As others have said, a huge thank you to everyone who has reported this issue here! I was on the cusp of taking my TV to the local repair shop, when I very fortunately stumbled across this forum - as a result, I have saved myself a substantial sum!
I have a Samsung 40" LCD L340A558P3FXXU, and several months ago, the TV was taking several minutes to switch on. This problem lasted for about four to six weeks, and then it seemed to sort itself out, and would turn on instantly, so I forgot about it.
Unfortunately, on 26/8/12, after about eight weeks of working fine, the TV decided not to turn on at all. I left it on for a couple of hours, but nothing happened. The red light on the front of the TV just flashed intermittently, and there was a regular high-pitched sound coming from the back of the TV, as it were continually trying to power up. Others have reported a "clicking" sound, but I couldn't really notice this.
After very luckily finding this site on Friday 31st August, I contacted Samsung that day at 9am on 01932 454358. I simply explained that the TV would not switch on, and that the red light on the front flashed intermittently. I said that I believed that this was the infamous capacitor problem, and that I understood that it was a known defect. I was asked for my model number and serial number. I was never asked how old the TV was, although presumably they can tell this from the serial number. I was asked whether I had left the power off for 24 hours before trying again, which I had actually done for 48 hours. Finally, I was asked whether there was a clicking sound when the TV was trying to turn on; not wanting to be dismissed on a technicality, I said that there was (there was certainly some sound!). I was told that an engineer would call me on the same day (31/8/12), and that if the fault was due to the capacitors, then it would be free of charge; if the fault was due to something else, then I would be quoted a repair cost, but I would be under no obligation to incur this.
At 11am, I was phoned by DK Audio Visual Services, who just wanted to clarify the problem and confirm my address.
At 4pm, DK Audio Visual Services called me to say that they could have an engineer visit me between 1pm and 3pm on Tuesday 4th September, which I accepted.
The engineer called on me early today, just a couple of hours ago. Surprise, surprise - two of my capacitors had "bubbled up", so he replaced them. The repair took all of 20 minutes.
The engineer was great, and I had a good chat with him to find out as much as I could about the problem. He said that it is extremely common, and affects both Samsung and LG LCD TVs, but that the newer models now have capacitors which are a bit more robust (12v instead of 10v, I believe).
The engineer said that Samsung had had no choice but to admit that there was a known defect, as the capacitor problems were coming up so frequently. Interestingly, he also said that if the other, currently working capacitors - which he had not replaced - conked out in the future, Samsung would be obliged to replace them free of charge. This contradicts other information I've read, which said that customers are only entitled to this repair free of charge once. I would advise anyone who has already had this repair done, whose TV fails to turn on again, to contact Samsung, as it's highly likely that the other capacitors have been damaged too.
As I said, I was very close to taking this to the local repair shop, who had quoted me a £25 inspection fee, which would be deducted from the total cost of the repair. They had said that they deal with this problem all the time. I don't know how much they would have charged, by my good engineer friend told me that he had heard of people being charged £150 for this simple repair.
So, a pretty worthwhile phone call to Samsung, all in all!
Eoin McLove, September 2012
