Panasonic TH-46PZ850u Bad MC201 Capacitor

[MajorSkeptic]

I performed the NorCal715 (YouTube) 'freeze' test on both MC201 and MC301 sub-boards on my 2008 plasma's Power Supply board and found that MC201 needs that tiny, surface-mount capacitor replaced.

A frequent poster on that thread claimed to have removed this bad cap and run the TV for weeks without a problem. Eventually, though, he *did* install the new cap (1 uF, 50 volt, electrolytic, non-polarized).

I've done some soldering in the past and am generally a very careful person in everything I do, so I *think* I can at least successfully *remove* the existing capacitor without damaging anything.

Soldering in the new capacitor is a little trickier, however, because of the extremely small size.

So my question is: Is it possible that this cap simply needs to be removed because it has failed internally as a short circuit (possibly allowing DC voltage through)? If I don't really *have* to re-install the new cap, I'd rather not. As I said, the frequent poster on the YouTube thread ran the set without the cap for weeks. Additionally, I came across a reference in another thread that said a Panasonic Tech knew of a Service Bulletin that said the cap simply needed to be removed (but so far, no corroboration of this anywhere else that I can find).