Replacing the MotionEngine on a Panasonic TV
Working from home without a monitor SUCKS. My wife decided that she didn't want to peer at her tiny laptop screen any more, so we decided to repurpose an old 37 inch TV. MEGAMONITOR! I bought the Pansonic TV back in 2012 and it served us pretty well over the last 8 years. But when we came to switch it on, it just displayed a blinking LED.
The brilliant folks at ElectroMix helped confirmed the error code was to do with the decoder board. They had the replacement part in stock for only £30.
Lay the TV down flat on a soft surface. Remove all cables and the stand.
![The back of a telly.](https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/1-TV-Flat-Down.jpeg)
Unscrew everything you can find. There will be a few plastic bits which clip off as well.
![Screws and plastic bits.](https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/2-Unscrew-Everything.jpeg)
The back of the telly should lift off quite easily. It isn't connected to anything.
The power board is on the left of the image, the MotionEngine in the centre, and the motherboard on the right.
Check the replacement is the the same as the original.
![Two identical circuit boards.](https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/4-Replacement-part.jpeg)
Remove the ribbon cables carefully
![Circuit board with ribbon cables coming out of it.](https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/5-Ribbon-cables.jpeg)
Unscrew the board and remove it from the housing.
![Empty metal chassis.](https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/6-Board-removed.jpeg)
Screw in the new board and attach the ribbon cables.
![Screwdriver reconnecting everything.](https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/7-Screw-In.jpeg)
Flip the TV over, attach the power, and turn it on.
Success! No more blinking lights!
Screw everything back together.
I hope you remember where all the different sized screws came from?
There was, of course, one screw left over. No idea where it was supposed to go - but it didn't appear to be load-bearing.
So, £30 to resurrect an old broken telly and turn it into an oversized spreadsheet display system. Nice!
Wonder how many TVs get chucked into the bin for the sake of a £30 repair
Repair the thing! 🙌 I do think consumer items could have some sort of repairability rating writ large on the box.
I see your £30 and raise you a blob of solder and an offcut from a resistor. This was a dry joint/burned track on my Samsung. 🙂