unofficially at least ) that there is a defect in these capacitors, and in an increasing number of cases will send out an engineer to fix them. Skim through the comments below to get more info.. A polite but assertive approach seems to yield best results, remember they are in the wrong and there is plenty of consumer law in most countries covering their liabilites and responsibilities.
If you fail to get Samsung to repair it, 100′s of people have had success with the replacement fix I describe above, a few of the failures are probably due to similar symptoms but a different fault. Again if you are unsure read some of the 100′s of comments below
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Hmmm, not sure if it depends on which call center receives your call, but they are not willing to offer the free capacitor replacement at home for my LNT 4661 TV – based on serial number they find it manufactured in July 07, where as their free replacement is only for models manufactured Oct’07 or later – their reason the manufacturing problem with capacitors was tested positive in that range. I offered to go with you replace it free if its a capacitor problem, otherwise I will pay the service fee – but the floor supervisor is not willing to negotiate at all – stating my tv based on manufacturing date does not meet their criteria for free out of warranty repair. Guess folks like me have to sue them for discriminating against manufacturing date, as the problem pretty obviously seems to be the same bad capacitors issue as the models they are fixing free for certain consumers.
I da same problem with Samsong TV clicking, contacte Currys surplier and quoted EU extendid warranty (check website for same) very interesting. Currys came back to me with phone number for Samsong who agreed to repair same free of charge
April 25th, 2010, I bought a 42″ SAMSUNG PLASMA TV at CURRY’S, white city retail park. I’ve only had it for a week, hardly watch it and on 4 occasions I’ve heard clicking sounds when it’s in off mode.. The tv has a frying sound and a grey screen. It then clicks again and turns off. Considering the fact that so many forums have outlined the problem, I wonder what will SAMSUNG do and what will happen when I phone Curry’s later today.
Ian, what was the phone number for the repair? Thanks in advance
I’ve had this problem for a few weeks and found this site this morning.
Phoned samsung support rather than having a bash myself.
The TV was bought in Aug 2007.
They aggred to fix the TV free of charged – without me asking.
The repair company are coming out in 2 days.
Samsung support: 0845 726 7864
Hope this helps someone else
*** IMPORTANT ***
I have just spoke with Samsung and after mentioning the word ‘CLICKING’ the customer service guy went into the following spiel, “Samsung are currently investigating issues with ‘clicking’ on some of their TV’s, in the mean time we are offering a FREE OF CHARGE repair service.”
If you have a TV over 37″ they will come to your house and repair, under that you have to take it to an autorised repair centre. The guy said they should be with me within 3 working days. The number to call is 01932 454358, found this number rather than calling a premium rate one!
I have just talked to a “customer serv rep” and a total waste of my time once again. The speel is that Samsung Canada does not recogise this problem and there is NO warranty for this serial no.A model LNS 4041DX. Is there anyone out there in Canada that had any satisfaction with Samsung re this clicking problem? Looks like other parts of the world mainly UK from the postings I read, seems to have better results.
I was also advised to go on their web site Samsung.ca I have e mailed regarding this problem to their “customer complaint” and their answer was as expected same old retoric about no warranty.
I just called Samsung and like previous posters said, the second I mentioned “clicking” they transferred me to a “cover our asses” rep and she immeditely set me up with a service order # and forwarded my info to the closest repair shop and she said they (the repair place) will call me within 1 business day to set up a repair time. She said it was FREE, but for copacitors issues only, which she said mine sounded like. I’ll post again with progress.
So just called the repair place, they are coming out tomorrow. I asked the lady about the price and she said yeah it is FREE if it’s the capictors which she said all of them they have fixed have been. She said SAMSUNG is keeping them very busy. She did say though if it wasn’t that, they would charge $75 to disagnose the problem.
The repair person came today and was here like 20 minutes. He removed 2 capacitors and replaced them. TV is now working like it was before this issue started.
He left the capacitors he removed. Here are the specs on those:
10 V
2200 uf
105 C
We just completed the repair for the problem. It cost us $1.15 and it was so easy. Thank you for the instructions.
E-mail from SAMSUNG about the problem:
“The original capacitors in some 2007-2008 Samsung LCD televisions had the incorrect voltage. The new capacitors that were replaced have the correct voltage and you should not have any further problems with the television not being able to power on correctly. Please contact me if you have any further questions or issues with your Samsung televsion.”
Is there a US phone number?
I also just called the Samsung repair number and had no issues. I told her the model number and the problem. She researched it and asked for serial number. I gave it and she read me a little thing about power on problems or power on and off clicking and said it was a one time free service and if it was found to be something else they would charge. She asked if I agreed and then set me up with a service center for repair. Very easy.
1-800-SAMSUNG (800-726-7864).
Great info. I was able to find two bad capacitors but replaced 6 more in the vicinity and the TV is working great. I totally agree that SAMSUNG planned it that way the bad capacitors were 2200uf 10 volts but the power supply is 12 volts. I used 15 volt caps. thanks for the info here.
Is there anyone out there in CANADA/Ontario who had any success calling and resolving this clicking problem with Samsung? I would really appreciate to know. Calling the 1-800 no is absolutely useless, have called this no. several times and its always the same retoric, out of warranty cannot help. TV started clicking shortly after 2 years new.
To author “Brian” what Samsung no did you call and where are you located. Its seems that in the UK and US they are more cooperative and was even told by the rep? that this is a Canadian company policy? what a joke.
To author DANIEL
Read your post regarding E mail from Samsung acknowlidging problem with 2007-8 TV with cap. problems. My LN40 is right in this bracket and would like to know what mail daddress you used and if anyone signed it so perhaps I could send this person my concerns. I have in the past weeks sent mail to their customer service and the same reply NO HELP out of warranty. They obviously are using different criteria depending who happends to get your call or where you are calling from which they know as they require you phone no.
Is this not crazy at this point, there must be 10′s of thousands of people with this issue. I personally have had 2 services on my tv both to replace bad capacitors. The first time was my personally bought warranty service. The 2nd time was samsung service offering free warranty service. The tech changed all of my capacitors and personally admitted that the tvs were made with less than sufficient capacitors.
UNreal….
I’m sorry to hear all these unheard and/or dismissed complaints from mostly honest and hard working people that bought TVs from these “A” holes at Samsung, and the only thing that this dishonest and corrupt company will pay attention to is a class action lawsuit like the one brewing over here in the US; not to scare you, Samsung has cornered 80 percent of the world TV market and we better not let them get away with selling us defective TVs that barely last the warranty period on purpose (unless they are total idiots). If you live in the US you may want to contact a law firm like LIEFF CABRASER HEIMANN & BERNSTEIN, LLP at URL: http://www.lieffcabraser.com
To those living in other countries, please do not take this laying down; contact your local government or a law firm and STOP BUYING SAMSUNG PRODUCTS! By all accounts, there are hundreds of thousands (if not in the millions) of these defective TVs sold all over the world that have reported the same symptoms of the clicking sounds, and Samsung giving the biggest out warranty runaround.
Best of luck!
I followed the first post and worked like a charm. I even bought my Capacitor from R. Shack they were(1000μF) and 35v but were only 85 c rather then 105 c working fine for now about a week. Just wanted to say THANKS a lot for the help Just follow his direction and you can fix your tv for around $6.00
Thank you Galacid on 4th May post – I have been having the same problems with my TV, it took 23 minutes of clicking before it came on this morning. I phoned the number advised and they are sending out someone to repair it free of charge in the next 3 days.
Brilliant!
I have a 42″ Samsung plasma tv that is also makeing the clicking sound I called the 800 # listed above and I was told the plasma tv aren’t having this problem and unfortunately mine too is out of warranty anyone know who at samsung I can contact this will actually stand behind their product? I can’t believe these companies are allowed to charge the kind of money they do and not have to take care of things like this everthing you buy now days is junk and the prices keep going up!
Thankyou Galacid, Ihave a 10month old 42″ with the clicking sound, phoned 01932 454358 as you suggested Samsung have arranged an engineer to call tomorrow to sort the issue. I was telephoned back to confirm an engineer will contact me tomorrow to confirm 2 hour window of his arrival. Will let you know outcome. Many thanks for your help, Jonno
This is a very interesting forum. My 25 months old 42″ Plasma, ( no extended warranty) has developed the clicking problem after being on for only 20 minutes. The exact same problem that has been reported on here and other forums. I have been in touch with Samsung expecting a service call with free repair. They readily accept there is a known problem with LCD models, but refuse to accept responsibility for Plasma models. They tell me that although the problem is the same, it is different and therefore will not accept responsibility.The lady from Samsung escalation team has told me that Head office refuse to accept there is a problem with there Plasma TVs
I phoned the local Samsung Service Centre asking how much this repair will cost and have been advised the power supply board will cost around £150 plus cost of repairs. The LCD TVs are a quicker cheaper fix, but the Plasmas are more expensive and difficult to do. They also told me that they see as many plasmas in for this repair as the LCD models.
I am contacting BBC watchdog regarding this issue, and I would be grateful if any other Samsung Plasma TV owners with this problem, even ones who have already paid for their repairs, contact the program with their complaints, regarding the discrimination Samsung are showing against Plasm TV owners.
I forgot to add the link for BBC watchdog
http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/gotastory/
thank you your post helped me brought tv december o7
went rong nov 08 not turning on? then march 10 same thing spoke to samsang mad a fuss they are going to fix free of charge? thay no this is a desine falt? good luck all 08457267864 ex nomber 1
give them hell? my old telly was 12 years old and still going! so much for hi tec a!!
bee carefull
plesk9 great what you put on this site
but if you cock up the telly its a dustbin job,
because no repair man will touch it arfter ant samsung will not repair if jo blogs has a go.
i was going to repair my self,then thought no! i payed a lot of money for this telly,only to see them come down by 2 thirds,why should i loose more money, how much have thay made to cut 1/3 of the price in a year, people stick to your guns,thay took the piss, and now have to pay,if all fails go for the repair,because the way things are going,these tellys will come free with a big mac! soon, REMBER GIVE THEM HELL, IT WORKS?
We have recently moved to Australia and the same thing has happened to our UK bought 40 LCD tv – 3 years old. Has completely stopped working. Started off taking 10 mins to come on and eventually gave up the ghost. Does anyone know if there is an Australian number we can call to get ours repaired? Thanks in advance.
Ireland: Have had the same problem over the last few weeks and was a bit horrified when seeing the extent of this issue and never hearing about it until it happened to me. TV is 2 and half years old model is LE40R74BD. Rang Samsung direct ready for heated debate on Saturday afternoon and after 18minutes waiting on crap hold with repeating sales pitches, got through to guy in Scotland call centre. Straight away after mentioning clicking and the website (www.avforum.com) and the 18,000 entries on it about this issue, the CSR went stright into setting up a free of charge service call to get the issue repaired within the week. so far so good! astonished to the extent of the problem though! Phone number for anyone else from Ireland is 0818 717 100 – engineers to fix it are Keltech Electronics Dublin @ 01 286 337
Best of luck
Well, the capacitor bug hit my 52″650 today. Thanks to this website I was able to call Samsung and they are going to cover the repair as a courtesy repair.
I’ll post up what kind of results I get from it but it’s good to know I will not have to take it apart myself.
I have the same problem. I cal ed the 800 number, and Samsung setup a one time free fix and they are sending the techs to the house.
If they are saying that this is not a common problem they are lying as my TV won’t even turn on now It is still under warranty as they come with a 3yr warranty in Australia However its been now 4 weeks and the repairer has only just called me to say they got the parts to come and fix it. NOW if its not a common problem then how did the Repairer know what to order WITHOUT having seen the TV?
Margaret the number here in Australia is 1300 362 603 get ready for a 4 week wait for them to get the parts to fix your tv though, that’s Samsungs number they will give you the number for the closest repair center to your house.
Well my wife went to turn on the tv and it started clicking. My first question was what did you do, her answer was turned it on. She found this page and told me she though this may be the fix. I removed the back and there they were, two caps that had failed. I ran to frys and got two new caps $4.00. installed caps tv works great. Told her I was sorry for the way I blamed her for breaking the tv. I should have asked samsung what they did, this is a great site was VERY helpful, just want to say thanks for a very informative postings. tim…….
Unfortunately, I had to come to this webpage as well. I just turned the TV on and it started clicking. I had to remove power cable from back to stop that noise. I called Samsung number but they are are not working at this hours.
Is there any advise you want to offer while talking to this folks ? I’m very disappointed to know that this is such a wide problem.
Hi.
My TV Model # is HPT5054. Samsung USA tells me that it is not on their “list” of defective product and I would need to cover the cost of repair.
I do not think that is fair or right. I’m bugged and not happy about their attitude. Did anyone had success around this problem ?
Thanks
I have a 46″ LNT4661F that we bought back in Nov 2008. I tried calling Samsung a couple weeks ago and got nowhere after telling them my warranty was expired. I tried telling them about this forum and that some people who were in the same predicament I was in were able to get 1 time free repairs to fix the capacitor/power supply problem but they only gave me the numbers of their accredited repair shops and that I had to pay for the full repair.
My cousin knows how to solder and after following the guide above, we found 3 swollen 10V, 1000 microF, 105 C capacitors and bought the 3 replacement capacitors (1000 microF, 105 C, 16V) at a local electronic parts store for a total of $2.71 Canadian and fixed the TV. It seems that those of us in Canada are getting the shaft in terms of help from Samsung so I highly recommend you DIY. It was a fairly easy task. Good Luck!
I have never filed a lawsuit in my life but I believe its time for a class action suit to be filed for the plasma tv’s my repair is costing me 250.00 it looks like its the power supply and the repairman looked into it and it is a common problem.
Hey Wessik from Calgary, Canada …your first mistake was to admit your warranty was expired.
For anyone else…let Samsung decide that point. When I called, I told the lady on the phone it started clicking and sounds like the capacitor issue they have been having. She immediately got very nice and scheduled the free out of warranty repair without me even having to ask.
Having the same problem (clicking on and off and getting worse). It started during the second year. My husband called customer service and was told that Model number and serial number was not covered in the ‘curtsy repair’. We have model LN-T4665F with a manufacture date of July 2007. I would like to know if there is ANY ONE that has gotten the curtsy repair on that TV model or manufacture date….Also, I have contacted the Attorney listed above to file our complaint against Samsung. I advise EVERYONE with this complaint go to their website and file a complaint. It was quick and easy, just need your model number, serial number, and year your tv was manufactured. Paid $2200 for this!?
Does anyone have the name of Law Firm that is dealing with a class action law suit. Samsung here in Canada refuses to admit that there is a recall and will only refer you to a service center. I paid $1400 2/12 years ago for a pice of junk ( 40 in LCD) and I wont let this go that easy.
Samsung seems to be more sympathetic in other parts of the globe such as UK and US? but here in CANADA as soon as they get your fone no. they know where you are located and the “speech” changes thats been my experience so far..
Finally! Repairman came out, two caps puffed out, 5 minute fix, TV is good as new again. I will give Samsung props for fixing this being as I am over a year out of warranty.
I called samsung @ 1-800-726-7863 i told them what problem i was having, they are sending a technician out for free, if it is in fact the capacitors they will fix it for free. its a one time free fix
I would like to sincerely say “Thank you” for not only providing the information required but also the pictures. I was able to fix my POS Samsung TV for $3.00 thanks to you. I would love to buy you a cup of coffee. I just don’t know how to do that….lemme know and it will be on its way! Thanks again!
Finally, they agreed to do the free repair after the 4 th call(in a week) to 1800SAMSUNG. I tried and tried to get this done. Every time, I just explained what the problem was and was asked to provide model # and Serial # and when they say it is not covered and I just simply hung up the phone and tried the next day. Angela is customer rep who took my final call and provided me with a one time free repair and was told if it was not capacitor issue they will charge me for the service visit, I said I am OK with that. by the way, I bought this LNT-4665F for $2200 from Amazon and I am over a year out of warranty.
I just got off the phone with Samsung and what a surprise, they are sending out a serviceman to repair the TV. No hassle or excuses. The only catch is they will pay all costs related to the capacitor issue, but if found to be anything else you pay those costs. Sound like a fair resolution to me. I called 1-800-samsung. Info: My model was the LNT467 LCD, 3 years old. It had been clicking for the last year or so, but after taking 3 hours to come on the other day I called.
AK, what was the manufacture date of your LNT-4665F? That is the same model I own and of course with the same problem….and when my husband called they said it wasn’t included in the free capacitor repair. Ours has a manufacture date of 7/2007
PAM, I also have the same model and they repaired mine for free, my manufactur date was NOV, 2007. From what I have heard the earliest date they admit a problem for was OCT, 2007 manufacture date.
Pam A, Mine is also 7/2007 model. This morning service rep called me and asked me to call SAMSUNG to get the confirmation as they did not receive any such for free repair…so I called and now SAMSUNG saying they cannot cover the model as mine is not in the date range that they are doing it for free. After a lot of argument, they forwarded my case to corporate desk to see if they can help… fingers crossed.. waiting…
Here is the info of the person I dealt with through SAMSUNG to get my TV repaired:
Tanya Novak
Samsung Service Advisor
1-800-726-7864
eFax: (864) 752-1561
Hours: 12:15 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. EST, Fri. – Tues.
E-mail: snapsa_ag07@sea.samsung.com
http://www.samsung.com