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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Hi Guys,
Great tutorial- thank you.
Could someone help me please. I am having difficulty working out the polarity of each capacitor. Is the grey strip on the side of the capacitor the negative side ? Obviously i dont want to get teh polarity the wrong way round.
Thank you in advance.
My understanding is that for electrolytic capacitors (the type on the power supply) the stripe represents negative.
Take a look at Wikipedia
(search for “stripe”)
PLEASE ensure you get the correct polarity before installation or you will fry the board. if you have doubt use Google or refer to this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Capacitors_electrolytic.jpg
the fix is fairly simple; just make sure you are not trying to force the old cap off of the board by pulling or tugging at it with excessive force or you will rip/remove the trace. TAKE YOUR TIME!!!
another simple tip: before you start removing screws, unplugging cables, removing the caps, etc. get out your digital camera and take pictures of every position possible – take lots of them [after all its digital]. then when you are ready to put it all back together you have something to refer to so that you ensure it fits together correctly.
again, TAKE YOUR TIME!!!
I just repaired my 52″ LCD yesterday and wanted to thank the people here for their posts about the power on/off clicking problems. Great documentation and all went pretty smooth with the exception mine had a few more screws and I had to order the 2200uf capacitors I needed. In my case I replaced just those two and all is working fine. However, check this out. I took pictures of everything before I took anything apart. When I was putting in the new capacitors, I noticed the negative markings were only visable on one capacitor while looking at them from one side. In my picture of the old capcitors before I removed them, it is very clear you can see the negative markings on both capacitors while looking at them from the same side. When I was installing the new ones, it is very clear on the under side of the board the negative terminals are opposite each other so when you turn the board back over you will now only see one negative terminal on one capacitor looking at them from the same side. I thought something was funny when I was working on it because I thought I remembered seeing the negative markings on both on the same side so, cause for me to review my pictures. I was very careful insuring I had the negative side in the holes with the slashes marked on the underside. I unfortunately did not catch this upon taking the old ones out. So, this is leading me to believe samsung had one capacitor soldered in the board wrong. Could this be why the capacitors are failing? I had my tv on last night for 10 hours and all is working fine, turns on with just one click of the button. I read a post that indicated if you have the polarity wrong the board will fry. Any thoughts/comments?? I just don’t know enough about this stuff to make an educated analysis but felt it important to at least report my observations. If what I am finding is correct and can happen, then Samsung should have fixed our issues on their dime!! Thank you.
My 40 inch Samsung started clicking on/off automatically.However no picture. Spoke with Samsung and they said they are aware of the problem but it is not a big enough problem to extend a warranty. I now have a tv that cliks on and off but doesnt’t do anything else. Samsung is scamming people and being very deceptive.
Samsung tvs are defective.The company is aware of the problem but refuses to fix it. I guess I am our 1200 because I do not have the 250 to fix a tv, that is 18 months old
Re polarity, just document how the gray stripes are oriented on the bad capacitors and put the new ones in the same. I did it one at a time so I only had to concentrate on one stripe direction at a time.
Don’t be afraid to try this yourself as you can see from the success rate in this thread. Another reason to do it is to impress the hell out of friends, neighbors and spouses who will be dumbfounded at your sudden electrical genius.
what a result! i was having the same issue with my samsung LCD as it was clicking and eventually not turning on at all. i followed these instructions and went to cpc preston to get my capacitors and they cost me a whopping £0.52P. i took the board off noticed four blown capacitors replaced all of them assempled the TV and turn it on. what a result!! ive saved a fortune just by following these instructions though in my usual rush i didnt check the negative legs and just replaced…luckily no blown board so they all must of gone in the right way!!!
fyi, found this on the web…
NOTE the power supply operates at 13.4 volts. The 10volt caps. should be replaced with 16volt or higher. Or you will have the same problem again in about 9-14 months. I repair about 4-6 of these a week. And it seems to be any brand and not just Samsung.
I replaced all of my capacitors and my TV works great now. Thanks to everyone and all of their notes, my TV works great.
THanks again eveyone.
SAMSUNG LNT-4671 LCD,,, 2 MONTHS PASS WARRANTY AND THE CLICKING HAS STARTED,,HELL I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE MY TWO CENT TO SAMSUMGS HEAD OFFICE,, I EVEN BOUGHT 4 YRS WARRANTY AND IF I USE IT I LOSE 400.00 OF IN-HOUSE CREDIT FOR WHAT 40.00 BUCKS WORHT OF PARTS,,,
SAM I MAY NEED YOUR EXPERTIZE IF I TACKLE THIS ONE MY SELF
THX ,
I’M VERY HAPPY I GOOLE MY PROBLEM,,
THX EARTH INFO
HELLO,,, TIM AND OR MIKE A
SAME PROBLEM LNT-4671, ABOUT A DOZEN CLICKS BEFORE IT FINALY POWERS UP,,, ANY CHANCE OF MORE PICS AND CAN THESE’S PARTS BE BOUGTH IN CANADA,,
THX PAUL
Paul, no problem, let me know what I can help you with. Any parts you need if you can’t find local use the internet. I ordered my 2200uf capacitors from MCM Electronics. Very easy web site to use and once you know the size of what you need you will find on their web site with no problem. Sizes of capacitors are in mm so make sure you measure them (mine were 10mmx20mm) so they fit on the board. You will need radial type. All these options appear on the selection menues from the MCM website. Hope this helps. Total cost to repair my tv was $15.00.
p.s. in my post about the polarity issue I discovered everything went back in the same way it was before removing. I believe I got confused by a capacitor next to the ones I was working on that was turned in the opposite direction.
I was torn between the radio shack 16 volt, 85 degree capacitors and the 11 volt 105 degree capacitors. Up until Bill’s post, I didn’t realize how importent the highter voltage was and already replaced mine with Fry’s 11 volt 105’s. Up until now no one (that I noticed) mentioned the importance of the higher voltage. Mostly they just said the old ones were poor quality.
So which capacitor is better, the radio shack 16 volt 85 degree or the 11 volt 105 degree? Seems like both fixed the problem but both have shortcomings.
Is there a capacitor out there that is both 16 volt(or greater) and 105 degrees (or greater)?
Audrey, I am assuming you are referring to the 2200uf caps? In my case, two 2200uf and one 1000uf cap were rated at 10v. I only had bulging 2200uf caps and only replaced them. I did in fact replace with the same voltage rating. However, if this problem happens again which I am assuming it will in about a year or so, MCM Electronics has 2200uf rated at 105 C hi temp and 16v. $1.84ea. However, they measure slightly wider at 12.5mm rather than 10mm as mine are. I believe those will still fit ok, will just have to be raised on the board a bit as the leads will be farther apart. I will use those next time I have to fix my tv. In my case, the local Radio Shack had no caps the size and ratings I needed. I would think anything less on the heat rating would blow at some point since these tv’s generate a lot of heat. So the 105c hi temp is a must I would think.
SAMSUNG LNT-4671X/XAA
Hello Sam
would it be possible to order the cap and other stuff ahead of time without openning up the unit if someone here has already done a LNT-4671 and has all the part info #’s,, one can order a few more than what will go into it for next time around, for now my unit sometime has 6 clicks before powering on to 15 clicks.
also has anyone had success buying the right parts from the source by circuit city in canada??
thx paul
UPDATE ON THE MODEL #
LNT4671FX/XAA
Paul, I believe it would be possible to order everything you need ahead of time. However, you will need many specifics if you are going to order more than you need. My suggestion is to go as far as exposing the power board behind the metal cover and see what you are dealing with. In shopping for capacitors I found there are many sizes available in the same uf and voltage ratings. The physical size of the cap should be fairly close to the original. In my case, there was not much room to deal with between caps so if I got something too big it would not fit right. Once I had the board exposed I could see every cap possible I would ever need and I documented all of their ratings and physical sizes. Now I am in the position to quickly order something if it ever goes out. I am assuming I won’t have trouble with any others because their voltage ratings are higher than 10v with the exception of one 1000uf cap, but you never know. Getting to the board is very easy and to expose the board behind the metal cover once the back cover is off is easy too. You should be able to do that without disconnecting any wires from the board as well. I found that to be true with mine. At this point, you will begin to be getting familiar with everything and what you will need to do to go further. It really is easy.
Sam, I’ve read plenty of forums on this issue. I have the exact same problem but no bulging caps. This problem only started 3 days ago. The caps mentioned on the other forums are nowhere to be found on the power supply that came on my tv (1000uf 10 V) and the pictures of the power supply shown on other forums is not like mine. I did find two 2200 uf capacitors and these two are the only two rated at 10 V. Is it possible for me to send you a picture of the power supply to see if its like your and if its the same capacitors that we are talking about? If so, please send me an email to osvaldocapetillo@yahoo.com so I can send you a picture with the capacitors in question outlined.
Thanks in advance,
Thanks,
Oz
Hi did this mod with initial good response. My issue is now at start up the screen is covered in colored dots and goes of five times prior to staying on (no clicking) changed the power supply board for a new one but no improvement. after the screen has been on for a while all the dots diapear and the picure is good and normal. Any ideas anyone?
Les -
did you take pictures of the caps prior to performing the swap? i am no expert on TVs but if you didnt have that issue prior to it makes one wonder if you may have made a mistake – of course not intentionally but a mistake none the less.
LN46A650….can’t get back off, seems to connected around inputs, can’t find any other screws. 18 plus 4 hangers
I have a Samsung LNT4671fx, clicking started a while ago and just went out this week. Repair guy comes in the morning.
From what I’m reading I might try to fix this myself.
Walt, I had a couple of small silver screws that thread into a pin connector I believe is a VGA port for a computer. My cover was getting hung up there after I had all the other screws removed. There were also a couple of regular screw holes around this area and one was behind the power cord strap I missed on the first go around. Hope this helps…Sam
I have a 18 month 46′ LCD Samsung. The clicking started and the TV took longer and longer to turn. I read your blog and fixed it myself. No prior experience. I got 2 capacitors for $5.12. Before fixing, I called 4 TV repair shops to get quotes. Quotes ranged from $319 to $400. I thought if I screwed it up, I would just buy a new power supply board. They ranged from $95 to $125. Still way cheaper than a repair shop. It took the most time just unscrewing all the screws. Thanks so very much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chris? Anyone! I have now replaced all of the caps instead of just the 3 that looked dodgy, but still have the same problem – lots of clicks, but no picture! Any ideas what to do next?
Cheers.
@Paul, I’m sorry I can’t offer any other advice, if I was in your position I’d probably go to a repair shop.
Ok Chris, many thanks. I’ll let you know how I get on.
I followed the instructions above and it worked perfectly. I replaced 4 capacitors with 16v, 1,000uF, 105 degrees from Frys on my Samsung 40″ LN-T40601F.
Wow. Took apart our 46″ TV after it seemed to not be able to turn on anymore but instead just click. Looked inside, found 2 capacitors that seemed to be “bulging”. Ordered them on mouser.com, soldered on the new ones, put it all back together, and like new, the TV turned on instantly!! Thanks for posting this article!
Well, first my Samsung 40″ 1080 LCD TV that I got 2 years ago, started to take longer and longer to start it would do a cliking sound and after a couple of minutes it would turn on. I used it like that for a couple of months until the clicking sound went away and now the TV would turn on quick but I would get no picture just sound. Now I had a new problem. I found this page that was very helpful, I dissasemble the TV cover I see the Power supply and behold 2 capacitors blown (2200 microfarads 105temp 10V). I looked around town for similar capacitor couldn’t find any, I didn’t want to order new stuff if I wasn’t sure that was the main problem. Got an old computer power supply and got capacitors from there same rating. Replaced capacitors, installed power supply card and cover. Turned on the TV and it worked perfectly. My brother in law helped me with the solder iron he had more practice. I now see how capacitors more or less work. Your board uses different voltages for different applications and the capacitors work as fuses more or less and also as voltage buffers. If one goes out some function on your TV wont work, plus also got info that these new TVs run a diagnostic every time they are turned on, and if any component is fried or not working the whole TV or part of it wont work. if its something you don’t use on the TV it can actually be bypassed.
I just had the same problem with my 2 yr old Samsung LNT4671f. I opened it up, the two 10V 2200 uF caps were bulging, I replaced them with 16V 2200uF caps and it’s working fine now. I also replaced the 1000uF but they looked ok. Great post. Thanks a lot.
HI ive just fixed my samsung for £7 Just to let people know contacted Samsung they still say there is no problem with there tvs so sent email to a news paper to see if they can make it more public and sent email to Gadget show aswell. They should not be allowed to get away with it.
I cannot thank you enough for this information. This turned my panic nightmare into a cool experience. I was totally freaked out when 4000.00 dollar Samsung lcd went out. Mine is 18 months old. So it was out of warranty. I called samsung they got a authorized service center hear in Houston to call me. I service tech told me it was most likely popped capacitors on my he called IP board part was 120.00 and labor was 175.00. I took it apart found 2 bulging capacitors on the PCB board. Opted to replace all seven. to prevent future problems. I got my capacitors from Allied electronics. Ordered on monday parts were here tuesday. Took my time and total time was less than two hours. I have been eccstatic with joy about having repaired my LCD for a total price of. $9.31. Seriously thank you so much.
This worked so well, I may put an ad in the paper offering my services to other poor Samsung customers. Thankyou so much. Total cost £1.20 for three £0.40 capacitors.
Thanks for this awsome article and postings. I am half way there. I have already removed the old capacitors and now Im just waitng for the new ones. I’ll keep you updated if all goes well !
Paul, I also replaced the caps as mentioned by everyone else even though they were not bad and had no luck. I went further troubleshooting the power supply and burned it in the process (my bad). I ordered a new one from ebay, and it did looked brand new but it had the exact same problem, just clicks indefinetely. What I found bad with the new power supply was a bad connection on one of the transistors on a sink. It was hard to spot but im now watching my tv again after 2 weeks and 130$… hahha
email me if i can be of further assistance…
osvaldocapetillo@yahoo.com
I have purchased my capacitors and replaced all of them. In total I replaced 7 capacitors. I also bought an extra set for incase the same problem happens later down the track. I was happy to see my 40″ Samsung plasma working like new again. To the dude who figured this out first. Well done mate !! and thanks !!!
Great tutorial- thank you.
Could someone help tell me what the qty of the capacitiors, I would like purchase the parts before I start my repair.
Thank you in advance
@Pete, The qty of capacitors? Do you mean the values? Unfortunately the values for the capacitors depend on the model of your TV (and may even vary for each model if the power supply has different revisions), really the only way to be sure is to take it apart and look at each of them and read off the 3 values (as noted in the article).
I followed the instructions above and it worked perfectly. I replaced 4 capacitors with 16v, 1,000uF, 105 degrees from Frys on my Samsung 40″ LN-T40601F.
David Mease
September 26th, 2009 at 12:25 am
Hey Michael was your Capacitors on the board that’s right in the middle of your LN-T4061? When i took the metal gate off where the power supply is there were no capacitors on little stumpy looking things
Can some one HELP
Here is a pic am i on the right track?
To: Lets go Cavs – When I repaired my Samsung 40″ the power supply board did not have a metal gate covering it. Look where the power cable from the wall socket connects to your TV. It should connect to the power supply board. There you will see the capacitors. My TV had seven and I changed then all. If you do a good neat job, there is no reason that it shouldn’t work.
Thanks alot Tony
I didn’t see the cord coming from the power supply.
I had to order myself 2 2200uf 25v 105c because Radio Shack didn’t carry them, They only had the 1000uf which i picked up while i was in there…. Will post a update once they arrive.
How tricky is this process. Like how technical is the soldering? I want to give this a try myself, but don’t want to do something that is going to cause more damage.
Thanks for the guidance! I came across your notes first, and after a little more research on the topic decided to take the plunge. My (nearly) 3 year TV started to go on the blink a few days back, then took 1 hr to come on, and then only stayed on for 90 mins before turning off completely. Hmmpfff! Despite recommendations from yourself and many to replace the several capacitors, I decided to follow the, “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it!” strategy. Sure, I may have to do more work later, but it’s not difficult. Anyway, got the right capacitors from RadioShack (same capacitance, though slightly higher voltage and a lower thermal rating), installed, and hey presto … the tv is back on and the family is happy! A little worried about the lower thermal rating (85 degrees instead of 105) as well as the fact the capacitors are larger than the originals (now touching – can’t be good for heat). Will continue to watch, but so far so good
Thanks again for the guidance!
I talked to a Samsung authorized repair shop about this and they said if I continue to try to turn the TV on without having the clicking issue resolved first I could do damage to the motherboard. Is that true? I’m going to have my electrical engineer friend come by in a couple of days to fix it based on the recommendations above, but wanted to know if trying to turn it on in the meantime is a bad idea???
IT REALLY WORKS GUYS!
Went to a local computer place that took apart motherboards and low and behold they had my
2200uf 16v 105c and he gave them to me for free got home replace those two 2200uf’s.
Didn’t bother with the 2 1000uf’s Capacitors but I have them just in case.
I really really really want to thank everyone for there help and information with this situation saved me major cash.
Big Ups to Chris Morris
Hi Ryan I kept turnining my tv on till got frd up of waiting till it came on then I changed Capacitors and it was fine Did not do any damage to mother board if your not sure just get the capacitors changed hope this helps.
Hi ryan its quite easy if you copy the comment at the top of this page with pictures you should be ok also there is a utube video I came across last week but you will have to search for that.