Conia TV Sudden Death - Repair, Buy New Dick Smith or Used?

Hoju on 05/10/2015 - 08:34

Sigh my Conia 32in LcD just died. No idea what's wrong, had a dvd in there it powered on and started to play the DVD but with no picture. Ejected the dvd and now the tv appears to power on (standby light goes off) but no image. Nothing seems to work and can't insert a DVD or anything.

Wondering if anyone has experience with repair costs, is it worth taking for service?

Any value in selling for parts?

Should I make use of the DS 30% off deal and grab a new 32in led tv today - are these any good? (Probably better than the 4 year old Conia I imagine) I can use the coupon and get one for about $195 I think.

Or for around the same $200 price point could I buy a better quality unit, but second hand?

Totally not aware really of tv technology, so any experienced views would be great.

Electrical & Electronics

Comments

  • altomic on 05/10/2015 - 09:35
    +4

    Sounds like the LCD controller board. I had a similar thing happen to me aldi median 32". LCD TVs are pretty basic. Main power board, LCD controller and inverter board.

    If there is power running through then it nots the power board. The standby light is on but nothing happens which would lead me to believe the LCD controller.

    Or it could be the DVD drive doing something.

    Of course further investigation would be needed.

    My advice - take the back off. Disconnect the DVD drive/player and see if that helps. Otherwise get the part number for the LCD controller board and look for it on aliexpress. I bought one there for $30.

    A repair wouldn't be worth it. I asked the tv repair shop up the road what it would cost for my TV. They said initial inspection would be $35 and then further parts and labour…they wouldn't source the parts cheaply from aliexpress but probably some place here where they charge double or triple the price and the $60 an hour labour…

    Any who I ended buying another TV -changhong 40" for $315 at DSE as wife and kids didn't want to wait a month for the spare part. And have the working 32" sitting there as a spare.

    LCD/led TVs are so incredibly simple inside. A few boards, 4 ribbon cables, 2 speaker cables and LCD panel.

  • Hoju on 05/10/2015 - 09:37

    Hey awesome thank you, I'll open it up later today and see if I can disconnect the DVD drive component as we've use the drive only twice and this has happened the second time.
    Nothing to lose at this stage!

  • PJC on 05/10/2015 - 09:41

    Toss it and get a new one, unless you get lucky following altomic's advice. We are in a world of inbuilt obsolescence.

  • [Deactivated] on 05/10/2015 - 11:16
    +1

    Altomic might be right, but with everything else working and unless clearly stated - 'LED Backlight' tended to be back then - a TV or monitor that is 4+ years old implies a pretty high likelihood of having a fluoro backlight instead. If so, more likely that as your problem, I reckon.

    Of the total five fluoro-backlit screens that were in my house at one point (two with the fewest hours clocked, still working), three of the well-used screens failed around the four year mark, give or take.

    Almost the cost of an almost as well-specced replacement ($550) was the quote, confirmed as 'reasonable' by Samsung when the first (a monitor) died. I didn't bother enquiring when the other fluoros carked-it.

    LED or fluorescent backlight? Find out before you shell-out for an LCD controller board.

  • Hoju on 05/10/2015 - 13:03

    Nuts maybe it is the display. We hardly used the tv really, maybe a few hours a week.

    Just turned it on after unplugging for a while. Display actually came on long enough for me to switch from DVD to tv and choose a channel. Then display went off but audio continued.

    Does that sound like the display then? I unplugged the DVD power when I opened up the back but no luxk

    • [Deactivated] on 05/10/2015 - 23:44

      May well be some other (likely capacitor related) factors at play, but as you described/same for the first-mentioned monitor's demise - backlight would light for a second or two, but wouldn't catch/sustain. A primary symptom, as confirmed by the tech I spoke with.

      The other two died in a somewhat different way.
      The backlights dimmed just a little bit (still quite noticeable), and then had some slight hesitancy to start and sustain.
      Then, on one not-fine-day, for each, nothing. :(

      Time for a new TV, my friend.

      Caution:
      Be aware that if you buy one of the new 'Smart' TV's and it still allows you to watch 'Keeping up with The Kardashians', you definitely will need to make a warranty claim.

      :)

  • Hoju on 06/10/2015 - 08:07
    +1

    Aw nuts. I hate this. Seriously, four year lifespan for a tv?
    So much wastage for the sake of cheapness.

    Ah well thanks for the advice. Going to go tv free for a while I think! Shudder at the thought of any kind of reality tv finding its way into my life

    • altomic on 06/10/2015 - 16:14

      apparently if you hold a bright torch up to a LCD screen with a broken backlight then you should be able to see the picture. if you can see "a ghost of the picture" via torch light then it could be the inverter.

      if you want to take the risk then get the part number and look on aliexpress (i found them cheapest when looking for the logic controller board)

      • Hoju on 07/10/2015 - 06:24

        Ah yeh I did the torch thing but the screen is totally black in there :(

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