Sharp Aquos LC-26D4U sound problem

i had the same problem lc26d4u. called sharp and they gave me a place to send it to . cost me 260.00 estimate to fix tv. have not heard from them since. but heard they may have sent the tv to the manufacturer. same sound board problem

i have a simlar problem with my lc-26d4u. i bought it in april of 2006. i had absolutely no problems until last week when the tv had no sound at all. i plugged in my dvd to see if this was a problem with my cable setting but this was not the case. the problem was obviously internal.
i called the sharp authorized technicians. they told me this was a common problem with this model and the only solution was a company upgrade of the soundboard which would cost ME $425!!! 
I believe this is ridiculous given the fact that this is a problem not only prevalent on this message board but ALSO WELL KNOWN and recognized by Sharp themselves. I believe it is unfair to pay these costs. Have any of you approached the company about this issue???

I have experieced the exact same problem with a LC37D6U. The problem fixed itself a few times by turning on and off, but now the sound is just dead. I have bypassed the internal sound by connecting the audio outputs on the TV to the stereo and going into the TV's menu and changing the sound output from fixed to variable so I can use the TV's volume control for the sound.

I have recently run into problems with other electronic equipment notably PC video cards and PC motherboards where just around 18 months capacitors bulge and leak and in some cases explode. I would not be supprised if these TV's are suffering from the same problems that I have seen on other electronics.

I have the same problem "lost audio complete" and at the bottom of the screen it will shift to the right for a split second. I bought my 32" in 2006, at the time I was a sales man and sold allot of them to customers. :(

I have found out that the heat sink on the A/V board has a Jell pack that becomes conductive after a while and damages A/V board "the Technician that came to my house told me that's a common issue with the Aques 24" - 42" TV. I bought the extended warranty and I had it replaced, within 2 hours it lost the audio.

sharp did not figure out the problem until it was too late the A/V board is a removable board and their answer is to replace the board, forget about it and hope it doesn’t happen again.

Same problems as everyone else, no sound a few months after warranty expired. I bought some high quality computer speakers (Altec Lansing VS4121) and connected them to the sound output of my TiVo. I have to manually switch the wires when I play a DVD and there’s no remote volume control, but it’s cheaper and quicker than replacing the soundboard.

GOOD NEWS - - According to the Sharp Technician I just spoke with a "Service Bulletin" went out to all their techs about the sound issue on these Sharp Aquos. I'm having the exact same sound probem and I'm in the process of having the technician come out at no charge so call the number given in Solution #6 and #9 (1-800-237-4277) and keep pressing #1 until you get a technician. Have your serial number ready and they will need your name, address and telephone #. They will then give you a case number and transfer you to dispatch (which closes at 5pm central). Thanks everyone for your help and posts - you made our day!!!
BTW - We also have the problem of the TV turning on and off by itself but the technician said they had not received a service bulletin about that yet.

This is a common problem with Sharp Aquos TVs and just started happening with my 32" LCD. Per craig3215's suggestion below (from Jun 26, 2009), calling Sharp at 800-237-4277 (and pressing "1") immediately got me to a technician who said "It's a common problem with these TVs so we are handling them out of warranty." They take your name, address, and phone number, give you a case number, and send someone out to fix it for free.
In the meantim, attaching a set of powered speakers to the Monitor Audio Out can get you by until the technician comes. You can go to the TV menu and change the Audio Out to Variable if you want to control the external speaker volume from the TV volume.
Good luck!

Thanks to the avsforum thread I did the below, they treat it like your under warranty
Thanks to all the info on this thread, I got the sound on my LC32D6U fixed for free. Even though the TV is out of warranty, Sharp considers it under warranty for the sound problem. The number i 800-237-4277.

I followed Ggleg's suggestion about the ic502 chip,it didn't work,but I then tried the other heatsink, same problem,different chip( ic3800),and that seemed to fix it! I don't know what the chip does, but it get's pretty warm. I still have to do a better job before I put it together.Thanks Ggleg!

One solution that I found can work is the following. In the winter months, if you are in a geographic part of our country that experiences cold winter, the humidity inside a house can be low, creating static electricity. Thus, there is a the possibility that the issue may be with your digital video box and not your t.v., assuming you have such a set up. Try not only unplugging your t.v., but while it is unplugged, randomly hit the buttons on your digital box. On the surface, it doesn't seem like doing this makes any sense, but a t.v. repair professional indicated that it empties out the memory in advance of the box resetting (or something along these lines). In summary, it work and we have since moved a humidifier from another location into the house into the room with the Sharp t.v. and (knock wood) have not had any other problems surface since the t.v.'s sound went out. If this technique works, you will have saved yourself several hundreds of dollars. If not, there is the possibility that the insulation around your sound board is an older type of insulation that (for lack of a better word) "melts" and causes problems with the Sharp's sound. I learned through my repair experience that the newer Sharp's use a different type of insulation. Good luck and respond back if this approach works.

Almost all intermittent audio or audio failure problems with Sharp Aquos LC**D4U, LC**D5U, LC**D6U, and LC**D7U televisions are the result of a relatively simple design flaw involving the heatsink pad compound used on the Tripath TA-2024 amplifier chip (IC2502) found on the A/V board. This compound has a fairly low melting point and, over time, tends to seep out from between both top and bottom heatsinks onto the legs of this chip as well as onto circuitry immediately surrounding it. Further, over time the seeping compound also becomes somewhat conductive creating bridges which short the audio amplifier circuit causing everything from intermittent audio to complete audio failure.

Fortunately, in almost every case audio can be completely restored by cleaning the old compound from both top/bottom heatsinks and from both sides of the PC board in the area immediately surrounding the chip (I used rubbing alcohol which worked quite well). Sharp has issued a service bulletin addressing this issue (LCDTV-194) wherein a ‘2502 Heat Kit’ is specified. This kit is Sharp Part Number: PSPKIT663WJZZ and is available from circuitcity.partsearch.com for $19.95. However, it’s entirely possible to get by with the heat pad only, Sharp Part Number: PSPAZA663WJKZ for only $9.95. Please note that board replacement for this problem is almost never necessary, so if you’re working with a repair technician be sure and insist that he/she be certain to try cleaning the old board and replacing the aforementioned heatsink pads before charging you for a new board.

If one is reasonably familiar with electronics disassembly/reassembly and is willing to take their time, this can even be a DIY project. It is possible to find ‘important service references’ by simply entering LC26D4U (the 5, 6, and 7 series are very similar, and this information covers all screen sizes) into the search field at eserviceinfo.com. This will greatly aid in disassembly/reassembly of the TV, as the A/V board is somewhat ‘buried’ under other boards. Please refer to post # 373 at avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=647174&page=13 for pics of the information detailed here.
My knowledge of how to solve this issue came primarily from finding the research efforts of ‘Aureius’ on the AVS forums, and particularly from his taking the time to post the solution publicly so that others might save time, money, and aggravation. I'm just passing along the information. Thanks Andy!

I also wanted to mention that a couple of other very pesky common problems with these series of Sharp TV's involving symptoms of random powering-off and/or powering-on, and 'function lock-ups' of various sorts are easily remedied through two firmware updates (Main CPU: PH1UU112, Monitor: MD1UA104). These are not available to end-users via the internet but it may be possible to get the files from an understanding factory-authorized repair tech. They are installed using an SD memory card (don't use the HC high capacity sort, use only those that are NOT HC) which is inserted into a special slot in the back of the machine. For those of the DIY persuasion, information about how to check whether your TV has old firmware in need of an upgrade is readily available through internet search.

Oh ****. Offtopic: I was searching today with the hope of finding something as of why my Sharp does not get any sound out when it's connected to the PC. DVI-to-HDMI (video signal) is fine. But I cannot get any sound no matter, goddamn...

Anyway, I bought my Sharp LC32D44E 2 weeks ago. From time to time, I thought I was just hearing things, that that popping sound as you call it came from whatever place just not the TV. Until today I'm not convinced that it comes from the TV, but the fear that it does is all there and present. Then I read you guys having the same frickin' problem with your Sharp TV's and it poped out for me that.. that just might be it. Although my TV is brand new, I DO think I heard some irregular clicking, popping sounds coming from the TV. But they are too random to really test anything. And I was saving for it for some time... ****!

I've had the same issues that started last week. I just bought my TV model lc-32d6u in 2006 before Thanksgiving and it's not even two years yet and the soundboard also overheated.

Tried the whole system reset/reset jig at first audio came back fine without any problems, but as soon as you turn off the tv and turn it back on dead silence... How frustrating!!

In the meantime, I'm using my home stereo for audio, but I can't play my PS3 now =( what a bummer...

Sharp reps are no help either, they'll ask for your address just to give you a contact number for the nearest dealer that can fix the problem.

They should be ashamed of themselves.. I want a full refund.. good picture but picture is not good without sound.. what a total ripoff... they should recall these aquos tv's until they fix the problem. what a waste of $$$$$$$$$$

Exactly the same problem with my two year old Aquos LC-26D4U: popping sound from the right speaker (always the right speaker), then no sound. I called Sharp and they gave me a local shop with very poor customer reviews. I emailed Sharp customer support and forwarded them a link to this page as well, they got back to me with the same local shop and nothing else. Very disappointing.

I followed rsuchowi and BlueScreenEr's solutions and connected my TV with my computer speakers, now the sound is back. But Sharp's reputation is lost.

I have a Sharp LC32D6U with the exact problem, light pop out of right speaker, no sound. The unit was purchased in August of 2006. I contacted Sharp with tjrose's information about the heat sink, asking about a service bulletin and to see if Sharp was going to do anything about this for customers...we'll see.

I had this sound problem with my (almost ) two years old LC-46D64U , call Sharp: your model is not included.. your service visit will be $250.- (South FL) Then I call VISA, they sent me the claim paperwork by email, I'm sure  I'll get it fix for free. Never again a Sharp.

I have the repair for this unit but that is how we technician's make a living just as you do nothing is free in life hell i wish my car would last for years and then get it fixed for free waaaaa waaaaa!!!

all issues discussed above, yup we've had the same. **** sharp. go sony.

This is a great site. I have the same problem as everyone else. I called the phone number 18002374277 and followed what number 6 did, kept pressing one till I spoke with someone, they took my info sent me to dispatch and they said as a 1 time courtesy they would fix it free of charge since it was out of warranty. Thanks for the posts.

Contacted Sharp as per Solution 6.
Note that the first person I spoke to said he wasn't aware the problem. But then they transfered me to Dispatch and they said it would be taken care of.
Repair was as described in Solution 10., Only the heatpad was replaced, after cleaning the area with solvent.
So far, so good. Kudos to Sharp for fixing my 5 year old TV.

have a simlar problem with my lc-26d4u. i bought it in april of 2006. i had absolutely no problems until last week when the tv had no sound at all. i plugged in my dvd to see if this was a problem with my cable setting but this was not the case. the problem was obviously internal.
i called the sharp authorized technicians. they told me this was a common problem with this model and the only solution was a company upgrade of the soundboard which would cost ME $425!!!
I believe this is ridiculous given the fact that this is a problem not only prevalent on this message board but ALSO WELL KNOWN and recognized by Sharp themselves. I believe it is unfair to pay these costs

I had the same problem and I just got a Home Theater System and hooked it up very simple and It worked I bought from target for 173.00 but there are cheaper ones you just have to look around maybe walmart or sams club or any other places that have electronic. You can find one as low as $70-90 bucks

I had the same sound problem. I took off the speaker, went to Radio Shack and bought some small speakers. I needed a Y-adapter Audio Cable and coupler too. I hooked it up to the audio out on the TV and now I have sound !!! Only problem is the volume can't be adjusted with the remote. Worked for me, hope it works for you ! At least I saved the set and avoided the repair cost, which now seems to be up to $500.

Same problem as the rest of you. I replaced with a Samsung and will move the sharp to the bedroom and use self amliied computer speakers. Will never buy SHARP AGAIN!

Our Sharp has been popping since we bought it two years ago and now, no sound. Unbelievable!! I am finding people with the same problem all over the internet. Sharp should really sit up and take notice as I will definitely tell everyone I know NEVER to buy a Sharp.

Just add me to the list. Same timeframe and everything. I was quoted $264.95 to see what the trouble is and initial labor. Parts and whatever else (additional labor) would cost more. I've already tossed it.

Same problem with my Sharp Aquos. 18 months and then no sound. What a pain. No one wants to work on it. Never another Sharp!