Philips 55PFL5307/F7 stand screws in to both FFCs from t-con, damage? PIX!

[DXseekerMO]

Yesterday right before the tornado went through I went in to town and picked up a Philips 55PFL5307/F7 with the complaint of a single flash of the backlights and vertical bars on the screen and the menus appearing intact, overlaid over the vertical bars.

First, this TV looks like it sat close to a dirt road. The inside has a lot of fine dust/dirt in it, so my first thought….LVDS. When I pressed on the left (facing t-con) one I got a change of state in the picture, in that the vertical bars became intermittent or changed position/moved when I pressed on it.

Fast forward to this AM, I cleaned the LVDS connections at the t-con and main boards, power the set on and the right (facing the display) side was blank. Shortly after that I discovered these hole-shaped impressions in the FFC's from the t-con to the source driver boards. It looks like someone installed stand screws that were too long. The impression on the left (facing t-con) FFC appears to go all the way through the cable. Obviously the screw is chassis ground.

The FFC's weren't tested for continuity but are toast anyhow, but my question is if the screw penetrated the jacket on the FFC and shorted the wires inside to ground did it take out the t-con, the panel or either/both?

What do you all think?

[DXseekerMO]

Re: Philips 55PFL5307/F7 stand screws in to both FFCs from t-con, damage? PIX!

?

Anyone??

[DXseekerMO]

Re: Philips 55PFL5307/F7 stand screws in to both FFCs from t-con, damage? PIX!

I posted this question 5 days ago....and no replies? Doesn't anyone want to give me an opinion on this?????? Anyone?????

[R_J]

Re: Philips 55PFL5307/F7 stand screws in to both FFCs from t-con, damage? PIX!

If the cables are the same try exchanging them and see how it effects the picture, which lines are shorted? do the carry voltage or just data?
Replace the cables and you will know the answer to the question. I know you are looking for an easy answer but there is none.

[William1967]

Re: Philips 55PFL5307/F7 stand screws in to both FFCs from t-con, damage? PIX!

I have seen several with the same problem, only in 1 case the T-con was damaged. In all other cases only the cables had to be replaced.

[budwich]

Re: Philips 55PFL5307/F7 stand screws in to both FFCs from t-con, damage? PIX!

well... the "standard test" for figuring out a problem between the panel and tcon is disconnect the tcon to panel cables, one at a time and see what happens to the display ... of course, you do this with power OFF. Anyway, your picture appears to show one cable is worse than the other so you might find something out with the suggested test. You can verify whether the cable ribbon is good and that would be a minimum test. Further, there is usually a number of "key labels of interest" where you can measure voltages / signals at to see what's that will tell you more... maybe.... especially if you post the results.

[DXseekerMO]

Re: Philips 55PFL5307/F7 stand screws in to both FFCs from t-con, damage? PIX!

I have seen several with the same problem, only in 1 case the T-con was damaged. In all other cases only the cables had to be replaced.

Thanks William1967. My plan was to order both of these....hopefully I can find some without any damage. I thought this has to have happened to someone other than me.

well... the "standard test" for figuring out a problem between the panel and tcon is disconnect the tcon to panel cables, one at a time and see what happens to the display ... of course, you do this with power OFF. Anyway, your picture appears to show one cable is worse than the other so you might find something out with the suggested test. You can verify whether the cable ribbon is good and that would be a minimum test. Further, there is usually a number of "key labels of interest" where you can measure voltages / signals at to see what's that will tell you more... maybe.... especially if you post the results.

I did go ahead and do the split panel test. One side of the display goes blank when the other is unhooked, but initially I see what looks like a "powdery speckly looking primer flash" across the whole screen even with one side of the display unhooked. I need to pull both and ohms check them for shorts or opens, especially the most damaged one.

That powdery speckly looking flash across the whole screen with one side unhooked is my primary concern.

[budwich]

Re: Philips 55PFL5307/F7 stand screws in to both FFCs from t-con, damage? PIX!

well a "flash acoss the whole screen" when on side is disconnected, doesn't sound good.

My suggestion was for you to do the test on one side and then the other using the best of the two cables... you should be able to use the "best cable" on either side.... maybe by flipping. Anyway when you disconnect the one cable... you actually have to totally remove it for the test BECAUSE, the "bad cable" looks like it has runs that are "compromised".

[DXseekerMO]

Re: Philips 55PFL5307/F7 stand screws in to both FFCs from t-con, damage? PIX!

well a "flash acoss the whole screen" when on side is disconnected, doesn't sound good.

My suggestion was for you to do the test on one side and then the other using the best of the two cables... you should be able to use the "best cable" on either side.... maybe by flipping. Anyway when you disconnect the one cable... you actually have to totally remove it for the test BECAUSE, the "bad cable" looks like it has runs that are "compromised".

EXCELLENT budwich, GOOD CALL! I did not remove either cable from the source driver boards, just the t-con. I will re-try with the worst cable completely removed and re-test. I can't flip-flop these as both of them are folded in such a way they will only work on one side.

[budwich]

Re: Philips 55PFL5307/F7 stand screws in to both FFCs from t-con, damage? PIX!

... hmmm but me thinks you can still make the "good looking cable" do the job. Just move the tcon over so the other cable works... :-) note I am not suggestion "crossing the cable" from the one side of the tcon to the other side of the edge board... that would be bad. you just need to ensure that the tcon is isolated appropriately from the metal on the tv. Run any necesssary "ground screw" type connections using wire. Just suggestions to see if you can get some idea of what's good and what's bad and where to look next.

[DXseekerMO]

Re: Philips 55PFL5307/F7 stand screws in to both FFCs from t-con, damage? PIX!

So I did manage to swap FFC's by just folding one in the other direction. When I did that the vertical bar on the left side of the screen went from one wider bar to two more narrow bars. They are white in appearance.

With the right side FFC disconnected and removed I get the two bars on the left and I can see "IPS", or the remainder of "PHILIPS" on the right 1/4 of the screen. It's looking like the panel has been shorted/damaged since that side is disconnected still displays a partial picture?

Maybe I should buy a t-con and FFC's and try it, they look pretty cheap. Worse come to worse it was a freebie TV and I'll just break it down for parts.

[budwich]

Re: Philips 55PFL5307/F7 stand screws in to both FFCs from t-con, damage? PIX!

vertical lines usually is never good. :-( BUT that doesn't mean it can't saved. Not sure that I understand your description of the results especially around the 1/4 as the "disconnection test" involves "1/2" type things so something doesn't correlate in my mind.

In my limited experience, vertical lines on a disconnected side is likely caused by a panel error. This happens because of some form of "feedback" thru some shorted component that connects the horizontal signal paths to some area of the vertical drives. Since the tcon is disconnected from the vertical side, that "connection" is either in the bottom edge board or on the side of the panel.

Having said that, you should NOT have swapped / used both cables without checking to ensure that the cables internals weren't compromised / shorted by the "screw imprint" especially the one that looks bad... using that cable may have caused more trouble being used on the opposite side. Anyway, I can't say that philips is a brand that I would spend significant time or money on as I consider it a "low end display".