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This is a well discussed topic elsewhere, but I have a different question. I was given this Vizio television and before I knew to much about it I attempted to look for simple issues.

I found a dead fuse I figured that I had an AHA moment, so I shorted the fuse (bad Idea I know) but this was a free TV so I didn't really care. Well this caused some problems. The fuse is on the Y-sus board and when I shorted it, I got 3 separate and distinct loud pops on the X-sus board. One of them looked like it came from under a heatsink. So now I know for certain that the X-sus board needs replacing (duh!). I am also thinking that the Y-sus board was probably sending improper voltage to the X-sus and that may have been the only problem to start with. During all of this I actually got a slight image (No Input Detected) for a few seconds but there was some pixels where they didn't belong, that didn't last very long after the loud pops though.

As of now the TV is acting exactly as it did before I shorted the fuse. Plug it in, a relay clicks on then off. A few LED's show green and the power light is amber. Turn it on and the power light goes green and the relay kicks on permanently (until power off) and a couple other LED's come on. The LED on one board (the one with all the inputs for display) flickers very quickly when turned on.

So the big question, is it really worth throwing down the $300 for the 2 new boards to try and fix this? My thoughts are that these problems could happen again or that something else could be wrong and could require more money. I do not care that this is a 50" because size of the TV is not a huge concern of mine. I have a 26" LCD now and I am completely happy with it and $300 will buy me another one for the bedroom. I do not want to be saddled with a television that has a history of issues; not periodic $300 issues anyway.

I would also like to add that my sister builds component boards for a living. She is a real pro with all the tools required to replace anything on any circuit board in existence. She also has a hundred sources to buy parts from. Would it be cheaper to by the blown IC's/SMT's/etc to replace? She will do this for me absolutely free. I do know that many parts are not sold in lots of one(1) and that we cannot reprogram EPROM's n such. With my limited knowledge of how to test these parts is it even worth a try? I also know an engineer that designs component boards for many companies, but he isn't close, nor does he work for free. I could have my sister ask him, they contract work through each other all the time and I might get it done for nothing.

Just wondering if this is worth the effort: $300 may fix it or I might be able to figure out which components need to be replaced. In the end I am still a tad leery about the problems that these TVs have. After repair, what is the life expectancy?

Even if I had to replace all the major boards, the cost isn't to bad.

irefrem,
I don't find it feasible to replace components on these boards. I would recommend purchasing a test working unit from an reputable parts dealer. I have a good post posted here:

http://www.fixyourdlp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=63

Please read the post on how to diagnose to see which board (X or Y Sustain) is failing. There are links there to the correct part numbers from D-M... My personal favorite parts provider.

Good luck!