Vizio E320-A0 won't do anything

[mlmonte]

Hello all! I recently got a Vizio E320-A0 for free 'cause it didn't work. I thought I could handle it even though I'm a complete novice at electronics. How wrong I was. Did a Google search and watched Youtube videos on the problem. That all helped a little but only to a point where I got lost with the electronics language, acronyms and testing methods. I did see a great youtube video on the same TV set I have but this guy replaced the EEPROM. That kind of thing is outta my league!

So far what I have done is:

Plug it in and nothing at all happens

Tested for AC voltage... good at 119VAC going into the power board

Tested for DC voltage at the 4 wire plug that goes to the main board... 24VDC at 2 pins which I assume is good

Tested other areas of main board for DC voltage and get low millivolts readings if anything at all. I checked the 4 wire cable from main board to the On/Off switches as shown on the previous mentioned video and I get no voltage readings at all.

I also tried to disconnect the 2 wire plug from main board to the I think the Led lights... AC power put to unit and nothing happened
Also tried to disconnect the ribbon cable from main board to the T-con I thinks it's called... AC power put to unit and nothing happened
I'm tempted to get a new main board I saw on ShopJimmy's site but before I shell out the asking $50 plus shipping for a main board I need to make sure that's what the problem is.

My multimeter is a 10 year old digital craftsman which I question its accuracy at times

I'll try to get pictures posted when asked to do so.

Maybe I'll learn something useful from this experience before the Vizio meets a 4 pound sledge hammer

Thanks for any help ya'll have to offer!
Mike

[budm]

Re: Vizio E320-A0 won't do anything

You must be measuring at the wrong connector, the power supply board has 14-pin connector that goes to the main board.
Is this your power supply board?
http://www.shopjimmy.com/vizio-56-04...upply-unit.htm
Or one of these?
http://www.shopjimmy.com/catalogsear...=Vizio+E320-A0
There are many version of this E320-A0.
You should up load good clear pictures of the whole back side of the TV so we can see all the boards.

[mlmonte]

Re: Vizio E320-A0 won't do anything

Budm: Thanks for responding. Here are some pictures of the Vizio E320-A0

I get 24VDC at the power board from 2 wires (White and Black) of the 4 wire connector that goes to the main board.

Thanks for the help.
Mike

[mlmonte]

Re: Vizio E320-A0 won't do anything

So as I said before, nothing happens when I try to turn it on but I do get 24VDC from the power board into the main board. So before I buy anything from Shop Jimmy (main board is $50, power board is $40) I would appreciate any help to point me in the right direction before I shell out the $$.
Thanks,
Mike

[budm]

Re: Vizio E320-A0 won't do anything

So as I said before, nothing happens when I try to turn it on but I do get 24VDC from the power board into the main board. So before I buy anything from Shop Jimmy (main board is $50, power board is $40) I would appreciate any help to point me in the right direction before I shell out the $$.
Thanks,
Mike

OK, since we NOW have the pictures (it is always a must to have pictures to do troubleshooting from distant) of the boards so now we can start troubleshooting.
The power supply board is just a 24VDC power supply and it does not have need any command signals from the main board, so the power supply board is OK.
The main board does just about everything else, so the LED driver circuit is also on the main board (3632-2112-0150 (6b)).
http://www.shopjimmy.com/vizio-3632-...or-e320-a0.htm

EEPROM:
http://www.shopjimmy.com/vizio-e320-...eprom-only.htm

'Tested other areas of main board for DC voltage and get low millivolts readings if anything at all. I checked the 4 wire cable from main board to the On/Off switches as shown on the previous mentioned video and I get no voltage readings at all.' Did you check the Fuse FP1 on the main board where the 24VDC from power supply is fed into?

[mlmonte]

Re: Vizio E320-A0 won't do anything

Hmm... didn't know that FP1 was a fuse.
I just checked it and get 24VDC on the 4 wire plug side of fuse and nothing (.3mV) on the other side of FP1

Thanks another step in the troubleshooting process

So if it's a bad fuse at FP1... where would I find one like it to replace it or can a temporary jumper be used to check the rest of the main board?
Only have a radio shack to go to locally
I can do a little soldering but had a bad experience with a GM dash cluster when I tried to replace the stepper motors

[mlmonte]

Re: Vizio E320-A0 won't do anything

Patiently waiting for the next step in troubleshooting.
I looked at ShopJimmy's site for the main board and there isn't one in stock. So apparantly if the board ultimatly needs an EEPROM maybe I'll spend the $15 and give it whirl.

And some really powerful glasses so I can see the small chip legs!

[budm]

Re: Vizio E320-A0 won't do anything

OK, let check the resistance between the one leg of the fuse (the leg that shows 0.3mV) and GND to see if it shows very low resistance that causes the fuse to blow.
That is a 5A fuse so you can use car fuse by soldering the wires to the new fuse and the old fuse for testing.

[mlmonte]

Re: Vizio E320-A0 won't do anything

Thanks Budm for all your help so far!

I checked the ohm's reading like you said and my meter went crazy! Mostly showed mega ohms with numbers jumping up and down. With all the car fuses I have, I had 1 @ 5 amps.
Soldered it to FP1 fuse like you said to do (not prettu but it got done). Plugged in power cord. Got 24VDC on both sides of the fuse! Yea!! So I checked other areas of the board and got various DC voltages all around the board. Press the on/off button and nothing. Although I did notice a white light turn on for a few seconds when I first plugged it in but it was off.
Unplugged the unit, plugged it back in, little white light comes on, repeatedly press on/off button and noticed it turned on!! Yea again! Not having a remote, I played around with the buttons on side of unit. Mostly messed with the Menu stuff.
Shut off unit via on/off switch, try to turn back on, nothing. Unplug unit and messed with another project in the garage. 20 minutes later...
Plug in unit, white light comes on, repeatedly press on/off switch, unit turns on!
Yes, progress! Thankyou so much!
Seems like I had to remove power cord for a while then plug it in and repeatedly press on/off button to get it to turn on.
After messing with it for the night. Shut off unit, no white or red light in corner, unplugged.
Waiting for the next step.
Thanks for all your help again!

[budm]

Re: Vizio E320-A0 won't do anything

So the main board seems to be unstable, I cannot tell you what it is, it can be the EEPROM problem, not 100% sure. You need to look at shopjimmy to see if he has the EEPROM for your main board model number.

[mlmonte]

Re: Vizio E320-A0 won't do anything

I saw the EEPROM chip for my unit a shopjimmy. $15. If I have to, I'll give it a try. Would voltage readings from the EEPROM help with troubleshooting while it's off and on (when it turns on)???
At least some progress has been made so far... Can't thank you enough for your help!

Mike

[budm]

Re: Vizio E320-A0 won't do anything

What worry me is that the 5A fuse has blown, there may be something else that may be going bad beside the EEPROM. You can invest $15 on the EEPROM for now.

[mlmonte]

Re: Vizio E320-A0 won't do anything

So, I guess I'll take the chance and try the EEPROM replacement. I'll order it later from shopjimmy. I've only seen one video of an EEPROM being replaced so I guess I'll watch it a few times before I give this a go. Any tips or suggestions on the process would be appreciated. I do have a solder sucker to use. What type of solder should I buy? I have solder paste for copper pipe joints is that okay or do I need something else?
If anything good comes out of this, and the tv still doesn't work, at least I learned something new in the electronics world.
Any ideas on what may have blown the FP1 fuse? Power surge maybe? History of this set is unknown. It was a curbside pickup.
I'll try to follow up on this after I get the new EEPROM installed. Wish me luck...

[mlmonte]

Re: Vizio E320-A0 won't do anything

Went and looked around on the TV a bit more and found a burn spot on the main board. CP76 and CP77. They look like the fuse at FP1 but much smaller. When I went to check for DC voltage one of them just fell off the board (CP76)! Some of them had 24VDC on one side and nothing on the other side. Thing that's weird is I can get the TV to turn on if I play with the AC power cord and on/off button.
Looks like I'll be shopping for a main board as shopjimmy doesn't have one in stock. No point in doing the EEPROM with a burnt spot on the board.

[budm]

Re: Vizio E320-A0 won't do anything

They are MLCC (Multi Layer Ceramic Capacitor) which they go bad they shorted out.
I think you have found the original cause of the blown fuse, they are in the switching power supply section.
Pictures provided by shopjimmy.

[mlmonte]

Re: Vizio E320-A0 won't do anything

Thanks budm! That makes sense for the intermitting on/off issue it has once I put in that 5A fuse. I just found a new board on ebay for $40 with shipping and they disclaimer about the proper part number on the sticker which matches mine. I think I'm gonna go for it. Ebay user is wan.ke3

[mlmonte]

Re: Vizio E320-A0 won't do anything

UPDATE: New main board came in and TV works great now! Just need a remote now. Thanks for all the help before!
Happy Holidays to all!

[budm]

Re: Vizio E320-A0 won't do anything

Thanks for the repair follow-up, good price for the board.

[jjon]

Re: Vizio E320-A0 won't do anything

Hi. I have a E320-A0 also that would not come on unless i power cycled it several times. Sometimes after two tries it would come on, and sometimes after ten tries. The power supply is a 0500-0512-2040 that is supposed to have a 24V DC output voltage. I don't see any bulged capacitors. Here's my question: When i put a volt meter on the power board output, all i get is 19.5 volts DC, not 24V. Does that mean that i need a new power board, or does it mean i have a lousy voltmeter?