Sharp LC-70LE650U with colored vertical lines

[mtrionfo]

Hi all - First post to the forum. I recently joined looking for possible repair of my Sharp Aquos 70 inch TV. Model number is LC-70LE650U. I have found lots of great troubleshooting guidance so I want to give a big THANK YOU to the regular posters here who share their time and knowledge helping everyone.

After four years, my TV would not turn on and had flashing 2-5 error codes. Following the excellent advice of Freak and Bud that I found in older threads, I successfully removed the tabs and boards on the left side of my TV. The codes are gone, TV powers on and the image is bright again on both sides.

However, as you can see in the pics there are still colored vertical lines on a portion of the left side. I tried cleaning and swapping the ribbon cables between the t-con and panel (there are two) but no change. I also tried swapping in a used t-con but again no change, the vertical lines are still there on the left side.

I then removed the lower metal frame and inspected the boards and tabs along the lower left edge. I can't see any obvious burned IC's though a couple of them are hot to the touch. I tried applying light pressure to the tabs and while some of the vertical lines fluctuate a bit as I press, the actual image is never visible.

So my question is are the lower boards/tabs shot and the panel is truly done, or could the vertical lines be a main board problem? I was willing to swap in a used t-con because it's the cheapest of the three boards, but a used main board is about $150 on eBay.

The pics below show the current state of the TV with various inputs. The vertical lines are present from start up. Please take a look and let me know what you think.

And again, thank you very much for your time and knowledge.
Marty

[ducky29]

Re: Sharp LC-70LE650U with colored vertical lines

Panel / Tabs(most likely) faulty. Don't waste your money buying replacement boards.

[Davi.p]

Re: Sharp LC-70LE650U with colored vertical lines

If you found a visible burned ic on the side tabs, then it's probably gone also the lower tab responsible of that faulty area, there's nothing you can do! Replacing the tab is not possible by hand, there's a society in Canada that does this job, i don't know if it worth the shipping costs as it seems that you in the USA buy the bigger screens with the rest of the chips... i joke.. i wonder how much costs a 70" in that country..

[budwich]

Re: Sharp LC-70LE650U with colored vertical lines

OP, during your "early testing" (really didn't elaborate on) did those vertical lines show at any time / instance? They appear to be on only part of one side.... right?

so, the question stands, when you remove the tcon to panel cable on that side, what happens? Your problem may be associated with the bottom edge board on that side.... with a failed smd component... which if you are lucky may be replaceable.

[mtrionfo]

Re: Sharp LC-70LE650U with colored vertical lines

Thanks very much for the responses!

Yes, the vertical lines have been there from the beginning of my troubleshooting. I will add some background on how this started: While watching the TV back in late June it abruptly displayed a darkened image on one side. A restart by unplugging it seemed to cure it and the TV worked fine for the rest of the evening, however, the next evening it was flashing the 2-5 error code and would not turn on.

I researched the code and tried various button combinations to reset it, but none would clear the code or allow it to turn on. So using advice I found in prior threads on this forum I removed the back and looked over the health of the power supply, main and t-con boards. I saw no obvious problems like blown fuses or swollen caps. I also used my admittedly rudimentary skills with a digital meter to check voltages from power supply to main to t-con and they seemed good.

Again following advice I found here I disconnected the t-con ribbon cables one at a time (there are only two, one left and one right, going to the panel), and I could now turn the TV on. With only the right side connected that side showed a clear and well-lit image. With only left side connected the image was pretty dark and had the vertical lines.

It looked like the problem was on the left side only, so I ordered a used t-con board and swapped it in. Unfortunately, this was a wrong diagnosis and the result was no real change at all: With both ribbons connected it again flashed 2-5 and would not turn on. Testing each side individually showed the same results as before the t-con swap. (I have since swapped the original t-con back in.)

Then I found the threads that describe potentially saving a panel by removing the burned tabs and boards on one side. I disconnect the little white ribbon at the lower left corner and bingo the codes stop flashing and I can now power on the TV with both t-con ribbons connected. I see a full image that is darker on the left side, has a light horizontal line about halfway up and has colored vertical lines on the left side. (That is the attached image named "Sharp-Before-IC-Removed"; the other three panel images were taken AFTER I removed the left side boards and tabs.)

To answer your specific questions, yes, the colored vertical lines are on the left side only. They begin at the center and extend about halfway toward the left edge of the panel. When I remove each of the t-con ribbons individually, I see a bright white screen on the disconnected side. I did not take any pics of that but can do so tonight if helpful.

Thanks again,
Marty

[Davi.p]

Re: Sharp LC-70LE650U with colored vertical lines

You have no chances, when source drivers fail you can't remove them, if you don't find someone that glue on a new one...

[budwich]

Re: Sharp LC-70LE650U with colored vertical lines

thanks for the expanded information. :-(
It doesn't look good but unless you have no more time on your hands, I think you need to investigate a bit further.

Can you clarify about your last statement.... "I see bright white on the disconnected side.." thus, when you disconnect the side with the vertical lines, those lines go away and the whole side is white.... right?

The tabs nearest to the vertical lines are of interest... can post a closeup of that area / edge board portion. The "hot to touch" doesn't sound good. You might try testing the edge board in and around that area with a meter (power off) and compare some of the measurements (resistances) with those of the other "good side"... you might get lucky around some of the smd components (resistors and capacitors)... maybe. Again it doesn't look good by you never know.... at this point, there is little alternatives.

[mtrionfo]

Re: Sharp LC-70LE650U with colored vertical lines

Per your last post here are a few more pics:

- Three pics with the LEFT SIDE t-con ribbon disconnected showing bright white panel on left side.

- One pic with RIGHT SIDE t-con ribbon disconnected. This was surprising at first but then I realized the left side tabs are no longer there to drive the panel. I guess the darkened image on the left is residual? Also, I could not bring up the menu with the right side t-con ribbon disconnected. Pressing the menu button just seemed to dim the panel.

- One pic of the tabs/boards flipped over along the lower left edge of the panel. None of these look burned. The two ICs that feel hot (when connected) are on the right side of the pic near the disconnected t-con ribbon cable.

Thanks again!
Marty

[budwich]

Re: Sharp LC-70LE650U with colored vertical lines

hmmmm.... something funny about the picture with the right side tcon disconnected and the left side tabs gone. I don't see how it is possible to get any picture as there is no way to get a horizontal signal to the panel. Are sure about the tab removal on the left side of the panel?

[mmartell]

Re: Sharp LC-70LE650U with colored vertical lines

It doesn't sound like you connected/disconnected the tcon/panel ribbons while the set was powered but I would check the ribbon on the bad side for burn marks. If possible, swap those ribbons left for right and see if the vertical lines follow the ribbon.

[Davi.p]

Re: Sharp LC-70LE650U with colored vertical lines

no way.. stop the agony, there's nothing to do... (apart selling the boards)

[mtrionfo]

Re: Sharp LC-70LE650U with colored vertical lines

There may be some small remnants of the tabs on the left side of the panel. I will check. The boards were definitely removed. Also I am pretty sure I have swapped the t-con ribbons and the lines remain on the left side, but I will check again.

Davi, yes, I am slowly coming around to this conclusion as well. Having now learned how easily these TV's can fail I will buy the 5-year extended warranty on my next one!

[budwich]

Re: Sharp LC-70LE650U with colored vertical lines

I am still finding the picture with the partial display interesting especially since there is no horizontal input to the set to create this. This appears to tell me that the "timing and control" (tcon) signal has been delayed, probably by the "vertical fault" so much that the source drivers beyond the verticals are actually seeing / displaying the information that would have been headed for the side drivers and are able to cause some form of display.... as you can see on the other side, the display is totally black... no signal because of no tcon cable... but not white either which you have shown for the "bad side" when it is disconnected.

Last question before you give up, does the display with this "scenario" (ie. right side tcon disconnected) look / behave the same for BOTH tcons or is this the old one?

I have seen scenarios where there were vertical and horizontal lines happening that were resolved by the side tab removal (iirc) and still get a feeling something is amiss.

Can you provide a picture of the back of the set with the cards and tcon to panel cabling so we can see how the cabling from the tcon get to where on the bottom of the set / edge boards?

One last note: although it may be too late for this set, careful when playing with the boards and tabs and flipping / manipulating the boards as it doesn't take much to cause a tab issue as the bonding isn't very robust.

Also, maybe I misunderstand (again) about the "hot to touch" tabs which you said were near the area where the tcon cable was disconnected... I can't understand this and the picture needs a bit of "help".

[budm]

Re: Sharp LC-70LE650U with colored vertical lines

That burnt IC in post 1 reminds me of this thread: https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showth...905#post849905

[mtrionfo]

Re: Sharp LC-70LE650U with colored vertical lines

Yes, that burned IC in the other thread looks just like mine. And I can't believe another of the exact same Sharp model is undergoing the same procedure today! Though it does look like that outcome is much better than mine.

The "hot to touch" IC's were not hot when I took that pic. They are only hot when the ribbon is connected. Sorry for creating that confusion.

Tonight I will swap in the other t-con and do the ribbon disconnect tests again. If any different I will post pics. I will also take a pic of the boards.

Thanks!

[budwich]

Re: Sharp LC-70LE650U with colored vertical lines

thanks... sorry for trying to make you do so much but I hate to see such a large tv head to the dump. With respect to the hot ics on the bottom tabs... are they hot under / near where the vertical lines are or somewhere else?

I am trying think back to my "exercise" on the 70 (which had four tcon cables).... when I detached one of the four (on the further side out... leaving one of the "pair" still attached), I seem to recall that I got the colored verticals near the middle.... this was during the "early investigation" and still had the side tabs / boards / cables attached. Hence, my thinking is that there still might be hope that you have something going on towards the side somehow causing loading on that half. Its probably misplaced as I know that the vertical lines with the picture showing up on the side like means those vertical source drivers in the area are in trouble. My gut is telling me that one of smd components on the bottom edge board is done cause a short of some limiting resistor... guess though. You can check some of the resistors on the board and compare the results with the other side. Those resistors and such can be replaced carefully while the board is attached to the panel... people have done that.

[mtrionfo]

Re: Sharp LC-70LE650U with colored vertical lines

Sorry for delay in responding but didn't have a chance to look at the tv again until last night. I did the tests requested:

- Swapped in replacement t-con board with same result. Vertical lines on left side were slightly different in color but in exactly same position.

- Removed ribbon cables from t-con and inspected for burn marks but both look good. I cleaned with isopropyl alcohol and re-installed them swapping left to right as I did so. Same result with lines on left.

- I looked again at the lower edge boards and tabs. I didn't see any burned ICs. The two directly under vertical lines are the ones that get too hot to touch.

I did take a look at the numerous tiny SMDs on the lower edge board, but frankly, I don't have the appetite to attempt replacing those suckers.

Just to close this out I've attached two additional pics: one that shows the back of the tv with boards and ribbons visible, and the second is another image with right side ribbon disconnected.

If you recall the pic I posted last week with the right-side disconnected had a faint image on the left, which was the wallpaper that displays when the set is turned off. I must have taken a picture with both ribbons connected, turned off the set then disconnected the right side ribbon but didn't unplug it from the powerstrip.

This time I disconnected the right side ribbon before plugging in the tv. When powered up the left side is now split half white / half vertical lines.

At this point I'm ready to move on, so I'm looking at an LG 65-inch 4K model that is on sale for about half what I paid for the Sharp four years ago. (https://www.lg.com/us/tvs/lg-65UJ6300-4k-uhd-tv)

Thanks again for the patient and expert advice!

[Davi.p]

Re: Sharp LC-70LE650U with colored vertical lines

I suggest you to see a Panasonic or Sony or Sharp (if it exists more), Japanese products (not entry level) are made with better components. LG is not the worst anyway, don't buy Samsung.. for the Sharp, yes, not every donut suceed with the hole...
and remember to not to let function too many hours an lcd product in the hot seasons...

[charlie555]

Re: Sharp LC-70LE650U with colored vertical lines

Same here. When I mess with the bottom connectors where it connects to the tcon it changes from 4 bands to 2.