SHARP LC-70LE550U - side driver issue?

[adubtech]

Hey friends - first off THANK YOU for all of you that have posted threads on this.
So! Have issues with backlight on but no display (or sound) no sounds because I had put the system into factory reset and didn't know it was on the setup screen every time I powered up the tv.
Going off of some threads, I removed the white ribbon cable to the RIGHT side (viewed from front) and no joy. Reconnected it and removed the white to the LEFT side (again, viewed from front). Lo and behold, tv powered up.
Now the front left upper quadrant looks shitty but no weird white strip or horizontal line as mentioned in other threads. What are my next steps?

Image of the rear with orange tool indicating where I removed the white ribbon cable image of the display.
Poor image of the front showing display (kind of hard to hold up a giant tv with one hand and snap pics).

[adubtech]

Re: SHARP LC-70LE550U - side driver issue?

OH! Ok here is what the display looks like after I put it back up and can take a decent pic.

[hmendez86]

Re: SHARP LC-70LE550U - side driver issue?

the problem is the side drivers of the tv.

[hmendez86]

Re: SHARP LC-70LE550U - side driver issue?

you need to take apart just the side were the dark side is and there should be 3 or 4 bonding tabs.... and you should removed those tabs to get a good picture...

[mmartell]

Re: SHARP LC-70LE550U - side driver issue?

Five tabs on two boards iirc. That step is irreversible so I would wait for some second and third opinions before ripping them out.

[hmendez86]

Re: SHARP LC-70LE550U - side driver issue?

i alredy did this job with a same model tv. at first i was nervous about doing it, but i did take the chance and it worked trust me it should work....check the side drivers on the side in which the tv is black side flip with caution the tab to see the ic chip if its burn or something...check one by one...or from all 4 tabs one should be hotter or burn like i said early.......but post pics to see were you are and guide you bit more

[adubtech]

Re: SHARP LC-70LE550U - side driver issue?

Popped the front bezel off and the button module. Took the black metal guard off the side of the tv and peeled the tabs off from the bottom to the top. Great success! Definitely was hoping that was the solution. Thanks gang!

[maple1]

Re: SHARP LC-70LE550U - side driver issue?

Hello, I have a similar problem on a friends tv. 15 second blink and no display. I traced it to the left side, if I disconnect the upper left side it works but distorted. There is no sign of overheated drivers on the tabs. I reconnected everything and it worked until I touched the folded ribbon that comes around the bottom left corner, looked like it was pinched by the connector. It worked overnight then back to 15 second blink. Anyone else had similar intermittent problem?

[budwich]

Re: SHARP LC-70LE550U - side driver issue?

could be the cable is "broken" BUT make sure you have your glasses on when you reconnected it... :-) there have been cases of poor connection on the "interconnects" there causing an issue because it wasn't quite aligned.
Further totally disconnecting it should not hurt the tv in terms of "testing", the "interim result" will be just a darker picture coming from that side IF indeed the cable is the only problem. Further then you can try swapping the cable with the other side to see if things change any.

[maple1]

Re: SHARP LC-70LE550U - side driver issue?

Hopefully I found it, decided to clean the ribbons with alcohol while I checked there positioning in the connectors. On the short ribbon, the far outside finger where it inserts in the lower connector had a kink in it. I flattened it out by pressing a pencil eraser down on it against a hard surface. No glitches so far but last time it took overnight to fail again, got my fingers crossed.

Thanks for heads up about misalignment Budwich

[maple1]

Re: SHARP LC-70LE550U - side driver issue?

Alas this did not fix it, woke up this morning to the 15 second blink. I will try swapping the ribbons between left and right tonight when I get home.

[maple1]

Re: SHARP LC-70LE550U - side driver issue?

update while taking the trim off, disconected a ribbon to get it going again and the bottom driver tab on the lower strip and the middle driver tab on the upper strip are REALLY HOT!! while all the others are cool. Anybody removed 2 tabs and still have a decent picture?

[budwich]

Re: SHARP LC-70LE550U - side driver issue?

are you referring to the tabs (5 I think) on each side of the panel or along the bottom. Issues with the bottom ones is NOT good and not saveable. Issues with the side ones is where it is at in terms of "save". Basically you have to remove all the of tabs along the side that is bad so the answer to your question is "yes... 5 tabs gone". Hope that make sense.

again go slow here. take some pictures to be sure of what you are referring to. Further, if you have a side tab problem, disconnecting the lower cable as you have done on the bad side should give you a picture of some sorts with no flashing V. Post a picture of the screen (with a known video source... ie. color bar test pattern or equivalent). Once you have that, you can go from there.

[maple1]

Re: SHARP LC-70LE550U - side driver issue?

there all tabs on the side, one on each board. Are you saying that all 5 tabs need to be removed? not just the 2 that are getting hot?

[mmartell]

Re: SHARP LC-70LE550U - side driver issue?

That is correct.

[budwich]

Re: SHARP LC-70LE550U - side driver issue?

there all tabs on the side, one on each board. Are you saying that all 5 tabs need to be removed? not just the 2 that are getting hot?

yes... as the supporting boards along that side "depend on knowing" they are working with all good tabs (basically electrical loading of the circuitry). So basically those two side board will be totally removed from the system along with the tabs. Again, do as I suggest as your testing approach. Disconnect the bottom lower corner "folded" cable on the side you think has the issue. Power the set up, display a know source (get one with some test patterns... various dvd's have test patterns in their supplementary material). Post a picture of your work. Then you can go from there once things are totally confirmed.

[G_WaTT]

Re: SHARP LC-70LE550U - side driver issue?

I am having a similar issue. Removed the bottom right corner ribbon cable (as viewed from behind). Left side of the picture appears bad as viewed from front of set & same side as disconnected corner ribbon cable. Below are images of the tv with the test source image on the TV and the original image I downloaded of said test source. None of the tabs/ tab drivers appeared to be burnt, but I have not felt to see if any are hot. How long should the set be on before these tabs/ tab drivers heat up enough for a notable difference?

[budwich]

Re: SHARP LC-70LE550U - side driver issue?

good stuff... I think.... reflections of you... :-) make the picture somewhat unclear. what happens if you reverse which corner cable has been removed? (ie. the opposite side... right side from the front? I assume you will get no picture... but just want confirmation.

As for "driver heat / burnt", it may or may not be visible and there are potential for other issues associated with the bonding itself. Further for clarification on where you are looking for "heat", its NOT the boards... those are NOT the tab drivers. The tab drivers are actually "embedded /bonded" into the side cables going to the panel from the boards... that's where you need to look... plus the driver "chips" are actually usually on the "underside" of the cables so you can't readily see them without unclipping the boards CAREFULLY (from the board holders points).

[G_WaTT]

Re: SHARP LC-70LE550U - side driver issue?

You are correct in assuming that I reversed the corner cable removed and got no picture w/ the 2/5 blink pattern.

I did unclip the board to view the chips, and those are what I was inspecting in particular. None appeared to be burnt.

[budwich]

Re: SHARP LC-70LE550U - side driver issue?

ok... the connected cable on the side that gave you no picture was then indeed the confirmation that side was trying to run with only bad drivers and couldn't get it up... :-)

Good that you looked at the chips on the tabs but that is only a possible clue to the problem, there are other failure modes associated with the tabs / drivers that may not present themselves to visible inspect.

I suspect that you have confirmed the side with the bad tabs. Basically, at this point, its up to you.... I hold no responsibility (nor does the forum). My only comment is that on the sharp that I operated on is still functioning with one side while before that it would only give "flash codes". As people here indicate, there is really no other recourse... its either a saved TV or one that is now totally bunged.

You need to tear / remove the tabs from the side of the panel as CLEANLY as possible.... and cross your fingers that was indeed the only issue (the lower tabs on the bottom can also fail in some form which is not saveable).