I don't think anyone "likes" being told what they're doing is a waste of time, and while I can see how someone might be miffed by being told that, it's valid criticism if it comes from a place of trying to help. I sort of poke fun at myself in the first post for taking the long road around by not getting original strips and soldering dozens and dozens of LEDs, but it's maybe a wall of text I'm not sure everyone read? I think if anyone [I]else [/I]comes in here and says "what a waste of time", then that would be super redundant. I think at this point in history what I'm doing,...

Everyone saying just get new strips; [B]you're not wrong.[/B] However, what's wasting time depends on your goal. I want to know how these lights work, and specifically why mine don't work(right now).

If you look on Craigslist or whatever classifieds, you can find people [B]giving away[/B] perfectly good TVs. If I just wanted to watch TV, that's what I would get. Or, buy one of the ones someone's selling that's already working. Yesterday, I saw someone selling a Sony 75" 4K that's 2-years old for less than the time and effort of just having gotten new strips to begin with, for...

I know just getting the pre-made strips is more sensible.

I had to know what was happening here, so I popped in one of those lone backlights you can get a pack of. Just the light source it should be. Bright, then gently falling off. I snapped the lens off and painted around the LED, glued the lens back on, and stuck it back under the diffuser thingies. So now I have to snap all the lenses back off and paint around the LEDs.

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Since this is more of a learning opportunity, now, than anything else at the moment, I'd like to find out why what I have isn't working, then go from there....

I think people upgrade devices far too often because basic functionality is destroyed by manufacturers with "updates." But, if no device you have is capable of viewing larger than 2000x2000, I hate to say it but it might be time to look for something with more RAM and/or more VRAM. I'm on a Celeron laptop from the windows 8 era, soldered 4GB RAM, but large photos don't seem to be as much a problem for my laptop as my internet connection.

I personally think it's helpful if someone uploads a large image then chooses a medium thumbnail so we can click on it if we want more...

Both sides of the thick panel appear to have the same surface quality. On the side that was facing the LEDs, I've noticed a pattern print.

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So, the thick sheet, closest to the LEDs should have a different surface on each side, and the smoother of the two should be facing the viewer. Ok. I thought I taped everything. Nothing is impossible right now, tho, because the living room is in chaos, and this repair has been weeks in the making(giving pieces time to get unintentionally shuffled around). I will give it a go in the morning....

I saw some people on youtube use white nail polish after soldering. I did not do this.

Also, the new LEDs are about 0.2mm thinner than original. I didn't really foresee either of these issues causing a huge problem like I have.

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Soooo, I found someone giving away their 70" Vizio TV because it wouldn't turn on. Hoping it would be just some bad caps, I snapped it up. No dice. No bulging caps. TV would start consuming about 7W immediately after plugging it in, but no response from the remote or power button. Thermal showed the main chip on the mobo getting warm and nothing else. Power supply appeared to deliver stable 12V to the mainboard.

I ordered a replacement mobo(actually both mobo and PSU just to be sure) and popped it in. Picture! Sound! Endorphins! Then I noticed three long dark strips. Hmmm, had...

Hi! I have a lot of junk electronics I want to fix. My repair skills are amateur-ish. At best.

My latest addition and current problem is a giant TV I got on Craigslist in the free section. So far it cost me $20 in gas, $100 in parts, and about 4 solid hours of work, and it's still broken. Kinda. When I do get rid of it, it'll be at a loss. Probably. It's been a learning experience, so that's the best we can ever hope for on a first try on a new type of repair.

Well, actually, this isn't my first repair attempt of a display. My first display repair attempt didn't go well,...