SONY Bravia KDL 40W4500, screen problems

Update for my situation:

D&G have arranged for the repair company to replace my screen at my home on thursday. I asked the repair company how much it was costing and they told me £541. I phoned D&G to see if I could add £60 and replace the tv with a new one @£599. They said they weren't prepared to do this as they were getting the parts cheaper as they mass order, so I asked how much they were paying for the whole job so I could calculate how much I would have to add to get a new set but they didn't want to know and wouldn't tell me how much. It seems very unprofessional and unreasonable to me not to at least offer me the same amount of money that they would be paying out! and to have something as big as a screen fitted at the costumers home seems crazy, I mean what next, the NHS doing open heart surgery at the patients home. My 2 biggest concerns are that they give me a second hand or a non original part or a part from and inferior tv that fits. I'm also concerned that if the screen has failed once what's to say it won't again in 18 months time when it's out of guarentee. We bought this tv for£1400 with the idea for keeping it for 10 years or more! Anyway I hope our tv repair guy is good but I'm not opptimistic.
 
Hi All,

I have a 23month old KDL-40W4500 and for the last 3 weeks has been displaying symptoms like the OP. Unfortunately I only have the manufacturers 1 year warranty. Sony's authorised repair centre has informed me that the LCD panel is faulty and quoted me £464 to replace it. I have been in correspondance with Sony asking them to cover the total cost of repair and so far they have offered me £150 towards that cost. I don't believe this to be acceptable and will continue to fight my corner. I'll let you know how I get on.
Attached are photo's of my problem.

Regards,
 

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Try quoting the sales of goods act to them, these tv's should be lasting longer than this, it's ridiculous. If I had known they were this temperamental I would have gone for an LG or something.

Update on mine, the guy came today and fitted a new screen, all seems fine but how long will it last.
 
Try quoting the sales of goods act to them, these tv's should be lasting longer than this, it's ridiculous. If I had known they were this temperamental I would have gone for an LG or something.

Update on mine, the guy came today and fitted a new screen, all seems fine but how long will it last.

Will be a fruitless exercise as the set wasn't bought from Sony and therefore the Sale of Goods Act does not apply.

@ davebez750 - Have you spoken to the retailer as they on the other hand are legally obliged to help under the SOGA?
 
Thanks for the replies. I haven't quoted the SOGA as I bought it from Digital Direct. In my next correspondance I will mention fit for purpose and the fact that the radio, electrical and television retailers association give a life expectancy of between 4-8 years for a premium TV to be economicaaly repaired. I don't think a repair bill of 50% for a 2 year old TV to be economical.
Alsina, I have contacted Digital Direct, but they were about as much use as a chocolate teapot, they claimed they have been bought out and taken over by another company, and that their liabilities went with that. I will try to find out more about the ins and outs of takeovers etc. but am not holding out much hope on either the retailer or manufacturers fronts.

Thanks again for the replies.
 
Thanks for the replies. I haven't quoted the SOGA as I bought it from Digital Direct. In my next correspondance I will mention fit for purpose and the fact that the radio, electrical and television retailers association give a life expectancy of between 4-8 years for a premium TV to be economicaaly repaired. I don't think a repair bill of 50% for a 2 year old TV to be economical.
Alsina, I have contacted Digital Direct, but they were about as much use as a chocolate teapot, they claimed they have been bought out and taken over by another company, and that their liabilities went with that. I will try to find out more about the ins and outs of takeovers etc. but am not holding out much hope on either the retailer or manufacturers fronts.

Thanks again for the replies.

Ah I see. Unfortunately the directors at Digital Direct closed down the business to clear their debts and reopened under a different company name, though they still trade under Digital Direct and Sound & Vision. As a result, their obligations under the SOGA have ended, even though the company owners are the same people as when you bought the set from them.

The only other option is using the SOGA against the card company whose card you used to buy the tv as they are equally liable.
 
I've just popped back to see how people are getting on as I think my X3500 is on it's last legs taking a good 45minutes to 'Warm-up', and it's now started to develop some funky HDCP issues which aren't good either.

I'm glad I never paid for the D&G warranty (it was free), but I was hoping that I'd be guaranteed 5years of use from my £2500 investment by having the warranty which this thread shows is not the case.
 
Hi,

Has anybody tried TVRepairmans fix for the screen problem. If so, how much tape / padding do you need and what is the width required. I am thinking of having a go myself and have had a quick search on the internet for some foam tape. It can be bought in different thicknesses and widths, hence my question.

Cheers,
 
here's me getting all excited that I might get a new telly. The repair shop phoned today, and said that they had fitted a new panel and would deliver it tomorrow...

(Well at least my stuck pixel will now have gone!)
 
Hi Matt,

Are you going to try TVRepairmans fix? When mine gets to the point where I guess yours is now, I think I'll have a go. When I do, (and if it works) I'll take some photo's and do a brief write up for anybody else in this ***** situation. In my correspondance with Sony they refuse to acknowledge any problem and worse still refuse to acknowledge this forum and the particulars of this thread. Shame on them.

Cheers,
 
It appears that there are many people having issues with Sony TVs that are suffering from screen faults. The fault I am referring to is usually a distortion of the picture with severe ghosting. Quite often , one side of the screen will be very dark, with colours heavily saturated. Also, there may be bands running horizontally across the screen, usually from left to right. These faults are common with some Sony models, in particular the KDL-40W4500, KDL-40W4710, KDL46X3000.

A repair shop will tell you that the screen needs replacing but the good news is that this is a simple fix.:clap::clap:
I repair tvs & have repaired more than 40 Sony TVs with this fault. No spare parts needed.

The fault you are witnessing is indeed a screen fault. There are a number of plastic sleeves that connect from the screen to screen boards that lie flat and horizontally above the screen itself. The sleeves contain electrical circuitry from these boards to the screen. Unfortunately, the bondbetween the sleeves and the screen on some Sony models breaks down after a year or so. With the KDL-40W4500 or KDL-40W4710, this is always the first sleeve on the right, when you are facing the screen.

The Fix

  1. Remove the back cover of the tv (make sure all power is disconnected)
  2. Remove whatever screws you need to so that the bezel (tv frame) can be removed.
  3. You should now have access to the LCD screen with the aluminium frame surrounding it.
  4. Remove the screws that hold the aluminium frame in place so that you can either remove the frame entirely, or enough to allow you access to where the top boards and screen meet.
  5. You will see the sleeves that connect the boards to the screen.
  6. Switch on the tv so that it displays a tv channel.
  7. If you wiggles the frame slightly, you will notice the picture fault will disappear.
  8. Press the sleeves, working from left to right to determine which one is not making good contact. (It is usually the 1st one on the left when look at the tv from the front)
  9. The fix - simply use some padding so that the frame presses on the padding, which in turn presses down on the sleeve. Double sided mirror tape (2 or 3 layers) usually works well. Or any soft rubber material, about 2-4mm in depth sould work.
  10. Screw the frame back into position. Test the tv. If the fault re-appears immediately or sometime later, it simply means that you need to adjust the padding slightly.
  11. All this fault is is a poor contact from a ribbon cable (sleve) to the screen. It is a very easy fix.
I hope that someone benefits from this. It takes an hour to do properly but will save you coughing up for a new tv.:hiya::hiya:
d

Hi Everybody!

I just want to thank TVRepairMan for this tip!
I've fixed my TV which died exactly two weeks after warranty :mad:
TV - Sony Bravia KDL-40W4710.

Please don't be afraid to do it!
You just have to be really careful doing it.
I've did exactly like TVRepairMan said following his advice as close as possible.
You will need (at least in KDL-40W4710) unscrew all screws holding back of the TV, then find some of the screws holding bezel.
Afterwards it's better to screw back the TV stand and remove the bezel when TV is in standing position.
Please be careful removing the small lcd for the SONY logo (I've just unglued mine)
Then you should be able to see the panel and frame which you will have to remove by unscrewing it (10 screws).
Carefully remove the frame or just open it a little to see the connectors (sleeves as TRM descibes them).
Then the fix I've performed was straightforward.
As suggested by TRM I've turned on the TV and started to touch the connectors.
It was the fourth from the left side for me, that had a bad contact.
Those connectors are glued (soldered) to the panel and there are millions of very small connections made, no wonder that some of them will loose contact.
I went to Tesco and bought myself a pack of Sellotape for 90 Pence.
Now the best part. Sellotape is just double-sided tape.
I've used some of them and glued directly to the bottom of the frame, leaving last layer with protective paper (I've made three layers), so it won't glue to the connectors.
Then just assembled the frame, checked the TV.
Everything went just fine!
I have my TV back and just spent 1 hour on this fix in total (+ 10 min in Tesco) + 90 Pence :)
I encourage anybody with the similar problem to try this great fix.
What do you have to loose anyway.
Once again BIG BIG THANK YOU to TVRepairMan for giving us this great trade secret.

regards,

Chris

Please find attached some pictures I made (including Sellotape for the reference)

1. Sellotape:
1.JPG


2. Panel frame opened
2.JPG


3. Connectors (sleeves)
3.JPG
 
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Hi, please read my post. I've tried the TRM method and it works like a charm!
 
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I'm not confident enough to go through with the repair as suggested earlier on the link. I am pursuing Amazon UK under the Sales of Goods act as the KDL-40W4500 is certainly not of satisfactory quality having developed the fault after 21 months.

I also contacted Sony who confirmed that the fault as experienced by so many in the thread is not recognised. They suggested a repair at my local Sony Authorised Repair Agent which is about 2 hours away.

I will keep you up to date with events.
 
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Hi, please read my post. I've tried the TRM method and it works like a charm!

Hi Reddigg

You have any photo's showing the Sellotape pads in place by any chance ?

My KDL40W4500 started doing it this morning. Sure enough if you face the screen and press the top LHS of the case the picture comes back on.

Thanks
 
My 40W4500 has this morning joined the growing pile of duff ones. I'm just over 2 years into the Sony 5yr warranty so I'm hoping not to have too much bother getting it repaired/replaced, but I'm not holding my breath :(


1115065106_yTErc-X2.jpg
 
Our 40W4500 has ALSO joined the growing pile of duff ones. We're again just over 2 years into the Sony 5yr warranty so we too are hoping not to have too much bother getting it repaired/replaced!

Ours has got to the point were we leave it on all day in the hope it's fixed itself in time for some evening viewing.

When I described the problem over the phone to the third party repair company they said I CERTAINLY wasn't alone with this particular fault on this Sony model.... but according to Sony, they "do not recognise internet" forums as a source for information.

MAKES MY BLOOD BOIL!!!!!!

We're currently waiting for a certified repair man to come and have a look so will post back.
 
WooHoo - Welcome all !

Looks like I can join your Patchwork Quilt Screen Club :thumbsdow

Yep you guessed it today my Sony Bravia KDL40W4500 has a screen problem - Patchwork Quilt (you will know what I mean if you got one - lol)

Purchased Dec 2008 - Curry's

Rang Sony Customer Services today at 16:50 - 0844 8466 555

Can only say VERY helpfull and accomodating (maybe because I registered the TV online when I first used it, so they had all my details and proof of purchase etc (I did not purchase any extra warranty)

Once I had described fault there was no arguement or discussion at all, the guy just got on and began organising an engineer to sort out my problem.

Well within 10 minutes of making the call I now have a company called Birmingham Specialised Services txt'ing me to arrange a repair appointment - No cost to me !

Will keep you all informed how I get on :smashin:
 
Managed to capture the "effect", it certainly looks like so many others TV's on here - a patchwork quilt seems a good description


kdl40w45001.jpg




kdl40w45002.jpg
 
Seconds Out - Round 2 !

Just had a call from Birmingham Specialised Services to arrange repair - They require payment :thumbsdow

Sony have NOT given an F.O.C Warranty reference for my TV so I have to ring Sony AGAIN !

BRB
 
My TV has now been at the repairers for a week and after I rang them yesterday they say they are still trying to diagnose what the problem is :confused:

I was going to send them a link to this thread but then I'd b worried they'd just do the pressure fix posted earlier in the thread as, with all due respect to TVRepairMan, it does sound like a bodge repair. That said, if my TV was out of warranty I'd have used his fix without a second thought :)
 
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TV now awaiting a new screen. No eta on parts as yet so I dont know if there is still a shortage. Not holding my breath for getting back before xmas tho :(
 
Our 40W4500 has ALSO joined the growing pile of duff ones. We're again just over 2 years into the Sony 5yr warranty so we too are hoping not to have too much bother getting it repaired/replaced!

Ours has got to the point were we leave it on all day in the hope it's fixed itself in time for some evening viewing.

When I described the problem over the phone to the third party repair company they said I CERTAINLY wasn't alone with this particular fault on this Sony model.... but according to Sony, they "do not recognise internet" forums as a source for information.

MAKES MY BLOOD BOIL!!!!!!

We're currently waiting for a certified repair man to come and have a look so will post back.

As a follow up to my previous post:

The guy didn't seem too suprised to see the fault. TV has now been taken away to have whole whole new LCD panel. Sony do not keep stock in UK so needs to be shipped in from Europe. Unless I'm really lucky, it looks like my little boy is going to have no TV over Christmas :(

Including labour, it would have been around the £450 mark if we didn't have the Sony Centre's 5yr warranty included.
How much are these sets worth new now anyway??
 
I got my TV back today. New LCD panel fitted according to the paperwork.

It was actually a pretty painless experience in the end. I'd have liked a quicker turn around but considering the weather and the time of year it wasnt too bad. :)
 
Another Sony 40W4500 bites the dust. Purchased from JL in Jan 09 so covered under their 5 year warranty. Distorted picture for the first 15 minutes after turning on and been getting progressively worse for the last 4 weeks. JL are sending an engineer on Thursday.
 

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