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How to Fix a Samsung SyncMaster 2493HM LCD Monitor

How to Fix a Samsung SyncMaster 2493HM LCD Monitor

Posted on Mar 9, 2012 by Paul White

As some of you know I have invested into some serious desktop real estate. I have 3 Samsung Syncmaster LCD Displays. One is a 30" and the other 2 are 24". Everything has been working great for years. Then one of my displays ( Samsung Syncmaster 2493HM ), starting to randomly go out. Then it would make some weird clicking sounds. After a while it would make a loud pop and come back on. Occasionally it would also flicker before going out. Over time it got worse. After some researching, I figured out the problem, and was able to repair it myself for about $20 in Parts.

UPDATE repair didn't work, scroll do bottom of post for details

LCD Display Symptoms

  • Display randomly going out
  • Clicking sound coming from the speakers
  • Loud Pop / Beep and it comes back for a while.
  • Sometimes a hard smack on the bezel brings it back on.
  • Turning it off for a while and then turning it back on will bring it back temporarily.

Cause of Samsung Syncmaster 2493HM going out

The problem has to do with the capacitors on the board that drives the backlight illumination. The capacitors used were cheap ones, that typically don't last much longer than the Manufacturers warranty. Sometimes you can tell the capacitors have gone bad because the top of them are bubbled up. However even if they look fine they could still be bad.
Samsung Syncmaster 2493HM LCD Monitor bad capacitors removed
These are the bad capacitors I removed and replaced from the inverter board.

Solution to repairing bad Samsung LCD display

You need to replace the capacitors on the inverter board.
The complete repair guide can be found here
Scroll to the bottom of the guide for the paypal link to purchase the repair kit
Only costs $16.95 with free shipping

What is included in the repair kit?

  • Qty (2) 1000uf 35v
  • Qty (1) 2200uf 10v
  • Qty (1) 470uf 35v
  • Qty (1) 1000uf 10v
  • Qty (2) 10uf 50v
  • Qty (1) 2.2uf 50v
  • Qty (3) 47uf 50v
  • Qty (1) 22uf 50v
As long as you are comfortable with a soldering iron you can do this repair yourself.
They also have repair kits for many other LCD monitors and TVs.

I honestly didn't think my repair was going to work, but it did. I was using a cheap $10 soldering iron from walmart.

UPDATE 3/11/2012
Go Figure I blog about something working and now my monitor is having the same problem again. It was working perfect for a couple weeks, then just today it started back on the clicking sound with no display. Looks like I will have to order some new LCD displays.

UPDATE 3/26/2012
Mysteriously the guys at www.ccl-la.com shipped me a second repair kit for my LCD monitor. ( I didn't even ask for it ). I replaced the capacitors again using the new ones in the repair kit. Fired up the monitor and everything is working perfectly again. Maybe there was a bad capacitor in the first repair kit. Only time will tell. I will update this blog in the future if my monitor starts acting up again.

UPDATE 3/27/2012
Apparently the problem has nothing to do with the capacitors, as already the monitor is back to randomly going black with that annoying static clicking sound. I wish there was a fix for this, but I guess not. Time to buy a new monitor. Might be able to part out the bad one, or sell it on ebay.

Samsung Syncmaster 2493HM LCD Monitor with back taken off
LCD monitor with back panel removed
Samsung Syncmaster 2493HM LCD Monitor Circuit boards removed
Video Driver Board on removed LCD chassis
Samsung Syncmaster 2493HM LCD Monitor Inverter Board
Samsung Syncmaster 2493HM Inverter Board. The repair involves replacing all capacitors except for the really big one in the center of the board.

Samsung Syncmaster 2493HM LCD Monitor Repair Kit
There are the capacitors that were included in the repair kit for my LCD Display.


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Discussion

Paul | Apr 5, 2012 11:16 AM
Carlos
http://www.ccl-la.com/blog/index.php/reparing-a-samsung-2493hm-24-lcd-monitor/

Scroll to the bottom and you will see a paypal buy it now button, The kit costs about $16.  It didn't work for me, but maybe it will work for you.
David B. | Apr 9, 2012 5:36 AM

I'm glad you got your monitor repaired.

I myself have a problem with my Samsung Syncmaster 730B 17" monitor mage in the background of signal out of range & cable not connected error message.
I purchased a new board after attempting to replace the same typre caps but still no good.

Tested the bulbs with my 12 volt bulb tester with the bulb bezel out of the monitor housing & they both lit up fine.


Spent $20.00 for a new inverter board & now i'm stuck now in what to do next.

Have two of these monitor's the same model that were given to me & they both are doing the very same thing.

Suspect maybe the new board may be defective?

Paul | Apr 9, 2012 11:06 AM
David,
It sounds like your controller board is having issues, not your inverter board.  If your inverter board was having issues there would be no messages on the screen, it would just flicker or go out.  The controller board ( one that the VGA / DVI cable plugs into ) seems to not have a good connection with the cables.  Thats the first thing I would check.  You might be able to find another controller board off ebay for cheap. 

Hope you figure out the problem.  I just gave up, and bought 2 new Dells.  Still have the old monitors, just trying to figure out what to do with them now. ( 1 works, and 1 still has issues )
David B. | Apr 9, 2012 2:35 PM

I failed to mention the video graphics board works fine cause I connected my 12 volt bulb tester directly to the small connectors that plug into the inverter power board while Windows was up & running & it showed Windows & also I could go in & adjust the settings on the monitor. It was like having the system working with everything attached.
Plugged everything back in as it should be without the 12volt tester & it will not illuminate the screen but can see a very faint square image like it's not getting the proper voltage to the bulbs coming out of the inverter power board.
I suspect maybe I got a new defective inverter power board I purchased off Ebay.
Had to have the monitor casing partially apart down to the power inverter board to do the testing. I hope you can agree with my findings. Plan on purchasing another new higher priced board & see what happens.

Thank's for your recent reply!

 

Michael | Apr 11, 2012 2:55 AM
to Paul, i have the exact same monitor and the exact same problem. and i mean THE SAME problem !! Even down to hitting the back of the panel to bring it back to life...

anyway, followed the repair forum, replaced all the caps, and two caps that are on the board on the side (with the six connectors).

what do you know? all was working fine and it took less than 24 hours for it to return to its intermittent switch offs...

so i am at the same cross-roads, do i try and fix further or turf it out?
1 question for you though, about the board with the DVI/VGA connectors, did this board make a 'rattling' sound? mine does and i cant isolate where it's coming from.

any hints/tips are greatly appreciated. thanks
Paul | Apr 11, 2012 10:33 AM
Michael,
My VGA board made the same sound.  I believe it might be the rotation sensor.  Its normal. I finally gave up on trying to repair mine I replaced the Caps Twice, and still same problem.  Starting to wonder if the really big capacitor ( that the repair kits don't include ) could be the problem.  I finally gave up and just bought 2 new Dells ( my my more recent blog post ).  Except these are LED based, so they should never have the problem that my Samsungs had.  Its sucks because to get 1920 x 1200 Res ( 16:10 ) you end up paying a premium.  I still have my samsungs but I have put them back into the original boxes.  One works perfectly, the other has the issue.  I would love to fix them, then sell them.  Might throw them up on craigslist and see if I get any offers.

At this point I recommend getting a new LCD monitor.  Checkout my recent blog post
which shows how much energy you save with LED vs tradition LCD monitors


Michael | Apr 11, 2012 9:21 PM
Hi again Paul,
i too have just replaced the caps for the second time and i am writing this reply hoping that the monitor doesnt give out on me !! I too suspect that big capacity on the power supply board (450WV 82uF) and have ordered this as a last resort (just in case and just for backup i guess).
the rattling is the rotation sensor ( red faced about that one..hehe.)
will let you know how this goes.
thanks again
paul | Apr 11, 2012 9:26 PM
Michael,
Definitely keep me posted on your repair!  I think there are a lot of people in this same situation.
Michael | Apr 13, 2012 8:14 AM
*sigh*... after the last reply, the result was that the monitor stayed on for 13 hours! Then I switched it off to go to bed...Lo and behold, the next day, it turned on for about 5 minutes then it switched off again...
Soooo, i visited a good friend of mine who is a brilliant electronics technician, (so good in fact, that when i asked him if he had a 450V 82uF capacity lying around he asked me if it was for a Samsung panel...) and over a cup off coffee, he explained that the probable cause of the problem was dry solder joints. When i got home, i took the monitor apart again (getting really good at this) and removed the power supply board and re-soldered ALL the joints except the surface mounted components. For those who do not know what a dry joint looks like, this webpage has some pretty good photos:
http://mercedes-190.co.uk/topic/6581171/1/
at this stage, all is working well again. Should it fail, i will replace the big capacitor and that will be the last repair i do. Cheers


Paul | Apr 13, 2012 11:07 AM
Michael,
Thanks for sharing.  I actually remelted all the solder joined on my board before doing any CAP replacements.  Unfortunately remelting the solder joints didn't help.  Thanks for the links to the pictures, great references!  When I get some spare time I might take another shot at fixing my old LCD monitor. 
Michael | Apr 13, 2012 7:35 PM
do not simply re-melt the solder, actually add more new solder to the contact.
the best video i could find that shows this is here: (but LOL, please ignore the little bit where he actually says you can simply remelt the old solder...) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUXgVeDYyZ0

ok, so all is going VERY well so far, no problems at all. And ive been switching sources between DVI and VGA as i have 2 computers connected to it now. Although this is only about 12 hours later, i am quietly confident that the problem has been fixed.

if you are going to take the time to resolder, pay close attention to the heavy components in particular. I have a picture from another forum that i drew red squares over the components in question.

but like i stated previously, go ahead and re-do all the components that you can (except for the little surface mount stuff)
Michael | Apr 19, 2012 7:08 AM
after nearly a week since i posted last comments, i am happy to report that the monitor is running faultlessly. It has never switched off once. The re-soldering of the components on the power supply board (especially the ones pictured in red squares) did the trick. This MUST be the problem, as it has never occured again.
David B. | May 5, 2012 8:21 AM

Well after some fixing of the Samsung (one out of the two) I found the new board was defective. Got another from another Ebay merchant & installed it & it was a good one & the monitor fired right up.
Purchasing another from the same merchant & not from the other one & installing it in my other same model Samsung.

The other monitor i'm having issues with is a Viewsonic VA712B 19" that has vertical lines going down the right side of the screen from top to bottom. Wht,Grn & Purple. Still haven't resolved this one as of yet though. I'm suspecting it might be the video board alone. Nothing to do with drivers & such. Anyone know whats up with it before I committ to another video board? 

David B. | May 5, 2012 8:30 AM
One more project i'm working on. I'm trying to install 3 caps on a Emachine MSI mobo & it's not a fun project. Mobo's are not as easy to attach caps to as much as monitor boads being they have layers of boards sandwiched together. You have to get the solder to hold all the way through to the bottom of the board. Don't ever attempt it on a good board, use a old one to practice on. I may have ruined this one. Still getting some support on this one. I have to get this one fixed real soon! Its my Wifes pc!!!!!!
Thorn Hart | May 16, 2012 12:40 PM
Thank you for the comprehensive "how-to" , it really helped me solve the problem. However, we went a different route than replacing individual capacitor's (not much experience with a solder gun): we replaced the whole power supply board. We ordered a replacement from the Partstore.com (A Best Buy Company). The part number is: "Part #: BN44-00195A Availability: Minimal quantities available Order while they last" It cost just a little over $70 USD for the board and now the monitor is running just like new again! Very happy with the results. If any of you are having trouble with the manual repairs, this might be the solution for you too. Thanks again for the post. -Thorn
David B. | May 17, 2012 5:39 AM

Update on one of the two Samsung 730B's.
Found another board & installed it & it fired right up & wifes using it now.
Sent the other defective one back for refund.
Have the other board on the way now for the other Samsung 730B.
Guess I might just sell it once I get it up & running.
The Emachine mobo I was trying to reinstall new caps on I gave up on for now till my new Weller 40 watt soldering iron comes in but went ahead & purchased another mobo used.
Can't wait till it arrives to see how its going to function.
I did find out  somthing you guys might be interested in though.
Don't attempt to resolder new caps on any board of any type with a pencil tip soldering tip.
It didn't work so well for me.
I found out from a very good experienced repairmen that the only way to suceessfully install one is with a "S" tip or a chisel type & at least a 40watt or higher adjustable soldering station.
Good luck to you all on your repairs.
I would send pics of my bad repairs but don't know how or don't know if its allowed on here.
I have lots of bad & good soldering jobs.


 


 


 

 

James T. | May 31, 2012 8:59 AM
Hi Paul White. I was wondering if you have already sold the good working monitor (Samsung Syncmaster 2493HM) the one that works perfectly fine? If not , how much would you sell it for through Paypal?
David B. | May 31, 2012 9:28 AM

I installed the two new caps on the emachine msi board but one was larger than the other 220uf cap right beside it of the same value.
Once I got up & going it worked fine till I stupidly plugged in the hdd power connector while it up & running & heard a poping noise & the board went down with no power what so ever & the psu unit was sill running fine.

Now i'm stuck with a bad board I suspect.
Doesn't have a small fuse on the baord I can find anywhere.
I might have popped the larger cap but no bulging I can see on the cap.

I might also like to buy that monitor if its for sale Paul White if James T. decides he doesn't want it. 


 

Jason | Jun 1, 2012 5:35 AM
Anyone help me with the value of the surface mount resistor (R8856) right next to the leg of the 2200uf cap on the back side of the board. It's cracked and lost its top so I can tell what to replace it with!
Thanks.
siek | Aug 8, 2012 9:00 PM
Value of the surface mount resistor ( R8855 = 2702 ). ( R8856 = 5601 )
frangdlt | Apr 21, 2013 9:22 AM
I have a 2493hm with the weirdest issue ever. When I switch it on, I only get a shiny white screen. It doesn't matter I'm using the VGA or DVI connectors - I just get that screen. The OSD doesn't appear either; the panel buttons do seem to work but nothing is displayed on screen besides this blinding white.

Any ideas what could be wrong? Of course I've tried hooking it to several computers and laptops, but it doesn't get better.

Thanks!
Paul | Apr 21, 2013 9:32 AM
@ Fangdlt
That is a very strange symptom.  If I was in your shoes I would take it apart and run it off a bench, jiggling wires to see if that causes something different to display.  Just be careful what you touch, High voltage capacitors and fingers don't go well together.  

I finally gave up on mine.  If I only use them for a a few hours at a time there is no issue.  But for much longer runs the problem comes back.  I upgraded to some Dell LED Monitors which blow away the old Samsungs.  Better pictures and they consumer 1/3 the power.  At some point you have to ask yourself is it worth my time to try to get these to work? 
EFH | Jul 2, 2014 1:07 PM

If anyone digs up this older post and wants another idea. I tried the cap fix to no avail. I didn't resolder the whole board. I had given up before that. On explaining the issue to my father one day I realized that the backlight inverterboard needs a supply of 24v from the power supply board. Rather than waste more time troubleshooting the power supply board, I purchased a 24v power supply for about $17 and pumped that power to the inverter board. I clipped 10 wires from the power supply board to the inverter board. 5 were +24v and 5 were ground. I tied these wires to the external powersupply through a barell connector i put through the monitor's case. All is good now even if I need turn on the backlight separately. Though it does appear if the logical controls I left in tact to the inverter board actually power it down on their own from the computer. More investigation to follow.

Paul | Jul 2, 2014 1:14 PM

EFH,

Thanks for the detailed suggestion. The Cap fix didn't work for me either.  Well actually it does work but only temporarily.  If I run it for long periods of time, the issue returns.  Glad to see you found an alternate solution.

EFH | Jul 2, 2014 1:22 PM

I was surprised at how readily it went together. I grabbed the parts from Jameco and 20 minutes after I had the parts in hand my monitor was fully functional. Had my son hold some wire for me as I soldered to shave a few minutes of wiggling out of the system.

Here is my invoice:

Jameco # Item Shipped Date Qty Shipped Qty Back Order Unit Price Total
202358 JACK,DC PWR,MALE,2.5mm,PLASTIC 06/20/14 1 1 0 1.19 1.19
1537256 PWR SPLY,SW,TBL,24V@1.7A,F2 06/20/14 1 1 0 15.95 15.95
Shipping:  4.75
Total:  21.89
 
Bert | Aug 22, 2014 12:07 AM

Thanks a lot Michael for you post, had the same problem. The board did not have any visible bad spots that I could find, but resoldering  the board ( not the connectors or surface mounted parts) did  work on my monitor.

 

 

 

Tom | Oct 1, 2015 7:07 AM

Hi.

Just want to thank Michael for his post. I've had problems with my Samsung Syncmaster 2493HM for the past 6 months, the same problems as the OP describes (random fallouts, loud beep, flashing etc). But after i followed Michaels suggestions to add new solder to all the contacts, the monitor is like new again, and is working like a charm. I'm recomending everyong who has similar problems to try Michael's approach! Thanks again Michael :)

B.A. Jones | Oct 15, 2016 9:58 AM

October 2016

I was very skeptical to replace the “defective” capacitors talked about in this article but given the cost I told myself that I did not have much to lose.

I also "heard" what Michael said (see above). So I took a soldering iron and "go again" in most solders for "mix" the new welding and avoid cold welding.

After replacing all the “defective” capacitors it to work a few hours.

Then “crackle” returned and then the Samsung SyncMaster 2494HM no longer worked. There was only the small blue light (Power) on the monitor you could see.

Later I checked the "defective" capacitors and they are all good. I had done previously in the circuit with an ESR Meter and also where my device told me they were good. What has not diminished my skepticism.

I couldn’t check the "defective" capacitors over 100 uF with my other multimeter because it exceeds the capacity. But I still used the ESR Meter and all capacitors over 100 uF are good.

I was discouraged wrong. All this time "lost." But there are times when I have a pig's head. So I continued and I still thought that Michael had said:

Michael | Apr 13, 2012 8:14 AM

Michael | Apr 13, 2012 7:35 PM

See above what Michael said.

So I opened the monitor and use my Aoyue Int 474A ++ for desoldering the larger pieces.

The first time I did not have this device. I bought it because it is really a great tool that allows us to gain a lot of time.

See figure of Michael above.

In fact, I have not removed the items but only remove as much solder on larger components. I've even done on new capacitors (those I welded after replacing “defective” capacitors) but this time with flux.

For soldering I used a lot of flux. And even perhaps too because the board has become sticky.

Finally, solders went well.

Then I reassembled everything. I connected my monitor to the computer and nothing but the little blue light of the monitor (blue).

I was discouraged. I continued my research on the internet regarding the Samsung SyncMaster 2494HM and reading something made me think that I may have maybe forgotten to connect a cable to the monitor. So I actually reopened and a cable was not connected.

After connecting the cable again, I reassembled everything and connected the monitor. And Miracle! everything was okay.

But I thought if it would work only a few hours as it did on my first attempt.

So I waited a few hours and it worked again. After a day everything was okay. After two days also.

Now it's been three days and everything looks fine. I cannot hear all of the “crackle”.

In my case I do not know if it's the capacitors. I think of using my Aoyue Int 474A ++ and a lot of flux for soldering help greatly.

I'm not optimistic but realistic person. And without being 100% sure I believe the problem is solved for me.

Thank you very much Michael and your genius friend!

Thank you to everyone who wrote and share their ideas!

Thank you for this site to exist!

Thank you to this other site

http://www.ccl-la.com/blog/index.php/reparing-a-samsung-2493hm-24-lcd-monitor/

I mention your site on their site elsewhere.

Finally, thousand Thank You for everything!

I love the Samsung SyncMaster 2494HM and hope to use it over several years.

(The screens today are only 1920x1080. Well for a price equivalent to that I paid at the time for the 2494HM.)

B.A. Jones | Oct 20, 2016 10:24 AM

October 2016

5 days later my Samsung SyncMaster 2493HM work like a charm and I don’t hear any “crackle”. Like I say I think the real problem, in my case, was the cold solder.

If I think I will come back in 1 year (October 2017) to say if my Samsung SyncMaster 2493HM work again (I hope – what a good monitor!)

Thanks against to all and specially to Michael!

Michael | Oct 26, 2016 4:46 AM

thought i'd drop in and say hi! Im really happy that my little bit of info has helped so many people over the years. Can't believe it was April 2012 when i posted my info and picture. And yes, I am still using the same Sammy monitor today! Cheers everyone

B.A. Jones | Oct 27, 2016 10:31 AM

October 27, 2016

And my Samsung SyncMaster 2493HM work....all time.

No noise at all.

Hope I will come here in october 2017 and say the same thing.

Thanks again 

 

Peter J | Sep 11, 2017 5:45 AM

 

 

Hi, Glad i found this blog, i had the same symptoms, screen would go randomly black, but the blue led remained on. Sometimes a good hit on the side of the monitor would bring it back to life. Sometimes if i left it for 10-15min it would turn back on.

Initially everything pointed to dodgy capacitors, i was close to buying a kit but then read what a few posted about dry joints. So pulled it apart, got my magnify glass out and sure enough spotted a dry joing, if you look at the yellow circle in the picture, bottom left middle, ther is 2 capacitors and a transistor ? (rectangular thing) the dry joint was around on off the pins on that.

Anyway resoldered, and added bit more solder and then did all the rest that were big ones easy to solder. Put it back together and it has now been over a week working flawlessly.

i also had a second monitor, same model, same issue, and would you believe it, dry joint in the same spot. Redid this one as well and all good now.

 

B.A. Jones | Jan 25, 2018 2:08 PM

January 24, 2018,

Hello everyone,

I cannot believe that more than a year has already passed since my last message. Time passes too quickly.

Does my Samsung SyncMaster 2493HM monitor still work?

YES

Unbelievable!

In addition, I use this monitor every day for at least 10 hours a day.

Thank you so much to Paul White and Michael. I love this monitor and I hope to use it for years. Looks like it is gone for that...

I may come back next year (2019) to say thank you again... :)

Happy New Year 2018 to all and HEALTH!

Michael | Jan 25, 2018 3:56 PM

And a happy new year to you too! I am amazed that this thread is nearly 6 years old! My monitor is still going strong, being used as much as 6 hours a day, and I use it for everything I do on my PC including gaming. Still works great, until it dies, I don't feel the need to upgrade from it either.

Peter J | Jan 26, 2018 5:44 AM

Both of mine still going strong !

Steve | Nov 4, 2018 4:18 AM

Hi all,

Mine exhibited the intermittent backlight/buzzing etc symptopms.  1st thing I did was remove the "silicon" type glue which had gone conductive while I waited for the caps to arrive.  It is a pain scraping the stuff off, expecially when it goes brown and hard, but whe I put the monitor back together it works prefctly.

I'll keep the cap repair kit until needed.

Cheers,

Steve

 

B.A. Jones | Dec 29, 2018 4:47 AM

December 29, 2018

As you can see, my Samsung SyncMaster 2493HM screen still works.

Unbelievable.

Thanks again for helping me solve this big problem.

The one who did the circuit analysis is really good and he deserves a medal.

If I were rich, I would give him money ...

 

I wish you a very Happy Holidays 2018 and a wonderful year 2019!

Health, Health, Health is "everything" what I wish you!!!!

 

 

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