Repair Journal | Philips 42PF9631D/37

PHILIPS 42PF9631D/37 | 42" PLASMA DISPLAY W/AMBILIGHT

SYMPTOMS: When plugged in, TV has green power LED. However, when the power button is pressed, the TV's relay clicks once or twice before giving up and gives the "7 red blinks" error code. If you look in a service manual, it will say that 7 blinks is a "total failure" or something similar. 

DIAGNOSIS: Total failure sounds decidedly bad and prepares you for news of the same nature. It's too bad, really, that the nice people at Philips couldn't be more helpful. This model is one that is affected by the notorious bulging capacitor issue. The capacitors are a brand named "Samwha," which are made by (you guessed it) an Eastern company! Although, this time, I feel as though it's just poor component choice and bad circuit design that leads so many of these Philips TV's down the road to destruction. 

SOLUTION: The values on the caps are 3300uF 10V. I chose to replace them with 3300uF 16V in hopes that they will last longer. TV works great after installation of new caps at locations C8060 and C8059. 

DIY INSTRUCTIONS:

What you'll need:

1. #10 Torx screwdriver [This one works fine]
2. #2 Phillips-head (cross-head) screwdriver
3. Two (2) 3300uF 16V Capacitors [Buy them at Digikey]
4. Soldering iron (and soldering skills)

• NOTE: I use Chemtronics Chem-Wik to desolder components, but you can use a solder sucker or whatever other methods you find to be appropriate. Through-hole components are some of the easiest to work with, so you shouldn't have too much trouble. Use YouTube if you really need help and/or have not ever soldered before. I also find a pair of needle-nose pliers to be helpful, and keep a pair of wire-cutters around to snip the leads once you solder in the new components. 

How to:

DISCLAIMER: Anything you do when following advice from this blog in its entirety is completely and utterly up to you. This means that I am not responsible for your injuries and/or death if you choose to attempt a DIY repair. There are extremely high voltages involved depending on which repair you are attempting to complete, and proper precautions should be taken. Turn off your TV, unplug it from the wall, and unplug the power cord from the set itself. Let it sit for at least 10 minutes to allow for complete discharge. NEVER OPEN A SET OR PROBE AROUND WITH THE TELEVISION PLUGGED IN IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT. Okay, rant over. Be safe, people.

1. This TV weighs 97 lbs. so it is strongly advised that you find a friend to help you out when moving it around. Prepare a flat surface that will not scratch or mar the PDP or the bezel (e.g. your dining room table with a towel or two laid out on it). 
2. Carefully place the TV on the work area, screen down. 
3. This particular set allows easy access to the PSU via service door. That is, there is a rectangular section of the cover that will come off without having to pull the whole cover. Grab your Torx 10 Screwdriver and be ready to take out a lot of screws.

   

   Here is the back "sub-cover" after screws have been removed.

   

   An example of what screws you will be taking out.

4. Once you remove the cover, you'll see a board with a lot of heat sinks. This is the PSU. You'll need to remove a good amount of cables from the headers on the board. Refer to the images below to help you locate all of them.

   

   Top left of board: Three different harnesses to be removed.

   

   Bottom left of board: Four harnesses.

   

   Bottom center of board: a somewhat hidden harness.
   

   

   Bottom right of board: main power supply cord.

5. Next, use your #2 Phillips Screwdriver to remove all of the board screws (I believe there are about seven of them). It should easily lift right up and out of the TV.
6. I won't go over how to solder in new capacitors, and if you need help figuring that out, please get a hold of me. I don't think you should really be inside your TV if you don't even have basic soldering knowledge, however. 
7. Everything from here on out is just doing it in reverse!
8. Here, I have an example of what bad capacitors look like. They are bulging on the top and one is leaking a slight amount of fluid.

   

   Left: leaking fluid and bulging; Right: bulging

9. Here are the two new capacitors safely installed on the board.

Locations C8060 & C8059

Zoomed-out view for help locating the caps.

I wish you all luck with your Philips televisions, and hope that you can get a few more years out of your purchase. Thank you all for reading this blog, and please feel free to contact me if you would like to guest post or have some information to add to an existing post! And of course, you are more than welcome to get a hold of me if you need help with any of your television repair projects.