LG 60PB5600 dead and how I fixed it

[Michalis]

My LG 60PB5600 died a few months ago. I have it from March 2015 and it had average working hours. Unfortunately early this summer it died all suddenly. Error was 2 faded standby led blinks and then dead.
In the beginning of October I found some time to open it and check for anything burned visually but everything looked fine.
Then I searched on the internet and on you-tube for anything related on plasma TV repair.
I first checked the power supply board (fuses, bad components, voltages on connectors) and it was fine. VS was 206V, VA 60V and +5V present.
I then disconnected all other boards except the ZSUS. It had all voltages present on the P131 input connector, but on the P132 the +18V was missing, instead it showed around +3.5V.
On the images below you can see the TV opened flat on the floor, the ZSUS board and the P131 and P132 connectors:

 

[Michalis]

I checked for short-circuit the power transistors but they looked ok. So after suggestions I replaced 5 small capacitors on the board with no luck, still missing +18V. I then removed the 4 main capacitors, checked them with a capacitance meter but they were fine.

 

[Michalis]

Up to this point I thought that this missing +18V Z-SUS board was the one related to the fault, I contacted LG service center and ordered a new replacement Z-SUS board. It took around 10 days to arrive, but unfortunately this would not solve the problem as I found out later on. Upon waiting for the new part to arrive, I searched more and found a thread from someone having exactly the same issue on the same 60PB5600 plasma. He did not measure +18V on his Z-SUS board as well, and he was asking if the +18V were "generated" in this board or had to be present IF next boards were ok.
At this time I realized that 99.99% the Z-SUS board would be working fine but unfortunately the order for a replacement had been already placed.
Anyway, as you can see from the TV flat on the floor, the next board connected is the Y-SUS. This board is connected to the Z-SUS and not directly to the power board. I removed this one, checked everything for short-circuit but it was fine. Then I carefully removed the next 2 buffer boards, the upper and the lower buffer board. I checked for short-circuit the ICs on both, but nothing wrong found.
Finally, I found the fault. three very small SMD capacitors showed short-circuit, the C975 on the left board side and on the right side both the C977 and C978 (these are connected in parallel). I removed the 2 ones but desoldered they measured ok. Then I desordered the C975 and found it shorted. I replaced it with a 2.2nF/3KV ceramic, re-installed all boards on the TV and to my joy the TV was working again:

 

[Michalis]

It has been about a week now and my LG plasma is working fine. If you try to open your plasma TV please be very careful and do it at your own risk as the tv with power on, has high voltages inside.
With the help of the internet and lots of search i repaired my lovely plasma 60-inch tv.
I hope this thread will help some owners with similar faults.