Can this pretty TV be saved? Expert advice needed!

[DamianSicks]

On my way home from work I see someone putting out a very good condition Vizio E420i-A0 42” LED smart tv. I grabbed it and When I got it home I found a 2 prong power cord that fit and plugged it into my PC and my cable box via HDMI (different ports each time to rule out a HDMI issue). The TV worked and all the menus and such functions worked fine BUT there is a dark band that goes horizontally through the center of the screen. Its not horrible but its noticeable enough to make viewing too annoying to deal with. So heres my problem:

Can this bad boy be fixed????

Now I did some research and some people say its the power board and some say its replacing the LED strips that can fix this issue but a call to the local TV repair shop (I did not bring it in so he is guessing) says that its the actual screen itself and is unfixable. Ive got some experience building/repairing PC’s so I opened up the back panel and both boards at the back of the TV (not the actual LED or front screen parts. These are 2 boards that are installed behind the screen in the back of the TV) seemed to be fine, i could see no busted caps, board cracks or scorch marks. All the connections to the cables leading to the screen were intact and secure. Everything aside from this dark band appears to be in perfect functional order. I found a website that sells both the LED and powerboards so I would really like some expert advice on what you think this might be because the problem is not horrendous and I would hate to waste such a nice TV that I could use. All my searching never really gave a straight answer about this type of issue so I’m hoping I can get one here.

 

[darkbreeze]

Can you post a picture of the problem? Kind of hard to guess at exactly what the panel is doing without seeing it firsthand.

Generally though, a complete band of black would indicate a panel failure and short of the replacing the entire panel, which is usually more costly than buying the unit new, it's not repairable.

 

[gasaraki]

Probably not. The LCD panel itself is probably bad and you could replace that but probably not worth the money.

 

[grimfox]

Hold a bright light to the screen, if the image can be seen in the dark band, it's the back light that's dead, otherwise it's the LCD. The back light is cheaper to replace but it's not easy and not a guaranteed fix. On a visio, it's probably not worth it.

 

[DamianSicks]

Can you post a picture of the problem? Kind of hard to guess at exactly what the panel is doing without seeing it firsthand.

Generally though, a complete band of black would indicate a panel failure and short of the replacing the entire panel, which is usually more costly than buying the unit new, it's not repairable.

I’m a little short on space to hook up the TV right this second but I found a pic of another tv via google that shows pretty much exactly what my screen would show.

 

[darkbreeze]

As mentioned, when you are able, hold a light up to the black band and see if you can see the image. Either way, the cost to fix is is more than you could replace it for, which is why they threw it out in the first place. On most LED and LCD televisions, if the problem is not with the power board (Usually blown or leaking capacitors, which can be replaced by somebody who is skilled or trained to do so) then the cost of fixing them is almost always more than replacing them.

Which is why you see so many thrown out or left behind when people move. If you had another unit for parts that had something else wrong with it, then maybe it could be worth it but only if you are experienced with this kind of repair. Just the parts alone usually make it not worth it without even factoring in the cost of having a repair person actually do the work. That alone also usually makes it not worth it.

It would have to be a VERY expensive tv or have a relatively minor problem like a power board or capacitor issue to be worth repairing

 

[grimfox]

Broken connectors are also relatively easy to fix. If you can find the replacement parts. Guy at work accidentally ripped out an HDMI port on the back of his TV. We were able to remove the connector and find a replacement online. Cost was about $12 plus $8 shipping IIRC. But it fixed the tv.

Might be able to find something here, if you can determine what the issue is. http/www.vizpartsdirect.com/deviceModel.php?Submit=p&TVPart=19

scratch that they don't have panel parts just all the smaller PCBs and stuff.

 

[darkbreeze]

Yeah, guess that's true too, but how often is THAT going to be the problem? Personally, I've never encountered a unit with ONLY that kind of problem. 90% of the time it's either a power board or panel failure.