LG Plasma turning itself off and then on again

Jez

Jez

Jez

Caporegime
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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Hi,

Long shot but perhaps someone here has experienced this or may have an idea as to what may be wrong;

I have a 2 year old 50" LG Plasma screen, recently it has taken upon itself to randomly switch to standby when in use after a period of time. It will then sit with its red LED lit as if it is in standby, but in a completely unresponsive state whatsoever (no buttons do anything), and then after around 2-5 minutes will randomly turn itself back on and resume what it was doing. Pulling the power while it is unresponsive results in a relay click, and a power down, but plugging it back in while still in this weird unresponsive period simply results in it sitting unresponsive for the same period until it wakes up again.

Obviously this is very annoying and unworkable, but i am loathed to bin a sub 2 year old thin bezel modern plasma panel :(

Any ideas as to what may be wrong anyone?
 
Is it not in warranty?

I had a similar issue with a Panasonic LCD years ago, people came out to muck around with the firmware twice, which improved the situation for a bit, but eventually it started again.

On the third occasion, after 4.5 years, they just replaced it.
 
Oh...i didnt consider that..i doubt it? Its well over 12 months old...

I didnt even consider a warranty...usually my stuff is all far too old :p I was thinking more along the lines of replacing its PSU or various logic boards
 
Checked LG warranty, it was 12 months long as i thought. So definitely no warranty.

Before i open it up i suppose i should at least pursue LG/Amazon (amazon purchase) for goodwill? Is that worth doing?
 
You can check here: http://www.lg.com/uk/support but the first one I checked was 12 months only.

Which retailer did you buy it from?

Obviously warranty is the easiest option, but if that wasn't an option then after less than 2 years I would definitely be going down the credit card (section 75 / Visa chargeback) or SOGA route.

EDIT: Amazon? Go go go man! They tend to be very good with these sorts of things. I would have a chat with them (maybe live chat or phone), and just point out that it's faulty. If they're not interested, then you can start talking about how you would expect an expensive 50" Plasma to last longer than <2 years.
 
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Its not under warranty, i checked the LG site and it is indeed 12 months only.

I think i will have paid via Amex Platinum, i wonder if they are worth a call. I'll try Amazon too
 
Jez said:
Its not under warranty, i checked the LG site and it is indeed 12 months only.

I think i will have paid via Amex Platinum, i wonder if they are worth a call. I'll try Amazon too
Click to expand...

Yeah, as combinations go that's a pretty potent one. Both Amazon and Amex have about the best reputations (from my perspective) for getting you resolutions. But definitely start with Amazon.

Also, check if your Amex includes warranty extension for electronics. Some of them do. If so, that's a potential quick-win.
 
Amazon just politely told me that due to it being 25 months old (older than i thought) that they cannot do anything and have sent me LG's details.

I will try LG for goodwill, others are suggesting that i pressure amazon via SOGA.

Not sure this is worth the argument though, the parts for this TV are so cheap that it might be worth swallowing this as bad luck and fixing it myself which would see resolution within a few days.
 
Yep, i will call LG and try them. Although it is not worth me paying anything much even if they will subsidise an engineer visit due to the below. I will then pressure Amazon via SOGA.

If all else fails i just priced up replacing literally every board in the entire TV at around £60 :p Parts for the TV seem very readily available on eBay, i guess as its still a fairly recent model. A PSU board is around £15 for example.
 
Oh really, weird....but that has to be worth a go.....

Did yours do this after a good while into your ownership?

I wonder if the firmware you flashed has different tolerances built in or something which prevented the shut downs? Did you require anything special to update the firmware? I do not recall seeing a firmware update option within its user menus. I am aware that there are hidden engineering menus but my understanding is that to access these you require an engineering remote?
 
Just downloaded a firmware service manual...there is a newer firmware release since the date i bought the TV.

Looks like a faff with USB sticks etc but has to be worth a go...:)
 
Definitely worth a go. As I said, the firmware updates did seem to help with my Panasonic.

The only slight downside is that if it masks the problem for 12 months, you're then much less likely to get help from LG / Amex etc but it's probably worth the risk.
 
Jez said:
Oh really, weird....but that has to be worth a go.....

Did yours do this after a good while into your ownership?

I wonder if the firmware you flashed has different tolerances built in or something which prevented the shut downs? Did you require anything special to update the firmware? I do not recall seeing a firmware update option within its user menus. I am aware that there are hidden engineering menus but my understanding is that to access these you require an engineering remote?
Click to expand...

Mine happened about 18 months into ownership. USB drive and the file, the TV did the rest of it. Luckily I had bought with a 5 year warranty but 6 months down the line, it hasn't happened again.
 
Nice, i'll give this a try when i get in later :) It says to just bung the firmware file into a LG_DTV directory on the root of a USB stick and plug it in, i assume the tv auto detects the file and comes up with an upgrade message?
 
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