Your Sony TV won’t turn on and you try to fix it…
If like me you have this problem, I assure you, unless your Japanese TV (Sony) is really broken, there are solutions to solve this problem. Many people have had Sony TV that won’t turn on and they fixed it!
After trying solutions online, I found a solution that worked for me and for other people with this issue. Try this one first!
Contents
- Sony TV won’t turn on (Solution 1)
- Sony TV that won’t turn on (Alternative Solutions)
- – Check that the Sony TV is powered on
- – Disconnect the wall plug from the Sony TV
- – Remove the batteries from the Sony TV remote
- – Change the batteries of the Sony TV remote control
- – Energy Saving mode activated
- – Sony TV turned on but screen is black
- – Turn on Sony TV without remote control
- – Soft Reset Sony TV
- – Factory reset Sony TV
- – Disable HDMI CEC in settings
- – Check the power cable connection on the Sony TV
- – Try another outlet
- – Sony TV overheating
- – Update Firmware
- – Replace power supply
- – Replace a broken capacitor
- – Call Sony TV support
- – Take the TV for repair
- – Buy a new TV
- Wrapping it up
Sony TV won’t turn on (Solution 1)
If your Sony TV won’t turn on, it probably needs a reset. To reset your TV, unplug it from wall outlet and wait for 2 minutes. While unplugged, press and hold the power button for 10 seconds (to drain residual electronic power). Plug the power cord back in. The Sony TV should turn on.
In most cases, this step will resolve your Sony TV issue.
If your Sony TV still won’t turn on after resetting it or if the red light blinks but there is no image, try these additional steps in this article. Your TV may not be broken.
Sony TV that won’t turn on (Alternative Solutions)
– Check that the Sony TV is powered on
It is obvious but it’s the first thing to check!
It might not be the problem but it is an interesting troubleshooting step that should be quickly ruled out.
If the red standby light is on in the corner of the TV then there is power and you can move on to the next step.
If you don’t see a red LED on, make sure the outlet has power. To easily check that, plug your phone charger into the TV’s wall outlet. You will immediately see if the socket has a problem, if the circuit breaker has tripped or if it is working normally.
If you don’t see a LED on and the TV won’t turn on, the problem might be more serious you’ll find solutions further down in this article.
If the red light is ON, blue or green but the screen remains black, follow the next step before going any further.
– Disconnect the wall plug from the Sony TV
Unplugging and then re plugging your Sony TV from the wall outlet is a simple fix that often works!
The key to success is to wait 1-2 minutes, not just a few seconds. Be patient, the capacitors need time to fully discharge.
If you are in a hurry, you can press and hold the ON button on the TV for at least 10 seconds (not the button on the remote control! ), this will speed up the unloading.
Plug the TV back in after 1 or 2 minutes and you should be able to turn back the Sony TV on.
While this solution in most cases solves a Sony TV that won’t turn on issue, in some cases the problem is something else. If you still can’t turn your Sony TV back on, try the other solutions below that have worked for other people.
– Remove the batteries from the Sony TV remote
If unplugging and plugging your TV back in did not solve the problem and the output source is set correctly, try the solution of removing the batteries from the remote control.
Try this:
- Remove all batteries from the remote, not just one battery
- Press and hold the power button on the remote for 10 seconds. Don’t cheat, press it for at least 10 seconds!
- Insert the batteries and press the power button
- It should turn on
– Change the batteries of the Sony TV remote control
Obvious again but did you know that low batteries can turn on the remote TV’s LED and still not be able to turn on the TV?
It happened to me once, I’ve been fooled… Even if the batteries seem good, they may not have enough power to send the signal to the Sony television. Replace the batteries with new ones.
– Energy Saving mode activated
If your Sony TV has energy saving switch, you want to make sure the switch is ON. When this switch is off, power consumption is reduced and the TV can’t be powered on with remote.
=> Turn the switch ON (number “6”)
You will find the Energy saving switch on the side of your TV, next to the other buttons. The TV should turn ON now.
– Sony TV turned on but screen is black
If the LED is turned on blue or green, it means the TV is on. A black screen can mean several things:
- severe (called black screen of death)
- not serious (adjustments can be made)
Your TV is on but may be on a wrong input.
Check the input source. A child or you may have accidentally pressed the “source” button on the remote control and changed the input source. In this case the TV could show a black screen or “no signal” text on screen.
How to find the correct input source:
The solution is to press the “source” button on the remote control to cycle through the sources (TV, Ext, HDMI1, HDMI2, AV…) corresponding to your devices connected to the TV. Press the button until you see again a TV channel.
Don’t have remote?
Without remote control, press the MENU button on the TV itself, then navigate to SOURCE with the volume buttons. Select the correct output (example HDMI 2 if your device is connected to this port at the back of the TV)
If nothing shows on screen by pressing the source button, try the next solution.
– Turn on Sony TV without remote control
If you can’t turn the TV on with the remote, try turning it on from the ON/OFF button on the side, bottom front or bottom of the TV.
If it works, the problem was probably the remote. In case the batteries are good then the remote should be replaced. You can find Sony remote on Amazon.
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When a Sony TV regularly has power-on issues, it may be worth resetting to factory settings.
– Soft Reset Sony TV
Before trying a factory reset, let’s try to restart the TV with a soft reset. By now you should already have gone through this step but here are the exact details.
This is specially useful if the light blinks when you press the On button, but the TV doesn’t turn on. Follow these steps:
- Unplug TV from the wall
- Wait for 2 minutes
- Press and hold the power button for 30 seconds (to drain the capacitors)
- Plug again the TV
- Try to turn the TV ON again
If it doesn’t work, un plug it again and press the ON/OFF button for 30 seconds then plug it again. If it doesn’t work try a factory reset.
– Factory reset Sony TV
Sometimes, when a Sony TV regularly has trouble to turn on, try if possible performing a factory data reset. This requires being able to turn on the TV so it is not necessarily possible at this point. Note that your custom settings will be removed too:
Factory reset Sony TV with remote
- Press the “Home” or “gear icon” button (on remote)
- Go to “Settings”
- Depending on your TV model, follow one of these 3 ways:
- “System/About/Reset/Factory data reset/Erase everything/Yes”
- or “Device preferences/Reset/Factory data reset/Erase everything/Yes”
- or “Storage & reset/ Factory data reset/Erase everything/Yes”
- Let it restart
For other Sony TV models, get more factory reset details at Sony support.
If you don’t have a remote try this way.
Factory reset Sony TV without remote or if remote doesn’t respond
If your remote doesn’t respond, you can also factory reset your Sony TV without a remote.
- Unplug the TV
- Press and hold the “Power”button on the back of your TV (if your TV has 3 buttons, pres and hold all 3 of them at same time)
- While pressing and holding, plug the TV again and keep holding until the TV turns on (10 to 30 seconds)
- Remove your finger when the TV logo shows on screen
- Let it restart and follow the steps (choose language…)
Then pair your Sony remote again with the TV:
- Press and hold the “home ” button for 10 seconds (house icon)
- wait until your hear a sound from TV
– Disable HDMI CEC in settings
CEC (Consumer Electronics Control) is an HDMI feature that allows other HDMI-connected devices to be controlled with a single remote and to automatically switch HDMI when a connected device turns on.
You won’t find this feature on very old Sony TVs.
This feature (called “HDMI-CEC” or “Bravia Sync” or “Bravia link” for Sony) can sometimes block a Sony TV from turning on, so it might be worth disabling this feature and seeing if that fixes the power-on issue.
- Disable CEC From remote:
- Press the “Home” button on the remote (house icon) or “settings” button (gear icon)
- Go to “Bravia Settings“
- Then “External inputs“
- Then select “HDMI-CEC settings“
- Then “CEC” and switch it OFF
- Disable CEC on Sony Bravia TV:
- Press the “settings” button on the remote (gear icon)
- Go to “Settings“
- Then “watching TV“
- then “External inputs“
- Then select “Bravia Sync settings“
- Select “TV auto power on” and switch it OFF
- Disable CEC From TV (without remote):
- Press the “Menu” button on the TV
- Go to “Bravia Settings“
- Then “External inputs“
- Then select “HDMI-CEC settings“
- Then “CEC” and switch it OFF
– Check the power cable connection on the Sony TV
Another fairly simple solution to your Sony TV problem is to unplug and then reconnect the TV’s power cable.
Check that the cable is firmly seated in the notches at the back of the TV, sometimes it can loosen over time.
The trick here is to then turn on the TV by pressing the ON button on the TV and not the ON button on the remote.
– Try another outlet
It’s unlikely to change anything, but you can always try plugging the TV into an other room in the house or in an another house.
If your house has electrical problems and you ignore it (or maybe you know about it), it might make a difference, but it’s an unlikely the case if other devices can turn ON on that outlet.
– Sony TV overheating
In some very rare cases, a Sony TV can be overheating. Especially if the TV hasn’t proper air circulation like in a TV cabinet.
As a result, a hole may occur in part of the TV cabinet ceiling. Check if your Sony Bravia TV has a recall.
In case of abnormal TV behavior (noise, smell, smoke), turn off the TV immediately, unplug it and call Sony support if it is under warranty.
In case your warranty expired, you can try to fix it yourself (technical steps further in this article). But overheating is more serious than a broken TV, it is safer to replace it and buy a new TV and not take the risk of a potential deadly fire.
– Update Firmware
One reason why your Sony TV won’t turn on could be because the firmware is updating at the same time.
If the LED blinks with an orange color, then you just need to wait until it finishes the update. Do not stop the update, turn off or disconnect the TV when updating. If you stop the update, you can trigger problems.
– Replace power supply
If nothing has worked so far but you really want to keep your Sony TV, you can remove the TV’s power supply and send it in for repair.
However, this approach is useless if your TV has the standby button turned on. It means the power supply is working, so try something else.
If not, the power board is probably faulty.
A spare part like a power supply of Sony TV costs around 50 to 70 dollars. You can try to change it yourself.
Here’s how to remove the power board from a Sony TV:
– Replace a broken capacitor
If your Sony is out of warranty, you are eco-friendly and absolutely want to repair your broken Sony TV for cheap, you can try to identify which capacitor is broken on the motherboard or power board and fix it for even cheaper!
Let me warn you now, this step is not that easy and requires tools (a soldering iron and tin for electronic parts) and replacement capacitors (same power!) You will need up to 10 days to complete this step.
It’s quite technical, you have to:
- Lay the TV face down on a blanket (on a table)
- Unscrew all the screws from the back cover of the TV
- Unplug ports (cables connected)
- Look for a capacitor that has a bulging or chipped or burnt head. You may find several capacitors with this issue.
- Unsolder the burnt out capacitors
- identify and buy or order the same capacitor online
- solder the new capacitors
- close the TV and test it
Before these steps, it will be necessary to remove static electricity from your hands, to avoid damaging the electronic circuit.
– Call Sony TV support
If your TV is under warranty, i hope you contacted their support before opening your TV.
This is one of the last recommended solutions because they won’t do much if your TV is out of warranty.
Contact them at:
- USA: https://us.esupport.sony.com/support/s/support-contact
- Canada: https://ca.esupport.sony.com/support/s/support-contact
- UK: https://services.sony.co.uk/supportmvc/en/Contact
- Rest of Europe: https://campaign.odw.sony-europe.com/support/index.html
- Australia: https://web.sony.com.au/au/contact-us/
– Take the TV for repair
If you absolutely want to repair your Sony television (because at this stage, we can really think that it has a real problem), you can take it to a local repair center who will give you a diagnostic estimate (free or paid) then a price estimate of repair.
– Buy a new TV
If you can’t get your Sony TV to turn on with all of these solutions, look no further, it’s time to get rid of it and buy a new one. In this case, I recommend a smart TV with Bluetooth and 4K high resolution.
Here is the best value for money at the moment:
Samsung E55Q60A 55-inch 4K Quantum HDR QLED Smart TV
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FEATURES
Sizes : from 32 to 85 inches
Resolution : 4K
Screen: QLED
Other : smart TV Wifi, Bluetooth, HDR, 3 HDMI, 2 USB
Wrapping it up
Sony TVs sometimes have difficulties to turn on and there are multiple reasons for that. If your Sony TV won’t turn on, try these solutions in that order:
- Check that the Sony TV is powered on
- Unplug the Sony TV wall plug
- Remove the batteries from the Sony TV remote
- Change Sony TV Remote Batteries
- Make sure the Energy saving mode is ON (not OFF)
- Turn on the TV without a remote
- Factory reset Sony TV
- Disable CEC in Settings
- Check the power cable connection on the Sony TV
- Try another outlet
- Replace power supply
- Replace a broken capacitor
- Call Sony support
- Take the television for repair
- Or buy a new TV
If despite all your efforts none of these solutions work, stop now! You’ve been patient and it’s time to buy a new TV ! Sony, Samsung, LG, Sony and other well-known brands are reliable and make modern TVs.
I recommend to choose a smart TV with 4K resolution.