Are you dealing with an LG TV that won’t turn on, but the red light on the TV is on? Your TV is stuck in standby mode.
Standby mode exists to allow you to quickly turn on your TV when you’re ready to watch something, so instead of completely turning it off, it goes into “standby”. While in standby mode, your TV uses much less electricity compared to when it’s on.
This can be a confusing error to see. You can tell that the TV is getting power, since the red light is lighting up, but the TV won’t actually turn on. So, what gives?
Well, most of the time when LG TV won’t turn on but red light is on, it’s because the TV is getting some power, but not enough power.
This article will help you diagnose and fix your LG TV when it won’t turn (but the red light is on).
Red Light is on But LG TV Won’t Turn On: What it Means
In order to understand why the red light is turning on, but the TV itself won’t turn, it helps to understand the basics of how a power supply works in your TV.
The cause of an LG TV that won’t turn on, when the red light is turning on, is often because of a faulty power supply. The power supply is able to supply enough voltage to turn on the red light to indicate that the TV is in standby mode, but it’s not able to send enough power to actually turn the TV on and display images on it.
It takes almost no power to light up a small red LED light, whereas it takes a lot more power to actually operate the TV. As such, it’s not rare to see a broken TV where the standby light will still light up, even if the TV won’t turn on. This is true for LG and most other brands of TV, so if you have a different brand, a lot of this same information will still apply.
What Causes An LG TV To Not Turn On, When The Red Standby Light Is Turning On
The main cause of this issue is a faulty power supply.
This could be due to leaking capacitors. Capacitors are small parts on your TV’s circuit board that help to manage the flow of electricity. Over time, capacitors can expand, and eventually they can burst, which can cause major issues for your LG television.
There are other things that can cause the power supply to be faulty, too. It could have been hit with an electrical surge, or the components could just be worn out over time.
In any case, while an issue with the electrical supply to the TV is the most common cause of this problem, it’s not the only thing that can cause it. Some of the fixes are a bit more complex and involved, whereas some are quite simple. Try the simply fixes below, cross your fingers, and hope for the best.
LG TV Won’t Turn But Red Light is On? Other Causes and Troubleshooting
It’s possible that this isn’t a permanent hardware issue. If you’re lucky, you might be able to simply do a soft-reset of your TV and it will start working again and won’t be stuck in standby mode anymore.
Here’s how to soft-reset your LG TV…
- Turn off the TV.
- Unplug it from the wall (unplug the power cable).
- Press the power button a few times to discharge any remaining electricity stored in the TV’s capacitors.
- Wait about 5-10 minutes.
- Plug the TV back in, and turn it back on.
Sometimes, that’s enough to fix the issue. Oftentimes, it’s something more serious like a faulty power supply to your TV that will require a professional to open up the TV and take a look. If you’re not familiar with electronics and the necessary safety protocols to take, it’s not a great idea to open your own TV or to start poking around since there can be some serious electricity in there that can cause some serious damage to the TV, or to yourself.
LG TV Stuck in Standby Mode? Try This Next…
Before you run and try to fix the power supply of your TV, try forcing it out of standby mode.
1. Check Your Home’s Power
It’s possible that there’s an issue with your home’s power, and that the TV is actually fine. It could be that your electrical plug is supplying the TV with enough power to sit in standby mode, but not enough to turn on correctly. You can test this with a voltage meter, but make sure you know what you’re doing anything electricity is involved – especially wiht your home’s wall outlets.
2. Check Your HDMI Cables
The next thing to check is that your HDMI cables are plugged in correctly. Try unplugging them and then plugging them back in. Ideally, try a cable that you know works for sure, and swap that in and see if that fixes anything.
This isn’t the most common thing that’ll work when your LG TV won’t turn on, but the red light is on, but checking the HDMI cables is still worth a try.
A quicker way to test this is to simply unplug each HDMI that’s connected to your TV, and try turning it on. Does it turn on correctly now? If so, then you know there’s an issue with your HDMI cable or the device that it’s connected to.
3. Test Your Remote
It could be that your remote control isn’t working. If you try turning on your LG TV with your remote and nothing happens, you can try pressing the power button on the TV itself.
Believe it or not, sometimes it’s as simple as putting a new pair of batteries into your LG remote control. If you’ve got new batteries, and the TV works when you press the power button on the TV itself, but it’s still not working when you use the remote – then it’s safe to say the problem here is your remote control.
All things considered, that’s some pretty good news. It’s a lot easier to fix or replace a remote control than it is to get a new power supple or backlight for your TV.
4. Check The Backlight
Finally, the issue could be the backlight. When the backlight in your TV is broken, then the TV is still turning on and displaying the image correctly, the issue is that you won’t really see it because it’s too dark. Your shows, movies, or video games will be showing up on the screen – but you can’t see them.
To test if this is the issue, the first thing to note is if you hear sound or not. Next, get really close to the TV and see if you can see a very faint image moving. Turning off the lights and shining a flashlight into the TV can also help to illuminate things. It’ll be pretty obvious that the issue was the backlight. This can cost anywhere from around $100 for the parts, to $200 or $300 to get it fixed at a repair shop. It could be more, in some cases, too. So, depending on your TV, it’s not always worthwhile to replace the backlight but sometimes, it certainly is.
