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A fraction of the cost of a new TV
A power board repair is one of the cheapest jobs in television repair.
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Power supply repairs
TV won’t turn on? It is usually the power supply board
A dead television is rarely a dead television. In South Africa, the most common cause by a wide margin is a failed power supply board — and that is a repair, not a write-off.
Our #1 fault
Often same-visit
Repairable
Load-shedding does not break televisions. Coming back on does.
It is worth being precise about this, because it changes how you protect your equipment. The outage itself is harmless. The damage happens in the instant the power returns, when the grid dumps a spike of voltage into everything still plugged in. Your television’s power supply board is the component standing directly in the path of that spike.
The power supply board takes 230V from the wall and converts it into the several different low voltages the rest of the television needs. It contains the capacitors, transformers and switching components that do the hardest electrical work in the set — and they are the parts that fail first.
The good news, and it is genuinely good news, is that this is one of the most repairable faults there is. A failed power board is very often a handful of swollen capacitors or a blown switching component. Replacing those is a fraction of the cost of a new television.
The detail
The symptoms, and what each one is telling you
Different kinds of ‘dead’ point at different faults.
Completely dead — no lights, no sound, nothing
No standby LED at all usually means the power board is not producing even its standby voltage. This is the most common presentation of a failed power supply, and it is very often repairable.
Standby light is on, but the TV will not start
The standby rail is alive but the main rails are not coming up when you press power. That points at the power board’s main switching section, or occasionally at a mainboard that is not sending the start command.
Clicking or ticking, over and over
That regular click is a protection circuit trying to start, detecting a fault, and shutting down again — repeatedly. It is usually a short somewhere downstream or a failing capacitor on the power board itself.
The standby light flashes in a pattern
Many brands use blink codes to report the fault. The number of flashes and the pause between them is diagnostic information, and we read it. Sony, Samsung and LG all use them, and they can save a great deal of testing time.
It turns on, then shuts off after a few seconds
The board is starting, the protection circuit is detecting an over-current or under-voltage condition, and it is shutting the set down to protect itself. Often a failing backlight is the underlying cause, pulling the power board out of tolerance.
It works, but only sometimes
Intermittent starting is usually a capacitor that is on its way out, or a dry solder joint that makes contact when cold and loses it when warm. Both are repairable, and both will get worse.
What you get
Why repair rather than replace
The economics are on your side here.
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Your panel is almost certainly fine
The expensive part of the television — the screen — is untouched by this fault.
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Usually a same-visit fix
We carry the capacitors and components that fail most often.
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It buys years, not months
A properly repaired power board with quality components will outlast the rest of the set.
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Less waste
A working television that goes to landfill because of a R60 capacitor is a genuine shame.
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We tell you how to prevent it
Surge protection is cheap. We will show you what is worth buying.
Included
What a power supply repair includes
Done properly, not patched.
Full board-level diagnosisUnder load, not just at rest
Quality replacement componentsCorrect voltage and temperature ratings, not the cheapest available
All at-risk capacitors checkedWe do not replace one and leave its failing neighbour
Downstream fault checkSo we are not repairing a symptom of a deeper problem
Full function testStart-up, picture, sound and inputs, with you present
Surge protection advicePractical, specific and not a sales pitch
Our process
How we approach a dead television
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Describe exactly what happens
Any lights? Any clicks? Does anything happen at all when you press power?
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We test the power rails on site
Standby voltage first, then the main rails under load.
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We isolate the real fault
Power board, mainboard, or a backlight dragging the board down.
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We repair and prove it works
Full function test, then a conversation about surge protection.
FAQ
Power supply 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 0971My TV died during load-shedding. Is it repairable?
Almost certainly, yes. Surge damage to the power supply board is the most common television fault in Gauteng and it is also one of the most repairable. The panel — the expensive part — is usually completely unaffected.
How much does a TV power supply repair cost?
It depends on the size of the set, the brand and whether we are repairing the existing board at component level or replacing it. Component-level repairs are considerably cheaper than board replacements. We will give you a fixed price after the diagnosis, before any work starts. Our cost guide sets out realistic ranges.
What does the clicking sound mean?
A repeated click is the protection circuit attempting to start and immediately shutting down because it has detected a fault. It is a classic power supply symptom, and it is diagnostic — it tells us where to look.
Can I just replace the power board myself?
You can buy boards online, and some people do. Two cautions. First, a television power supply stores dangerous voltage in its capacitors even when unplugged, and it can hurt you badly. Second, if the power board failed because of a fault downstream, a new board will fail too. That is how people end up buying three.
Will a surge protector actually prevent this?
A decent one helps considerably, yes. The cheap multi-plug ones with a neon light do very little. We will tell you honestly what is worth buying — and we do not sell them, so we have no reason to oversell you.
My TV turns on then switches itself off. Is that the power supply?
Often, but not always. It can also be a failing backlight pulling the power board out of tolerance and triggering its protection circuit. That is exactly why the diagnosis matters — the symptom is the same, but the repair is different.
Book a TV technician
A dead TV is usually a fixable TV
Before you spend money on a replacement, let us tell you what it would cost to bring this one back.
Power supply repairs on every major brand, on site
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 →