TCL 50S535 bad tcon or panel issue?

[x_orange90_x]

Just bought this for 10 bucks yesterday hoping to fix it. The guy said water dropped inside from a dehumidifier hose and it started showing black and white vertical bars then went blank. When I got it home and turned it on it came on fine and displayed correctly but I was noticing faint vertical bars in the image. After a little bit I turned it off and back on and it was a black screen again. I opened it up to check for water damage and corrosion but didn't find anything of the sort. I cleaned the ribbons anyway and reconnected them but still got a blank screen. If I disconnect the right side ribbon I get a half image. Now for the interesting part.. I put a random incompatible tcon in from another 50" tv and I get a full screen image that's all out of whack with doubled text and lines.. but it's all symmetrical and even displayed on just the right side if I disconnect the left ribbon. I reconnected the original tcon and got a full screen image again, but after about a minute it went to a full screen image but with white vertical bars and thin black lines.

The fact that it WILL display a full image for a period of time, albeit with shadowed bars, AND will display the full screen with the incompatible tcon leads me to believe the tcon is bad. Also I noticed the IC on the tcon gets pretty hot.

The attached images are of the original tcon with the setup screen which you can see the faint bars toward the center right. The skinny black and white bars are what came after about a minute.

The full screen of garbled lines and text are off the incompatible tcon, as well as the image of the half screen of garbled lines and text

[nomoresonys]

Bad tcon would be my best guess.

[EazyBone]

So I have found (may not help here) that most TCL main boards are all the same and compatible with each other. 43/49/55 etc etc. If you go into service menu and find the correct panel for the main board then the doubling image goes away (not how yours looks) and you can then use a main board for a different size panel tv. TV must be updated all the way first.

not necessarily helpful here, but something maybe would help you in future.

[x_orange90_x]

So I have found (may not help here) that most TCL main boards are all the same and compatible with each other. 43/49/55 etc etc. If you go into service menu and find the correct panel for the main board then the doubling image goes away (not how yours looks) and you can then use a main board for a different size panel tv. TV must be updated all the way first.

not necessarily helpful here, but something maybe would help you in future.

Thanks for the tip! I did read something about this previously a couple years ago. It seems like this is the case for particular series' they have done. This tv surprisingly has very different boards from any other TCL I've had so far.

I put an offer on a tcon from eBay. I'm putting my eggs in that basket because I've never seen intermittent vertical bars be the result of a bad panel, save bad tab bonds which I effectively ruled out simply by touching them while it was on.

[Diah]

doesn't matter if its TCL or any other brands. i never saw verticals line cause by t-con, it caused only horizontal lines.. at the end i do think its MB issue ... lets see the result

[Davi.p]

How good are you soldering SMD? If you remove completely the tin on the CSOT chips and put new without removing them i think some chance your tv is on the road again, but the 50% of chance you have bad panel, to ensure this you must put again the different tcon, wait to see if the image disappear or only bars.. if you have access to the source cof tabs, check them if gets hot, if yes them are KO (oxydation)

[x_orange90_x]

How good are you soldering SMD? If you remove completely the tin on the CSOT chips and put new without removing them i think some chance your tv is on the road again, but the 50% of chance you have bad panel, to ensure this you must put again the different tcon, wait to see if the image disappear or only bars.. if you have access to the source cof tabs, check them if gets hot, if yes them are KO (oxydation)

I ordered a new tcon for only $13 from eBay. I'm pretty confident that is the issue. I'll update when I get it.

[nomoresonys]

How good are you soldering SMD? If you remove completely the tin on the CSOT chips and put new without removing them i think some chance your tv is on the road again, but the 50% of chance you have bad panel, to ensure this you must put again the different tcon, wait to see if the image disappear or only bars.. if you have access to the source cof tabs, check them if gets hot, if yes them are KO (oxydation)

My opinion is this is wrong.

[x_orange90_x]

My opinion is this is wrong.

I should get the board in a few days. I'm a little sketchy about the shipping though because the guy put it in a regular mail envelope 😬

I've been thinking though about the shadow bars.. would a bad tcon consistently show it in the same place, or would that be a panel issue?

[nomoresonys]

Good question, I think it can be tough to determine. I would say testing the tcon expected voltages at those key points, is it vgh, vgl etc. never hurts. If I understand it correctly, a bad panel can effect the tcon. Not sure about tcl but I was just reminded by an old shopjimmy video about how a bad panel can keep blowing up a tcon but that video was relevant to sonys and vizios I believe it was. here's a good video with testing of tcon. It also shows a bad panel and bad tcon can display with a very similar image, making it hard to determine from just the display. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hOMC2qn6jY

[EazyBone]

I should get the board in a few days. I'm a little sketchy about the shipping though because the guy put it in a regular mail envelope 😬

I've been thinking though about the shadow bars.. would a bad tcon consistently show it in the same place, or would that be a panel issue?

It goes with letter mail. Probably safest way, except it does go throw a machine that has 1/4in tolerance. Let's hope it don't get chewed up!

$1.20 to ship that way vs minimum 4$ with any box. Ask me how I know lol.

[x_orange90_x]

It goes with letter mail. Probably safest way, except it does go throw a machine that has 1/4in tolerance. Let's hope it don't get chewed up!

$1.20 to ship that way vs minimum 4$ with any box. Ask me how I know lol.

You overpaid! This guy sent it for only $0.69 lol

[nomoresonys]

I have received them in big bags and bubble envelopes, usually wrapped in several layers of bubble wrap and usually inside anti-static bags. An anti-static bag should be the least they can do for a buyer to try to avoid static damage.

[EazyBone]

69 cents is better. Plus if it "doesn't work" he loses a stamp instead of $4-7 shipping.

[x_orange90_x]

Good question, I think it can be tough to determine. I would say testing the tcon expected voltages at those key points, is it vgh, vgl etc. never hurts. If I understand it correctly, a bad panel can effect the tcon. Not sure about tcl but I was just reminded by an old shopjimmy video about how a bad panel can keep blowing up a tcon but that video was relevant to sonys and vizios I believe it was. here's a good video with testing of tcon. It also shows a bad panel and bad tcon can display with a very similar image, making it hard to determine from just the display. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hOMC2qn6jY

I just checked the voltages while I'm still waiting for the new board. A couple of points I couldn't find on my tcon, not what immediately stood out to me was the VCC voltage. The video says it should be 3.3v but mine is 11.84v, which is the same voltage as the V-In 12v.

[x_orange90_x]

I received the tcon yesterday and put it in this morning and it appears to be defective. The screen continuously flashes and there are snowy horizontal lines in the picture as well as a stationary black vertical line to right side of the screen. I blew the connectors out with canned air thinking maybe some debris was inside not that made no difference.

When I put my original board back in these issues disappear. I did still notice the vertical band with the new board, so I'm thinking I may have a dirty tab bond on the panel side of the ribbon.

[x_orange90_x]

I haven't heard back from the seller since I told them their board was defective. They said they test everything prior and they would check with their "team" and get back to me 🙄

Meanwhile I'm thinking about pulling the bezel off and checking for corrosion or the like on the tab bond where the band displays. Photo attached to again show what the band looks like.

[nomoresonys]

Don't let them bully you, demand the refund for the defective board. Unless you have to pay some silly return shipping that might be the same cost of the purchase, that would just be a wash.

[x_orange90_x]

Don't let them bully you, demand the refund for the defective board.

This was their reply this morning:

"Hello, I confirmed from our team that the circuit board was removed from a TV with a cracked screen. There were no issues with the screen flickering and jumping ad you mentioned. Also, it seems that the screen flickering issue is usually a digitizer/screen issue.

The TCON board was working 100% when it was dispatched"

I replied with
"My screen does not flicker or present the black line with my original board installed. How can they certify the TIMING CONTROL board is working properly when they can't clearly see the image on a cracked display? Flickering is a timing issue."


Update: I guess it's just their word against mine and because they're the seller they're right 🤷🏼

[EazyBone]

It's not how it works. The buyer has all the power. Just open up the return anyways under defective and eBay will automatically make them accept the return. This happens to me all the time.

I'm still willing to bet this has nothing to do with the tcon board. I would of probably tried a different main board considering I have a few and if not I would have trashed it. Not worth the time investing in such a small TV that resells for maybe 80 to 100.