Hello everyone,
I have an out-of-warranty Vizio E421VA that is not getting sound through the built-in speakers. The only sound that comes out is a very subtle high-pitched noise that disappears when the volume is turned all the way down or on mute. That high-pitched noise is constant when the volume is on, no matter what is playing on the TV. I tinkered with all the settings I could on the TV (turned speakers on/off, changed the speaker balance to left/right, turned off surround sound and the other special sound features). I've also tried resetting the TV to factory setting a couple of times and did some other suggestions that worked for other people like unplugging the power and holding down the power button on the TV, which I guess is another way to reset it. Also, none of the wiring inside the TV appear loose to me -- I unplugged/plugged some of them to make sure.
I've opened the TV and thought I could try testing the speakers with a AA battery to see if it makes any static, and it does, so it seems the speakers themselves are probably working. I've tried playing music from my laptop with it connected to the TV via an AV-headphone cable without success. After reading someone's suggestion, I tried connecting a soundbar to the TV via the optical sound jack and that DOES work -- sound from the TV comes out of the soundbar without any problem. After researching online, a lot of things are pointing to the sound amplifier/IC? I don't have much experience with fixing TVs but would like to try to fix this myself, if possible. However, I am having trouble finding any resource that points me to where the sound circuitry is located on the board -- I'd like to try to replace that specific chip/SMD/IC if I can. I'm hoping to find that the part is burnt or getting too hot or maybe has "cold solder joints." Nothing appears burnt from what I can see and none of the caps appear bulging, but there are a couple of heatsinks that may be hiding something.
At the very top edge of the board in the picture, 1/3 of the way from the right (RED ARROW), there is a white connector where the speaker wires connect. There is a heatsink (YELLOW ARROW) soldered into the board via 2 metal rods. Could the sound IC be located under that heatsink?
I apologize for my ignorance with TV circuitry but would like to fix my TV sound and appreciate any help/direction with this. (Please be as specific as you can, even better if you can circle the location on the picture if you can). Thanks for any help!
P.S. The soundbar is borrowed and not mine, so I'd like to avoid buying a soundbar if it can be helped. I'm not much of a sound person and the native sound through the built-in speakers is adequate for me (and it's more convenient to adjust volume with the TV remote rather than having a separate remote for the sound). It'll also be gratifying if I can get it working again -- thinking of this as a personal project. =)
I have an out-of-warranty Vizio E421VA that is not getting sound through the built-in speakers. The only sound that comes out is a very subtle high-pitched noise that disappears when the volume is turned all the way down or on mute. That high-pitched noise is constant when the volume is on, no matter what is playing on the TV. I tinkered with all the settings I could on the TV (turned speakers on/off, changed the speaker balance to left/right, turned off surround sound and the other special sound features). I've also tried resetting the TV to factory setting a couple of times and did some other suggestions that worked for other people like unplugging the power and holding down the power button on the TV, which I guess is another way to reset it. Also, none of the wiring inside the TV appear loose to me -- I unplugged/plugged some of them to make sure.
I've opened the TV and thought I could try testing the speakers with a AA battery to see if it makes any static, and it does, so it seems the speakers themselves are probably working. I've tried playing music from my laptop with it connected to the TV via an AV-headphone cable without success. After reading someone's suggestion, I tried connecting a soundbar to the TV via the optical sound jack and that DOES work -- sound from the TV comes out of the soundbar without any problem. After researching online, a lot of things are pointing to the sound amplifier/IC? I don't have much experience with fixing TVs but would like to try to fix this myself, if possible. However, I am having trouble finding any resource that points me to where the sound circuitry is located on the board -- I'd like to try to replace that specific chip/SMD/IC if I can. I'm hoping to find that the part is burnt or getting too hot or maybe has "cold solder joints." Nothing appears burnt from what I can see and none of the caps appear bulging, but there are a couple of heatsinks that may be hiding something.
At the very top edge of the board in the picture, 1/3 of the way from the right (RED ARROW), there is a white connector where the speaker wires connect. There is a heatsink (YELLOW ARROW) soldered into the board via 2 metal rods. Could the sound IC be located under that heatsink?
I apologize for my ignorance with TV circuitry but would like to fix my TV sound and appreciate any help/direction with this. (Please be as specific as you can, even better if you can circle the location on the picture if you can). Thanks for any help!
P.S. The soundbar is borrowed and not mine, so I'd like to avoid buying a soundbar if it can be helped. I'm not much of a sound person and the native sound through the built-in speakers is adequate for me (and it's more convenient to adjust volume with the TV remote rather than having a separate remote for the sound). It'll also be gratifying if I can get it working again -- thinking of this as a personal project. =)
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