DYI Repair Suggestions

*DYI Notes and Suggestions* Simple and helpful suggestions for the non technical customers While the majority of our Customers are service shops and trained technicians looking for alternative sources to parts no longer supplied by the manufacturer's, equipment owners are gradually becoming aware of the high costs involved in having a Plasma or an LCD television repaired by a professional service facility and are also starting to look for alternative ways to get their non working equipment repaired, and of course the easier way around this is a DYI Repair A few Years ago with only CRT Television being around, DYI Television repair was considered unthinkable, as most CRT televisions did not offer the easiness of just replacing PCBs, and a CRT Television itself can be a lot more dangerous for the inexperienced if not repaired or readjusted correctly, excessive High voltages and their effects on radiation cannot by measured by the average DYI person as specialized equipment beyond their reach is needed . However with Plasma and LCD Television repair, things are now different Unlike the one part PCB of the CRT TVs of the last decade, modern televisions have complete modular design, different PCBs are used for major functions, this has already reduced the need for highly trained service personnel at professional service facilities, after all undoing a few screws and replacing a PCB, cannot be considered as a task requiring high technical skills, getting to know the theory behind the actual PCB operation in order to correctly diagnose the initial fault, or repair it to a component level, is another story of course, and not many do bother to get involved with it. Forums and Social media are frequently becoming places for technical discussions about plasma or LCD television repair, for this latest evolving Customer generation we have to give the following few advices in order not to waste any money without reason Diagnosing a fault in modern day equipment like an LCD, Plasma Television, takes a lot more than advices given by friends or forums, most of the time these suggestions lead to unnecessary spare parts purchases and waste of money and efforts, usually the part(s) suggested fail to correct the problem Example A negative or a wrong colors picture in a LCD TV may be caused by a faulty LCD Logic control PCB ( T-CON ) but it may as well be caused by a faulty LCD panel itself, or by a faulty color decoder PCB ( Main PCB ) or even by just a cold solder joint, another example is a non working ( dead ) set, where the power supply section is the first to blame, but the no power on symptom can also be caused by the microprocessor not giving the correct power on signal due to a corrupt memory chip contents Purchasing the parts In the first case a T-CON PCB to fix the above problem just because you have read in a forum that someone did repair a TV by replacing this PCB, in the second case a power supply PCB just because it is the first suspect for non working equipment, both cases may turn up to be correct, OR expensive errors, because parts purchases were based on suggestions, not on any actual diagnosis, unfortunately electronic equipment cannot just be repaired by suggestions, only a person experienced in repairs and having all the required test equipment can make a correct diagnosis, and even then, the wrong diagnosis tolerance cannot be zeroed
i	Besides wrong diagnosis errors, electronic equipment may contain lethal voltages even when disconnected from the power source, electrolytic capacitors may take several minutes or even hours to discharge completely and the discharge from a short may give a person with a heart problem a lethal shock So our Suggestion is DO NOT TRY a DYI Repair unless you know very well what you are doing, and you are ready to accept full responsibility for your work and for any mistakes by wrong diagnosis, otherwise try to find a professional service center to get the job done

Another evolving problem is caused by those who are trying to repair a TV by replacing Just about every PCB in sequence, trying to locate the fault, and while in the process causing damages to parts by wrong handling, wrong fitting, or mismatching, and then complaining that the supplied parts were faulty And while it may be true that some opportunity sellers usually completely unrelated to electronic parts handling or any repair practices, are trying to sell untested or even faulty parts to customers, usually via ebay, you cannot blame a reputable business for your faults or misdiagnosis Qservice electronics has been established in the repair business for more than 30 years now, we have a fully equipped professional service facility, repairing consumer electronics and Tektronix electronic test equipment We are not Junk yard sellers, and we are not in any way associated with electronic equipment recycling Customers who are not willing to pay the high bills associated with expensive repairs for Camcorders, Televisions or Audio equipment, just prefer to buy new equipment, and trade-in their old, this is our main source for our used PCBs and parts However, as the components used in modern power supplies or any other high power related board are not really as hi quality ( especially Electrolytic capacitors ) as used to be several years ago, all PCBs, even if the equipment taken from was working fine, need to go thorough inspection, testing, and possibly reconditioning before they can be considered as fully working and be guaranteed as such, after any such reconditioning work is completed, all boards are re-tested under actual operating conditions ( we do have several sets in our workshop just for testing boards ) voltages, ripple, component overheating checked, and only after PCBs pass through this successfully, can be considered as fully working and be guaranteed As you may understand this process takes a lot of time and as we use high quality parts for all repairs, the boards we supply are not as cheap compared to those you may find from junk yard sellers, after all the junk yards do not have any work to do except to pick up the set from garbage and take the parts out, no actual testing at all, regardless of what they may claim.... If you are after those cheap bargains, please go elsewhere to get them Otherwise, Qservice Electronics is your place of Choice for tested and guaranteed second hand tested and guaranteed Parts All used parts we supply have a special tamper proof uniquely serialized label, this unique serial number is fed to our parts database as soon as the part is taken out from equipment, this way we know where the part was taken from, what work was done to it, parts replaced if any, etc, etc, this number is mentioned in all invoices and is the basis for any guarantee given, the label must remain intact for our guarantee to apply, removing or defacing the serial number, Soldering or de-soldering components from boards VOIDS the Guarantee. If you need to return any parts because of wrong diagnosis a Retest - Restock fee will apply, Please ask any questions you may have, our support personnel will answer any questions, concerns, or complains as soon as possible Thank you For Reading