Sony KDL-70R550A red led blinking 5 times FIX

[cipherstream]

I have a KDL-70R550A with the all too common red led blinking 5 times.

BUT for now it is fixed and working again!

I tried the suggestion by @budwich in the "SHARP LC-70LE550U - side driver issue?" thread.

I read the thread and to be honest it sounded fake and like it would not work. However I was going to chuck out the TV anyway so what did I have to lose?

I did the following steps. Take caution when back is off tv and it is open and plugged in! Do not touch anything when it is plugged in! Do not remove any ribbon cables etc while it is plugged in, always turn it off first.

I removed the black plastic back of the tv, then the black plastic bezel around the front. I had to disconnect the speakers and little indicator panel from the bottom of the bezel before I could remove the bezel. Next I removed the metal covering from each side of the tv. Now I was able to easily access the ribbon cables that connect to the bottom of the screen on each side.

I disconnected just the right side ribbon cable then plugged the tv in, the led blinked red and I was not able to turn the tv on when I pressed the power button on the remote. So I reconnected the right side ribbon and disconnected the left side ribbon cable. I plugged in the tv and it still blinked red, but when I pressed power on the remote it turned on. The left side of the tv was not lit up correctly, it was like the backlight was no on for it. I turned off the tv with the remote and then it just showed a steady red led like normal when the tv is off. So at this point the failure status is no longer in effect. I unplugged the tv and reconnected the left ribbon cable and replugged the tv and I again got the blinking red led and tv would not turn on.

So now I knew that for me the left side was bad. I unplugged the tv again and removed all five "tabs" from the left side of my tv. They are like stickers. I first peeled each "sticker" off the lcd panel, then I peeled each sticker off the green circuit board. I gave the circuit board a clean with cleaning alcohol to remove any stickiness left behind. This may not be needed.

I then plugged the tv back in (with both bottom ribbon cables connected) and pressed power on the remote. It booted up fine with the screen looking normal and no backlight issues!!!


I have only just done this about 30 minutes ago, so I don't know how long this "fix" will last. But I have now gone from a useless brick I was about to throw out to something that appears to work fine. I don't know if it will work for you, but if you are about to throw it out anyway perhaps its' worth a try

I will report back in the future if I notice any issues or if it stops working again.

Oh one thing to note, I removed the tiny indicator panel from the bottom of the plastic bezel and reattached it to the ribbon cable coming from the tv. This is required because this tiny panel has the status LED as well as the infrared receiver required to receive signals from the remote.

Oh and if u connect indicator panel and have it behind the tv like I did, you will need to point your remote behind the tv at it for the remote to work.

[budwich]

Re: Sony KDL-70R550A red led blinking 5 times FIX

another save... that's great. Its too bad that these units have this issue. There are a lot of posts in the sony community forum with pople who have complained to sony without any real "recourse". Most appear to have "tossed their sets" along with a few other "unkind words". They seem unwilling to attempt the "save" which is too bad.
Anyways, hope you set runs forever... the sharp that started my thread is still running more than 2 years later.

[cipherstream]

Re: Sony KDL-70R550A red led blinking 5 times FIX

Yeh it was from reading that thread on the Sony forum that I found your post pointing to this site. I posted much the same post as above on that Sony site too in the hopes it will help others in the same boat.

[James007$]

Re: Sony KDL-70R550A red led blinking 5 times FIX

another save... that's great. Its too bad that these units have this issue. There are a lot of posts in the sony community forum with pople who have complained to sony without any real "recourse". Most appear to have "tossed their sets" along with a few other "unkind words". They seem unwilling to attempt the "save" which is too bad.
Anyways, hope you set runs forever... the sharp that started my thread is still running more than 2 years later.

hello budwich, I have the same problem. are you still active on this forum?

[clowndog]

Re: Sony KDL-70R550A red led blinking 5 times FIX

Wow thank you for this thread. Just fixed our work boardroom TV. Like you said you feel like, surely it cannot be a solution peeling off those ribbon tab things. I only peeled off the left hand side. Kept the right hand side ones on just in case.

Very grateful!

I needed a big bench for this, and a few people to help me flip the TV. I had the same model: KDL-70R550A

A few things that might help others:
When removing speakers they slide up. The electrical connector on the speakers need to be pushed with a small screw driver as they are a locking type.
It helps flipping over the tv from time to time. I screwed on the wall bracket mounts onto the back once the black plastic cover was removed. This helped get a handle to help move it.

I didn't use alcohol to clean the left over terminals after peeling the sticker tabs off. Some came off nicely others split and I had to try peel at small bits left behind...

Lets see how long this thing lasts now.