ray363•2mo agoProlific Poster

Vent: Found 6 dead capacitors in a 2-year-old TV from Best Buy

I cracked open a 55-inch TCL from 2022 last week and half the caps on the power supply board had bulged. Customer bought it new from Best Buy and paid for an extra warranty, but they couldn't get service so they brought it to me. Has anyone else noticed newer TVs burning through capacitors faster than stuff from 10 years ago?

3 comments

3 Comments

finleyh892mo ago

Is it just the cost cutting that's doing this, or is there something else going on? I've seen the same thing with a few Vizio and Hisense models from around 2021-2022. The caps they're using now are probably rated for way lower temps than what they used to put in. I mean, back in the day you'd see 105C rated caps all over the place, but now it's mostly 85C junk that can't handle the heat from the LEDs. That plus the fact that these TVs run super hot because the whole back is one big heat sink with no vents. The caps might be failing faster because the thermal stress is just too much for the cheap parts they source now.

terry_jones2mo ago

Woah, I always blamed the power supply design but you're totally right about those caps.

jessica_hall492mo ago

Honestly, Best Buy's extended warranty is usually solid though. I've had clients swap entire units for free when caps went bad just by calling the 1-800 number. Maybe the customer just didn't push hard enough.