I think that the best solution for these monitors is to run an USB C extension cord outside the monitor. That way you can better secure the cable somewhere on the board and run the wires where the traces connect without having to restore the pads.
@@jafargio This is correct in my experience. Thermal wear appears to be the primary cause of failure. Specifically, this display can send up to 94W back to the input device, and when it's doing this the connection becomes hot the the touch.
The best solution would be a class action lawsuit and forced recall of defective devices and replacement with something not designed to fail as soon as the warranty expires.
@@MrJerrycocoetzee...fund innovations, destoying the enviroment, filling the landfill with electronic waste. If innovations price is this, I believe that they cannot be called innovetions...regards from Italy.
They were tru-hole, or at least had some serious pads and holding mount. Screws don't matter. USB-C on the other hand is good for mobile phones and stuff like that, not monitors, where you have plenty of space
My company actually uses the LG 5K monitors for our Graphic Designers. We haven't had any fail yet and We've been using them for roughly 4 years or so.. Maybe closer to 5. We have probably 12 or so people that use them.
The ONLY fix for LG to avoid this is to mount the external connectors on a separate secure mounted daughter I/O board via a high density cable connector similar to those used in mobile phones/tablets. That way a cheap replacement I/O board could be designed with right angle ports and enable repairs or replacement without scrapping the entire device. Class action could be considered if this is more than 10% failure rate.
Amazing! Most shops would not be so honest in revealing a flawed product in this way because it might reduce customers with this defect. You guys have a rare quality called integrity... Good on you. Cheers!
@@WardenOfTerra I believe they mean that revealing a flawed product like this means they might get less people to buy the product which in turn would be less people coming in to have it repaired because they don't have it in the first place
@@josephleichtnam836 True, but in this case the issue is it can't be repaired. They get no joy from charging a diagnostic fee and putting time into a board only to have to tell a customer, sorry, can't be fixed. I mean that's the real issue here. It's not that they need repair so frequently, which is itself an issue... It's really that it can't be fixed, which makes the customer angry at the messenger when the root issue is the manufacturer and poor product engineering.
I had this monitor. It definitely lasted me more than 2 years, but it still had other problems. The LG panels used in this monitor are highly prone to image retention issues after about 1 year.
For that kind of an issue; i've had luck with getting a separate input component and just solder jumper wires and gluing the connector straight ontu the case, (not the nicest fix but it works to fix a monitor)
I have an LG 27 5k ultrafine that I purchased in Dec 2016 - it still works. It was standing on my desk and the input cable did not move much for most of the time. For the last 2 years it is mounted on a Vesa mount arm and the input cable is held firmly to that arm, so does not move. I suppose this is why my monitor did not fail (yet). It did have some intermittent flickering but very rarely.
I have the same. My LG 5k Ultrafine has 8700 hours (according to the information panel); Its been on a monitor arm nearly its whole life with the same cable plugged and routed through the wiring holders. The connector sees little movement and since I have Mac Minis (now the m1 version) connected, has never provided power. 4+ years no issues.
I've got two of these monitors, purchased in April of 2017. One monitor is still functioning "normally", the other monitor has a few rows of bad pixels on the lower third of the screen. Both screens suffer from Image retention, usually noticed when a bright object has been on the screen for a few minutes and you switch to a dark screen. I suspect the reason I have been free of the problems outlined in the video is both monitors are on a monitor arm and all cables are wire tied to the stand limiting any movement on the connector.
So many repairs featured here are for broken connectors and the lesson for users is clear. Treat these connectors with extreme care, minimise the number of connects/disconnects, push/pull the plugs at right-angles, use the minimum force required to make/break the connection.
Agree. I've had lots of HDMI gear and never, ever, once ripped out an HDMI connector. Not even sure how TO do that. Yet it's apparently one of the most common repairs, so regular people must be dragging their game consoles behind cars or something. Treated properly, no HDMI should ever yank out. Same with the endless broken Asus battery connector. I'm glad it keeps Alex employed but how people break this stuff is baffling.
hotglue the connector to the plastic housing of the monitor itself and run a tiny little extension cable epoxied into the connector so it never comes out, but even then most normies aren't going to take the time to be careful and gently remove connectors or take care of their stuff, most people will always be rough with their devices. it's only those who mechanically understand and appreciate the process involved in looking after your things won't have any issues. we do live in a modern society where things aren't built to last anymore, which is a shame when some elderly folks have a microwave / fridge freezer from the 1970s that still works today
@@LatitudeSky I have witnessed a few incidents where HDMI connectors were ripped out. It always involved parties with alcoholic beverages in the cases that I saw.
I own several of these monitors and at one time or another I had to send them all back to LG for repair. Fortunately they were all covered under warranty and all repaired within a few days back to me. I love these monitors and have used them for many years without issue after the initial port replacement.
My LG monitor failed after 11 years, but I bought an LG OLED TV now and I'm wondering how long it will last. Great channel. I used to put radio kits together with my dad in the 1970's, and I was able to solder my remote for my garage after changing the battery after 20 years, and it being corroded. (Still worked though). The 9 volt battery socket had 2 wires, one of which pulled out of the solder. But I got the old solder kit out and put it back together. The replacement would have cost me $400 dollars because they didn't make this older model, and would have had to replace the whole electronic system.
Yes, extended warranties are the way to go with something like this. If there is a failure, that warranty basically means that you will get a new board, which further acknowledges that the manufacturer made a mistake in the design, they can't fix it themselves and it's easier to replace the whole board over one small error in design judgement.
My guess is if and when you turn that in for the "extended warranty" they are going to say that is abuse and not cover it anyway. Very common on electronics if it is something like this.
I really like your style, very straightforward and confident. You clearly have a lot of talent and experience. You are a great teacher, and you make great videos. Thank you sir.
I have 2 of them and got them both used. Been going strong for 2 years since I got them. I just plug it in once and don't touch it, no problem. I'm also not a jackass and twisting the cable around.
I own a computer repair business here in Tampa Florida. I just purchased a few items from your store! I love that you have a huge selection of different items.
how about not using cheap ass solution to critical component on the board? you can see cold through hole solder joints for that connector, so most likely the whole series of them boards are bad, that mechanical linkage of the case of the connector starts moving when the solder fails and that then leads to ripped off pads, to be honest - this should be factory recall, that board costs maybe 40-50$ to LG, it should have been offered as a free upgrade to a 1000++$ device, it is ridiculous how bad the designs are for some of this expensive equipment, and morons are buying them because the monthly lease payment is small the whole design/manufacturing chain is broken these days, at the same time they are touting that we must reduce carbon footprint and what not, while them themselves are the sole reason for all the expensive garbage in the landfills
This is what I do on games consoles that I wish to swap in and out of the TV. If the 20cm hdmi extender breaks, then it's just a case of buy another, rather than wear and tear on the port itself.
A 200mm usb-c male to usb-c female cable would fix that issue if people tend to move the monitor often. And add a small support on the back of the monitor that holds the small extension cable.
@@ericewaldklaver fully agree but for those that still buy it, have it and working could use this cheap solution to prevent an "Hiroshima" under the connector 😀
@Drone OUT Good idea 👍 But, how would anyone know to do it? When they buy a new monitor, they just use it they way it came. 99% + wouldn't even know or think to do it. Only tech savvy people (that watch this) would know about the problem. Then they would just avoid buying it. 😉
Since you asked - I’ve had this monitor since 2018. Apart from a case where I bent a thunderbolt cable in the port because I hadn’t left enough slack in my monitor arm, this display has had zero issues. I keep wanting to “upgrade” it but can’t justify it because it just keeps working and few monitors surpass it.
In the zoomed in part at 3:53 looks like the soldering on the large left support leg was cracked as well. So my guess is that if you plug this thing in too much it will loosen / crack the soldering which eventually severs the connections.
Why do people feel the need to plug and unplug the monitor so frequently? I purchased a 1440k monitor like 5 years ago and I don't think I've ever unplugged it a single time. Just leave the cable connected to the monitor always to avoid causing this issue. Unplug the thunderbolt cable from the device end, not from the monitor. But, at this price point, there should definitely be more than one input for sure
if you have that monitor you could just get a usb c male to USB c female cable, so you don't have to keep plugging it and unplugging it from that fragile port on the board.
I just can't understand why someone would connect and disconnect a 27" monitor all the time... Usually a monitor is something that is standing, you connect it once and that is it.
that was still repairable, a lot of work to do it but repairable (some similar ripped pads were on ps5 and xbox videos) ... I think the customer would want to pay more for the repair rather than buying another monitor. Also the video was a good lesson for those who want to buy that model.
Alex: You just saved my cousin 800 bucks, he was dead set on this monitor and they are on sale. I told him that there are better monitors out there but he said this one was 5k and ultrafine for his business as photographer. I just send him this. I think the traces break because of the heat that is coming through that thunderbolt 3 connector as it provides, I believe up to 94 watts to the laptop to have it charged. That is the main problem, as I see it. Way too much heat going through that little connector softening the connectors. Also the cable provided by LG is too short as a lot of the newer macbooks only have ports on the left. Also this monitor is able to turn into portrait mode which, again, puts enormous pull on the port. I think this monitor is indeed something to be very careful with, almost baby it.
@@BigEightiesNewWave It's just a way to avoid damaging the port, not a fix. If you leave a permanent cable, the USB won't be mistreated nor plug/unplug abused.
My wife use to work at a call center and she always told friends and family to "Stay away from LG"! LG should be ashamed of themselves. Alex, thank you for teaching the technical side of why to stay away. I look forward to each and every video. Your integrity shows through at all times. Thank you. Greetings from Ontario Canada
My 22” LG monitor died after 12 years now. My 27” monitors have been going for seven years now. Not one dead pixel or problem, used every day. These were fairly cheap monitors as well.
I own an LG monitor and is wonderful. It's 4 or 5 years old and it didn't have any problem at all. Apart from some LG produscts do you care to say something about some certain ASUS laptops, certain HP laptops who effectively had literally half of the air admission path covered by a piece of plastic or about some certain Macbook Pros? Everybody makes products which are really bad for customers.
i'm using dell monitor from 2013 still working fine as today. there is a slight yellowing at the 4 corner but it is only visible when in max brightness and on plain white screen.
I also have first 21.5" model. It was the smallest 4K monitor on the market at the time. Contrary to the perception that pro monitors are rugged, this should be treated like a baby. Originally, Apple was going to hand over the Mac monitor business to LG, but LG's monitors were so flawed that it sparked Apple's decision to return to the monitor business. Aside from all the flaws, the screen quality is superb.
An extension chord may solve the problem......as one end is always remain constant in that port which is very weak ,it doesn't move .......we can use the other end for frequent attaching and removing.......
I'll be super scared working on that board blowing from the back because the amount of small caps and diodes, and resistors from there.... And thanks for the advice, I'm coming to avoid that monitor.
Please repair more monitors. I also had an ultra wide from Philips, 34 inch which failed exactly after 2 years from when I first powered it on. Of course, no warranty was provided.
It's such a waste to cheap out on properly supported connectors like this. Hopefully LG will get such a hit on their image to never do it again, but I'm not holding my breath. I've got a 500 euro 24" panel from HP 13 years ago and it's still working perfectly. The 23" dell next to it was half that and 12 years okd and still working! I have older monitors that are working still, even a 14" crt, needed recapping but after that still works perfectly after 30+ years.
I love repairing, it's my passion, i watch and like your each and every videos. You doing a great job. Absolutely amazing,i have few simple tools i wish i have tools like you,but
The tracks were not coming off the board before he pulled on that connector. Some pads were probably broken beforehand, but he did the bulk of the damage there...
On the current generation of Apple products they use a small custom USB-C daughter board that connects through a custom cable to the motherboard. Every port can be replaced should it fail mechanically. They know exactly that this stuff fails all the time. There should be a standard for that. They now standardized 40V 5A power and 80gbit/s data transfers and DisplayPort 2.0 through those USB-C connectors. This will get even more insane.
Are you serious? They may have that thing in their sleeve, but apple is bad i how it designs his board. They are designed to fails as soon as an idea of liquid come in contact with them 😅
@@graealex : It does not matter how stable the connector is soldered to the board, if the connector itself is an electro mechanical weakness from the very beginning. A usb c port is such weakness, 20 fine pins hold together by one ABS slab 0.6mm thick, mantled by a 0.2mm thick steel or aluminium pipe pressed in form, meant for thousands of plug in, unplug occurrences. It feels like the gadget industry is blindly retro evolving to the atari 5200 days where one cable was meant to deliver power as well as video signaling. Its a stupid design, prone to completely render a device functionless and useless all together. A standard or custom power connector for power, a standard or custom data connector for data, anything else is outright anti consumer. If you look at industrial design or more filigrane intermediate server side stuff, you will not find a single such thing having only 1 multi purpose connector. Heck, those things even come with two power supplies for redundancy, a multitude of service nics and a boatload of other useful features. You will not find a filigrane 20pin connector responsible for delivering power, input data and user interface and those devices usually see much less handling!
I bought a Dell ultrasharp in 2005, it lasted until 2012, I bought another dell after that, still going in 2022. Spend the extra money on a good monitor.
These faults have been going on for a while. I built my previous PC in 2012 and got "the best" monitor for it at the time. Of course it was an LG and of course by "the best", they meant picture quality. They did not tell me I will have to get a new monitor in two years. If they did, I wouldn't have wasted a third of my build budget on POS monitor like that. My local repair guy didn't even touch it even though they specialized in monitor repair. They said it's a chip issue and those cannot be fixed...
When you heated from the back of the board to reflow the connector how do you avoid sending the components on the back of the board (c129 for example) to the ninth dimension?
Why the need to constantly remove the cable and plug it back in? if you need to do that for whatever reason, I suggest using a short thunderbolt cable and leave that attached to the TV. This way you are not constantly pulling on the MB connector and damaging it like you see in this video.
So disappointed you didn't repair the connector pads. The other approach is don't connect and remove the type-C connector repeatedly. Connect & disconnect it at the Computer end and hopefully this won't happen. Looks like they need a more robust connector than the one they chose. Lead-free probably doesn't help either.
A PC monitor is not designed to be subject to user abuse. Unless it is some kind of military screen, it shouldn't have to windstand frequent cable connect/disconnect. If it had cracked solder joints, I would blame LG, but not in this case.
The Thunderbolt cable/plug on these monitors need to be braced (it's a poor design to begin with). I use zip tie mounts and secure them with double sided tape. Then leave some slack on the cable and secure it to the monitors so any movement in the cable does not transfer to the plug. The constant tugging and downward force applied to the plug is what is causing the socket to fail and pull away from the pad. Anyone who still has this monitor and is working, do this now.
My idea is to build an flex extension cable - and the USB-C/THB connector shoud be put outside - of course that could be very time consuming job - but prevent future mechanical shock. Anyway thx Alex to share your experience! The new Microscope is superb!
@@gordonwelcher9598 I think about seperating the female connector off the board. So any tension could be not connected with signal pads...Just give any Noble prize who invented this LG board and THB sockets!
Great work as always! I noticed you were heating from the opposite end of the board where there were a few small capacitors. Will those small capacitors not 'fall off' with gravity once heated?
I thought it would be possible to do some creative workaround here but these broken pads are the super speed differential pairs. You can not mess to much with the length of these tracks as it would then mess up the signal timing. There are some less useful signals in the Thunderbolt USB-C pinout that could be skipped but you cant be without the high speed data carriers. Maybe the super speed tracks could be glued back?
What about all those little surface-mounted components on the board, right where you applied the heat? If you're applying enough heat to the underside to melt solder on the top side of the board, wouldn't it also melt the solder holding all of those parts as well? And since that's the underside of the board, wouldn't they then just fall off as the solder melts?
great video alex ....you can tell the companies that build these things are very inferior its only because they want more money for less always the customer suffers its annoying and very unfair ...
That's the problem with small ports, sure the cable is smaller and thinner but it sacrifices durability. You can move the cable for VGA, DVI and Displayports and it's not gonna mess up the port.
Atleast old monitors have 2 inputs like vga and Dvi-d. Usb-c apparently is the ONLY future connector now. Prev monitor connector designs are big bc connector were tend to be mishandled. The smd upright connector design is flawed from the start. Other than convenience to plug-in stuff which will lead to this kind of damage.
Well, that's it then. I have two of these monitors and one of them just failed, right on cue. I purchased it in Jan 2022. I'm not even going to bother trying to get it fixed. I wonder how long the second one will last as It is less than a year old. I purchased the second one because I wanted a twin-display for software development business. For a while it was very nice and improved my productivity. That's the last LG product I'll ever purchase.
Very sad =( What this needs is a small PCB (like the PS4 HDMI Patch PCB by Andrew Paul) - ie, something you can solder in place above the vias and traces, solder on easily. Then fit a different type of thunderbolt connector onto that (one that's easier to mount maybe...). If its a common fault it might be worth the time to design a small PCB for this. Certainly if this screen is $1300!
In Bulgaria only the LG monitors have 3 years standard warranty or all electronic devices? In Romania the standard warranty for any electronic device is a minimum of 2 years over which you can buy extra 1 or 2 years of warranty but only from some stores. Also in Romania, some appliances(washing machines, freezers, etc) manufacturers gives you 5 years warranty from go but in this case you cannot buy extra warranty, and in some rare cases manufacturers like Samsung and LG have 10 years warranty on some appliances components, like the motor of some washing machines.
@@ryutenmen I think Bulgaria and Romania shouldn't be diferrent because of European Union laws... And that's what I said for this monitor is based on what I saw in a local shop website :)
It seems that manufacturers have forgotten the basics of design when it comes to customer accessible connectors: If it can be broken, it will get broken. The solution is to strengthen how the connectors are anchored to a board or even better have them on a breakout board or as standalone component anchored to the case of the product. Of course, this will increase manufacturing time and costs but the long-term savings for the manufacturer, consumer and planet are huge.
Even if you buy an extended warranty, they will most likely say that this does not fall under the conditions of the warranty since the connector has been broken loose due to abusive use during cable removal. If you really need to have this specific monitor, your best warranty is to have an extension cable taped taped or fixed with cable tie to the base of the monitor and you will connect your main cable to the extension extension cable to significantly reduce the amount of cable removals from the monitor connector.
The precision probes are EXCELLENT! I must confess I was a bit shocked when I first received them at the size of the handles, how small they were. But what was I expecting? They are micro probes!! They do look much larger in your videos however. 😏
Interesting. I have had this monitor for 4+ years and its still going strong. However, there is an issue with the thunderbolt port, the connector does not go in far enough to make a secure connection so if the monitor or cable gets knocked the connection is lost briefly. It works fine as long as you don't touch it.
You should fix it .. I didn't believe that this video was deemed as no fix .you are the number one California Micro-solder surgeon..people are relying on your skills and experience in this field.
@@ashleyjaytanna1953 get a usb-c male to usb-c female cable then, or a hub, or one of those magnetic usb-c end adapters. anything to prevent you from having to plug in / out of an expensive device.
Sometimes it's hard to tell user error from manufacturer defects. If the pads were coming off due to the heat produced from day to day use regardless of repeated unplug/plugging or some other defect in manufacturing causing those pads/traces to come off over time then this is something that the manufacturer should be responsible for fixing in their QA. Considering that the port was still in-tact and the support soldering joints aren't broken when it came into the shop for a fix, I would suspect this isn't user error that caused the pads under the port to come off and it is a design/manufacturing issue.
@@moonmoonbh Given the port case was bent, I'm 50/50, it looks like its had lot flex but not enough to break the larger connections. I agree LG has cheaped out though, there should be 4 inputs and ideally they wouldn't all be usb c either.
@@ashleyjaytanna1953 Hi Ashlry, we say it a lot in Australia as LG used to be a company called Goldstair and it was the crappiest Electronic devices you could get...
If it was my monitor, I would cut open a thunderbolt cable and solder individual wires directly to the traces. It need not be soldered right at the connector pads, that would be mighty difficult. But the traces travel elsewhere so I would scratch the solder mask and solder the wire there.
2:08 I noticed when you push that second pin underneath the HDMI port it moved I am using 120-in screen with a projector and I could see that pin move when you tapped on it the first one didn't move the second one did
All manufacturers try to this "trick" of planned obsolescence and they try to hide it as best as possible. Its the quintessential of business, aka capitalism.
I had heaps of problems trying to get those connectors, only found one source in China, nightmare to reflow, mine didn't have the tab in front of the pins but it was still near impossible to access them. I feel your pain
My brother was about to ditch his old LaCie and buy one of those LG monitors. Not going to now he's seen this. I wonder what one he should go for. Took him a long time to choose and now he has to start over.
Love the channel and I take notes on the items not to purchase and share those on my Facebook channel. Like.. Never buy an Asus laptop. Now I have a new item to add... An LG 27" Ultrafine 5k Monitor.
looking at my 65" LG 4k....hmmmm....bet trace issues would explain the intermittent load crackle when using internal or when wired to a sound bar....optical still works....problem started at about 14 months of use....
I have one of these myself, luckily we have strong consumer protections here in Australia as two mainboards have broken in the first 2 years of owning this monitor. I don't think they are designed to withstand the heat of the high throughput generated from a thunderbolt cable that is also charging what's plugged into it.
I've got an original LG 5k Ultrafine here which is now in its 4th year, but I always leave the same cable attached at the monitor end and only plug / unplug at the laptop end.
This video is not a lesson. It's a warning for those potential buyers. Good job. We need this kind of video.
Warnings can be lessons?
Yes we do
Expensive lesson for the owner of that monitor with no fix
LG brand sucks!!
LG company should improve on their electronic gadgets like the monitor screens.
I think that the best solution for these monitors is to run an USB C extension cord outside the monitor. That way you can better secure the cable somewhere on the board and run the wires where the traces connect without having to restore the pads.
The source of the problem could be that port is getting hot while in function and it wears/spoils pins. This method may not work :(
@@jafargio This is correct in my experience. Thermal wear appears to be the primary cause of failure. Specifically, this display can send up to 94W back to the input device, and when it's doing this the connection becomes hot the the touch.
@InSomnia DrEvil Fine, keep your dead monitor.
@InSomnia DrEvil?
The best solution would be a class action lawsuit and forced recall of defective devices and replacement with something not designed to fail as soon as the warranty expires.
VGAs and DVIs had bolts on both sides of the connectors.. good old times
Good point, i guess now its all about reducing the lifespan of the product in order to sell more and fund innovation.
Yeah, hence the "they dont made them like they use to".
DP has some teeth integrated
@@MrJerrycocoetzee...fund innovations, destoying the enviroment, filling the landfill with electronic waste. If innovations price is this, I believe that they cannot be called innovetions...regards from Italy.
They were tru-hole, or at least had some serious pads and holding mount. Screws don't matter. USB-C on the other hand is good for mobile phones and stuff like that, not monitors, where you have plenty of space
My company actually uses the LG 5K monitors for our Graphic Designers. We haven't had any fail yet and We've been using them for roughly 4 years or so.. Maybe closer to 5. We have probably 12 or so people that use them.
My goodness, that area was absolutely falling apart. Valuable information Alex, thanx for sharing 👍
This MF is a scammer. Don't reply.
The ONLY fix for LG to avoid this is to mount the external connectors on a separate secure mounted daughter I/O board via a high density cable connector similar to those used in mobile phones/tablets. That way a cheap replacement I/O board could be designed with right angle ports and enable repairs or replacement without scrapping the entire device.
Class action could be considered if this is more than 10% failure rate.
Amazing! Most shops would not be so honest in revealing a flawed product in this way because it might reduce customers with this defect. You guys have a rare quality called integrity... Good on you. Cheers!
At the end of the day, a repaired item nets more money for repair shops. It would make no sense for him to not mention this.
@@WardenOfTerra I believe they mean that revealing a flawed product like this means they might get less people to buy the product which in turn would be less people coming in to have it repaired because they don't have it in the first place
@@josephleichtnam836 True, but in this case the issue is it can't be repaired. They get no joy from charging a diagnostic fee and putting time into a board only to have to tell a customer, sorry, can't be fixed. I mean that's the real issue here. It's not that they need repair so frequently, which is itself an issue... It's really that it can't be fixed, which makes the customer angry at the messenger when the root issue is the manufacturer and poor product engineering.
I had this monitor. It definitely lasted me more than 2 years, but it still had other problems. The LG panels used in this monitor are highly prone to image retention issues after about 1 year.
For that kind of an issue; i've had luck with getting a separate input component and just solder jumper wires and gluing the connector straight ontu the case, (not the nicest fix but it works to fix a monitor)
I've had my UltraFine 5K monitor since the day it came out. Works perfectly fine after all these years.
I have an LG 27 5k ultrafine that I purchased in Dec 2016 - it still works. It was standing on my desk and the input cable did not move much for most of the time. For the last 2 years it is mounted on a Vesa mount arm and the input cable is held firmly to that arm, so does not move. I suppose this is why my monitor did not fail (yet). It did have some intermittent flickering but very rarely.
I have the same. My LG 5k Ultrafine has 8700 hours (according to the information panel); Its been on a monitor arm nearly its whole life with the same cable plugged and routed through the wiring holders. The connector sees little movement and since I have Mac Minis (now the m1 version) connected, has never provided power. 4+ years no issues.
I've got two of these monitors, purchased in April of 2017.
One monitor is still functioning "normally", the other monitor has a few rows of bad pixels on the lower third of the screen.
Both screens suffer from Image retention, usually noticed when a bright object has been on the screen for a few minutes and you switch to a dark screen.
I suspect the reason I have been free of the problems outlined in the video is both monitors are on a monitor arm and all cables are wire tied to the stand limiting any movement on the connector.
So many repairs featured here are for broken connectors and the lesson for users is clear. Treat these connectors with extreme care, minimise the number of connects/disconnects, push/pull the plugs at right-angles, use the minimum force required to make/break the connection.
Good points yes, but like I said my initial post. Use an extension lead and only use that for swapping. A magnet connector would also be a good idea.
Agree. I've had lots of HDMI gear and never, ever, once ripped out an HDMI connector. Not even sure how TO do that. Yet it's apparently one of the most common repairs, so regular people must be dragging their game consoles behind cars or something. Treated properly, no HDMI should ever yank out. Same with the endless broken Asus battery connector. I'm glad it keeps Alex employed but how people break this stuff is baffling.
hotglue the connector to the plastic housing of the monitor itself and run a tiny little extension cable epoxied into the connector so it never comes out, but even then most normies aren't going to take the time to be careful and gently remove connectors or take care of their stuff, most people will always be rough with their devices. it's only those who mechanically understand and appreciate the process involved in looking after your things won't have any issues. we do live in a modern society where things aren't built to last anymore, which is a shame when some elderly folks have a microwave / fridge freezer from the 1970s that still works today
@@LatitudeSky I have witnessed a few incidents where HDMI connectors were ripped out. It always involved parties with alcoholic beverages in the cases that I saw.
No Mark the lessons is for companies not to make something that is obviously going to start failing after a year.
I own several of these monitors and at one time or another I had to send them all back to LG for repair. Fortunately they were all covered under warranty and all repaired within a few days back to me. I love these monitors and have used them for many years without issue after the initial port replacement.
b/c they replaced the board lol
My LG monitor failed after 11 years, but I bought an LG OLED TV now and I'm wondering how long it will last. Great channel. I used to put radio kits together with my dad in the 1970's, and I was able to solder my remote for my garage after changing the battery after 20 years, and it being corroded. (Still worked though). The 9 volt battery socket had 2 wires, one of which pulled out of the solder. But I got the old solder kit out and put it back together. The replacement would have cost me $400 dollars because they didn't make this older model, and would have had to replace the whole electronic system.
Alex I love watching you work and hearing you tell it how it is, you are one of the best personalities on YT. Keep it up!
Yes, extended warranties are the way to go with something like this. If there is a failure, that warranty basically means that you will get a new board, which further acknowledges that the manufacturer made a mistake in the design, they can't fix it themselves and it's easier to replace the whole board over one small error in design judgement.
My guess is if and when you turn that in for the "extended warranty" they are going to say that is abuse and not cover it anyway. Very common on electronics if it is something like this.
I really like your style, very straightforward and confident. You clearly have a lot of talent and experience. You are a great teacher, and you make great videos. Thank you sir.
I have 2 of them and got them both used. Been going strong for 2 years since I got them. I just plug it in once and don't touch it, no problem. I'm also not a jackass and twisting the cable around.
I own a computer repair business here in Tampa Florida. I just purchased a few items from your store! I love that you have a huge selection of different items.
A simple fix would be to buy a extension lead. And only use the extension lead for swapping.
A magnet connector would also extend the life.
Agreed I always use a short extension lead in this sort of case, but it only works if you do it from new!
how about not using cheap ass solution to critical component on the board? you can see cold through hole solder joints for that connector, so most likely the whole series of them boards are bad, that mechanical linkage of the case of the connector starts moving when the solder fails and that then leads to ripped off pads, to be honest - this should be factory recall, that board costs maybe 40-50$ to LG, it should have been offered as a free upgrade to a 1000++$ device, it is ridiculous how bad the designs are for some of this expensive equipment, and morons are buying them because the monthly lease payment is small
the whole design/manufacturing chain is broken these days, at the same time they are touting that we must reduce carbon footprint and what not, while them themselves are the sole reason for all the expensive garbage in the landfills
I was thinking the same thing 🙂. This is a solution for every board that is used constantly for plug/unplug.
Yes I agree. But we should be able to use a device without worrying about plugging a lead in and out in all fairness.
It's not a cheap monitor....!
This is what I do on games consoles that I wish to swap in and out of the TV. If the 20cm hdmi extender breaks, then it's just a case of buy another, rather than wear and tear on the port itself.
Here in Bulgaria we got a very simple solution. Right after buying we fill hole area of connector with solder mask. Its realy helps. Greetings!
A 200mm usb-c male to usb-c female cable would fix that issue if people tend to move the monitor often. And add a small support on the back of the monitor that holds the small extension cable.
LG has to reconcider its disign in the first place.
@@ericewaldklaver fully agree but for those that still buy it, have it and working could use this cheap solution to prevent an "Hiroshima" under the connector 😀
Still can't imagined why people want to move a 27 inch monitor around. Moving a 23 inch is already a hassle.
Adding support so it can't be tugged is the best suggestion. User probably tried to walk away with a connected laptop or something.
@Drone OUT Good idea 👍
But, how would anyone know to do it? When they buy a new monitor, they just use it they way it came. 99% + wouldn't even know or think to do it. Only tech savvy people (that watch this) would know about the problem. Then they would just avoid buying it. 😉
Since you asked - I’ve had this monitor since 2018.
Apart from a case where I bent a thunderbolt cable in the port because I hadn’t left enough slack in my monitor arm, this display has had zero issues. I keep wanting to “upgrade” it but can’t justify it because it just keeps working and few monitors surpass it.
In the zoomed in part at 3:53 looks like the soldering on the large left support leg was cracked as well. So my guess is that if you plug this thing in too much it will loosen / crack the soldering which eventually severs the connections.
Excellent advice for both buyers and shop owners. When you are in business for yourself you have to always consider time spent.
Why do people feel the need to plug and unplug the monitor so frequently? I purchased a 1440k monitor like 5 years ago and I don't think I've ever unplugged it a single time. Just leave the cable connected to the monitor always to avoid causing this issue. Unplug the thunderbolt cable from the device end, not from the monitor. But, at this price point, there should definitely be more than one input for sure
I was blinded by your channel last week until I remembered to open my eyes... Thank goodness and bless you...
if you have that monitor you could just get a usb c male to USB c female cable, so you don't have to keep plugging it and unplugging it from that fragile port on the board.
Read my mind👍
All Depends on the Customers Experience with New Technology Systems
I just can't understand why someone would connect and disconnect a 27" monitor all the time... Usually a monitor is something that is standing, you connect it once and that is it.
that was still repairable, a lot of work to do it but repairable (some similar ripped pads were on ps5 and xbox videos) ... I think the customer would want to pay more for the repair rather than buying another monitor. Also the video was a good lesson for those who want to buy that model.
Reparaible pins but next he had to fix the motherboard
I would cut the traces from one of the working ports. And the us enamel wires form broken port to other port. It's a bit jank.. but it worked
Alex: You just saved my cousin 800 bucks, he was dead set on this monitor and they are on sale. I told him that there are better monitors out there but he said this one was 5k and ultrafine for his business as photographer. I just send him this. I think the traces break because of the heat that is coming through that thunderbolt 3 connector as it provides, I believe up to 94 watts to the laptop to have it charged. That is the main problem, as I see it. Way too much heat going through that little connector softening the connectors. Also the cable provided by LG is too short as a lot of the newer macbooks only have ports on the left. Also this monitor is able to turn into portrait mode which, again, puts enormous pull on the port. I think this monitor is indeed something to be very careful with, almost baby it.
Maybe it's worthy to leave a permanent short extension USB cable attached to the connector and plug/unplug the devices from there.
Great idea. Best fix award.
Yes. A daughter board or a custom board that can be connected using lvts or flex cable.
@@BigEightiesNewWave It's just a way to avoid damaging the port, not a fix. If you leave a permanent cable, the USB won't be mistreated nor plug/unplug abused.
I think the answer is to just leave the cable plugged in all the time, and attach it to the monitor slightly away from the port so that it cannot move
What about the heat?
My wife use to work at a call center and she always told friends and family to "Stay away from LG"! LG should be ashamed of themselves. Alex, thank you for teaching the technical side of why to stay away. I look forward to each and every video. Your integrity shows through at all times. Thank you. Greetings from Ontario Canada
My 22” LG monitor died after 12 years now. My 27” monitors have been going for seven years now. Not one dead pixel or problem, used every day. These were fairly cheap monitors as well.
I own an LG monitor and is wonderful. It's 4 or 5 years old and it didn't have any problem at all. Apart from some LG produscts do you care to say something about some certain ASUS laptops, certain HP laptops who effectively had literally half of the air admission path covered by a piece of plastic or about some certain Macbook Pros? Everybody makes products which are really bad for customers.
LG at it again. Just found your channel, big fan from what I've seen. Inspiring me to get better at soldering :)
meanwhile their entry-level ultrawide is serving me since 2016... ridiculous
i'm using dell monitor from 2013 still working fine as today.
there is a slight yellowing at the 4 corner but it is only visible when in max brightness and on plain white screen.
i wonder why they stopped doing phones.... lol
@@onomatopoeia162003: Probably because you and I only ones buying them 😉.
I also have first 21.5" model. It was the smallest 4K monitor on the market at the time. Contrary to the perception that pro monitors are rugged, this should be treated like a baby. Originally, Apple was going to hand over the Mac monitor business to LG, but LG's monitors were so flawed that it sparked Apple's decision to return to the monitor business. Aside from all the flaws, the screen quality is superb.
An extension chord may solve the problem......as one end is always remain constant in that port which is very weak ,it doesn't move .......we can use the other end for frequent attaching and removing.......
I'll be super scared working on that board blowing from the back because the amount of small caps and diodes, and resistors from there.... And thanks for the advice, I'm coming to avoid that monitor.
Please repair more monitors. I also had an ultra wide from Philips, 34 inch which failed exactly after 2 years from when I first powered it on. Of course, no warranty was provided.
It's such a waste to cheap out on properly supported connectors like this. Hopefully LG will get such a hit on their image to never do it again, but I'm not holding my breath.
I've got a 500 euro 24" panel from HP 13 years ago and it's still working perfectly. The 23" dell next to it was half that and 12 years okd and still working!
I have older monitors that are working still, even a 14" crt, needed recapping but after that still works perfectly after 30+ years.
I do not think the connectors are cheaply designed, and they seem to have proper support. The one to blame for is the user.
idiotic design by LG.
I love repairing, it's my passion, i watch and like your each and every videos. You doing a great job. Absolutely amazing,i have few simple tools i wish i have tools like you,but
Couldn't the extension cord be soldered instead of the socket? maybe it doesn't look good but it maybe works.
Apparently heat could be the issue. The same connector delivers power too.
I'm rocking an LG34GN850 for almost 3 years now, haven't got any problem with it(yet), I hope it lasts me a long time✌️
Here in india we get warranty for 3 years on monitors. But I'm not sure if port damage is considered misuse and is not covered by warranty.
If so let show the Lg what customers think about their doings.Only one input port for monitor that cost 1300$ are you kidding me??
I don't think manufactures give warranty on ripped circuit board traces.
why i am reading this comment with an indian accent LOL
The tracks were not coming off the board before he pulled on that connector.
Some pads were probably broken beforehand, but he did the bulk of the damage there...
On the current generation of Apple products they use a small custom USB-C daughter board that connects through a custom cable to the motherboard. Every port can be replaced should it fail mechanically. They know exactly that this stuff fails all the time.
There should be a standard for that.
They now standardized 40V 5A power and 80gbit/s data transfers and DisplayPort 2.0 through those USB-C connectors. This will get even more insane.
Are you serious? They may have that thing in their sleeve, but apple is bad i how it designs his board. They are designed to fails as soon as an idea of liquid come in contact with them 😅
Maybe they become liquid nitrogen cooled tomorrow?😁
and they say usb-c is the future connector 😂
@@graealex : It does not matter how stable the connector is soldered to the board, if the connector itself is an electro mechanical weakness from the very beginning. A usb c port is such weakness, 20 fine pins hold together by one ABS slab 0.6mm thick, mantled by a 0.2mm thick steel or aluminium pipe pressed in form, meant for thousands of plug in, unplug occurrences. It feels like the gadget industry is blindly retro evolving to the atari 5200 days where one cable was meant to deliver power as well as video signaling. Its a stupid design, prone to completely render a device functionless and useless all together. A standard or custom power connector for power, a standard or custom data connector for data, anything else is outright anti consumer. If you look at industrial design or more filigrane intermediate server side stuff, you will not find a single such thing having only 1 multi purpose connector. Heck, those things even come with two power supplies for redundancy, a multitude of service nics and a boatload of other useful features. You will not find a filigrane 20pin connector responsible for delivering power, input data and user interface and those devices usually see much less handling!
@@vaualbus I mean even if you don't like Apple you can give them credit when they do something right.
I bought a Dell ultrasharp in 2005, it lasted until 2012, I bought another dell after that, still going in 2022. Spend the extra money on a good monitor.
These faults have been going on for a while. I built my previous PC in 2012 and got "the best" monitor for it at the time. Of course it was an LG and of course by "the best", they meant picture quality. They did not tell me I will have to get a new monitor in two years. If they did, I wouldn't have wasted a third of my build budget on POS monitor like that. My local repair guy didn't even touch it even though they specialized in monitor repair. They said it's a chip issue and those cannot be fixed...
LG are usually pretty solid but this is a massive oversight in quality!
When you heated from the back of the board to reflow the connector how do you avoid sending the components on the back of the board (c129 for example) to the ninth dimension?
The surface tension of the molten solder is usually enough to hold the components in place.
Why the need to constantly remove the cable and plug it back in? if you need to do that for whatever reason, I suggest using a short thunderbolt cable and leave that attached to the TV. This way you are not constantly pulling on the MB connector and damaging it like you see in this video.
So disappointed you didn't repair the connector pads. The other approach is don't connect and remove the type-C connector repeatedly. Connect & disconnect it at the Computer end and hopefully this won't happen. Looks like they need a more robust connector than the one they chose. Lead-free probably doesn't help either.
A PC monitor is not designed to be subject to user abuse. Unless it is some kind of military screen, it shouldn't have to windstand frequent cable connect/disconnect. If it had cracked solder joints, I would blame LG, but not in this case.
The Thunderbolt cable/plug on these monitors need to be braced (it's a poor design to begin with). I use zip tie mounts and secure them with double sided tape. Then leave some slack on the cable and secure it to the monitors so any movement in the cable does not transfer to the plug.
The constant tugging and downward force applied to the plug is what is causing the socket to fail and pull away from the pad.
Anyone who still has this monitor and is working, do this now.
My idea is to build an flex extension cable - and the USB-C/THB connector shoud be put outside - of course that could be very time consuming job - but prevent future mechanical shock. Anyway thx Alex to share your experience! The new Microscope is superb!
I am not sure if a male pcb mount Thunderbolt connector is available.
@@gordonwelcher9598 I think about seperating the female connector off the board. So any tension could be not connected with signal pads...Just give any Noble prize who invented this LG board and THB sockets!
Mine lasts 3 years already and it's fine. Ultra fine.
Great work as always! I noticed you were heating from the opposite end of the board where there were a few small capacitors. Will those small capacitors not 'fall off' with gravity once heated?
I thought it would be possible to do some creative workaround here but these broken pads are the super speed differential pairs. You can not mess to much with the length of these tracks as it would then mess up the signal timing. There are some less useful signals in the Thunderbolt USB-C pinout that could be skipped but you cant be without the high speed data carriers.
Maybe the super speed tracks could be glued back?
What about all those little surface-mounted components on the board, right where you applied the heat? If you're applying enough heat to the underside to melt solder on the top side of the board, wouldn't it also melt the solder holding all of those parts as well? And since that's the underside of the board, wouldn't they then just fall off as the solder melts?
What about them?
The surface tension of the solder will keep them in place as long as you dont blow them off with the hot air gun.
I've had my lg ultrafine 5k forever, my company bought it for me. Still works just fine. more than two years 🤷♂
great video alex ....you can tell the companies that build these things are very inferior its only because they want more money for less always the customer suffers its annoying and very unfair ...
Unfortunately all manufacturers are becoming like this greedy, and sly.
But I thought they cared about climate change and saving the planet 🤣
That's the problem with small ports, sure the cable is smaller and thinner but it sacrifices durability.
You can move the cable for VGA, DVI and Displayports and it's not gonna mess up the port.
Atleast old monitors have 2 inputs like vga and Dvi-d. Usb-c apparently is the ONLY future connector now. Prev monitor connector designs are big bc connector were tend to be mishandled. The smd upright connector design is flawed from the start. Other than convenience to plug-in stuff which will lead to this kind of damage.
It is the same with the move to USB-C for charging too.
How long will it last over a few years with the constant abuse/stress of plugging.
I fixed that board recently, I took off one of the extra ports and replaced the main one with it since its unobtainium, customer was happy.
Thx Alex, very sad for all that waste.
Does anyone know if there are such things as class action lawsuits for poor design?
Well, that's it then. I have two of these monitors and one of them just failed, right on cue. I purchased it in Jan 2022. I'm not even going to bother trying to get it fixed. I wonder how long the second one will last as It is less than a year old. I purchased the second one because I wanted a twin-display for software development business. For a while it was very nice and improved my productivity. That's the last LG product I'll ever purchase.
Very sad =( What this needs is a small PCB (like the PS4 HDMI Patch PCB by Andrew Paul) - ie, something you can solder in place above the vias and traces, solder on easily. Then fit a different type of thunderbolt connector onto that (one that's easier to mount maybe...). If its a common fault it might be worth the time to design a small PCB for this. Certainly if this screen is $1300!
Nice to know that, thank you :) But here in Bulgaria LG monitors usually have 3 years base warranty and you can add 1 or 2 years more.
In Bulgaria only the LG monitors have 3 years standard warranty or all electronic devices? In Romania the standard warranty for any electronic device is a minimum of 2 years over which you can buy extra 1 or 2 years of warranty but only from some stores. Also in Romania, some appliances(washing machines, freezers, etc) manufacturers gives you 5 years warranty from go but in this case you cannot buy extra warranty, and in some rare cases manufacturers like Samsung and LG have 10 years warranty on some appliances components, like the motor of some washing machines.
@@ryutenmen I think Bulgaria and Romania shouldn't be diferrent because of European Union laws... And that's what I said for this monitor is based on what I saw in a local shop website :)
It seems that manufacturers have forgotten the basics of design when it comes to customer accessible connectors: If it can be broken, it will get broken. The solution is to strengthen how the connectors are anchored to a board or even better have them on a breakout board or as standalone component anchored to the case of the product. Of course, this will increase manufacturing time and costs but the long-term savings for the manufacturer, consumer and planet are huge.
They know exactly what they are doing... ☹
@@Tomigrabi yep, they don't give a crap about the planet, all they want is money.
Even if you buy an extended warranty, they will most likely say that this does not fall under the conditions of the warranty since the connector has been broken loose due to abusive use during cable removal. If you really need to have this specific monitor, your best warranty is to have an extension cable taped taped or fixed with cable tie to the base of the monitor and you will connect your main cable to the extension extension cable to significantly reduce the amount of cable removals from the monitor connector.
It's a thermal problem most of the time not mechanical.
I really wanted to see Alex attempt to fix these pads, I know he is one of the only guys who can actually do this job.
Right. I believe that Alex could have fixed that based on that Xbox video just a few days ago.
I think there's a couple of guys at RossmannRepair that could as well, but i suspect they wouldn't be having a fun job of it.
Damn I just threw one out yesterday and this channel popped up in my suggestions
The precision probes are EXCELLENT! I must confess I was a bit shocked when I first received them at the size of the handles, how small they were. But what was I expecting? They are micro probes!! They do look much larger in your videos however. 😏
that's what she said😅
Interesting. I have had this monitor for 4+ years and its still going strong. However, there is an issue with the thunderbolt port, the connector does not go in far enough to make a secure connection so if the monitor or cable gets knocked the connection is lost briefly. It works fine as long as you don't touch it.
One good solution will be to solder directly a cable and secure it to the board with glue :))))
No pads to solder too
You should fix it .. I didn't believe that this video was deemed as no fix .you are the number one California Micro-solder surgeon..people are relying on your skills and experience in this field.
I connect and disconnect the cable from my monitor maybe once or twice in its lifetime. I don't think it's an issue for most users.
It's an issue for me
@@ashleyjaytanna1953 get a usb-c male to usb-c female cable then, or a hub, or one of those magnetic usb-c end adapters. anything to prevent you from having to plug in / out of an expensive device.
Sometimes it's hard to tell user error from manufacturer defects. If the pads were coming off due to the heat produced from day to day use regardless of repeated unplug/plugging or some other defect in manufacturing causing those pads/traces to come off over time then this is something that the manufacturer should be responsible for fixing in their QA. Considering that the port was still in-tact and the support soldering joints aren't broken when it came into the shop for a fix, I would suspect this isn't user error that caused the pads under the port to come off and it is a design/manufacturing issue.
@@moonmoonbh Given the port case was bent, I'm 50/50, it looks like its had lot flex but not enough to break the larger connections. I agree LG has cheaped out though, there should be 4 inputs and ideally they wouldn't all be usb c either.
I know nothing about electronics, but man, your videos are interesting as heck.
LG has always had the nickname in the industry as Lucky if it Goes...
First time I'm hearing of this.
@@ashleyjaytanna1953 Hi Ashlry, we say it a lot in Australia as LG used to be a company called Goldstair and it was the crappiest Electronic devices you could get...
Lucky Goldstar is where LG comes from.
If it was my monitor, I would cut open a thunderbolt cable and solder individual wires directly to the traces. It need not be soldered right at the connector pads, that would be mighty difficult. But the traces travel elsewhere so I would scratch the solder mask and solder the wire there.
Just one USB C input! Really?!
2:08 I noticed when you push that second pin underneath the HDMI port it moved I am using 120-in screen with a projector and I could see that pin move when you tapped on it the first one didn't move the second one did
Im pretty sure the engineers at LG intentionally made this monitor to last a few years. Well how else are they gonna get money. 💸
All manufacturers try to this "trick" of planned obsolescence and they try to hide it as best as possible. Its the quintessential of business, aka capitalism.
I had heaps of problems trying to get those connectors, only found one source in China, nightmare to reflow, mine didn't have the tab in front of the pins but it was still near impossible to access them. I feel your pain
Modif to external port conector 🙏
Yes. He should do this.
still... its lots of works.
@@Veruzax I think so
Why are they not returning this for an RMA?
Big fan from Sweden, your videos are therapy for me haha 💙💙✊
Own A SoniQ 201740" Even O/clocked it from 60mhz to 110Mhz 1080p -2022 Still bright as new kept clean & pc
my 5k Ultra is from March 2019 still works perfectly fine.
Do you move often usb..main reason is usb c is not to strong for too much stress..just put and leave...or use small extensions cable usb c
My brother was about to ditch his old LaCie and buy one of those LG monitors.
Not going to now he's seen this.
I wonder what one he should go for. Took him a long time to choose and now he has to start over.
Love the channel and I take notes on the items not to purchase and share those on my Facebook channel. Like.. Never buy an Asus laptop. Now I have a new item to add... An LG 27" Ultrafine 5k Monitor.
my lg monitor from 2 years ago is still going strong. 1440p 144hz its the lg gn850 . it was around $500
looking at my 65" LG 4k....hmmmm....bet trace issues would explain the intermittent load crackle when using internal or when wired to a sound bar....optical still works....problem started at about 14 months of use....
Have had mine for about 5 years, no issues.
Straight from the horse's mouth.
Thanks for your service to the Community Alex.
I have one of these myself, luckily we have strong consumer protections here in Australia as two mainboards have broken in the first 2 years of owning this monitor. I don't think they are designed to withstand the heat of the high throughput generated from a thunderbolt cable that is also charging what's plugged into it.
I'm convinced the LG 38wn95c also has a thunderbolt issue, heaps of reports online but nothing official.
I've got an original LG 5k Ultrafine here which is now in its 4th year, but I always leave the same cable attached at the monitor end and only plug / unplug at the laptop end.
I bought mine in 2016 still works.
you can add resin to strengthen the port maybe.