Okay, so a friend of mine was given this Vizio LCD TV for free. I've fixed a few TVs here and there, so I told him I would give it a try as he didn't have the money that the local repair shops were asking for to get it running again. This was clearly a mistake on my part 
So here's the situation: The TV has a very bright picture. It turns off and on just fine. The problem arises when it has been on for an hour or more. The picture will begin to scroll or scramble (this was difficult to capture on film so I'll just try to describe it as best I can). Basically, the picture 'jumps' up and down, and you can see the red/green/blue haze. If you unplug it for around 10 minutes, the problem will dissipate until another hour or so passes. Sometimes, the TV can be on for several hours before it happens. Other times, it will happen in less than 45 minutes. It seems to get particularly aggravated with rapid movement (though that might just be a coincidence).
I did a little research, and from what I could gather the problem was with the main board. I found a relatively inexpensive board on Ebay, so I went ahead and ordered it. I received it today, installed it, and when I fired the TV up, the picture is actually WORSE. Now, even the blue standby screen is scrambled, which was not happening before, even when tuned in stations would scramble. Large yellow flickering blocks appear, and lots of lines going every which way. And this happens immediately, not after any waiting period.
I thought that perhaps this might mean a bad LVDS cable, but when I reconnected the old board, everything cleared up and went back to normal. That tends to convince me that we're not talking about a bad cable (at least not that particular one).
So, my questions are as follows:
1)Do you think this means the replacement board is also bad? I have a warranty from the seller on Ebay, so he'll replace it if that's the case.
2)I know Vizio tends to have patchwork innards in their TVs (this new part has a slightly different serial # but is listed as appropriate for this set). Is it possible there's some sort of voltage issue with the new board?
3)Should I jump off a cliff now, or later?
PS - I have searched high and low for a service manual for this particular model and have come up empty.
So here's the situation: The TV has a very bright picture. It turns off and on just fine. The problem arises when it has been on for an hour or more. The picture will begin to scroll or scramble (this was difficult to capture on film so I'll just try to describe it as best I can). Basically, the picture 'jumps' up and down, and you can see the red/green/blue haze. If you unplug it for around 10 minutes, the problem will dissipate until another hour or so passes. Sometimes, the TV can be on for several hours before it happens. Other times, it will happen in less than 45 minutes. It seems to get particularly aggravated with rapid movement (though that might just be a coincidence).
I did a little research, and from what I could gather the problem was with the main board. I found a relatively inexpensive board on Ebay, so I went ahead and ordered it. I received it today, installed it, and when I fired the TV up, the picture is actually WORSE. Now, even the blue standby screen is scrambled, which was not happening before, even when tuned in stations would scramble. Large yellow flickering blocks appear, and lots of lines going every which way. And this happens immediately, not after any waiting period.
I thought that perhaps this might mean a bad LVDS cable, but when I reconnected the old board, everything cleared up and went back to normal. That tends to convince me that we're not talking about a bad cable (at least not that particular one).
So, my questions are as follows:
1)Do you think this means the replacement board is also bad? I have a warranty from the seller on Ebay, so he'll replace it if that's the case.
2)I know Vizio tends to have patchwork innards in their TVs (this new part has a slightly different serial # but is listed as appropriate for this set). Is it possible there's some sort of voltage issue with the new board?
3)Should I jump off a cliff now, or later?
PS - I have searched high and low for a service manual for this particular model and have come up empty.
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