Einstein once said:
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.
If that’s true, I’ve definitely gone insane.
It’s been 30 minutes and I’m still trying to turn this TV on…
But it keeps turning off!
Does anybody else have this problem?
If only there’s something that can help us…
Keep reading to discover:
- 7 ways to fix a TV that turns on and off immediately.
- How to rid your remote of dirt and gunk that can turn your TV off.
- What ‘Auto Power’ setting means and how it can shut your TV down.
- Why updating your firmware is important so that it can’t restart your device.
- And so much more…
Why does my TV turn on then off immediately?
Your TV turns on then off immediately because of a problem with its power supply or because it’s overheating. If not, it might be a problem with its HDMI-CEC or ‘Auto Power’ settings. Or your remote is stuck and is pressing buttons on its own. The last thing that can cause this is a firmware issue.
My TV turns on then off immediately: 7 fixes
#1: Replace your power board
Have you ever wondered how electricity from your outlet can produce images?
There’s a board inside your TV that handles the distribution of power throughout its system. This is called the power board.
A broken power board can manifest on your TV in a lot of different ways. One of which is a TV that turns on then turns off right away.
Identify a broken power board
To tell if your power board is faulty, you need to open the back of your TV.
Look for the power board. You’ll know which one it is when it has capacitors.
Capacitors store the electricity that’s coming from your socket. They look circular in shape and about half an inch in height.
When your board is broken, the usual cause of it is a capacitor that has gone bad. This happens due to either old age, overuse, or physical damage.
This is how you can tell if a capacitor is bad:
- It’s swollen.
- Leaking either at the top or bottom.
- The capacitance in microfarads doesn’t match the original specs.
Replace a power board
Warning: The procedure is straightforward but still be careful. A wrong move might end up damaging the entire system.
- Unplug your power cord both from your TV and the socket.
- Remove the back of your TV.
- Find the power board.
- Look for the reference model number of your power board.
- Buy a power board that has the same model number.
- Remove all cables from your old board.
- Unscrew the old board.
- Place the new board, screw it in, and put everything back together.
You might also be interested in: Why Is My TV Screen White? 5 Causes & Fixes
#2: Replace or splice your power cord
Sometimes, the electricity doesn’t even reach your TV.
A faulty power cord can just as easily cause booting up issues on your device as its power board.
Think of the connection between your TV and a power source as a balanced game of tug-of-war.
The rope is your cord, and the two teams playing are the TV and the outlet.
When the game is even, both teams are at a standstill.
However, when the rope starts to break, one or both teams tumble down. The same concept applies to your TV.
When a cord dies due to age or a rodent attack, your TV will start experiencing the symptoms.
That’s why you’ll need to repair it, either by replacing or splicing your cord.
Replace your cord
To replace your power cord, make sure that you drain your TV of any residual electrical charge. You can do this by unplugging it for 30 minutes.
After that, you can buy a replacement power cord online. Make sure that it’s compatible with your TV.
Remove the old cord from both your TV and your outlet. Plug the new one in.
And, ta-da! It’s that easy to replace your cord.
Now, if you’re frugal like me, you can also opt to splice your cord instead of buying a new one.
Splice your cord
To successfully splice a cord, you will need to:
- Figure out where the damage to your cord is. Usually, you can find this by looking for an exposed wire.
- Split the cord into two pieces separated by the damaged part plus an inch.
- Unsheath the cord. This should expose two to three smaller wires inside.
- Unsheath the smaller wires.
- Using their color as a reference, partner the smaller wires with each other over a heat shrink tubing.
- Do #5 for the main cord.
- Using a heat gun, bind the wire using the heat shrink tubing.
#3: Fix your remote
How long have you had your TV? Weeks, months, maybe even years?
If you’ve had your TV for a long time now, chances are you’ve had your remote for that long as well.
When you’ve owned something for ages, things tend to get a little…sticky.
There’s a chance that your remote’s power button is stuck and you don’t even notice it.
Every once in a while, you will need the following to clean your remote’s insides:
- Screwdriver.
- Warm water.
- Microfiber cloth.
- Compressed air.
- Dishwashing liquid.
Once you’ve secured all the materials mentioned, all you need to do is:
- Unscrew the binds of your remote.
- Use a thin non-flexible metal to separate the casing of your remote.
- Dunk the casing and the rubber buttons in a bowl of hot water and dishwashing liquid.
- Using a can of compressed air, spray the remote to remove additional debris, dirt, or gunk.
- Brush with a dry microfiber cloth.
- Let it dry for 30 minutes.
- Put everything back together.
#4: Remove the TV timer
Do you often fall asleep while watching a show on your couch? Me too.
For better or for worse, it’s actually quite common for people to fall asleep while watching TV.
However, this poses a great risk to your health. That’s how TV timers can come in handy.
While trying to rest, there’s a slight off-chance that you forgot that you set the TV timer on.
Or someone else in your house did and now you’re just wondering why your TV turns off by itself.
Nevertheless, turning off the timer requires little to no effort. No need to stand from the couch, just:
- Go to ‘Settings’.
- Press ‘General’.
- Select ‘System Manager’.
- Under ‘Time’, turn off both ‘Sleep Timer’ and ‘Off Timer’.
If you have an LG TV and you want a visual tutorial on how to do this, you can watch:
#5: Prevent overheating
Oh man, you really can feel global warming nowadays, can’t you?
Well, so can your TV.
Overheating can damage the internals of your TV.
High temperature causes corrosion or, in layman’s terms, rust.
Here are a couple of steps that can lessen the risk of overheating:
- Don’t use your TV at 100% brightness.
- Move external heat sources away from the TV.
- Place it far from a window to avoid dust and sunlight.
- Improve its air ventilation by cleaning or taking preventive measures.
#6: Turn off HDMI-CEC
What does HDMI-CEC mean?
Good question.
CEC stands for consumer electronics control. This allows your TV to be controlled by other devices for convenience using the HDMI cable.
Sometimes, an issue may arise with the CEC function where your TV misinterprets an input. This includes the possibility of a device accidentally shutting your device off.
In this case, you can switch off your CEC.
Turning off HDMI-CEC depends on what brand your TV is.
And finding a universal solution is made more difficult. Why?
Because every manufacturer has decided to name their CEC function differently.
This is an incomplete list of manufacturers and what they call their CEC.
- Vizio: CEC.
- AOC: E-link.
- Philips: EasyLink.
- Sharp: Aquos Link.
- Pioneer: Kuro Link.
- Samsung: Anynet+.
- Roku: 1-Touch Play.
- Sony: BRAVIA Sync.
- Toshiba: CE-Link or Regza Link.
- Runco International: RuncoLink.
- Mitsubishi: NetCommand for HDMI.
- LG: SimpLink or SIMPLINK (HDMI-CEC).
- Hitachi: HDMI-CEC (Thank you, Hitachi!).
- Onkyo: RIHD (Remote Interactive over HDMI).
- Panasonic: HDAVI Control, EZ-Sync, or VIERA Link.
Turning your CEC off can be easily done in your settings menu. This would usually by under the ‘External Devices’ section of your settings.
If you’re lost, you can search for specific instructions online using the given CEC names per brand.
#7: Update your firmware
Your TV’s firmware is said to be its “software for hardware”.
The internal parts of your TV only work because of your firmware. It allows the individual hardware of your TV to work together by letting them communicate.
Manufacturers update the firmware of their devices to improve your TV’s performance. However, mistakes happen.
Sometimes your TV won’t update or something went wrong. When this happens, the hardware of your device also becomes affected.
And this includes the power supply. Which can then trigger an immediate reboot of your TV.
Automatic firmware update is usually the default setting on most TVs. However, you can also manually update your TV’s firmware by:
For Samsung TV
- On your remote, go to ‘Settings’.
- Select ‘Support’.
- Press ‘Software Update’.
- Choose ‘Update Now’.
- Wait for a few minutes. Press ‘OK’ once the update is finished.
For Sony TV
- Go to ‘Settings’.
- Select ‘Customer Support’. Depending on your TV, this could also be under ‘Setup’ or ‘Product Support’.
- Press ‘Software Update’.
- If applicable, select ‘Network’.
- Finally, choose ‘OK’.
For LG TV
Unlike other manufacturers, LG always needs a flash drive to update their firmware.
- On your desktop, go to LG’s support home page.
- Enter your TV’s model number and choose it from the dropdown box.
- Download the latest firmware file.
- Unzip the file by right-clicking and pressing ‘Extract All’.
- Create a vacant folder called ‘LG_DTV’ at the root of your USB.
- Insert the flash drive to your TV.
- Open your TV. There should be a ‘TV Software Upgrade’ prompt on your screen.
- Select ‘Start’.
- Wait for a few minutes until the TV finishes the firmware installment. Your TV will then reboot.