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.
i tryed,but cant read what says on side,need too take them out with iron,an mark where they come from then.i got codes for a 52″ samsung so was just wondering if they would be the same,or do bigger teles have bigger capacitance…dont know?????
Leigh
Sorry wish I could help. What about using a mirror.
Hi Matthewb,
I was very similar to you. I enjoy my TV so splashed out on quite an expensive 46″ Samsung and to find it broken within 18 months is just not fair. I was in a situation where I could not afford a £300-£400 repair. Neither Samsung or the company that supplied the TV was interested.
Thank God for this web site that gave me the information and confidence to carry out this repair and get my TV working for Christmas.
I still cannot understand why Samsung who produce a very good quality picture can let something like this spoil their reputation. They must know this is a major problem and should take action to help their customers.
Bill
My TV still working!!!! In reply to some of the comments I have just read. A magnifying glass is essential for the repair and if your TV is starting to click but still works – it is only a matter of time believe me it will eventually CLICK out… since the problem is known you might wish to wait until it has gone completely, but if you can bear the endless and annoying clicking then wait until it goes off completely then re research this site from the beginning. Good luck! I am compiling my complaint to the Office of Fair Trading and also to retailer’s selling SAMSUNG TV’s… this problem needs to be addressed. I wonder how many people have decided to discard their TV’s because they thought it may be too expensive to fix the problem (an belief that goes back decades)..
Hi Katrins,
Keep us posted with any results from the office of fair trading.
I tried to get all the consumer TV programmes like Watchdog interested, but they didnt even reply.
Bill
Just fixed my Samsung 40″ LNT4061FX/XAA, Version CN06. The parts I needed were posted earlier. Between this posting the two excellent YouTube vidoes below, this fix was very easy. Thanks! I may never buy another Samsung. Knowing they’ll put 10v caps on a 13v board and not support it is appaling! Long live the Innternet!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm51C_RDIZE&feature=PlayList&p=4A3C5366DC3352E8&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=25
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNHHrgX_6cs
Hi all, just thought I would let you guys know my 42inch Samsung was continually making this sound and even turning itself on during the night with a black screen (running up my power bills) the last couple of days it has started to completely turn off while watching it and then back on with the clicking noise and is getting worse.
Golgatha,
Thanks for your help with the Voltage.
Replaced the four Caps and Job Done.
Thanks also to everyone who posted advice.
Good luck with your Samsung related shenanigans!
Stu
Hey I have a 40″ Samsung LCD and this clicking noise started in December and got gradually worse untill TV wouldn’t power on anymore. Followed your guide and it was the exact same problem! Got the capacitors and then soldered them on the power board. Was quite nervous when powering up to test but it worked a treat! Respect for the guide.
Total cost of fix €5 for the capacitors.
TV is like new!
i had the same problems with my telly just clicking on and off contacted charles hyde and sons for the blown capacitors cost £0.29p each ordered a pack of 10 including post and packaging just over £8 soldered the new caps in hey prsto telly as good as new
THANKS. I replaced the 4 caps, cost was only about 10 NZD (about 4 GBP) and a bit of driving around to buy parts.
I used same parts though, ie 10v.
Thanks everyone. Without these posts Id be shelling out 00s of $ for 10$ worth of parts.
Samsung, not next time!!!
Hi all, I had already taken my TV into the repair agent before I found this page, i have been quoted $350 for the part but have been told there is a bit of a delay wiyh shipping from samsung would you guys recommend I do the repair myself. Its a 42 inch plasma and the sevice agent did say it one of the power boards that is the problem. Any surgestions on where to get parts in Tasmania????
yes, do it yourself, the 350$ part will be the power board I guess,
but you can just swap out the caps (they cost 1$ each)
its very easy and takes about 1 hour or less. Yellow page electronics suppliers and you will find the caps, they are not hard to source.
Just repaired my Samsung LN46A650A. I had two bad capacitors, 1000uf 25v
105. I replace these and two 1000uf 16V 105 with 1000 35v 105. Repair cost $4.48 + shipping. Sure beats the $300-396 quotes to have repaired.
Sure hope Samsung has corrected this problem as I just purchased a second set a month ago.
Chris…I’d be careful. I have a 50″ plasma that was a week out of warranty…I took TV apart, and none of the capacitors appeared bad so I repeatedly called samsung until they gave me a “courtesy customer appreciation 30 day extension” on my warranty…after pleading with them I was able to get an inwarranty service visit…tech replaced my PSB and my plasma scan device….still same issue..(cycles on and off repeatedly)…he said it was my plasma display panel itself was bad and now I am getting an exchange from samsung….with a little persistance sometimes they do fold even though my TV was 1 week OOW….gl
Hi All thanks for your help will give it a go as my unit is about 6 months + out of warranty
but you will see directly if your capacitors are the cause, if not then it is more complicated. If they are faulty they are swollen on top, not perfectly flat, you can see other healthy ones on the board. Mine even had black dust on the X.
Good luck, worst case is you swap them out and it does not work, you lose 20$ and some time.
Thanks Mike
I bought 55inch Samsung 4 months ago After a month humming noise sterted They came out changed board 2 weeks later same thing Samsung comes out again 2 weeks later new screen 12 hours later same noise
but in between that sound turns itself down also stats switching itself off Now they have to replace it because after 3 times with same problem they have to feplace it
What worries me is have been told they are changing lots of screena\s
Our large Flat Screen Samsung doing the same as you guys… click click bloomin click – it’s got progessively worse… Im in the midlands uk and by no means could fix this myself… or my husband…. do any of you know what I should say to tv repair man when booking them to fix it to avoid a large bill of unecessary work… (not that I’m not trusting in anyway!)…
I am so annoyed and will never buy a Samsung again!! It’s only 2 years old if that!…
Appreciate any help here… Thank you …
I had the clicking issue for a week on my 52″ LCD LE5286BDX/XEU which is about 2 years old, after a quick google search I found this website which is absolutely brilliant. Considering the amount of people having the same issue I wish to thank the original author for starting it.
I went to Maplins and bought the five 1000uF capacitors 16v 105C for £1.80 (DT69A £0.36ea for 5 or £0.42ea individual). I did this without even opening the back of the LCD, as the information contained within this site is fantastic.
As an engineer who fits these as part of my job (no I do not fix/repair these for a living) but have worked to component level on circuit boards in the past, the removal of the back, high voltage guard, and circuit board was easy.
Note: You only have to disconnect the two cables near the capacitors (which have clips on them so they can only be replaced the correct way) & the (bottom of the board same side) incoming mains 2 way connector on the board Live (brown) Neutral (blue) as well as the single connector Green/Yellow (earth) – the board will then be available to fold back.
The negative stripe on the existing black capacitors (which were bulging ready to pop) are silver and were in the same directions as the other capacitors surrounding them (there are two sets of two and a single one but each set has a different voltage capacitor next to it that shouldn’t require replacing unless it is visibly damaged). Taking the existing ones out and replacing them was easy as I have the tools for doing that already, a quick tip is to bend the legs slightly when you have the new one fully pushed down onto the board whilst you replace the other ones prior to soldering and snipping off the excess legs.
Oh and one more thing, dont forget to replace the high voltage cover before screwing up the back of the LCD – unless like me, the wife was helping to lift it and was in a suitable position to blame for not reminding me!
After plugging everything back in, the unit powered straight back up and all is fine on every input including DTV. Thank you all for your input and advice to save money.
[...] widespread. it is easy to fix if you are good with a soldering iron and you can get tips from here http://www.earthinfo.org/samsung-tv-makes-a-strange-clicking-sound/ mine was doing the same and i took the power board out and got it fixed by someone i know, but i [...]
Hi, had same problem, clicking on /off, gradually getting worse.
Thanx to all the advice found here, I fixed it no problem.
Thanx to u ALL.
Thank you for the information provided here. the repair was easy and only took me a little over an hour from start to finish. I sent the original poster a few bucks for saving me a few hundred. I have a bunch of extra 10 volt capacitors as I had to meet a min $10 to order them online. if anybody needs some of the 10v volt capacitors, drop me a line at shortgam@comcast.net. anybody who can solder can do this repair.
Hi, thanks for this blog. I’m in the same situation. About 18 months in and the clicking had been gradually getting longer and longer over the preceeding weeks until it finally crapped out last week. I’m going to attempt to open it up this weekend and use these instruction for a hopeful fix.
All fixed in under an hour including driving to the local electronics store.
Thanks to all.
Without the internet this would have cost myself and Samsung a great deal more.
Hi, had same problem, clicking on /off, gradually getting worse.
Thanx to all the advice found here, I fixed it no problem.
I had the same problem with a 46″LCD Samsung tv. After searching on the net for possible problems and the clicking fault I opened up my 14 month old tv and saw two 1000uF 10v capacitors bulging. Thanks to this website I removed those two capacitors and replaced with new 16 volt capacitors, 1000uF, 105 deg C. Ordered them from maplins for 42p each (the high temperature ones are not usually a stock item). I initially thought about getting it repaired and was quoted £150, but decided to do it myself after I had taken it off the wall and opened it up anyway. It was quite easy to repair and haven’t soldered anything for years, but just have to be careful, take your time and have a bit of guts! Bit of a nervy moment when switching it back on but really happy that it works and that I did it myself!
I have a 42″ Samsung TV that we purchased only 1 year ago, and it recently began having problems turning on (sounds like multiple cycles of attempts and failures).
Will try and pull apart the thing as all of you have suggested. Really fed up with expensive purchases dying right after warranty. Just replaced a terribly engineered front load washer that died. Does anybody make anything worth actually buying any more?
Thrilled! Just finished with the fix! $4.53 total cost! THANK YOU!!
I’ve encountered the same problem on my 40″ Samsung Plasma and I have NO idea how to solder. Can anyone assist me…Please??????
Check on youtube how to solder.
HI MY 32 LCD TV, SCREEN GETS TO BLACK ,AND FULL BRIGHTNEES NO EFFECTED ,SO PICTURS SHOWS SLOW MOTION. PLS SAY WHAT CAN I DO ? THANNKS FOR YOUR HELP
Would a simple 30w Soldering iron do the trick or do I need something with more power?
@Zak – 30w is fine
Thanks Chris. I have a LN-T4061F (about 2 years old) that has been doing the clicking for a while now. Started off as a couple clicks, then the colored pixels, and now it takes as long as 10 mins to turn on. Yesterday after 10 mins the audio came on only and then blurry picture showed up a little later. Turning it on and off fixed this though. I am getting fed up and I would rather do it now than wait until it doesn’t come on at all. I am hoping this fix will work for me as well since it seems like so many have had success with it. I will probably open it up tonight and take a look inside. I’ll report back with my findings.
THANK YOU for the information. TV would not power up. I found these instrucions and TV once again works great! I would love to leave you a donation, but am fearful my credit card number will be stolen. Is there a way I can leave a donation directly from my paypal to yours?
@Kevin Glad you got your TV working again, if you wanted to leave a donation, there is a link a the bottom of the article or you can click here to make a donation via paypal.
Hi Chris,
My tv is experiencing the same problems (samsung LA40R81BD ) but when I looked at the capacitors, they did not look bulged or discoloured…according to your pictures. What else could the issue be? I live in Melbourne Australia and we’ve had two hot days (up to 113F)and am wondering if this could be an issue. Also, the tv from day one has been popping….
Help!
Thanks in advance!
Fight with samsung to fix this problem, gave them a ear full and now I have to contact corporate. I want to fix it myself but parents are mad scared I am gonna get shocked and die or something. If I unplug the tv while it is still on and leave it overnight for like 8-10 hours is there still a risk of me getting shocked?
i had problems with my samsumg 46″ lcd tv model LN46A530P1FXZA clicking on and off PLEASE HELP
[...] widespread. it is easy to fix if you are good with a soldering iron and you can get tips from here http://www.earthinfo.org/samsung-tv-makes-a-strange-clicking-sound/ mine was doing the same and i took the power board out and got it fixed by someone i know, but i [...]
can anyone tell me what kind of relays are used in l.c.d t.v.s…???????
CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHAT TYPE OF RELAYS ARE USED IN L.C.D TELEVISIONS……?????
WOO HOO! Thanks to this website, Youtube, and a order from Allied electronics I fixed my Samsung LNT4061. Thank you so much!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm51C_RDIZE&feature=PlayList&p=4A3C5366DC3352E8&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=25
Thats just how things are made theese days, they are purposely designed to breakdown after their warranty/gaurentee has run out, i have a 42″ samsung and it is nearing 1 year old so i will probably need this guide soon L, thanks for posting it
Thanks for the info, thats exactly symtoms. i had not turned my tv off in 2wks because of it. now i know how to fix it,thanks to you all. even my dvd(which i bought at the same time)is out of wack, samsung of’couse! i can’t believe anybody would by samsung again, ITS LIKE SCOOPING UP YOUR OWN VOMIT FOR DINNER!!!
To Jonathan, That is exactly what I did, unplugged while still on and did the job the next morning. I understand capacitors will discharge in much less time but might as well be as safe as possible. Sam
there is so much information on this site, enuf to sort ev1s probs……so y still so many q’s
Further to my last post – Repair place couldn’t fix it. After a strongly worded letter got the repair money back.
Samsung giving us a new Series 6 Samsung – although Samsung people were helpful – Their was a delay , awaiting stock of TV ect. – and every time “It will take within the next 7 working days.”
But thankfully getting it tomorrow!!