Philips Recalls Almost 12,000 Flat Panel TVs

wh0pper writes "Arcing capacitors have caused Philips to recall select Ambilight flat panel (read plasma) TVs. Because the TVs make use of flame retardant materials, damage was only sustained to the TVs and not homes. This is the first time I've heard of TVs having this type of issue. How safe are LCD and DLP TVs from this type of thing?"

Turnips...

[Spactonic]

LCD and DLP rear projection TVs use entirely different technology, you muppet. if you want to be a techie, know WTF you are talking about.

Not a problem with the panel...

[heli0]

"This is the first time I've heard of TVs having this type of issue. How safe are LCD and DLP TVs from this type of thing?"

The source of the problem are fluorescent lights that Philips built into these sets to illuminate the wall behind the display. There is a fix: turn the bulbs off.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/electronics-com puters/philips-plasma-tvs-recalled-306.htm [consumerreports.org]

"The recall includes sets with "Ambilight," or ambient light technology that projects a soft glow onto the wall behind the set, to create atmosphere and an enhanced viewing experience, according to the company. If owners turn off the Ambilight feature, the hazard is eliminated."

Not a plasma issue

[stephenisu]

How safe are LCD and DLP TVs from this type of thing?

RTFA, the fires were caused by an arcing capacitor used in the ambilight system. The ambilight system has nothing to do with the plama technology, its just a rear lighting system projected on your back wall to help prevent the weird feeling you get from watching a large image (that and a marketing gimmick). This is more fire cause by a faulty ballast or capacator in a flourecent lighting system in your ceiling.

Re:Isn't Plasma...

[tector]

Plasma TV methodogy basics.

A Plasma tv has two plates of glass that sandwich panels of cells (the pixels) that house 3 sub-pixels corresponding to the colours blue red and green.

The TV's control circuit can address any of the sub-pixels through the rear glass substrate mounted circuit and pass an electrical charge through neon and xenon gas and as a result, the gas state changes to plasma and ultraviolet light is emitted.

This UV light is absorbed by the blue, red and green phosphors in the cell, and re-radiate the energy in the visible spectrum.

It's fairly old technology, dating back to the '60s.

Isn't science fun?

Re:Ambilight is...

[Xciton]

Perhaps you should do some reading before spouting off.

Re:Could be worse ...

[2008]

I always wondered if you could make a cool ray gun with one of those, and why noone has.

Because the electrons can only go about 10 cm in air. They bounce off the air molecules, lose energy, and stop.
This is why we use a vacuum tube in CRTs like TVs, if there was air in them you wouldn't get a picture. It's not just for the fun implosions.

Re:Not a problem with the panel...

[tech10171968]

I'm surprised this has just *now* made the news, because my electronics repair shop received the bulletin a few months ago (we're a Phillips-authorized electronics repair facility). There's also another issue not many people know about: it seems that when Ambilight is engaged the unit will sometimes shut down intermittently. My shop's been swamped with fixing these Phillips recalls lately, but fortunately none of our customers have experienced "Phillips flameout" as of yet.

bad caps?!

[bjoeg]

How safe are LCD and DLP TVs from this type of thing?

If I read the article correct, the products are just as safe as any other product. Caps arcing has been seend for ages and is a "common" problem. Here at work, we got old computers dieing every month due to caps.

Just check out http://www.badcaps.com/ [badcaps.com]

"Ambilight" is certainly NOT a new idea.....

[Ellis D. Tripp]

Although it was Sylvania, not Zenith, that pioneered this idea. And a few years prior to 1957, too...

Beginning in 1952, some of their high-end sets incorporated a feature called "HaloLight", which was an illuminated bezel surrounding the CRT, designed to reduce eyestrain when watching the set in a dark room.

Everything old is new again....

Exploding capacitors from China

[Majik Sheff]

Wells Gardner (a major player in the arcare monitor business) had to recall several thousand of their units for a similar problem. It turns out that the high-grade capacitors the engineer spec'd for were substituted for cheap parts by a contractor.

Result: 2-inch arcs from the flyback transformer to the capacitor. I have several of the carcasses under my bench, some have holes the size of golf balls burned through the boards.

Re:fire retardant

[caesar-auf-nihil]

Actually, RoHS does allow for some flame retardants deemed safe under those use guidelines. While not knowing exactly what Philips uses for its plastic, since I am a fire safety researcher, I'm betting that they used a polycarbonate + RoHS allowed flame retardant system, or something similar.
Not all flame retardants are banned under RoHS. Many are eliminated under a related code (waste electronic and electical enclosures or WEEE) but not all are banned.

Re:CRT

[bodester17]

Actaully arcing capacitors just mean that there is a design flaw in the capacitor, not the TV itself. This has nothing to do with the type of TV it is. All electronic devices have capacitors. An arcing capcitor just means that the insulating material inside the capacitor does not have a high enough insulation constant to prevent the amount of voltage in the capacitor from sparking. Either phillips overloaded the capacitors or the manufactorer of the capacitors did not spec them correctly.