Fixing a Broken, Inexpensive Television

Written by: Another Guy with a Computer
Date: June 28, 2025
Last Edited: June 29, 2025

Experiencing a device failure can range from a mild annoyance to catastrophic. Through the years, I have heard many people speculate whether failures are due to a component costing a nickel or some other seemingly infinitesimal amount. In the case of a television which recently failed, I can confirm that suspicion was correct. A failed capacitor costing the manufacturer a nickel was the source of the failure.

This story begins with an inexpensive Vizio Television failing to power on completely and properly. Sound worked and the Vizio logo would briefly show on the screen before showing a black screen. After exhausting the usual troubleshooting steps and digging through a few articles online, I decided, with nothing left to lose to open the unit up and take a look around. To my surprise, it took less time to find the problem than to remove just one of the seven case screws.

As you can see from the attached photos, one capacitor is bulging.

Since I happen to have a soldering iron laying around (which for whatever reason has never actually been used), I decided to look into cost of acquiring a replacement capacitor (in this case, of type 35V 330µF). After a causal perusal, it was found depending on the vendor and quantity purchased, the replacement capacitor would cost between a nickel and two dollars. I ended up purchasing a twenty pack costing approximately seven dollars.

After removing the failed capacitor and soldering the new one to the board, the television is once again operating.

My soldering job probably is laughable but it got the job done and confirmed my suspicion that a five cent part was at fault.