TV Repair: Off-topic discussion forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

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Aug. 8, 2011 10:26 a.m. T.J. SuperDork

My relatively new (bought in Janurary) 55" LED LCD Vizio died last night when lightning hit nearby. Other things plugged into same surge protector that were turned on at the time (Tivo, PS3, reciever) all survived. The house power never went out or even flickered. Two computers plugged into different surge protectors were on at the time and are fine. Everything in the house is fine, but the TV seems dead. It tries to turn on, gets to the logo screen which it normally displays for a few seconds before going to TV, but now it sticks at the logo screen for a minute then turns off and tries to restart again. It just cycles through this over and over until it is unplugged.

There is a one year warranty but it does not cover acts of god or power surges...which I think is what happened here.

Is there such a thing as TV repairmen anymore? I do have the original box and packaging materials for the TV out in the garage, but I'm not too keen on shipping it back to Vizio at my expense for them to tell me it is broken.

Am I just out of nearly $2k? I guess homeowners will pay for it, but not sure what a claim will do to my rates. I can go buy another one, but am just a little mad at this one. Anyone ever open up the case on a flat panel TV and try to fix it?
Aug. 8, 2011 10:36 a.m. RossD SuperDork

If nothing else was affected by the lightening strike, I'd say your TV is just broken. To my best knowlege, Vizio is kind of a parts bin TV, meaning they buy up surplus parts and make TVs. Which usually equates to low quality parts and components.

I did have a buddy who fixed a tv by replacing a capacitor. It was a known defect and he found the tv next to the dumpster at his appartment building. A little googling and some soldering got him a free TV.

I would get the warranty to fix your problem. You can argue with the facts that you had a surge protector and other things plugged in didn't get damagedl
Aug. 8, 2011 10:44 a.m. carguy123 SuperDork

Should they play that card you'd have a good argument that since nothing else plugged into the same suppressor had a problem then that couldn't be the issue with the TV.

And if you'd bought that TV at Costco they'd just replace it since it was less than 1 year old.
Aug. 8, 2011 10:56 a.m. Graefin10 Reader

My home and shop both had a major lightning stike withing seconds of each other. It took out almost everying electronic in the house: TV's, stereos, intercoms, phones, etc. Homeowners sent a knowledgeable TV repairman to my house to determine if anything could be repaired. He quickly diagnosed the problem with the TV and ordered and replaced a seperate circuit board that the house current attached to. I had no more problems with it. This was several years ago and I don't know if current TVs like the Vizio have a seperate board like that.

The TV in my bedroom wouldn't work for sereral days and then began working fine. I can't explain that one.
Aug. 8, 2011 11:19 a.m. jrw1621 SuperDork

T.J. wrote: There is a one year warranty but it does not cover acts of god or power surges...which I think is what happened here.

You are the only one saying that a power surge had anything to do with it. Of course, you have evidence of other things that did not experience the same. I would start the warranty process while not mentioning your theory of surge (which you have no other proof there was.).
Aug. 8, 2011 11:28 a.m. pigeon Dork

jrw1621 wrote:

T.J. wrote: There is a one year warranty but it does not cover acts of god or power surges...which I think is what happened here.

You are the only one saying that a power surge had anything to do with it. Of course, you have evidence of other things that did not experience the same. I would start the warranty process while not mentioning your theory of surge (which you have no other proof there was.).

This. "Hell, Vizio? My TV isn't working anymore, I have no idea why. Please send a repairman out." It's their job to diagnose it. If they say it was cooked by a surge point to the surge protector and all the other un-cooked stuff pluged into it.

Also, buy a new surge protector - if there's any chance at all that it absorbed any power surge it's probably cooked or at least it's abilities are diminished.
Aug. 8, 2011 2:30 p.m. SyntheticBlinkerFluid HalfDork

I've dealt with TVs working with the cable company (anyone who works for the satellite companies can attest to this too).

Your TV wasn't most likely affected by the storm, it sounds like a coincidence.

If the TV was affected by the storm, nothing would happen when you try to turn it on. It sounds like its a software issue on the TV.

Contact the place you purchased it from first (if they cover the warranty or if from Costco like mentioned above).

If above doesn't work out, Call Vizio. They should cover it if it's under a year old.

If that doesnt work, there are TV repair services. You may have to look in a phone book. It usually will be a place that has been around for a while (like a TV sales place).

Also, DO NOT mention the storm, everything else is working in your surge protector. So I don't think that's at fault, like I said, coincidence.

You will have to play 20 questions, so be ready for that.
Aug. 8, 2011 3:15 p.m. RossD SuperDork

Look for a firmware update. I 'fixed' an Olevia TV that way.
Aug. 8, 2011 3:15 p.m. donalson SuperDork

sounds like the i'd go with what these guys are saying...

but for a tv repair guy... I found one with google... my mema gave me her 32" LCD that won't turn on (gets power but won't turn on) from experiance and a quick google thats a prob common to this model and can be 1 of 2 boards... I figured the $35 to drop it at the repair shop was worth it to know which circuit board needs replaced... the $35 goes towards the repair... so we'll see on that.

so in short yes tv repair guys are around... just gota find em....
Aug. 8, 2011 3:32 p.m. GrantMLS Reader

I'd say mostly the storm effected it - but probally just killed the firmware (I just had a copier do this on me) if your lucky and didn't effect the mem you can just do a firmware update and fix it.. if your not lucky like said above - there is a board with the mem they just replace and will have it working pretty quickly..
Aug. 8, 2011 4:19 p.m. EastCoastMojo SuperDork

Your TV may have gotten stuck in some kind of "demo" mode or otherwise need a software update or settings changed. Apparently there is a Setup Wizard in the Help menu that may lead you to where these settings are changed.
Hree's the Vizio downloads page if you need a firmware update.
Aug. 8, 2011 4:21 p.m. SupraWes Dork

Leave it unplugged for a day and try it again.
Aug. 8, 2011 5:41 p.m. T.J. SuperDork

It was unplugged all night. Just tried it again and it is the same. Can't get to any menus to re-run the guided setup. Also, it updates firmware via WiFi, but since it will not turn on all the way it cannot connect to the internet.

Sam's said they will only take it within 90 days of purchase. Vizio says they will send someone out to look at it since it is less than a year old. We'll see what happens. I found a few sites that sell boards for the TV, looks like a power board is a little over $100 and the PCB board is more like $200.