I obviously do component level electronics repair from time to time (I've been doing electronics repair/modification since I was fairly young on devices ranging from food processers all the way up to advanced electronic component level repair such as laptops). One of recent experiments was with large screen flat panel (Plasma, LCD, LED, etc...) television sets. Some general notes:
- take precautions. If you've ever watched some of those guys on YouTube, you'll realise that they are probably amateur electrcians and have probably never been shocked/electrocuted before. It's one thing to work with small electronic devices. It's an entirely different matter to be working with mains voltage. Be careful...
- a lot of the time electronic failure will take occur gradually over time (although the amount of time can vary drastically obviously)
- don't just focus on repairing it so that power can flow through the circuit once more. It's possible that it will just fail once more. Home in on the problem area, and make sure everything's working. That way you don't have to keep on dealing with other difficulties down the track
http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/25055/slow-blow-vs-fast-acting-fuse
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuse_%28electrical%29
- it may only be possible to test components outside of circuit. While testing components with a multimeter will help you may need to purchase more advanced and expensive diagnostic equipment to really figure out what the true cause of the problem is
http://www.eevblog.com/forum/beginners/is-there-any-way-to-test-capacitors-while-on-the-circuit-board/
http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/95663/how-to-test-capacitors-of-non-working-circuit-board-using-capacitor-meter
http://en-us.fluke.com/training/training-library/test-tools/digital-multimeters/how-to-measure-capacitance-with-a-digital-multimeter.html
http://www.learningaboutelectronics.com/Articles/How-to-test-a-capacitor
http://www.tpub.com/neets/book7/24l.htm
http://www.ladyada.net/library/metertut/resistance.html?PageSpeed=noscript
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscilloscope
- setup a proper test environment. Ideally, one where you have a seperate circuit and where there are safety mechanisms in place to reduce the chances of a total blackout in your house and to increase your personal safety
- any information that you take from this is at your own risk. Please don't think that any of the information here will turn you into a qualified electronics technician or will allow you to solve most problems that you will face
- a lot of the time information on the Internet can be helpful but only applies to particular conditions. Try to understand and work the problem rather than just blindly following what other people do. It may save you a bit of money over the long term
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Failure_modes_of_electronics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascading_failure
https://ca.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100213153443AAc1xPb
http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/8129/how-do-components-fail
http://www.angelfire.com/planet/funwithtransistors/Book_TS_CHAP-3.html
http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/funwithtubes/Restore_cap.html
http://www.avsforum.com/forum/167-plasma-flat-panel-displays/1490867-samsung-pn60e550d1f-no-picture-has-sound-capacitors-look-ok.html
http://www.avsforum.com/forum/167-plasma-flat-panel-displays/1490976-samsung-51d490-sound-but-no-picture-issue.html
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/threads/lg-42-lcd-tv-42lg60fr-picture-goes-black-sound-still-on.86475/
http://www.gamersyde.com/forum_lg_lcd_tv_47lg50_blacked_out_-33_34874_1_en.html
http://www.avsforum.com/forum/166-lcd-flat-panel-displays/1337855-tv-turns-there-sound-but-no-picture.html
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUfgq9Gn8S041qQFl0C-CEQ
https://www.youtube.com/user/GrantsPassTVRepairs?feature=hovercard
http://www.explainthatstuff.com/plasmatv.html
http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=18542
http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=33333
https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/136156/color+on+LCD+fades+to+white+after+10+seconds
http://support-us.samsung.com/cyber/popup/iframe/pop_troubleshooting_fr.jsp?idx=28929&modelname=LT-P227W
https://us.en.kb.sony.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/42696/~/the-tv-turns-off-and-on-by-itself,-reboots,-or-the-standby-light-is-blinking
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080129052848AAdAtpt
http://forums.cnet.com/7723-13973_102-530929/horizontal-black-lines-on-samsung-50-plasma-tv/
http://forums.cnet.com/7723-13973_102-511585/plasma-tv-has-3-thin-black-lines/
http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/causes-horizontal-lines-lcd-panel-37988.html
Philips 32PFL5522D/05 - Completely dead (no power LED or signs of life) - Diagnosis and repair
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrphsEw8slw
- take precautions. If you've ever watched some of those guys on YouTube, you'll realise that they are probably amateur electrcians and have probably never been shocked/electrocuted before. It's one thing to work with small electronic devices. It's an entirely different matter to be working with mains voltage. Be careful...
- a lot of the time electronic failure will take occur gradually over time (although the amount of time can vary drastically obviously)
- don't just focus on repairing it so that power can flow through the circuit once more. It's possible that it will just fail once more. Home in on the problem area, and make sure everything's working. That way you don't have to keep on dealing with other difficulties down the track
http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/25055/slow-blow-vs-fast-acting-fuse
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuse_%28electrical%29
- it may only be possible to test components outside of circuit. While testing components with a multimeter will help you may need to purchase more advanced and expensive diagnostic equipment to really figure out what the true cause of the problem is
http://www.eevblog.com/forum/beginners/is-there-any-way-to-test-capacitors-while-on-the-circuit-board/
http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/95663/how-to-test-capacitors-of-non-working-circuit-board-using-capacitor-meter
http://en-us.fluke.com/training/training-library/test-tools/digital-multimeters/how-to-measure-capacitance-with-a-digital-multimeter.html
http://www.learningaboutelectronics.com/Articles/How-to-test-a-capacitor
http://www.tpub.com/neets/book7/24l.htm
http://www.ladyada.net/library/metertut/resistance.html?PageSpeed=noscript
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscilloscope
- setup a proper test environment. Ideally, one where you have a seperate circuit and where there are safety mechanisms in place to reduce the chances of a total blackout in your house and to increase your personal safety
- any information that you take from this is at your own risk. Please don't think that any of the information here will turn you into a qualified electronics technician or will allow you to solve most problems that you will face
- a lot of the time information on the Internet can be helpful but only applies to particular conditions. Try to understand and work the problem rather than just blindly following what other people do. It may save you a bit of money over the long term
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Failure_modes_of_electronics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascading_failure
https://ca.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100213153443AAc1xPb
http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/8129/how-do-components-fail
http://www.angelfire.com/planet/funwithtransistors/Book_TS_CHAP-3.html
http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/funwithtubes/Restore_cap.html
http://www.avsforum.com/forum/167-plasma-flat-panel-displays/1490867-samsung-pn60e550d1f-no-picture-has-sound-capacitors-look-ok.html
http://www.avsforum.com/forum/167-plasma-flat-panel-displays/1490976-samsung-51d490-sound-but-no-picture-issue.html
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/threads/lg-42-lcd-tv-42lg60fr-picture-goes-black-sound-still-on.86475/
http://www.gamersyde.com/forum_lg_lcd_tv_47lg50_blacked_out_-33_34874_1_en.html
http://www.avsforum.com/forum/166-lcd-flat-panel-displays/1337855-tv-turns-there-sound-but-no-picture.html
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUfgq9Gn8S041qQFl0C-CEQ
https://www.youtube.com/user/GrantsPassTVRepairs?feature=hovercard
http://www.explainthatstuff.com/plasmatv.html
http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=18542
http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=33333
https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/136156/color+on+LCD+fades+to+white+after+10+seconds
http://support-us.samsung.com/cyber/popup/iframe/pop_troubleshooting_fr.jsp?idx=28929&modelname=LT-P227W
https://us.en.kb.sony.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/42696/~/the-tv-turns-off-and-on-by-itself,-reboots,-or-the-standby-light-is-blinking
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080129052848AAdAtpt
http://forums.cnet.com/7723-13973_102-530929/horizontal-black-lines-on-samsung-50-plasma-tv/
http://forums.cnet.com/7723-13973_102-511585/plasma-tv-has-3-thin-black-lines/
http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/causes-horizontal-lines-lcd-panel-37988.html
Philips 32PFL5522D/05 - Completely dead (no power LED or signs of life) - Diagnosis and repair
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrphsEw8slw
how fix tv site:blogspot.com
- electronics repair is becoming increasingly un-economical. Parts may be impossible to find and replacing the TV rather than fixing it may actually be cheaper (especially when the screen is cracked. It's almost certain that a new replacement is going to cost more than the set itself). The only circumstances where it's likely to be worth it is if you have cheap spare parts on hand or the type of failure involves a relatively small, minor, component. The other thing you should know is that while the device may be physically structured in such a way to appear modularised it may not fail in such a fashion. I've been reading about boards which fail but actually have no mechanism to stop it from bleeding into other modules which means you end up in an infinite, failure loop. Replace one bad component with a good one and the leftover apparently good component fails and takes out the new, good board eventually. The cycle then continues on forever before the technician realises this or news of such design spreads. You may have to replace both boards at the same time which then makes the repair un-economical
http://resistor.cherryjourney.pt/
http://www.eeweb.com/toolbox/4-band-resistor-calculator
http://www.1728.org/resisclr.htm
http://www.camradio.net/resistors.html
- spare parts can be extremely difficult to source or are incredibly expensive. Moreover, the quality of the replacement parts can vary drastically in quality. If at all possible work with a source of known quality. Else, ask for demo parts particularly with Asian suppliers who may provide them for free and as a means of establishing a longer term business relationship
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/37PFL7422-93-37TA2800-Power-Supply-715T2484-5-Original-parts/715046_32223080629.html
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Non-Replacement-37PFL7422-Power-Board-715T2484-5/1395137_32228251009.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_electricity_by_country
http://www.worldstandards.eu/electricity/plug-voltage-by-country/
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060619172834AADo9qt
http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/120983/what-happens-if-a-240v-appliance-is-connected-in-a-120v-ac-power-supply
http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/29259/charging-devices-voltage-and-amperage
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060619172834AADo9qt
- be careful when replacing parts. Try to do your bet to replace like for like. Certain systems will operate in a degraded state if/when using sub-par replacements but will ultimately fail down the line
http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/86530/substituting-capacitors
http://www.antiqueradio.org/recap.htm
- use all your senses (and head) to track down a failure more quickly (sight and smell in particular for burnt out components). Sometimes, it may not be obvious where the actual failure is as opposed to where it may appear to be coming from. For instance, one set I looked at had a chirping power supply. It had actually suffered from failures of multiple components which made it appear/sound as though the transformer had failed. Replacement of all relevant components (not the transformer) resulted in a functional power supply unit and stopping of the chirping sound
http://www.cnet.com/au/news/samsung-power-defect-causes-some-tvs-to-fail-and-a-class-action-suit-follows/
http://techreport.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=62360&start=960
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/363126-28-making-clicking-chirping-noises
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20111006212112AAbUauu
http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=24657
http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=18603
http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=17379
http://superuser.com/questions/487729/motherboard-makes-high-pitched-chirping-noise-will-it-stop-by-itself-or-what-d
http://sound.westhost.com/troubleshooting.htm
http://www.instructables.com/id/Repair-your-electronics-by-replacing-blown-capacit/
http://www.justanswer.com/tv-repair/62e22-philips-42-inch-lcd-no-picture-just-chirping-sound-when-turned.html
http://www.fixya.com/tags/chirping/flat_panel_televisions/philips
http://www.ehow.com/how_7387574_philips-turn-making-chirping-noise.html
http://www.capacitorlab.com/visible-failures/
http://www.badcaps.net/pages.php?vid=5
http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/funwithtubes/Testing_caps.html
http://conradhoffman.com/capchecktut.htm
http://www.justanswer.com/tv-repair/71602-fix-vertical-lines-samsung-plasma-tv.html
http://www.digikey.com.au/product-detail/en/ECE-A1AKA470/P806-ND/6913
- as with musical instruments, teardowns may be the best that you can get with regards to details of how a device should work. This is nothing like school/University where you are given a rough idea of how it should work. You may be completely blind here...
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com.au/2015/06/repairing-musical-instrumentselectrical.html
- components may be shared across different manufacturers. It doesn't mean that they will work if swapped though. They could be using different version of the same base reference board (similar to the way in which graphics, sound, telecommunications, and network cards rely on reference designs in the ICT sector)
https://www.ifixit.com/
715t2484-3-schematic.pdf
Magnavox has a very similar layout to a similar size Phillips LCD TV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSS6ycUxS98
Apparently, Amazon are interested in some local talent.
http://aws.amazon.com/careers/aus-nz-event/
There are some bemusing tales of recruitment and the experience of working there though.
http://gawker.com/working-at-amazon-is-a-soul-crushing-experience-1573522379
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/nov/28/being-homeless-is-better-than-working-for-amazon
http://www.glassdoor.com.au/Overview/Working-at-Amazon-com-EI_IE6036.11,21.htm
http://www.salon.com/2014/02/23/worse_than_wal_mart_amazons_sick_brutality_and_secret_history_of_ruthlessly_intimidating_workers/
If your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch doesn't respond or doesn't turn on. If your device is in a lot of trouble I often just run the following command on the storage, 'dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/[iPod storage node]'. This will create a corrupted filesystem and force restoration of the iOS to factory settings/setup.
https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201412
https://www.ifixit.com/Wiki/iPod_Classic_Troubleshooting
https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/15461/Won%27t+turn+on+or+charge
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2468023?tstart=0
https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201263
http://www.howtogeek.com/216839/what-to-do-when-your-iphone-or-ipad-won%E2%80%99t-turn-on/?PageSpeed=noscript
Sometimes digitizers play up. Apparently, a lot of strange behaviour can occur if certain cables are bent improperly or if there isn't enough space/insulation between certain components.
https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/137418/Digitizer+freaks+out+when+laid+flat+on+the+frame
Identify your iPad model.
https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201471
If your device is suffering from device corruption issues you may need to backup your music first...
http://www.wikihow.com/Copy-Music-from-Your-iPod-to-Your-Computer
http://www.syncios.com/how-to-backup-ipod-music-to-computer.html
http://lifehacker.com/5869827/how-to-copy-music-from-your-iphone-ipad-or-ipod-touch-to-your-computer-for-free
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5025610
http://geeknizer.com/how-to-fix-corrupted-ipod/
A lot of substances can be used to remove scratches from your electronic device. Some of them not so obvious in the way that they actually work (solvents and abrasives are the most common techniques that are used).
http://www.macworld.com/article/1046291/scratchremove.html
http://www.instructables.com/id/Buffing-Your-Ipod/
- electronics repair is becoming increasingly un-economical. Parts may be impossible to find and replacing the TV rather than fixing it may actually be cheaper (especially when the screen is cracked. It's almost certain that a new replacement is going to cost more than the set itself). The only circumstances where it's likely to be worth it is if you have cheap spare parts on hand or the type of failure involves a relatively small, minor, component. The other thing you should know is that while the device may be physically structured in such a way to appear modularised it may not fail in such a fashion. I've been reading about boards which fail but actually have no mechanism to stop it from bleeding into other modules which means you end up in an infinite, failure loop. Replace one bad component with a good one and the leftover apparently good component fails and takes out the new, good board eventually. The cycle then continues on forever before the technician realises this or news of such design spreads. You may have to replace both boards at the same time which then makes the repair un-economical
http://resistor.cherryjourney.pt/
http://www.eeweb.com/toolbox/4-band-resistor-calculator
http://www.1728.org/resisclr.htm
http://www.camradio.net/resistors.html
- spare parts can be extremely difficult to source or are incredibly expensive. Moreover, the quality of the replacement parts can vary drastically in quality. If at all possible work with a source of known quality. Else, ask for demo parts particularly with Asian suppliers who may provide them for free and as a means of establishing a longer term business relationship
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/37PFL7422-93-37TA2800-Power-Supply-715T2484-5-Original-parts/715046_32223080629.html
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Non-Replacement-37PFL7422-Power-Board-715T2484-5/1395137_32228251009.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_electricity_by_country
http://www.worldstandards.eu/electricity/plug-voltage-by-country/
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060619172834AADo9qt
http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/120983/what-happens-if-a-240v-appliance-is-connected-in-a-120v-ac-power-supply
http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/29259/charging-devices-voltage-and-amperage
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060619172834AADo9qt
- be careful when replacing parts. Try to do your bet to replace like for like. Certain systems will operate in a degraded state if/when using sub-par replacements but will ultimately fail down the line
http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/86530/substituting-capacitors
http://www.antiqueradio.org/recap.htm
- use all your senses (and head) to track down a failure more quickly (sight and smell in particular for burnt out components). Sometimes, it may not be obvious where the actual failure is as opposed to where it may appear to be coming from. For instance, one set I looked at had a chirping power supply. It had actually suffered from failures of multiple components which made it appear/sound as though the transformer had failed. Replacement of all relevant components (not the transformer) resulted in a functional power supply unit and stopping of the chirping sound
http://www.cnet.com/au/news/samsung-power-defect-causes-some-tvs-to-fail-and-a-class-action-suit-follows/
http://techreport.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=62360&start=960
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/363126-28-making-clicking-chirping-noises
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20111006212112AAbUauu
http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=24657
http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=18603
http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=17379
http://superuser.com/questions/487729/motherboard-makes-high-pitched-chirping-noise-will-it-stop-by-itself-or-what-d
http://sound.westhost.com/troubleshooting.htm
http://www.instructables.com/id/Repair-your-electronics-by-replacing-blown-capacit/
http://www.justanswer.com/tv-repair/62e22-philips-42-inch-lcd-no-picture-just-chirping-sound-when-turned.html
http://www.fixya.com/tags/chirping/flat_panel_televisions/philips
http://www.ehow.com/how_7387574_philips-turn-making-chirping-noise.html
http://www.capacitorlab.com/visible-failures/
http://www.badcaps.net/pages.php?vid=5
http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/funwithtubes/Testing_caps.html
http://conradhoffman.com/capchecktut.htm
http://www.justanswer.com/tv-repair/71602-fix-vertical-lines-samsung-plasma-tv.html
http://www.digikey.com.au/product-detail/en/ECE-A1AKA470/P806-ND/6913
- as with musical instruments, teardowns may be the best that you can get with regards to details of how a device should work. This is nothing like school/University where you are given a rough idea of how it should work. You may be completely blind here...
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com.au/2015/06/repairing-musical-instrumentselectrical.html
- components may be shared across different manufacturers. It doesn't mean that they will work if swapped though. They could be using different version of the same base reference board (similar to the way in which graphics, sound, telecommunications, and network cards rely on reference designs in the ICT sector)
https://www.ifixit.com/
715t2484-3-schematic.pdf
Magnavox has a very similar layout to a similar size Phillips LCD TV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSS6ycUxS98
Apparently, Amazon are interested in some local talent.
http://aws.amazon.com/careers/aus-nz-event/
There are some bemusing tales of recruitment and the experience of working there though.
http://gawker.com/working-at-amazon-is-a-soul-crushing-experience-1573522379
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/nov/28/being-homeless-is-better-than-working-for-amazon
http://www.glassdoor.com.au/Overview/Working-at-Amazon-com-EI_IE6036.11,21.htm
http://www.salon.com/2014/02/23/worse_than_wal_mart_amazons_sick_brutality_and_secret_history_of_ruthlessly_intimidating_workers/
If your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch doesn't respond or doesn't turn on. If your device is in a lot of trouble I often just run the following command on the storage, 'dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/[iPod storage node]'. This will create a corrupted filesystem and force restoration of the iOS to factory settings/setup.
https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201412
https://www.ifixit.com/Wiki/iPod_Classic_Troubleshooting
https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/15461/Won%27t+turn+on+or+charge
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2468023?tstart=0
https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201263
http://www.howtogeek.com/216839/what-to-do-when-your-iphone-or-ipad-won%E2%80%99t-turn-on/?PageSpeed=noscript
Sometimes digitizers play up. Apparently, a lot of strange behaviour can occur if certain cables are bent improperly or if there isn't enough space/insulation between certain components.
https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/137418/Digitizer+freaks+out+when+laid+flat+on+the+frame
Identify your iPad model.
https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201471
If your device is suffering from device corruption issues you may need to backup your music first...
http://www.wikihow.com/Copy-Music-from-Your-iPod-to-Your-Computer
http://www.syncios.com/how-to-backup-ipod-music-to-computer.html
http://lifehacker.com/5869827/how-to-copy-music-from-your-iphone-ipad-or-ipod-touch-to-your-computer-for-free
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5025610
http://geeknizer.com/how-to-fix-corrupted-ipod/
A lot of substances can be used to remove scratches from your electronic device. Some of them not so obvious in the way that they actually work (solvents and abrasives are the most common techniques that are used).
http://www.macworld.com/article/1046291/scratchremove.html
http://www.instructables.com/id/Buffing-Your-Ipod/
