EntertainmentYou will see this often
LCD television
Also called flat-screen TV, LED TV.
A monitor with a louder supply, real speakers, and an infrared receiver you can actually use. The main board is e-waste unless you want the Wi-Fi module.
A donor is the dead machine. The parts below are what is still worth removing from it. “Leave it” is a part that is physically in there and should stay in there: too dangerous, too worn, or only useful as part of a repair you are not doing.
A scrapped machine is a box of parts that failed at different times. The reason it was thrown out is often one bad piece. The motor, the cord, the supply, and the screws are frequently still good. This index says which is which.
Why it is in the trash while the parts are not
No smart features, a cracked screen, or a dark image from the backlight. A dark image with sound still working is a backlight or T-con problem; the speakers and the IR receiver are fine.
Before you open it
Do this while it is still unplugged, cool, and not leaking. Unplug and let it sit. The supply is mains. LED backlights are not CCFL, but the boost rail is still not a toy.
Where the dead machine usually is
- Living room and entertainment stack — In the house
- Bulk trash day — Curb
- Move-out week — Curb
Bulk trash. They are heavy. The panel model is on the back of the glass, same as a monitor.
How it comes apart
Stand off first. Rear cover screws around the rim. IR receiver is a small board on a cable at the bottom bezel — find it before you peel the bezel off blindly.
Tools: Phillips, Nut driver, Camera.
Words on this page
- mains
- Ordinary household wall power. It can kill. Unplug before you open anything that used it, and do not experiment on live wiring.
- CCFL
- The thin fluorescent lamp behind older flat screens. Its driver makes a high voltage. Do not run that board loose on the bench.
What to take
The table is the short version. The notes under it describe that part inside this machine, not only the general description.
| Part | Call | How many | How often | Where to look |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infrared remote receiver | Prize | 1 | usually | Front bezel, often a separate board. |
| Speaker driver | Worth pulling | 2 | usually | Left and right inside the rear cover. |
| Switch-mode wall supply | Worth pulling | 1 | always | One side of the rear. |
| LCD panel | Worth pulling | 1 | always | The glass. |
| LED array or COB | Bonus | strips | usually | Behind the panel. |
| Wi-Fi card | Bonus | 1 | sometimes | On later smart TVs. |
| Tactile switch | Bonus | a row | usually | Power and input buttons. |
| Infrared LED | Bonus | 1 | usually | In the remote that was sold with the set. It is usually in the couch, not the TV. |
Prize
38 kHz class demodulator, three pins, sometimes already connectorized.
Front bezel, often a separate board.
Keep the board.
Almost always good.
Worth pulling
Often 8 Ω, several watts, with a plug.
Left and right inside the rear cover.
Unbolt. Note impedance.
Cones usually intact.
Higher current than a monitor brick. Rails marked on the silk.
One side of the rear.
Discharge the primary before you handle it. Label the output plug.
Caps are a common failure; the rest may be fine.
Same rule as a monitor: the model number is the part.
The glass.
Photograph it.
Cracked is scrap.
Bonus
Long series strings.
Behind the panel.
Keep the driver with them.
One dead LED kills a strip.
Often a USB module.
On later smart TVs.
Only if the connector is obvious.
Fine.
On a small board.
Power and input buttons.
Keep the board.
Good.
A 940 nm diode. A working remote is more useful than the diode.
In the remote that was sold with the set. It is usually in the couch, not the TV.
The remote is its own donor.
Leaked button cells are the usual remote failure.