The TV has a bad capacitors in the vertical section of the motherboard. Bad caps have swelled or broken tops sometimes even leaking a brown liquid electrolyte.
Bad Caps are a common problem in electronics from about 2001 to 2004 due to a stolen recipe of the electrolyte solution used to make capacitors.
One ingredient was left out of the recipe to hamper this type of industrial espionage. The missing ingredient slows the production of hydrogen gas. This gas shortens the life of the cap.
Caps also have a natural life expectancy of 30,000- 60,000 hrs depending on quality and price.
Replacing caps can be bothersome. You will need good de-soldering and soldering skills and tools.
If the caps are surface mounted they can be extremely hard to replace. In TV's this is rarely the case.
Caps have negative and positive leads, make sure you have the polarity correct, this is usually marked on the board. Replace with the same rated cap.
CRT TV's have very high 30,000+ voltage caps, this can be very dangerous so make sure you know how to discharge them. Could make your hair stand up!
Seriously, if the conditions are right it could stop your heart.
mousenuts, February 2009
