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Capacitor and power board repairs
Cheap, quick, and almost always worth doing.
Home/TV repair services/LCD TV repairs
LCD TV repairs
LCD TV repairs — and when an older set is still worth saving
Plenty of LCD televisions from ten or twelve years ago are still perfectly good screens with one failed component. Others genuinely are not worth the money. We will tell you which yours is.
Backlight and inverter
Honest value advice
Older sets welcome
Not every old television is a lost cause — but some are
We take a lot of calls that start with an apology: “It is quite an old LCD, I do not know if you will even look at it.” We will. Plenty of LCD televisions from a decade ago were built considerably better than a cheap new set costing the same as the repair, and if the panel is good and the fault is a capacitor, the sensible thing is to fix it.
But we also have to be honest in the other direction. On a small older LCD — say a 32-inch set worth a couple of thousand rand — a repair needing an expensive board is genuinely not worth doing, and we will tell you so rather than taking the work.
The dividing line is usually the size of the set, the quality of the original panel and the nature of the fault. Backlight, inverter, capacitor and power supply repairs are cheap enough to make sense on almost anything. Panel and mainboard replacements on a small, cheap, old television usually are not.
The detail
The faults we see on LCD televisions
Older sets fail in fairly predictable ways.
Backlight failure — black screen with sound
Older LCDs used CCFL fluorescent tubes for backlighting; newer ones use LEDs. Both fail, and both can be repaired — on CCFL sets we often convert to LED, which is brighter, cooler and more reliable.
Inverter board failure
CCFL backlights need an inverter to drive them, and inverters fail. Symptoms include a picture that appears for a second and then goes dark. Repairable, and a classic older-LCD fault.
Bulging capacitors on the power board
The single most common fault on ageing LCD televisions. Capacitors dry out, swell, and stop doing their job. Replacing them is inexpensive and often restores the set completely.
The TV will not switch on
Power supply board, almost always — and on an older set, almost always capacitors. Cheap to fix and frequently very worthwhile.
Lines, bands or half a picture
T-CON or ribbon connection faults. Repairable in many cases; a panel driver failure sometimes is not, and that is where the value conversation happens.
The picture is dim and yellowish
Ageing CCFL tubes losing brightness and colour temperature. An LED conversion transforms these sets, and it is not expensive.
What you get
When an LCD repair makes sense
Being honest about value, in both directions.
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Backlight and inverter repairs
Affordable, and they restore the set completely.
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LED conversion for old CCFL sets
Brighter, cooler, longer-lived — and not expensive.
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Larger, better-built sets
A good 50-inch LCD is worth spending money on.
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Where we will say do not bother
Small, cheap, old sets needing an expensive board.
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We never charge you to be told no
Beyond the diagnostic, which you will know about upfront.
Included
What an LCD repair includes
Including the value conversation.
Full board-level diagnosisPower, inverter, backlight, T-CON and mainboard
Capacitor inspectionAll of them, not just the visibly swollen ones
Backlight assessmentCCFL or LED, tested under load
Panel viability checkBefore you spend money re-lighting it
An honest value verdictIncluding ‘this is not worth repairing’ where that is true
Full function testPicture, sound, inputs and brightness
Our process
How we handle older LCDs
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Tell us the size, age and fault
It is the fastest way to get a realistic answer about value.
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We diagnose properly
Because guessing on an old set wastes your money faster than anyone’s.
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We give you a straight verdict
Worth repairing, or honestly not.
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We repair and test
And where we have converted the backlight, you will see the difference.
FAQ
LCD TV repairs — your questions answered
The things people actually ask us on the phone, answered straight.
Not sure what is wrong?
WhatsApp us the make, the screen size and a short video of what the TV is doing. We can usually narrow the fault down before a technician is even dispatched.
WhatsApp 063 866 0971Is it worth repairing an old LCD TV?
It depends on the size, the quality and the fault. A capacitor, power board, inverter or backlight repair on a decent-sized LCD is usually well worth it — it is inexpensive and it can add years. An expensive board replacement on a small, cheap old set usually is not, and we will tell you that honestly.
What is the difference between LCD and LED TV?
The backlight. Both use an LCD panel to form the image. Older LCD sets lit it with CCFL fluorescent tubes; modern ‘LED’ televisions light it with LEDs. So every LED TV is an LCD TV underneath. We repair both.
My old LCD has gone dim and yellow. Can that be fixed?
Yes, and it is one of the more rewarding repairs we do. That is ageing CCFL backlight tubes losing brightness and colour temperature. Converting the backlight to LED restores the picture and gives you a brighter, cooler-running, longer-lived television.
What are bulging capacitors and why do they matter?
Electrolytic capacitors on the power board dry out with age and heat. As they fail they swell — the tops bulge visibly. They stop smoothing the voltage properly, and the television becomes unstable or simply will not start. Replacing them is inexpensive and it is one of the most common LCD repairs there is.
Can you still get parts for older LCD TVs?
For common components — capacitors, backlight strips, connectors — yes, readily. For model-specific mainboards on discontinued sets, sometimes not, which is exactly where component-level repair earns its keep.
Do you repair a cracked LCD screen?
No. We do not repair cracked or broken screens, and we do not buy broken televisions. On an old LCD in particular, a replacement panel would cost several times what the set is worth.
Book a TV technician
Do not scrap it before you ask
Tell us the size, the age and what it is doing. We will give you a straight answer about whether it is worth saving.
LCD backlight, inverter and capacitor repairs across Gauteng
Contact
Speak to a TV technician, not a call centre
- Call us
- 0861 995 085Open 24 hours · 7 days a week
- 063 866 0971Send a short video of the fault — it speeds everything up.
- Where we work
- Johannesburg, Pretoria, Sandton, Centurion, Midrand, the East Rand and the West RandSee every area we cover →