EXCLUSIVE: LG Moves To Fix OLED TVs That Overheat & Have The Potential To Burn A House Down

They swore the problem was only limited to LG Electronics OLED TVs in South Korea, now evidence has emerged that Australian OLED TVs are need an extensive upgrade to fix an overheating problem that could cause a fire in a home similar to the problem Samsung Australia had with their washing machines in 2019 that saw parts of houses burnt down, it led to one of the biggest appliance recalls in Australia.

ChannelNews has been told that customers in Australia are now getting service demand messages to their TV’s titled LG Electronics Free OLED TV Power Board Replacement.

The message goes on to claim that ‘Your OLED TV is part of the LG Electronics free power board replacement service to address a fault potentially affecting a limited range of OLED TV models”.

The message goes on to say that “The fault may cause the power board to overheat and fail”.

Customers who have contacted the LG Electronics service centre are being asked whether their TVs are getting “hot”. They are also asked whether customers have experienced any “heating problems” with their OLED TV.

Currently LG Electronics is offering free repairs to owners of 18 different OLED TV models released between February 2016 and September 2019.

The estimated 60,000 affected models even include premium models such as the 2019 W9 ‘Wallpaper’ series and the 2018 G8s.

The repair involves replacing power boards that have the potential to suffer what LG refers to as ‘current overflow’ as they degrade over time. It’s not clear what the impact of such ‘current overflows’ might be – though LG told one overseas media organisation that to date only “very few models” have actually fallen prey to the overheating issue.

John Archer a UK TV writer who has written for SmartHouse and ChannelNews in the past recently claimed that ‘The fact that LG has decided to get ahead of the problem rather than just reacting to specific failures if and when they happen makes you think its consequences have at least the potential to be quite dramatic’.

LG has established the repair program voluntarily, as a preventative measure; it hasn’t been forced to do so under pressure by any Government or trade body including Product Recall Australia.

LG Electronics who are prolific issuers of press releases even for the most trivial of information has this time failed to issue a press release about the recall.

ChannelNews believes that the models affected include the OLED65E6, OLED65G6, and OLED77G6 from 2016; the OLED65B7, OLED65C7, OLED65E7, OLED65G7, OLED65W7, OLED77G7, and OLED77W7 from 2017; the OLED65G8, OLED65W8, OLED77C8, and OLED77W8 from 2018; and the OLED65W9, OLED77B9, OLED77C9, and OLED77W9.

LG categorically told the Yonhap News Agency in South Korea that “TVs sold overseas are not subject to the repairs”. In response to a follow up question put to it by The Verge, though, LG was less categorical, saying that it was “investigating other markets” for the issue.

I’ve asked LG to confirm information on this recall.

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David Richards

David Richards has been writing about technology for more than 30 years. A former Fleet Street journalist, he wrote the Award Winning Series on the Federated Ships Painters + Dockers Union for the Bulletin that led to a Royal Commission. He is also a Logie Winner for Outstanding Contribution To TV Journalism with a story called The Werribee Affair. In 1997, he built the largest Australian technology media company and prior to that the third largest PR company that became the foundation company for Ogilvy PR. Today he writes about technology and the impact on both business and consumers.