When this LG TV came in for repair, the customer complained of cracking noises plus smoke coming out of the TV. Little did he know that a murder had occured inside the TV. When I opened the TV the poor gecko was electrocuted between the LCD module and the Power supply. The TV was a 42 inch TV (42LN540V) which is a digital terrestrial TV as well as a free to air satellite TV. The cracking noises were as a result of the sparks where the gecko fluids had damaged the tracks on the PCB.
The gecko in question somehow found its way into the expensive TV and thought that the bottom of the power supply was a good and warm place to hide. Unfortunately the place it choose to hide was the most dangerous part of the TV, below the 2 big smoothening capacitors. I usually don’t touch that part with my bare hands even when the TV is off because those capacitors store a 300V DC charge that can stun you and make you drop whatever you were holding with the other hand. The best way to discharge those capacitors before commencing repair is to connect a 100 watts incandescent bulb across the terminals where it lights brightly then dims to nothing signifying that no charge is left.
Repair
Repairing the TV required replacing the whole Power supply Assembly.
So this is the ideal place that the gecko used to get into the TV. Its also available on other TV models too so if you are not using yours its advisable to tape it off.
CI Module
The CI Module slot also known as PCMCIA (personal computer memory card international association) is a slot that can be used with a pay TV card to unscramble channels. There are many PCMCIA cards but the port you see above is primarily used for conditional access. For example instead of buying a GOtv decoder, you just get the module (GOcard) and insert it into your TV. The advantages are using one remote control with the same user interface as the TV.
Learn more about the CI Module in the updated video below
What does No CI Module and Scrambled mean in LG televisions? Also what does the PCMCIA card slot at the back of LG TV’s do? In some LG televisions, some channels work fine while others will display the message “No CI Module”. Others LGTV’s will display “Scrambled”. What does it mean? The short answer is that these channels are scrambled. In this video I will explain what a CI module is. I will also explain how to use it and its advantages. You will also learn about CAM cards and how they work.