SERIOUS WARNING FOR LG OLED B8 & C8 TVs!

Nimby

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WARNING for LG OLED TVs: [Not glass E8s]

If, like me, you missed any mention of film removal from the back of the B8 & C8 TVs in the LG manual then go and check RIGHT NOW! Your home, family and health may be at serious risk!

EDIT: The invisible plastic film DOES NOT covers the vent holes in the plastic electronics housing at the back. I checked the size of the film and it just reaches the bump on the back.

If you look at the pretty metal back plate of these LG OLED TV screens there is a whole series of small punched-out circles in the plastic film. That's how you know it is still there. I thought they were machining or factory lifting sucker marks or even designer decoration. I was wrong!

Catch a top corner of the film with your fingernail and carefully peel the whole film downwards or sideways but NOT backwards. Pulling backwards could easily flex the TV badly. Or even pull it over. The film sticks like the proverbial poo to a blanket! Check all the film has gone: There are small strips at the bottom outboard edges too.

There is NOTHING about this film removal in my LG TV manual and yet overheating as a result it is not covered by any LG guarantee. How many TVs are fixed closely to a wall without the film being removed?

Why on earth don't LG clearly mark the film for compulsory removal?

One might have thought that a pre-calibrated TV might have the film removed, but no.

It's no wonder our TV was stinking! My wife was ready to leave home!

PS: Our TV still smells after the removal of the film.
 
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Why would a pre-calibrated by the manufacturer TV have the film removed? It is a protective film to protect the back from being marked during moving around in the factory, it being packed in the box and when taken out at the other end.
 
In my almost complete ignorance of the subject I imagined calibration would take some time.
Ergo: The film-protected TV might have a chance to overheat.
The electronics chain claimed responsibility for calibration according to the attached paperwork.
NOT LG, the manufacturer.
 
In my almost complete ignorance of the subject I imagined calibration would take some time.
Ergo: The film-protected TV might have a chance to overheat.
The electronics chain claimed responsibility for calibration according to the attached paperwork.
NOT LG, the manufacturer.
Was the tv fresh in box or had it been opened?
 
Interesting question. It was fully factory sealed. The "calibration report" runs to several pages.
All headed and printed as if by the electronics chain's own production. The report was taped neatly to the outside end of the box. I saw a stack of 55 C8s in the warehouse stock room all identically sealed and prepared.

Now you mention it, I wonder whether it is a true calibration. [Meaning in the usual sense.]
The main content seems to be a simple change from "Eco" to "Expert Bright." I immediately returned it "Technicolour" and then to "Eco" to tame the glaring initial brightness. Our attic TV room is not remotely bright even in full sunshine. We have only a single table lamp after dark for relaxed illumination for TV watching.
 
Interesting question. It was fully factory sealed. The "calibration report" runs to several pages.
All headed and printed as if by the electronics chain's own production. The report was taped neatly to the outside end of the box. I saw a stack of 55 C8s in the warehouse stock room all identically sealed and prepared.

Now you mention it, I wonder whether it is a true calibration. [Meaning in the usual sense.]
The main content seems to be a simple change from "Eco" to "Expert Bright." I immediately returned it "Technicolour" and then to "Eco" to tame the glaring initial brightness. Our attic TV room is not remotely bright even in full sunshine. We have only a single table lamp after dark for relaxed illumination for TV watching.
If it was factory fresh, there’s no possible way it was calibrated. Further, there’s no way LG and their Poland factory have a deal with the retailer to adjust some sets for them, specific to spec.

Might be wrong, but this sounds like the chain are pulling a fast one on customers....
 
How many times have we left any film still on AV equipment? There's been a few equipment I have but this is an important one, and something the average Joe but not realize. Thanks for the heads up and might save some TV sets and maybe some homes.
 
If it was factory fresh, there’s no possible way it was calibrated. Further, there’s no way LG and their Poland factory have a deal with the retailer to adjust some sets for them, specific to spec.

Might be wrong, but this sounds like the chain are pulling a fast one on customers....

The calibration content has references to the equipment and software used.
It provides the usual spectral distribution diagrams and grey scale results.
Lots of before and after info. If it is a scam then it is quite convincing for the technically illiterate.
I would include myself here because I haven't spent much time researching calibration.
No doubt our resident calibrators could see through an obvious scam.
Though I'm not sharing the paperwork here for obvious reasons.
 
The calibration content has references to the equipment and software used.
It provides the usual spectral distribution diagrams and grey scale results.
Lots of before and after info. If it is a scam then it is quite convincing for the technically illiterate.
I would include myself here because I haven't spent much time researching calibration.
No doubt our resident calibrators could see through an obvious scam.
Though I'm not sharing the paperwork here for obvious reasons.
All I’m saying is that without touching the TV, which would mean the box would have been opened, they must be using some voodoo calibration tool which does it through cardboard and polystyrene.

What do you think? Do you believe they did it?
 
How many times have we left any film still on AV equipment? There's been a few equipment I have but this is an important one, and something the average Joe but not realize. Thanks for the heads up and might save some TV sets and maybe some homes.

Thanks for your support. I felt a bit of a fool when I realised the vents weren't completely covered in film. They really did look closed in torchlight.

I was just trying to discover the cause of the "burning paintwork" stink. It seems to be confined to the right hand corner of the rear bulge when seen from the front of the screen. Left top corner when seen from the rear. Possibly the site of the power supply? Perhaps they had an unhappy assembly worker? Who decided to drop something nasty in there in revenge for being sacked?

I had a look underneath with a mirror and work lamp and there are no vents [at all] to provide an airflow via the chimney effect. The underside plastic moulding is heavily ribbed but there are no visible openings.

My wife is now talking about buying a caravan to give her somewhere to escape from the constant "acrid" smell. An ultimatum for a problem I can no longer ignore!

Getting the [boxed] TV up our very steep stairs, working alone. Then unboxing, fitting the stand and lifting the whole thing onto the metal furniture above an open stairwell has already taken its toll. You can imagine how loathe I am to return the damned thing now!! I am a fairly fit septuagenarian but even I have my physical limits. My feeling is that "the chain" will not be keen to send anyone out. Just to confirm the awful stink with a replacement TV in the van.
 
All I’m saying is that without touching the TV, which would mean the box would have been opened, they must be using some voodoo calibration tool which does it through cardboard and polystyrene.

What do you think? Do you believe they did it?

Decide for yourself: Dated April 2018.
Meter: Calman SpectraCal C6 HDR2000 with serial number. Manuf. X-Rite
Source: SpectraCal VideoForge Pro. 115200 baud. Gamma 2.2. D65 HD BT.709.

Followed by two pages of coloured bar charts and colour [curved] triangles with relevant points marked.
 
Decide for yourself: Dated April 2018.
Meter: Calman SpectraCal C6 HDR2000 with serial number. Manuf. X-Rite
Source: SpectraCal VideoForge Pro. 115200 baud. Gamma 2.2. D65 HD BT.709.

Followed by two pages of coloured bar charts and colour [curved] triangles with relevant points marked.
Indeed, I appreciate it’s not easy to go through all the hassle again. Has the smell gone since removing the film etc?

Re the calibration report, I lack the knowledge to understand calibration results. But I am a self declared expert in cardboard box opening forensics, and check every product I buy for signs of opening before:laugh:

Hopefully you weren’t expected to pay for the calibration?
 
Indeed, I appreciate it’s not easy to go through all the hassle again. Has the smell gone since removing the film etc?

Re the calibration report, I lack the knowledge to understand calibration results. But I am a self declared expert in cardboard box opening forensics, and check every product I buy for signs of opening before:laugh:

Hopefully you weren’t expected to pay for the calibration?

After keeping me waiting for days, without any progress from my online ordering, I deliberately reserved another one for personal pickup 2 hours later.

On arrival I discovered 'the chain' were selling only calibrated models and none were available at the advertised "discount price." Whereupon I insisted I hadn't ordered a "package" deal and was within my legal rights to have what I ordered.

The TV section manager relented and let me leave without paying the £150 for "extras." [Calibration + extended insurance.]

They had pulled the same scam on my Asus 4K i7 SSD laptop. I paid for the "extras and W10 set-up" under protest but wasn't going to be scammed again on the TV.

Since things have come to a head at home on the horrible burning smell I shall have to have a technician call. With a replacement TV in the van. I am now physically incapable of lowering and re-packing the TV and returning it myself. I'm still aching all over from the personal collection and physically difficult lifting and installation.

Next stop their centralised "Customer Services." There is no way to contact the various warehouses separately. That may be in my favour given the "difficulties" with the local branch.
 
They'll be pocketing that extra money without it ever seeing the till...

Clever little scam I suppose.
 
They'll be pocketing that extra money without it ever seeing the till...

Clever little scam I suppose.

I don't see how the staff could possibly profit beyond sales bonuses. They will have to absorb the "loss" on my sale. I just looked at the box again. There is a large label on top saying it is calibrated for a "premium experience." The printing and precision in positioning certainly suggests factory applied. All the boxes I saw in the back room at the loading bay were identically marked.

Think about this from another viewpoint: "Calibration" is another way of saying the screen has been double checked even if it is not the full works you might get from a professional Calibrator. No patches, banding, blobs or shading. An extended form of quality assurance?

Perhaps the electronics chain is large enough to warrant special favours by LG? The chain seems to own most of the Scandinavian outlets in white goods and electronics. They are still advertising at the same "discount" price at which I purchased online. [Twice!] How many customers are going to argue on the vast, shop floor against the claimed benefits of calibration and extended insurance?

Had I not been through exactly the same sales technique with my Laptop I might well have paid up. The advertised price was simply not available in the store. Presumably they backed down because I had consumer law on pricing on my side. When my normal online purchase was dragging on I discovered they had stock from their centralised Customer Service Centre. So I used their own Reserve and Collect in 2 Hours system. They were placed in a difficult legal situation because they were patently not stocking UN-calibrated LG OLEDS at the advertised price.
 
Just removed the plastic from the back of my month old B8. Thanks for the heads up.

I'm glad somebody benefited from my OTT thread. :thumbsup:
The odd thing is that our backplate doesn't seem to get warm.
Perhaps it is so large that it doesn't need to warm up to be effective.

There is plenty of warmth coming from the rear grill though.
We are now "baking" our 55C8 with hours of non-stop viewing to try and get rid of the stink!
Still the same burning paint smell permeating the house after days of intermittent use.
We've now fitted nets over the wide open windows on opposite sides of the TV room.
Hopefully a cross draught will carry the toxins away before we succumb. :eek:
 
I gave the LG 55C8 over four hours of continuous 4K YT videos of tropical beach scenes. The smell with the windows wide open seemed to have reduced yesterday evening for three hours more. Turned it on this morning to watch the news and the stench is back worse than ever after only a few minutes! This TV has had its chance. I'm just going to have to return it under guarantee. Using a blow lamp on old oil paint is as close as I can get to identifying the horrible smell. There may even be a fire risk.
 
I think there must be something else wrong with your TV. I've had my 65" C8 since Black Friday. I still have the plastic on the back and have never noticed any smell and my nose is a bit too sensitive!
 
Thanks for responding. :thumbsup:

The smell came back with a vengeance this morning! I have checked the temperature of the backplate with a remote thermometer. The metal backplate hardly gets warm. Though I had a reading of 34C at the middle of the rear plastic grill that is just hand warm.

Contacted LG customer services. An independent technician is coming tomorrow morning to see if it needs a new PS board or Main board. He asked if I had removed the front and rear protective film. No sign of a front film and I doubt it is possible to calibrate with a film in place anyway. Some of the YT videos of unboxing the C8 series show big red delta labels at the front bottom corners of the screen to remind owners/installers to peel. Nothing like that on mine.
 
The LG tech has just been and says it is a normal smell for flame retardants on warm electronics.

No choice now. It has to go back to the dealer for a refund. The smell is absolutely intolerable for a domestic situation and probably highly toxic. Our bedroom is off the TV room.

I am not willing to trust another LG OLED after this. So have no idea what to buy instead.
 
The LG tech has just been and says it is a normal smell for flame retardants on warm electronics.

No choice now. It has to go back to the dealer for a refund. The smell is absolutely intolerable for a domestic situation and probably highly toxic. Our bedroom is off the TV room.

I am not willing to trust another LG OLED after this. So have no idea what to buy instead.

The smell is clearly due to Screen Burn. ;)

Buy a CRT mate. :thumbsup:
 
get another LG and change your socks :facepalm::)

More words of wisdom... :p

The dealer doesn't have a Sony AF9 or Philips OLED on their website. They have an AF8 but no Philips.

I'd have to go elsewhere and would rather not given their very helpful service so far. With all due respect to those who enjoy their stunning C8s I am just not prepared to take the risk again. The tech was pleasant enough but my increasing paranoia suggested a company whitewash on an intolerable "oily" smell pervading the house.

The physical effort of getting a new TV upstairs and installing it on the metal stand is exhausting!
And I'm fitter than most! I want a TV which behaves itself straight out of the box without any ifs or buts. :mad:
 

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