Samsung DTV issue

[TGAM]

Hi

Wondering if anyone could help with a problem I am having with my Samsung. It's an oldish TV now model LE26R74BDX. Turned it on the other day and the Digital TV channels kept flickering and crashing. Turned it on and off a few times and it would work and then once again the picture would crash and it would not respond to any channel buttons or DMenu.

Everything else working fine like the PC Channel and HDMI Channel.

I found online today how to reset the TV to factory settings and did that and all seemed fine then. However just went to watch the TV again and the DTV Channel is dead yet again. Tried to reset option again but it is still not working. I can change the channel no problem now and the DMenu button works but the screen is blank. When I try to go to AUTO Tune channels in it won't work and basically switches back to the first menu when trying to go to AUTO Tune. The Signal also says a BIT Error level of 10.

Can't really understand it as I am using the same aerial that I always have and the TV downstairs is fine running from same one.

Any Ideas?

Regards

 

[mike7]

Have you checked your aerial and all connections to it?

 

[TGAM]

Yea all connections are in and fine.

 

[Rodders53]

Is this one of those 'odd' TVs that from new or after a factory reset need to tune in an analogue channel and store it before it will proceed to the DTV tuning menu? If so, you'll maybe need an analogue modulator from a VCR, DVD-R, Sky box or other device to get it to work.

Do consider trying it on the other aerial outlet to confirm that a cabling/connection problem with the upstairs feed isn't the cause, though!

 

[TGAM]

No I don't think so. It does scan for Analog signals after the reset which you can cancel. Obviously finds no channels but it did then Auto Scan the DTV Channels and store them all. Just that it seems to have messed up and gone off again now with no Channels showing. Absolutely baffled really as to why it is doing that and giving me the 10 Bit Error on the Signal.

I believe a set top box would probably work fine in the TV but would of rather fixed the built in freeview than buying a Box as there's no much room available underneath the TV etc. Do these Samsung TV's have some kind of separate board in them for the DTV? I might open it up and have a look inside.

 

[Rodders53]

Take the TV to the other aerial outlet... is it the same there? {Yes proves the TV has an issue. No it now tunes in and works proves it's an aerial feed / cable problem}

It's possible that there is some sort of interference being picked up that gives a 'high bit error rate' symptom, too.

{Try the other TV in the upstairs room to see if that is also affected?}

 

[TGAM]

Hi just took the TV downstairs and reset it all and plugged it into downstairs aerial. It scanned and found all the channels and worked for a few seconds then the same thing happened, channel crashed and the signal strength disappeared with Bit error Level 10.

Opened it all up to have a look as you do! Gave it all a good cleaning.. Amateur eye can't see any problems inside it.

Have no idea what the problem is now.... Do I need a new DTV board? And anyone know where I can check prices?

 

[Rodders53]

Service Centre Locations Samsung

Charles Hyde - results for LE26R74BDX lists some spares.

It's often uneconomical to repair these things (sadly) - even when you know what is wrong.

 

[TGAM]

Thank you for the links Rodders. I may purchase a second hand DTV replacement board from eBay as they are £10 compared to £141 from that website. Seems a real expensive option just for the small board. Crazy thing is I never hardly watch TV on it and use it mainly for as my PC Monitor and PS3. Everything works totally fine on the TV besides tuning the freeview channels in now.

 

[Rodders53]

For c.£30 (maybe less) you could but a High Definition set-top box tuner from Tesco's ebay outlet, as your screen is HD ready TECHNIKA STBHDIS2010 HD FREEVIEW SET TOP BOX 7 DAY ELECTRONIC PROGRAMME GUIDE | eBay

 

[TGAM]

Yea I considered getting one of them but my TV only has one HDMI port in it and the PS3 is plugged into that. Would be a pain having to constantly swap them over.

 

[grahamlthompson]

Yea I considered getting one of them but my TV only has one HDMI port in it and the PS3 is plugged into that. Would be a pain having to constantly swap them over.

Just fit a cheap auto hdmi switch.

eg

Auto HDMI IR 3 Input 1 Output HDMI Switch Switcher Splitter 1080P For HDTV New | eBay

 

[GGTVBD]

Or you could just repair the power supply.

Which is almost certain to be causing the fault.

We've had it quite a few times in the workshop.

 

[TGAM]

A power supply problem would cause the tuning and bit error issue?

 

[GGTVBD]

A power supply problem would cause the tuning and bit error issue?

It's quite possible, yes.

As I said, we've seen the fault a few times before.

 

[TGAM]

Interesting. Never occurred to me that could be an issue. I did notice one of the capacitors on the Power Board looked a little rounder at the top with a bit of stuff on it, probably needs renewing. Do you think that could be a potential problem solver?

I remember having problems with my Samsung downstaires and that was fixed by putting a couple of new Capacitors into it. But with this TV running fine apart from the tuner I didn't think that could be an issue with the power.

 

[GGTVBD]

Very much so.

Changing the caps on the LT rails on the PS PCB is quite likely to cure your fault.

 

[TGAM]

Unfortunately I changed the Capacitors on the PSB but the problem still exists. Strange thing was the channels were working yesterday and then again they were fine up until now it has lost signal again. Probably going to end up having to get the set top box.

 

[GGTVBD]

Unfortunately I changed the Capacitors on the PSB but the problem still exists. Strange thing was the channels were working yesterday and then again they were fine up until now it has lost signal again. Probably going to end up having to get the set top box.

You changed all of them?

With the correct ones? Good quality? Where from?