My TV keeps turning off, help me fix it

[XM Keeper]

Okay, I have a TV that has had an issue for quite some time now. It is a Seiki 39 inch 1080p LED TV, model number SE391TS. Not a common TV, I can't find it anywhere.

The problem is that the TV will randomly shut off while in use. It doesn't turn back on, it has to be turned back on manually. It can be turned right back on right away and will stay on until it eventually shuts off at random again. There is no distinguishable time between shut offs. Sometimes its an hour, others its 4 hours, some days it never happens.

I haven't found any patterns to when it shuts off, but it seems to occur more often when the temperature is higher, as I rarely have this problem in the winter. This could be total coincidence, as use the TV less often in the winter. Also, the TV never showed this problem when I bought it used in 2012 (that lower price is showing its true value now, I guess).

So, here is where I am now. I want to identify the source of this problem.

My experience tells me this is likely a power supply related problem. But, something else could be causing the problem. Maybe the logic board has a problem, maybe the panel is going bad, maybe the, or something else. I'm asking you guys, to give me some help, advice, and ideas to help me through the problem.

If it is power supply, I have a couple of options on how to approach it. I have already opened the TV and looked at the power supply. I don't see any visual clues that any of the capacitors are going bad, but that may not be the whole story. I don't have a multi-meter or a capacitor tester, so I currently have no way of testing them. However, I found the power supply on ebay for under $30, so I was considering just buying that and hoping that would fix the problem.

What do you guys think?

Thanks.

 

[Solandri]

It could be related to overheating. However, if you're in the U.S. and the TV is Energy Star rated, one of the "features" required for Energy Star certification is that the TV must automatically turn itself off if it detects no activity for a certain period of time. Most TVs include a motion sensor to detect if someone in the room is moving (and thus presumably watching the TV). (So no, they didn't add the camera to spy on you.) But it's conceivable that some TVs were cheap and based it solely on the viewer hitting buttons on the remote (changing channels, changing volume). If you don't hit a remote button for a few hours, the TV turns itself off.

Check to see if there's a settings option to disable this power saving feature, or to extend the time before it automatically turns the TV off. Maybe a sleep timer setting?

 

[XM Keeper]

It could be related to overheating. However, if you're in the U.S. and the TV is Energy Star rated, one of the "features" required for Energy Star certification is that the TV must automatically turn itself off if it detects no activity for a certain period of time. Most TVs include a motion sensor to detect if someone in the room is moving (and thus presumably watching the TV). (So no, they didn't add the camera to spy on you.) But it's conceivable that some TVs were cheap and based it solely on the viewer hitting buttons on the remote (changing channels, changing volume). If you don't hit a remote button for a few hours, the TV turns itself off.

Check to see if there's a settings option to disable this power saving feature, or to extend the time before it automatically turns the TV off. Maybe a sleep timer setting?

The sleep timer is off. I'm not aware of the TV having an auto off. I never had it shut off when I first got it, so I can't see why it would do it now. I have checked every setting I could find in the options menu. Still sticking to my theory that it is a hardware problem.