Purple/Pink Lines / Postering on plasma LG 60PZ550

[beachguy]

Hi everyone. Love this forum. SO much information. I tried to look through the troubleshooting guide to figure out the correct procedure to fix my tv. I have an LG 60PZ550 Plasma tv, a few months shy of 3 years old. It does get used a lot. Over the last few weeks it starts to display a pinkish/purple horizontal stripe around the middle of the screen. This seems to be progressively getting worse. It is more evident during light scenes, especially if it is a white background. I also see from time to time posterizing, where faces on people seem particularly bad (although this is not as common).

I read the guide for troubleshooting common plasma tv problems (THANK YOU to Tom66!). I think the issue is the y-buffer but the picture doesn't match really. I posted some here. Would you conclude this is the right diagnosis? Just want some guidance before I dally behind the tv

Thanks for any help!
(pardon the glare on one of the tv pictures)

Beachguy

[tom66]

Re: Purple/Pink Lines / Postering on plasma LG 60PZ550

This is a common issue with these models, it is caused by cold solder joints under the Z- and Y-sustain ERC inductors. Relatively simple to fix, you will need a decent soldering iron and solder.

Post a picture of the TV with the back off.

[beachguy]

Re: Purple/Pink Lines / Postering on plasma LG 60PZ550

Thanks! Will take the back off after work today (sometime after 2 pm PDT) and post asap. Appreciate your help.

[Shinju]

Re: Purple/Pink Lines / Postering on plasma LG 60PZ550

(thread hijack)

Does LG have a service menu to that shows how many hours the panel has? I have the LG 60PV400 that I am now using and just used some professional calibrated settings (amazing picture for a budget plasma after doing so I might add). If you haven't had yours calibrated maybe you can find someone on line who has done a professional calibration and have posted their adjustments.

It made a world of difference in mine, when I first got it I was like Eh its ok and it got a little better after I tweaked it some but after finding a thread on an AV/HD forum and finding their expert 2 (night) settings and adjusting the 20point IRE as well as the rest of the tuning options to their specs it was like WOAH so much more detail and the black level improved greatly!

Also Beachguy if there is a panel hour timer if you can access it and see how many hours yours has maybe we can use that information on how many hours this affliction takes to start showing up for the PZ series!

Good luck!

(Done hijacking)

[beachguy]

Re: Purple/Pink Lines / Postering on plasma LG 60PZ550

Ok, first, Shinju I'd love to find out how to get to the panel hour timer, not sure how to do that. Would be interesting to find out how many hours it took to get to this problem. Shortcut on the remote or combination of button presses? As far as tuning, the tv has always had a great picture, it was only just recently. Good suggestions.

tom66, I've attached a number of pictures, first the whole rear panel, then closeups of various sections. Thank you again for taking a look. Look forward to your next instructions.

Beachguy

[tom66]

Re: Purple/Pink Lines / Postering on plasma LG 60PZ550

This is your Z-sustain board:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...6&d=1401401845

This is your Y-sustain board:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...2&d=1401401774
(the green boards attached are the buffer boards)

Near the middle top of the Z-sustain you can see a few coil packs (technically called inductors) and that the board has discoloured significantly underneath them due to the heat produced. You can also see the same coil packs between the black and silver heatsinks on the Y-sustain board.

You will need to remove both boards from the set and reflow the solder around both of these coil banks.

Use leaded solder, for improved reliability.

[beachguy]

Re: Purple/Pink Lines / Postering on plasma LG 60PZ550

Thank you tom66! I will attempt this over the weekend and will report back and let everyone know how it goes. Appreciate the assistance.

Do you happen to know to Shinju's question if there is a way to determine the number of hours of use of the plasma screen? Just curious, not a big deal if you don't. The other was much more important.

Beachguy

[beachguy]

Re: Purple/Pink Lines / Postering on plasma LG 60PZ550

Just a followup. I followed the directions from tom66 closely. It worked beautifully! I couldn't be more pleased, my picture is back to looking crystal clear, no purple streaks or posterizing. Thank you so much tom66. I'm sure I saved a bunch of money. I'd love to send you a few bucks for a pint (or coffee if you'd prefer), let me know if you have a paypal account so I can send something for my appreciation. Thanks again!!!
Beachguy

[tom66]

Re: Purple/Pink Lines / Postering on plasma LG 60PZ550

Glad to hear it is working, thanks for the update.

[martino]

Re: Purple/Pink Lines / Postering on plasma LG 60PZ550

I'd love to send you a few bucks for a pint (or coffee if you'd prefer), let me know if you have a paypal account so I can send something for my appreciation. Thanks again!!!
Beachguy

http://www.toms-service-manuals.com/

that's Tom's database site with a metric ton of info,near bottom you see a donate button

[beachguy]

Re: Purple/Pink Lines / Postering on plasma LG 60PZ550

Thanks martino

[Divineawakening]

Re: Purple/Pink Lines / Postering on plasma LG 60PZ550

This is a common issue with these models, it is caused by cold solder joints under the Z- and Y-sustain ERC inductors. Relatively simple to fix, you will need a decent soldering iron and solder.

Post a picture of the TV with the back off.

I am having the same problem, could I post a picture of the back of mine for you to view?

Also if my luck could not have gotten any worse, my 60PZ550 when it turns on, it turns off in 2 seconds. Any way to fix that? I was thinking of taking it to a LG tech but would rather not empty my wallet atm haha. Any and all help would be appreciated!

[tom66]

Re: Purple/Pink Lines / Postering on plasma LG 60PZ550

It sounds like you have two different issues. Perhaps best to open a new thread with your pictures and additional details if available. Do you have digital multimeter for example? Any prior electronic test experience?

[Divineawakening]

Re: Purple/Pink Lines / Postering on plasma LG 60PZ550

It sounds like you have two different issues. Perhaps best to open a new thread with your pictures and additional details if available. Do you have digital multimeter for example? Any prior electronic test experience?

I will create a new thread. Beachmans issue is definitely one of the issues I have been facing. I didn't know how to deal with it before I found Badcaps, still a little hesitant. The other problem I will explain in my new thread. I do have a digital multimeter, as for prior electronic test experience I have done tests on computers, recievers and other electronics (but limited).

[Ltank]

Re: Purple/Pink Lines / Postering on plasma LG 60PZ550

Was there a problem with the coils on both boards or just one. Which one or did just resoldered both then test it? Curious?

[4077th]

Re: Purple/Pink Lines / Postering on plasma LG 60PZ550

I have the exact same problem on the same model panel. I. will try the reflow fix ASAP, thanks for the great info! FYI, just 1 month shy of 3 years old.

[4077th]

Re: Purple/Pink Lines / Postering on plasma LG 60PZ550

Amazing.

It works. I used the method described in the thread and was able to get the screen defect to resolve. I reflowed all the inductors and added a small amount of solder to each joint.

What was really frustrating was we called Sy Electronics on recommendation from LG. The "tech" they sent out had no idea what was causing the "purple bars" had to take pics with his iPhone and send over to the service manager. Both suspected a bad panel. So after a few days and $85 later we received a quote for $1085 for the panel replacement. What a joke...

Thanks for the great write up of the issue and fix.

[Shinju]

Re: Purple/Pink Lines / Postering on plasma LG 60PZ550

Amazing.

It works. I used the method described in the thread and was able to get the screen defect to resolve. I reflowed all the inductors and added a small amount of solder to each joint.

What was really frustrating was we called Sy Electronics on recommendation from LG. The "tech" they sent out had no idea what was causing the "purple bars" had to take pics with his iPhone and send over to the service manager. Both suspected a bad panel. So after a few days and $85 later we received a quote for $1085 for the panel replacement. What a joke...

Thanks for the great write up of the issue and fix.

You should email them back and show them / tell them about your fix Ask for your 85.00 back lol.

Good for you!

[tom66]

Re: Purple/Pink Lines / Postering on plasma LG 60PZ550

It's amazing how little many techs know about PDP technology - I'm sure many panels get needlessly replaced for this fault and others!

[gramblar]

Re: Purple/Pink Lines / Postering on plasma LG 60PZ550

This is a common issue with these models, it is caused by cold solder joints under the Z- and Y-sustain ERC inductors. Relatively simple to fix, you will need a decent soldering iron and solder.

Post a picture of the TV with the back off.

I had the exact same model with the exact same issue. Pulled the zsus and ysus pcbs off and reflowed the solder on the inductors and viola the picture is perfect again! I've attached a picture of just how bad the solder joints were. You can see that at least two of them had cracked and broken completely.