Back in 2003, we got a beast of a 36 inch Sony WEGA TV. It was a great TV for us over the years, but yesterday it refused to power up. The power supply would click like it was trying to power up, but it just wouldn’t come on.
We tried unplugging it to see if that would help, but it didn’t. Frustrated, I turned my attention to the internet. What I discovered surprised me…
For starters there are a number of people out there with similar Sony TV models that won’t turn on. It seems that the most common cause of this problem is a bad power supply (or some component thereof), and having it fixed professionally will likely cost $300-$500. That’s the bad news. The good news is that there is a (perhaps temporary) fix that you can do yourself in just a few minutes.
Fixing a Sony WEGA TV that won’t turn on
The power supply on this style of TV is located near the bottom of the unit in the back right corner (as you view the TV from the front). Beyond this, there is (apparently) a humidity sensor of some sort on the power supply that prevents the TV from coming on when there is too much ambient moisture.
Here’s the fix:
Start by unplugging your TV set. Next, simply direct a hair dryer (on high heat) through the vents along the lower, back corner of the right side of your TV set. Here again, “right side” assumes that you’re looking at the TV set from the front. Let it blow through the vents for a good 2-3 minutes then plug it back in and fire it up. If you’re lucky, it will function normally.
When I tried this yesterday, it didn’t work at first. After a bit more blowing, however, the TV powered up and continued to work for the remainder of the day. This morning, it turned on just fine, but then failed to turn back on a short while later. We then tried it after lunch and it worked fine again (all without firing up the hair dryer).
It’s unclear to me why this works. It may be that the humidity sensor is going bad and had become, or perhaps there’s a problem with dust somehow interfering. It seems unlikely to be the latter, as the heat appears to be necessary to get things back up and running.
Regardless, our TV is now functional if a bit unstable. I’m guessing that we’ll be able to limp along for awhile before it completely fails, but at least this buys us some time to shop for a replacement.
Oh, and just for reference, our Sony TV is model # KV-36HS500, and one of the key symptoms of this problem (aside from a failure to turn on) is that the power light will flash six times after hitting the power button.
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for the tip on how to fix a Sony TV that won’t start. Follow the instructions exactly, and the TV fired right up.
Thanks so much for the info. After some blow drying time, Stevie the tv made a noise when hitting his power button, which was more than he had done in a week, but then nothing… until about 10 seconds later, when he powered on! You rock for sharing this fix.
Thank you so much. it worked perfectly. calling the service guy now. do not need the repair man. Your an angel!
umm its kinda like i built in falier arfter a while it just wont do enything
I sure will try this. The service guy I called prtented he never heard of this problem..Thanks guys! Time for big screen anyway
Great idea. Gave it a try for my model 800. Tried an tried, but to no avail. Still makes a second noise, but won’t come on.
We were able to get it on a few times by just trying to turn it on when we came by. Once on, it worked fine. Decided to leave it on, in mute. Concept worked great until some dummo turned it off, out of normal practice. You’re right, it was me.
Back to square one (and a new HDTV) as soon as I figure out how to get rid of this (240 pounds). Any ideas?
Howard: Check craigslist.org for haulers. Search for “haul”, “hauler”, “hauling”, that sort of thing. That’s what we did. Got a couple of guys to carry it down stairs from our bonus room and out to their truck, and then haul it away for something like $50.
it worked
The blow dryer trick worked for us.
I tried the blow dryer and IT WORKED, thank you for the info. It has worked each of the three times I have tried it. I don’t know how long this will continue to work but I am hoping it will for a while. Do you know if the humidity sensor can be fixed??
i put a new bulb in today and then a few hours later my tv turned off and the front started blinking red 3 times and wont urn back on what does this mean anybody know?
Unbelievable! Worked like a charm! Just keeping our fingers crossed — anybody got an idea how long this might continue to work? Or how many times you can keep reviving it?
I was able to get my tv to turn on daily for about 1 week then I started having trouble. Some days it would work other days it wouldn’t. The blow drying time increased. Sometimes it took 10 minutes. I did find that if the tv was left unplugged for a couple of days and then used the blow dryer it would come on. I finally decided to keep the tv on, only turning off the satellite box, until I bought a new one. I just got a new tv. Wish I didn’t have to because I really liked the picture quality on the Sony but the blow drying thing got to be to much. I never knew if would work or not. If anyone finds out that the sensor can be fixed please let me know. I haven’t recycled the Sony yet.
Unbelievable, after grumbling around the house about somebody breaking the tv the blow dryer worked. Took two tries, the second time on high hot. The high temp seemed the key. Thanks to my wife for looking this up!