VIZIO E550i-B2 Sound - No Video Problem

[thstuff]

Re: VIZIO E550i-B2 Sound - No Video Problem

Fixed an E550i-B2 today with fractured Power Supply CN202 solder joints.

This failure may be due to a 3-4X difference in CTE (coefficient of thermal expansion) between the glass reinforced plastic chassis and PCBs clamped to it by 13 screws, resulting in high forces directly applied to CN202.

To remove the force on CN202 I decided to 'float' the LED Driver PCB as follows:
- Remove LED Driver PCB
- Under LED Driver PCB, trim off the plastic locating pin near upper left corner and both right edge mounting screw bosses flush with the chassis.
- Reinstall LED Driver PCB but do not install the two screws on left edge and replace the two right screws with a #6 screw thru PCB and metal ground tab secured with a nut.
The LED Driver PCB is now supported on the left by CN202 and right by the metal ground plate taped really well to the plastic chassis.

Will know if this helps in a few years

[ckramer]

Re: VIZIO E550i-B2 Sound - No Video Problem

You have been tremendously helpful and patient. I'll certainly try what you have said and let you know if I'm successful.

[SLK001]

Re: VIZIO E550i-B2 Sound - No Video Problem

My sad attempt at soldering! I did this, put it back together, plugged it in and it actually worked for about 30 minutes. Then it returned to the dim screen with sound.

You have to do them ALL. Looking at your picture, I can see that every one of the joints are broken. You need to do the fix in post #49. If you don't, your fix will just fail again in a couple of months.

As for your solder blob, get yourself some rosin solder flux (do NOT use plumbing flux). If you use an acid based soldering flux, you'll ruin your board.

[ckramer]

Re: VIZIO E550i-B2 Sound - No Video Problem

My sad attempt at soldering! I did this, put it back together, plugged it in and it actually worked for about 30 minutes. Then it returned to the dim screen with sound.

[SLK001]

Re: VIZIO E550i-B2 Sound - No Video Problem

Your picture doesn't show anything other than the black area. Take an extreme closeup of the BACKSIDE of the connector (the solder joints), like those shown in post #1. Only this type of picture will tell the tale.

[ckramer]

Re: VIZIO E550i-B2 Sound - No Video Problem

Thank you for taking the time to help with my issue. I looked at post #49. Please know that I am a female but I pride myself on watching fix-it videos and have saved myself tons over the years fixing my washer, dishwasher, etc. I'm determined to give this a shot as well.

I did fail to include a picture. I've attached one here. So replacing the whole power supply board is not necessary?

[SLK001]

Re: VIZIO E550i-B2 Sound - No Video Problem

Thinking we had an LED backlight issue, we removed the back panel to find a burned spot on one end of the pin plug connecting the power supply board to the LED board. (The burn spot is on the power supply board side) Is this our issue with the whole TV being dim but having sound?

This TV doesn't shut down due to a backlight fault, so you can have both video and audio with no backlight. The black spot was due to the intermittent sparking of the remaining connections.

Your fix should be the one detailed in post #49. The way I would do it now, would be to alternate between top and bottom connection. If you use 22 gauge solid insulated wire, having four on each net will supply more than enough current. There is no need for the entire 8+8 that I used.

As for the fix in post #49, it was still going strong when I took the TV out of service in early March of this year.

[ckramer]

Re: VIZIO E550i-B2 Sound - No Video Problem

Thinking we had an LED backlight issue, we removed the back panel to find a burned spot on one end of the pin plug connecting the power supply board to the LED board. (The burn spot is on the power supply board side) Is this our issue with the whole TV being dim but having sound?

[tvduude]

Re: VIZIO E550i-B2 Sound - No Video Problem

sorry,
yes i opened the thing shortly after that post.
completely different internals

yes video no backlight.
off to find a E470i thread.

[SLK001]

Re: VIZIO E550i-B2 Sound - No Video Problem

thx OP.
someone just gave me a Vizio E470i w/ no video.
i bet this is the trouble.
looking forward to opening it up to find out!

seems silly to make a rigid connection between the two board like that.
any flex in the chassis or any approaching angle while joining them would stress the connector. what happened to good ole flexible wire?

The E470i doesn't have this connector. Your problem is most likely a bad LED. Easy fix, I've done a couple of them. Use a flashlight to verify that you have video, but no backlight.

[tvduude]

Re: VIZIO E550i-B2 Sound - No Video Problem

thx OP.
someone just gave me a Vizio E470i w/ no video.
i bet this is the trouble.
looking forward to opening it up to find out!

seems silly to make a rigid connection between the two board like that.
any flex in the chassis or any approaching angle while joining them would stress the connector. what happened to good ole flexible wire?

[SLK001]

Re: Update on my repair

Im going to attempt this as a novice. I cannot find the wire you used or the insulation. The ones that I found are not clear. Will this work?

Any insulated wire (22 gauge) will do the job - in fact, using insulated wire is probably easier than using uninsulated buss wire with plastic tubing (it's what I had on hand at the time). It is probably easiest to use a solid wire with insulation, as opposed to stranded wire, for a novice. Do the inner wires first, then do the outer. It's not difficult, just cut and strip the wires as a set, take your time and you should be okay.

[MarcosDaGeek]

Re: Update on my repair

I turned on the TV a couple of days ago and all I got was the audio - no video. I figured that it couldn't possibly be a repeat of the original problem, so I searched all the boards looking for a tell-tale black marking of a blown component. None were found, so I took off the power supply board to look at the bottom. I didn't see anything obvious and, just as a lark, I looked at the connector between the two boards. This is what I saw:



Once again, all of the joints were broken.

A closeup of the connector:



To permanently fix the problem (I hope), I decided that that connector had to go, so I removed it from the boards. I replaced it with some 22ga wire with some tubing slide over the wire for insulation. The wires are arced to have some slack for whatever is causing the failure. Some photos of the modification:





Hopefully, this will be a permanent fix, like I hoped that the first fix would be. The first fix lasted about 22 months - let's hope that this mod lasts the life of the TV.

Im going to attempt this as a novice. I cannot find the wire you used or the insulation. The ones that I found are not clear. Will this work?


https://www.frys.com/product/7716128...hoCVJAQAvD_BwE

[DRayT]

Re: VIZIO E550i-B2 Sound - No Video Problem

Which mod did you guys make? If it was the first mod, then expect to have to redo it in two years or so. The last mod (in reply #49) should last the life of the set.

I just resolved the existing connector... if it breaks again, I'll get some new connectors and some ribbon cable and fix it the way Vizio should have made it.

[triplefour]

Re: VIZIO E550i-B2 Sound - No Video Problem

thank you SLK001 for taking the time to post this solution. I saved one of these TV's and now i will keep an eye out for more of them!

[tvtimmy]

Re: VIZIO E550i-B2 Sound - No Video Problem

I did the first repair. I glued down the connectors after I reinstalled the boards.

[SLK001]

Re: VIZIO E550i-B2 Sound - No Video Problem

Which mod did you guys make? If it was the first mod, then expect to have to redo it in two years or so. The last mod (in reply #49) should last the life of the set.

[tvtimmy]

Re: VIZIO E550i-B2 Sound - No Video Problem

Worked for me also.

[DRayT]

Re: Another one fixed!

Add me to the list of people who have had to fix this rather silly issue. Fresh solder on the connections and hot glue on the connector brought this Vizio back up. That connector seems to have been designed to fail just outside of the warranty period .

In this particular case, it wasn't even powering up at all. The white power light would slowly pulse and then the thing would eventually just give up. Every single point for that connector had broken free.

Yep, same problem here, joint looked almost exactly like the one in the pic. A minute or two with a soldering iron and it works just fine.

[SLK001]

Update on my repair

I turned on the TV a couple of days ago and all I got was the audio - no video. I figured that it couldn't possibly be a repeat of the original problem, so I searched all the boards looking for a tell-tale black marking of a blown component. None were found, so I took off the power supply board to look at the bottom. I didn't see anything obvious and, just as a lark, I looked at the connector between the two boards. This is what I saw:



Once again, all of the joints were broken.

A closeup of the connector:



To permanently fix the problem (I hope), I decided that that connector had to go, so I removed it from the boards. I replaced it with some 22ga wire with some tubing slide over the wire for insulation. The wires are arced to have some slack for whatever is causing the failure. Some photos of the modification:





Hopefully, this will be a permanent fix, like I hoped that the first fix would be. The first fix lasted about 22 months - let's hope that this mod lasts the life of the TV.