Samsung 32 Inch UE32N5000AW TV Repaired
Personally I am not fond of having to fix those increasingly larger manufactured LCD TV sets.
The risk that the thin glass screen breaks or worse while disassembling the TV is very real. And the longer backlight led strips they have, the more leds will fail in time. But when that risk is much smaller like in this Samsung 32 inch UE32N5000AW TV repair, it is no big risk to take. Especially because this TV was found thrown away and so was worth the gamble.
And after a quick clean up I used my floor to place the TV with its glass front side carefully facing down not to break or scratch it. Then I looked up on the internet how to open the case because it had no screws and clearly had to be opened differently. A search on eBay revealed that these Samsung TVs require a special Jig tool to open these sets. If you look on Youtube for: How to open Samsung Screwless TV with jig / tool, you’ll find several videos that explain how to use that Samsung Jig tool. I watched this one:
But after analyzing that tool on eBay I came to the conclusion that the right screwdriver also made it possible without needing that special tool. It probably only would be a handy tool in case I had a repair shop and frequently had to open these Samsung sets on a daily base. But in this single repair case I didn’t want to pay another 18 Euro or more for a tool that also would take several weeks to arrive.
And of course I also had checked if the flat screen wasn’t broken which would make any repair wasted time. But it seemed fine although nothing showed on the LCD when the TV was powered on. However the IR remote receiver eye and the red power up led under the right front obviously worked! So it was still worth to continue the repair.
Although the TV showed no active screen I examined the TV board and noticed a high DC supply voltage over the 8 pin led connector and on the control Mosfet pins. So the TV board was probably okay! There was simply no active backlight and I had to further open the TV to examine the leds. So replacing the 64 Euro costing tv board was probably not needed. Next picture showed my confirming measurements.
And with my backlight led tester I also checked if the backlight leds with 2 pins for each led strip still worked. But sadly they didn’t work anymore. The first led strip is with its plus side connected from second top pin of the led connector to the drain of power mosfet UF634G/Q9101C. And the min side of that strip goes from the 3th top pin to the 6th pin from the top of the connector in above schematic, which is the plus side of the second led strip. And the min side of the second led strip is connected to the diode in above circuit. On the cathode of that diode I measured about 96V DC without any active leds. (voltage without any load).
Next part, after the back cover is removed is a bit scary.
Because we now still also have to carefully remove the plastic covering black frame from the front of the screen (with the SAMSUNG text on its front) before we can free the aluminium backshell that contains the led strips. That is also still connected with to the thin glass screen on top to the boards with the thin vulnerable flexprints on one side of the screen (the tv bottom side where also the stereo speakers and the IR remote sensor and red led are mounted). Those may not break or get damaged! And we will be able to , again very carefully! ,flip open the aluminium backshell with the led strips. But only after that covering rectangle shaped frame with the Samsung name printed on it, is removed first.
On previous photo I already flipped the led backplate carefully vertical (angle of about 90 degrees) with the glass screen plate laying flat on the floor with the removed white reflector plates on top of the back of the screen. (this way not damaging or breaking the screen flexprint connections with the boards underneath the aluminium shell’s led strips other side). And with a chair I kept the vertical standing aluminium led reflector shell plate in a steady position. To do this without breaking the glass screen plate or any flexprint, I first carefully had used the aluminium shell with both led strips in it in such a position that I could remove the rectangle front frame but also keep the glass plate straight on top of the shell by preventing any mechanical stress. And with the glass screen with both hands kept onto the aluminium shell I placed it with its front side safely onto my floor. After that previous photo was made. (maybe it is also possible to lift the boards that are connected to the screen’s flex prints out of the pcb holders or mounts on the aluminium shell but I was not sure if it was possible without breaking something in the process, including the glass plate, so maybe there is an easier option too?)
Anyway… flipping over a large thin glass screen is always the most critical part of the repair! So I’m happy that my way of opening the TV without damaging anything worked!
Next photo shows one of the 14 tiny leds on both led strips with each 7 of those tiny only 1.3mm x 1.3mm yellow leds. The diffuser on top was removed so we can see it. Each single led also has a another component, most likely connected antiparallel over it for protection.
Those leds or the antiparallel soldered parts are unknown and if available hardly replaceable. So repair of these strips if possible is not advisable. So 2 new led strips were ordered for about 53 Euro including VAT (BTW) and shipping costs from a shop in my country. These strips are also available on Aliexpress for only a third of that price but I didn’t wanted to wait that long while leaving a large breakable device this long in horizontal position laying around. And only a day later I received the led strips and could finish the Samsung repair successfully. Next photo shows the led strip markings.
Removing both led strips from this aluminium shell is super easy. Just removing the plug from the 2 pin connector on each led strip and unclip it from its aluminium holders. From both strips with 14 leds 3 leds no longer worked why the current to the in serie connected leds no longer could flow. And one of the in antiparallel switched parts had a black burn spot on its top. Seeing those tiny leds I wonder
if the about 10.000 active hours were really reached.
Above shown the Aliexpress shop that sells these matching much cheaper Samsung UE32N5000AW led strips. Sadly I didn’t want to wait that long on my order while leaving open such a large and very breakable device.
Next photo shows the bottom side of the Samsung TV in the upper side with the flexprint connections and also the IR remote sensor and red standby led on the right. On the left of that photo also the diode is shown on which I measured 96V DC on its cathode.
And the photos after that show a perfectly fixed as new 32 inch TV with perfect stereo sound speakers (tested fine with the internal audio test).
Above picture is the standard Samsung test picture that showed a perfect photo! But the previous
owner obviously had set the contrast and the brightness to their absolute maximum values which with these new leds is completely unnecessary and absurdly high now! So I immediately changed it.
Next photos show the TV used as HDMi monitor connected to my good old Asus desktop computer which also worked splendidly. Although my PC’s video card here had a bit higher set resolution than the 1920 x 1080p the Samsung HDMi at its maximum resolution can handle.
I also tested the power consumption of the Samsung UE32N5000 out of curiosity. And I was flabbergasted when I saw the minimum of power that was used while showing a full HDMi screen from my connected computer. Next picture showed the too high Contrast and Backlight settings, followed by a photo taken from the to my computer connected screen while I measured the power it consumed. Which only was 29 Watt as my EKM 265 power meter showed!
And also shown a photo of the Samsung Jig tool we are supposed to use when we want to open these screwless TVs.
Above a last taken photo of the Full HD screen while measuring its power use. Only 29 Watt!
(here still without any power adding Audio signal playing!). And on that last screen photo also the making of this article was visible.
Anyway, In conclusion… I do not know if I will fix more of these smaller TV sets in the near future but this repair went very well ! Although I still do not like things that need special tools just to open them.
Albert van Bemmelen, Weert, The Netherlands.
Please give a support by clicking on the social buttons below. Your feedback on the post is welcome. Please leave it in the comments.
P.S- If you enjoyed reading this, click here to subscribe to my blog (free subscription). That way, you’ll never miss a post. You can also forward this website link to your friends and colleagues-thanks!
Note: You can read his previous article on Replacing Bad WEP898D Heater Gun (SMD Rework Station)
(64)Dislikes
(0)
17 Comments
Leave a Reply
LLOYD BOND
July 23, 2022 at 6:45 am
VERY GOOD AND INSTRUCTIONAL
Rich Leonard
July 23, 2022 at 7:06 am
Nice repair. They are intentionally making it more difficult. These 'screwless' backpanels are delicate and can tabs break easily when opening. IMOP, ultra cheap quality. The larger sets are even more flimsy!
Bill
July 26, 2022 at 4:19 am
Albert, regarding the technology used for computer monitors, I noticed that if you press on the screen a little, the colors smudge. But the screen seems quite resilient. Why couldn’t this more resilient technology be ramped up to larger screens? Is it a matter of cost or manufacturing limitations? Do you know?
Parasuraman S
July 23, 2022 at 7:51 am
Great! You managed to fix the TV without any damage, by delicate and patient handling! Many thanks for your detailed article!
Andrew F. Ali
July 23, 2022 at 9:11 am
You did extremely well. CONGRATULATIONS.
Tito Kanshulu
July 23, 2022 at 1:02 pm
Nice repair Albert, and you have completely explain well for everyone. You have silent for a while. Welcome back
Albert van Bemmelen
July 23, 2022 at 6:40 pm
Thanks Tito!, but probably you missed my two also recent previous repairs?
Albert van Bemmelen
July 23, 2022 at 2:30 pm
Addendum: Samsung here also used only one single white thin diffuser sheet between the reflector and the screen. And that sheet apparently here was only held in place with a few rectangular slob holes on one side of the sheet that connected only to the identical shaped teeth on the bottomside of the tv. I didn't find those on the top side of the tv which would be more logical. That sadly still made the white led spots slightly visible but only when the tv screen showed a lighter whiter image. One remarkable fact I didn't mention in the article about the backlight leds in this repair is that they were NOT the usual 3V white leds! They together (all 14 of them) worked on a measured 37,2V DV which make them each only 2,6V Leds! And they worked superbright on already just a current of 10mA!
Tom Schupbach
July 23, 2022 at 9:04 pm
I replaced the LED strips on a customer's 65" TV and had it ready to be picked up. I always want to show the TV working when the customer arrives, so I picked it up (from the sides, bad mistake) to put in on a table. The heavy TV twisted and my thumb pressed on the glass breaking it! TV is now useless, called the customer and told her I broke her TV. She said it was broken when you got it so don't worry about it. I would have replaced the TV for her and told her that, but she said a new one was only about twice what the repair cost was so no worry. At least I only have the cost (85.00 US) in the set and it's good for parts if needed.
Albert van Bemmelen
July 24, 2022 at 3:07 pm
You sure had tough luck that day Tom! These very large and thin glass TV screens are almost bound to break ending up for spare parts. If manufacturers now also sold matching replacement screens for an acceptable price we still would be able to fix a broken TV. But even if they did, just shipping such large screens safely in the way they are would make it an impossible task to accomplish anyhow. For that we probably still have to wait for unbreakable screens. Or for secured glass screens in improved frames to make servicing less risky.
GIFT ELIJAH
July 25, 2022 at 12:55 pm
A very detailed explanation on how you fixed the problem of that Samsung tv Weldon.
I have a question.
At what point can I conclude that a LCD or LED screen is bad and needs replacing of screen?
Albert van Bemmelen
July 25, 2022 at 5:47 pm
When you'll notice that the glass is cracked you can almost be certain that repair is futile. And replacing LC screens is impossible anyhow because of the special flexprints that can't be soldered and need special professional tools to connect/repair.
Waleed Rishmawi
July 25, 2022 at 2:22 pm
good repair article and as always alot of information provided thanks for sharing. I had this kind of TV's in my shop and I had to use an Ifixit prey openning tool and it worked just fine. as you said we have to be very careful in doing such a repair otherwise we will end up with a broken panel or another important parts in the TV. have a blessed day
beh
July 26, 2022 at 11:22 pm
Thank you so much of sharing this repair indeed is very usefull
beh
Yogesh Panchal
July 30, 2022 at 11:33 pm
Albert, Very thrilling article because single crack on the screen & job Finished.......I gone through the nightmare of cracking the screen.
Universal Plastic pry tools are good investment for this type of repair works.
Yogesh Panchal
August 4, 2022 at 4:05 pm
Here is the link
Gift Elijah
October 16, 2022 at 11:58 pm
Thanks very much, but without a broken glass, is there any other thing that can make a technician say that a screen is bad and needs to be replaced?