If you have a Samsung Flat Screen TV...

[3boymthr]

A few weeks ago our 3 yo Samsung TV started to go. Out of warranty of course. Oigh! It kept clicking and clicking and clicking and after a couple minutes would finally turn on. Not too bad at first only a few times then on it would come and the TV would be fine. But the problem kept getting worse and worse and worse to the point that it was taking 45 minutes for the TV to turn on. All I could think was it's going to cost us a fortune to fix it and/or we're going to have to buy a new one. DH was home today with back problems (another oigh!) so we did a little internet searching and found out what the problem was. Apparently there is a problem with the capacitors in our model TV and a couple of other models that causes the problem to happen and it's an easy repair - just need to replace the board or the capacitors on the board (depending upon how tech savy you are). Called Samsung today to find a place that will sell us the parts so DH can fix it and lo and behold there's been a recall for Samsung TVs with this problem and the repair (labor and the necessary parts) will be free. Even better they will be doing the repair in my home so I don't have to pack up the TV to take it to the repair shop.

 

[cm8]

A few weeks ago our 3 yo Samsung TV started to go. Out of warranty of course. Oigh! It kept clicking and clicking and clicking and after a couple minutes would finally turn on. Not too bad at first only a few times then on it would come and the TV would be fine. But the problem kept getting worse and worse and worse to the point that it was taking 45 minutes for the TV to turn on. All I could think was it's going to cost us a fortune to fix it and/or we're going to have to buy a new one. DH was home today with back problems (another oigh!) so we did a little internet searching and found out what the problem was. Apparently there is a problem with the capacitors in our model TV and a couple of other models that causes the problem to happen and it's an easy repair - just need to replace the board or the capacitors on the board (depending upon how tech savy you are). Called Samsung today to find a place that will sell us the parts so DH can fix it and lo and behold there's been a recall for Samsung TVs with this problem and the repair (labor and the necessary parts) will be free. Even better they will be doing the repair in my home so I don't have to pack up the TV to take it to the repair shop.

For the free repair and booooooooo for the issues. I hope this is not something we have to look forward too. What model do you have? We purchased our Led 8000 series last year and everything seems to be going well with it! Thanks for posting though, I guess I will go searching for these issues

 

[nilseks]

Good to know...thanks for the heads up! My brother and I both purchased the same Samsung TV's for our families a few years ago on black Friday. My brother has had some problems with his recently (comes and goes). Ours seems to be fine, but since we bought the same model as my brother, I'm just sitting her cringing and waiting for something to go wrong with it.

 

[3boymthr]

I have the LN-T4066F. There are several models that have this problem though. I don't know if there is a list some where. The problem is very distinct. It started out as a slow problem. Took a couple of minutes with a clicking sound to come on one day then came on fine for a couple of days, then problem came and went for a couple of days then started happening all the time but just took a couple of minutes every time with the time getting longer and longer each time we used the TV. And if we turned the TV off then turned it on again within a few minutes we didn't have the problem.

I'm just thrilled they're going to fix the problem and I'm not going to be paying for it.

 

[LovableGluttons]

Wow!


I bought my kids each a Samsung 32 inch television for Christmas 2009. My son's only has the right half of the picture. It just stopped showing the other side!


I'll contact Samsung! Thanks!

 

[Carlyzmom]

That exact thing happened to my sister and her husband. Ours, unfortunately went belly up only SIX months out of warranty. It was the panel that went out. Our 1.5 year old $900 TV went out on the street

No more Samsung for me! Apparently problems with them are common.

 

[magicaddict]

OP - we had the same problem and were also lucky enough that ours fell within the date range of the recall. Apparently there were a lot of these sets with the same exact problem but Samsung would only cover repairs on those that fell within a certain date range. While thrilled ours was covered, I felt bad for all those people who weren't covered. I don't know if they fixed this issue for the new LED sets but we will probably never buy another Samsung. One thing when they do come to fix the tv is to clean the inside of the back cover. There are a ton of screws the guy had to take out so it's not something you want to have to do yourself. when he laid it aside I could see how much dust was around the slots for ventilation and asked if it was okay to clean it off. The guy actually told me that it would be okay but if I wanted to I could. After having a problem with my laptop fan clogging I'm always worried about electronics having adequate air circulation.

 

[3boymthr]

OP - we had the same problem and were also lucky enough that ours fell within the date range of the recall. Apparently there were a lot of these sets with the same exact problem but Samsung would only cover repairs on those that fell within a certain date range. While thrilled ours was covered, I felt bad for all those people who weren't covered. I don't know if they fixed this issue for the new LED sets but we will probably never buy another Samsung. One thing when they do come to fix the tv is to clean the inside of the back cover. There are a ton of screws the guy had to take out so it's not something you want to have to do yourself. when he laid it aside I could see how much dust was around the slots for ventilation and asked if it was okay to clean it off. The guy actually told me that it would be okay but if I wanted to I could. After having a problem with my laptop fan clogging I'm always worried about electronics having adequate air circulation.

Yeah, I'm really, really glad it was covered.

I know exactly what you're talking about with the dust. I took my old computer apart to remove the hard drive before disposing of it and could not believe how much dust was inside. I'll have to remember to clean the inside of the cover when he is here.

 

[CrazyforBuzz&Woody]

We also had this problem about 6-8 months ago. My husband found that Samsung was covering the cost when he googled our model #. Samsung set up the appointment with a local contractor and they had it fixed in no time. I was relieved that we didn't need to purchase a new TV.

 

[HM]

Wow. We have three Samsung flat screens. Can you tell us which ones are under recalls?

We haven't had any problems and one of them we've had for years, the other two were purchased last year.

 

[KTSMOM]

We had the same issue with our Samsung tv about 2 months ago. Ours was not under warranty so I had a tv repair man come out and fix it. Cost was $75 for labor and parts. He said that this is an issue with all flat screen tvs. Apparently the same model for the flat screen is used with all companies. They didn't make enough room in the back of the tv for the capaciters so they will blow. Fortuantely they can replace it with updated capaciters that are supposed to withstand the heat from the tv. We'll see...

 

[magik]

I have a Samsung LCD flat screen, and although my TV doesn't have the capacitor problem (yet...knock wood), I got it as a Christmas present this past Christmas and in April the colors went off - shadowy areas of picture showed as red vertical lines. It was pretty much unwatchable for certain shows that have a lot of dark colors/shadows.

Turns out some board inside the TV went bad. Since it was only 4 months old at the time, it was fortunately still under warranty and cost nothing to fix, but the repair guy that came to my house said he's been doing a lot of those same repairs on Samsung LCD TVs. It doesn't really instill confidence in me that this TV will be around for years to come.

 

[MsStinkerBelle]

I have a 22" and 50" Samsung flat panels that haven't had any problems and I've had them both for over 3 years. One is an LCD and the other is a Plasma.

 

[obrien622]

Once again the DisBoards ROCK!!!!! We also have the Samsung with the clicking issue and are now up to 30 minutes for the TV to come on. It has been making me crazy since once the TV is on the picture is awesome so to replace it seems rediculous but repairs can be so expensive as well. Off to find my model number and confirm date purchased and to call Samsung

 

[Judique]

I have a 22" and 50" Samsung flat panels that haven't had any problems and I've had them both for over 3 years. One is an LCD and the other is a Plasma.

We have 2 of the 32's and a 40 and no problem yet. All less than 2 years old.

Thanks for the heads up. Will check out the recall.

 

[Heard02]

We have had our Samsung for 3.5 years now and each year it quits working. Ours has an issue with the bulb I think. The last time it went out, we just bought a new tv because our warranty expired and don't want to keep having the same problem year after year. Will never buy another Samsung product again.

 

[obrien622]

Thank you so much OP!! Just contacted Samsung and we are eligible for the service call ouside the warranty to replace the capacitors. So happy I saw this post today

 

[jwfla422]

Wow, we have been TV shopping the past week because our big ole projection dinosaur is on it's way out (the callibration tube or something that lines up the colors is dying), but it works for several days and then the picture will blur intermittently...but my point is we've been really steering toward eventually replacing it with a Samsung LCD/LED.

Even though there were particular models that were recalled, I'm now somewhat leary after reading several of the posts here. If the problem is theirs it seems ok that they'll replace or fix it without hassle. I have every intention of purchasing an extended warrantee but still we're planning to buy something new to replace a broken TV, not to have another TV that may need to be repaired?

So for those who are unhappy with their Samsung, what would you have purchased instead (or plan to)? What other brands do your recommend or do you really think their about the same quality? I think Sony is over-rated. LG's picture didn't seem as good as Samsung's (we're looking at a 47" or even a 51" but trying to keep the cost down??)

 

[Tinkerbelle32]

Thanks for posting op! We've had ours for about 2 yrs now and not had any problems to speak of. I'm off to check the model #.