# Vizio P50 Plasma - No Picture



## mjc55 (Sep 26, 2007)

A few weeks ago was watching the game on my Vizio P50 Plasma when I heard a sizzle and the a loud pop and the set went dark. Had a power light and sound but no picture. The set is only 16 months old and luckily had purchased an extended warranty. Their solution was to send out a tech to replace the power board and main board, didn't think it would fix the problem and it didn't. They have now replaced the TV and told me to do what I want with the old one. I opened it up thinking I would see some part that had exploded since there was that pop when it went down, but haven't found anything. Any thoughts on what I might do to possible bring this door stop to life? Just seems a waste to send it to the recycle bin. Called one repair shop and was told it would cost more to find out what is broke and repair then to buy a new set.


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## kiwiguy (Aug 17, 2003)

I tend to agree with the shop.

Whatever the failure was, it could have have caused a "cascading failure", where the original failing component may have taken out countless components "downstream".

Hence they usually only fix by complete board level replacement, and if that does not fix the problem then it could have taken out many or all the modules, particularly if the failure was in the power module.

Most components will be SMD (surface mount devices) which are not an easy DIY anyway.


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## mjc55 (Sep 26, 2007)

Thanks for the feedback. Doesn't sound promising that it can be fixed at a reasonable cost. You start to wonder how these repair shops stay in business when it seems like these new sets are built to be thrown away and not repaired.


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## kiwiguy (Aug 17, 2003)

They stay in business because they have access to the replacenment modules/boards and most repair is done by swapping at that level.

This means DIY can be expensive unless you can first get hold of the spares and then be able to return the ones not needed. An unlikely event in both cases, even the local repair shops will draw the line at some models if they are "agent only" serviceable.

Also they have the diagnostic information that can allow the correct (sometimes) module to be identified.


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