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
If this has been useful to you, and you would like to buy me a coffee, or help towards my monthly server costs please click here to make a donation via paypal.
UPDATE: Samsung is not fixing my LN46A550 TV because even though it is turning on and off, BECAUSE there is NO clicking sound and the CAPACITORS are NOT bulging. The tech says I am not covered for a new MOTHERBOARD and I must PAY $300.00+ to have it fixed. I’m fighting this. I will call Samsung EVERY day. I will leave BAD REVIEWS on EVERY website. I will go and complain to SEARS. I will join the class action lawsuit.
This is exactly what happned to our LCD Samsung tv. I was given the same estimate. What can we do. We only had it for four years. Is hardly used because its not our main tv.
Wow …. I think I bought a disposavle television. I will not be buying samsung electoronics after this and I will pass it on to everyone I know. I hate getting taken.
I have the same problem called samsung and they just give you the runaround one person says yes we will replace it then you waite to here from them and they dont call back so you call back and they say well your tv is off waranty so there is nothing they can do what a crock from my point of view i will never buy any samsung product againe no matter what it is
Hi again guys I posted my on off problem earlier and I was lucky that Samsung sorted mine for free even though the TV was well outside of warranty. I think it may be because we have the SOGA here (slae of goods act).
Anyway I think it is very bad of Samsung to avoid fixing all these TV problems regardless of if they are a little out of warranty of not. SAMSUNG, you really need to respond HERE.
I will seriously consider NOT buying Samsung again now.
P.S. Samsung sent a TV repair firm out who spent 15 minutes max opening my TV and replacing the whole board with a refurbished one. It was a very simple job, a dozen or so screws for the back of the TV, 5 or 6 for the board.
If Samsung won’t help you and like me you dont feel comfortable soldering capacitors maybe try replacing the whole board, ebay seem to have loads on there around the £30 mark. Just something to consider before shelling out hundreds of pounds.
Good luck
Samsung in general all their apparatus including TVs mobiles are not of good quality and when they break which is often (even more than chinese products) they cannot really fix them. Their parts are cheap and is only their glossy shiny tricky outside that looks good. European products for me anytime.
My 46 inch TV is doing clicking sounds until it starts after 2 minutes. This is a well known problem for Samsung TVS (capasitors on power supply) and some places is repaired from Samsung even off warranty free of charge.
In Cyprus they ignore you on this problem which so many have it that it should cause a recall.
I strongly advice all never to buy any Samsung product.
http://www.avforums.com/forums/lcd-led-lcd-tvs/855786-le40r74bdx-power-issue.html
http://www.earthinfo.org/samsung-tv-makes-a-strange-clicking-sound/.
Hi all,
I called Samsung Canada today and it seems like they are finally up on their game. I told them what is going on with the clicking. And within minutes, they apologise, gave me a transaction number, referred me to my nearest service center and said that they will cover the cost if it indeed is the problems with the capacitor. So i will update you again when the repair is done (if it goes smoothly).
Freeman
AFter visiting Sears website, I saw that Sears has a coupon right now to receive 10% off towards home repair service:
http://services.sears.com/shs/campaign/repair_coupon?intcmp=repair_coupon&sid=HSRx20100607xSectTest
Sears has been more helpful to me in this TV matter than Samsung.
I posted earlier saying I have MODEL HL61A650c1f and what sounded like the same clicking sound. I had a repair guy out to look at it and he said that the problem was the power supply and ballast. He came out today with the parts and fixed it. I also need a new lamp. I wanted to post this for other users that had the same model number.
The repair guy said that the DLP won’t have the same problem as the DLP when it comes to the capacitors. I wish that Samsung would have given more information on the problem or why it couldn’t have affected my TV other than it wasn’t part of the model/serial numbers that were covered. Good luck to all of you out there!
Hi all
I had a problem with my 42″ tv samsung LE40R8 i bought this tv in Feb 2008 and two years and 6 months later the dreaded clicking sound came then finally bang no picture at all just clicking trying to turn on and off. Thanks to all at this forum i got onto samsung via phone call which took 30mins to get through, but hey presto they took the model details serial number e.t.c and said they would get an engineer round to fix the tv free of charge. The next day phone call from engineer came today (12th aug) checked the tv capacitors gone of course will be back on sat to finish job so fingers crossed. I belive now that samsung know they have a big problem with these capacitors on there tvs and are now doing something about beause of all the bad publicity. When i rang samsung i did refer to a programme on the BBC channel called watchdog, who i said were looking into the situation.
Good luck to you all.If you have a problem with the clicking and tv not coming on just mention the capacitors to them, belive me they will know.
Update on my TV.
He came, he changed (the capacitors), he cured the problem….all FREE OF CHARGE….I’m cured of my pissy-ness…
Thanks for the encouraging comments. I will contact Samsung to help fix my similar problem with on off delay. I have the LNT4065 and over past two years the red specks have increased. Sometimes only vertical gray and black lines appear.
finally my 40″ LCD Samsung Tv fixed by the service technician sent by Samsung at no charge. replaced 4 bad design capacitor.No more clicking noise. I would call them again (maybe)because I have a year old LCD Samsung TV not showing a clicking noise at this time. I’m not going to buy Samsung TV anymore!
Hi all
Just to let you all know the engineer came from Samsung today (sat) he replaced the whole circuit board on the tv LE40R8 and said this model had a lot of problems with the capacitors.So call Samsung direct if in the UK on 01932 454358 just give them model, serial number, e.t.c. It worked for me called them on wednesday 11th of august problem sorted by sat 14th aug. Give them there due they did act quickly and got this problem sorted out they now know they have a big problem with this model and others. Good luck all hope all goes well.
just wanted to thank everyone for the comments, especially those with the Samsung phone number… had the same issue with my tv and got it repaired within two days of finding this site… Samsung repair person came out and repaired my tv within 25 min… no thanks to you all… however, thanks to the original poster for how to make the repair I was totally prepared to make the repair my self… thanks again
my r88 has been on its way out for a while, and last night the power clickign cycle began, i replaced 2 of the caps i noticed bulge earlier and this still didnt fix it, i attempted the eeprom shorting and still no luck, my tv is 2 years and 3 months old, but in the 1st year i had to have the whole screen replaced due to horizontal scattered lines, if i put the tv back together and contacting samsung do u think they will repair for free?
Hi Guys, just read this post. My LE40M86 bought 8 Feb 2008 (just like Steve W (UK)today clicked clicked and wont come on! Surprise. I think its Samsungs version of the “Easter Egg” surprises as in Microsoft’s and others Software (Not!) So – I am at the beginning of the saga. I will post back on exactly what happens. PS I was just about to order the capacitors until I read to the end of the post, hey but it wasn’t a problem, as there was nothing on the telly …
My TV ran out of warranty a few months back and the clicking noise started around the same time, getting rapidly worse during the last couple of weeks, which led me to google which in turn led me here. I called Samsung and an authorised repairshop, and they told me it would cost 200 eur to fix the problem and that Samsung would probably pay a part of that. The laws protecting the consumer are pretty good here so I probably would’ve been able to make Samsung pay for the whole thing, but I would’ve been without a TV all that time I would’ve had to fight them, and I admit there was something very tempting in the idea of taking a relatively expensive piece of electronics apart and trying to fix it for myself. I, as many others, had visible problems only with the 10V capacitors, but I replaced all 7 of 10V-25V 1000μF capacitors with 25V ones and the 3 47uF 50V ones with 63V ones “to be sure.” The parts cost me under 5 eur and it took about 2 hours all in all, and now it seems to be working perfectly, so many thanks for the instructions! Without these instructions I wouldn’t have had the guts to open the TV up and look for the fault for myself. Thanks!
Called Samsung this evening with same clicking problem. Set is 2.5years old and they said they could not help. Has anyone in U.S. had the repair done for free? Model4042hx/xaa Will never buy a Samsung again, the set broke the 1st time after owning it 35 days.
Just called samsung. I have a 50 inch plasma hp-t5054 and my problem is, after its on for an hour or two it just randomly turns off, the sound is still on but the screen goes out. Do you guys think this is capacitors? samsung rep. said this tv is not known for that. PLEASE LET ME KNOW!
just thought id add me little bit been in trouble for sometime with clicking samsung flat t.v having read the super site earth. ect i thought i would try s/sung for repair altho set out of warenty so rang them tue 17 aug at 11 00 told them my sad story also sale of goods act might of got mention would you believe they offered a FREE repair within 1 hour got a call from s/sung tech dep stating would be here wed 17th before 2pm and they were two helpful guys repaired the power board within 40mins and were gone THREE CHEERS to samsung cant fault them after all thats been said what a super customer support thanks all
their now sending a local engineer to attempt to fix mine, i refitted 1 of the failed capacitors and tried to make it look natural lol,
Original post from me on 8/2/10:
Same song and dance for me. Model #lnt4665fx/xaa purchased from Best Buy in August of 2007. The clicking has been going on for months now and it takes over 2 minutes for me to get a picture. Once the picture comes up it is as brilliant as ever. I started by using Samsungs online chat. The agent says there is nothing he can do as my unit is not eligible for a free repair. I then called 1-800-Samsung and spoke to a customer service rep. I described the problem once again to her and she told me the same thing. I asked to speak with someone else. He was more eloquent and after a few minutes said the unit would be covered even though it is over 2 years out of warranty. If it isn’t capacitors I’ll have to pay. My problem sounds identical to most everyone’s here so I’m sure I’ll be fine.
My advice to those of you calling Samsung when your unit is out of warranty is to be polite but firm. They will have a tech call me within 2 business days.
Tech came out yesterday (had to postpone for a couple of weeks due to vacation) and was in and out in 45 minutes. All 10V capacitors were bulged and were replaced with 25V units. TV works as new. Thank goodness for this website!
My Samsung TV would make clicking sounds and never turn on. This was about six months ago. I called Samsung and they said they would fix it once for free if it was the capacitors that was causing the problem. The repair man came over and yes it was the capacitors. However, he only replaced the burned out capacitors with better ones, and left the rest. Guess what’s happened? Now the TV is starting to click again and takes minutes to turn on. He should have replaced them all. I know he probably did it so I’d have to call them back. I’m not happy about this. I have a 46″ Series 6 Touch of Red Samsung.
Hello:
I’ve had the same problem for over a year now and it takes at least 15 min for ol betsy to kick over and give the tweetle-dee sound we all know and love?
I bought the schematics (before I knew about this post). Can someone identify the part reference # (C102 or whatever) so I can buy the parts before opening the back?
Thank you,
Ethan
Hello:
It appears from the above comments that the manufacturer of the 10V electrolytic capacitors was at fault. If you have a 3.3V supply, you select a 10V cap (maximum voltage) to use on it. This max voltage determines the amount of insulation material required. Cheaper caps = less insulation and less voltage.
Just a point – these capacitors probably need to be Low ESR (low series resistance at high frequency) if it’s a switch-mode power suppy, or the problem may recur. Check fixing centres and capacitor height too!
Hi,
Our samsung 40 inch tv started off by clicking and taking 18 clicks to turn on and now it does not turn on at all. Our tv is 4 years old and we cannot find our receipt. Does anyone know whether if I call the Samsung number will they still repair it without the receipt??
hi,
4 months ago i bought a samsung LCD(32inch) TV. and from yesterday i’m facing the on/off pbm, but i can on/off through the button in the tv. once i turned on, the volume goes to maximum and could not reduce it through the tv button(neither through remote).
is that same problem of capacitor? can anyone reply me to my mail id…. pls.
I too have the same problem 2 year old LE40A656 whcih won’t come out of standby when switched on – I registered a service complaint and spent 40 minutes trying to get through to Samsung.
Thanks to everyone for the posts I will phone Samusng on Monday to request the capacitors replacement.
Will update everyone on Monday
Hi (Just accidentally deleted my last post I think)
Called Samsung direct in the UK on 01932 454358. (Thanks Steve W)
32 Minutes later … answered – so expect to wait.
Gave them model, serial number. (Mine was £710 from Dixons online Feb 2008, 40 inch, LE40M8 etc)
They said hold then came back with yes – we can do that model with that fault for free.
No threats required but they asked me to repeat the fault.
Day after got call from engineer, came straight round and collected set, threatening if it was not the fault described then we would be rung with quote (We responded firmly that it was)
Friday (two days after collection) called 9:30 – we are coming back with set
11:00 installed it and polished it – now startup is much quicker than ever!
Good for them and good for Samsung
Good luck – be polite and be firm
Hi Kate (uk)
Just call the number samsung uk 01932454358 you may have to wait like half an hour before someone answers but when they do just tell them the fault, you do not need the receipt i didn’t just give them the month and year you bought the tv and the serial number on back and model number.Then tell them you belive the capacitors have gone and that it’s a problem thats well documented with samsung tvs.Hopefully they will send out an engineer to fix it for free like me and Tom F(uk).Good luck tell us how you get on.
Regards Steve W (uk)
I have an SP-R4232 that has been clicking for some time now. Thankfully it usually corrects itself within a few minutes. Thanks to the posts on this website I called 1-800 SAMSUNG and spoke with a rep today. He acknowledged that SAMSUNG is aware of the problem and told me that SAMSUNG is picking up the tab for LED TVs but he wasn’t sure about plasma TVs, the latter of which I am having problem with. (Also have SAMSUNG LED TV but no issues with that one). HE set me up for a service call with a local technician but I am not sure who is footing the bill for this call. Guess I’ll find out and will provide an update after they do whatever it is they do.
Hi everyone! Just wanted to let everyone know my experience…We have a 52″ Samsung that we purchased a little over 2 yrs ago. Just last Monday, the problem began. Our kids tried to turn on the TV that morning, but there was a delay of about 5 minutes. Later that afternoon, when we turned off the TV, the inevitable “clicking” sound began and the TV would not turn back on and the clicking noise just continued, so I unplugged the TV. Then, I decided to “google” and find out if there was something that we could do without having to pay for a tech to check it out (I like to repair things myself…which is not common around here, b/c I’m a woman *smile*)
After finding your site, I decided to call Samsung the next day (8/17) and I was connected with a rep almost immediately. I described the problem, not mentioning that I kind of knew what the problem was after reading your information, and the rep said that a technician will contact me. I was provided a service code and Samsung even emailed me with what company they were sending to repair my TV. Sure enough, a the repair company called me the next day to schedule an appt. As a result, they came about an hour ago and now my TV is like new again. The tech took about 15 minutes to replace the capacitors.
Overall, my experience was great!
…oh yeah, by the way…the tech even helped my husband put our TV back on the wall. He was very professional and even called first thing in this morning to let me know approximately when he would arrive at our house.
My LN46A750 finally “capped out” after 26 months. Purchased from Amazon on 06/23/2008, died 08/20/2010. No extended warranty. I created a repair ticket and called Samsung Friday night. The CSR told me Samsung would pay for the repair as an out-of-warranty “Courtesy Repair”. I was contacted by the local repair tech Monday and a power supply board with upgraded capacitors was installed Tuesday. Although I am dissapointed that such a phenominal television had this weak link, I am a satisfied Samsung customer. Looks like Samsung is finally stepping up and taking ownership of this problem.
Well so much for that. Turns out all Samsung was doing was setting up a service call but I was 100% responsible for payment. Service tech said I had no idea what I was talking about, that Samsung plasma TVs had no problems with capacitators and that that problem was limited to Samsung LCD TVs. Called back Samsung and the CSR said they same thing – they unaware of any such problems with plasma TVs and that I was on my own to repair given out of warranty. Guess I’ll just deal with it till I decide how to proceed. Ridiculous how Samsung continues to act like there is no problem. Any truth to their claim that this has not been a problem with plasma TVs??
4 month old samsung un55c8000 dead with clicking problem. still under warranty so it will be free to fix. but how f-ing annoying. I think I’m going to get extended warranty now on it.
I have recovered my LCD LE40A656 TV from Samsungs authorised repair centre after the fault (Which does not occur on the LE460 models according to Samsung) was yes you’ve guessed it 2 blown capacitors. Cost for the parts £2.02 – cost for labour £55. I have now mailed Samsung to find out how I recover the cost for this common problem across a range of Samsung TV’s.
I will update everyone when I find out an answer from Samsung – I don’t expect a rapid response. I
IT seems like you guys in the states have more of a problem with samsung then us in the UK.
Hello
I was having the same problem with my Samsung 40″ LCD TV that was bought in Jan. 2008. It started about a week ago doing the clicking sound and taking at least a minute to turn on. Last night, it did the same thing but when it finally turned on it then kept turning off and would not stay on.
After reading numerous post, called Samsung Canada and then are sending out the technician to come and take a look at it. They provided me with a transaction # and said that if it is in fact the capacitors, it would be a 1 time courtesy repair free of charge.
I will repost once the technician comes and checks out the TV.
Hello NICOLE, you stated you called Samsung Canada, where are you located because any of my cals end up on deaf ears nothing but BS from them so far. I will try again tomorrow apparently it depends on the CS agent? ( Im in Burlington ON)
Hello Louis
I live in Sudbury, ON and spoke with an agent by the name of JerWayne.
Here is his email address – CAJERWAYNES@sdsamerica.net. You can try and send him an email. Good luck!
what is the phone number to Samsung in the United States that you call for the clicking and capacitor issue?
Hello ScottJenny
The number I found from their website is 1-800-726-7864 or you can try the email address I posted for Louis from the representative I dealt with by the name of JerWayne.
I bought a Samsung 42″ plasma tv PS42Q97HD 3 years ago. It is 2 months out of warranty and all of a sudden i am getting this “clicking” issue where the tv attempts to switch on but cannot.
After phoning Samsung (Cairo because they have no UK customer service) they refused to do a free repair despite the fact it is obviously a fault with the tv (most likely the capacitors).
Will never buy a Samsung product again. Should an £800 tv last just 3 years?
I had the clicking problem. Sansung came out and fixed it free. Call them and hopefully they will fix the problem. Our TV was 2.5 years old too…
Thanks Nicole for the info , I will try E mail first.
As someone said, the problem is in the capacitors. Own model LE40M87/BDX bought 2 years and 3 months ago so warranty just expired. Fixed the problem yesterday by changing the capacitors, easy 30 min fix and total cost was 10 euros. When you experience these problems please give out the correct information about the capacitors, that would help others with the same model and problem. Capacitors for my model were: 2200 uF, 105, 10v.
My 42″ PLASMA Samsung TV has a very similar problem. 3 years old and now won’t stay on, reverting to off and “clicking” repeatedly. Samsung UK helpline say it’s not got capacitors so not the same problem and they won’t fix it for free, unlike LCD. Having it assessed this week, and will then fight for a free repair. Has anyone else had a PLASMA TV issue like this?
We are having the same problem. TV turning off and on. They originally stated that it was common for the lamps to go out. I send $133 dollars to get a new lamp and it is still doing the same thing. My tv is not a LCD however it is doing the same thing as everyone else has explained. My tv is only a 1 1/2 years old. Never again will I buy Samsung. We called and they said it is out of warranty so they won’t help us.