Having problems with lines across the screen of your RCA TV? You’re in the right place!
Did you settle down for the evening to watch your favorite show, but your RCA TV is displaying some annoying horizontal lines on the screen?
This isn’t normal for your TV, however it does happen from time to time with LCD TVs.
And the good news is that this may be easily fixed with a little troubleshooting at home.
Keep reading to learn how to fix horizontal lines on RCA TV screen.
How To Fix RCA TV With Horizontal Lines On Screen
To fix horizontal lines on the screen of your RCA TV, you need to power cycle the TV and reseat all cables connected to the TV. You may also need to spray air to clean out the back of the TV.
Of course, with a RCA TV still under a valid warranty period, your best option is to call them up and get a replacement.
The standard RCA TV warranty period against defects is just one year.
However, if your TV is no longer under warranty, then below we’ll go into depth on the DIY troubleshooting steps to get this problem fixed on your own.
Step 1: Unplug Television From Outlet
Physically remove the RCA TV plug from your electrical outlet or surge protector.
You must fully remove it from the outlet.
Once removed from the outlet, the plug should remain out until a minimum of 60 seconds pass.
Step 2: Drain Residual Power From The TV
Next you must drain all the residual power from the TV by doing a soft reset.
To do this, you need to press and hold the POWER button on the RCA TV for a total of 30 seconds.
It is important that you are holding the POWER button on the actual television, and not on the remote.
Step 3: Plug The TV Back Into The Power Outlet
After you’ve had the TV unplugged for at least 60 seconds, and held the TV’s POWER button for at least 30 seconds, you are ready to plug the TV back into the outlet.
Just simply plug it back in, upon which you will start to hear the sound of it powering up.
Most of the time, this is all you need to do in order to get the TV screen back to working on your RCA TV.
However, if this didn’t fix it for you, then keep reading for additional solutions.
Step 4: Check The HDMI Connections
If your HDMI cable is lose or dusty, then it can affect the picture on your screen and cause those horizontal lines.
So, you should disconnect all HDMI cables from the TV and inspect the ports and cable connections for any dust or debris (clean with canned air, if needed).
Then, reseat the HDMI cables securely into the TV’s ports.
If that didn’t work, then try changing the HDMI port that you’re using.
And if that doesn’t work, then try a different HDMI cable because they do go bad (this has happened to me several times).
Step 5: Clean With Compressed Air
This step should only be attempted if the TV is no longer under warranty because opening up the back panel of the TV does void your warranty.
If you want to do this step, you need lay the TV down on a blanket and remove the back panel of the TV.
This exposes the internal components of the TV, including the T-CON ribbon cables, which are known to lose connection to the pins as a result of dust buildup.
Once the back panel is off the TV, take care to carefully clean the exposed components with a can of compressed air.
If the horizontal lines on the screen are caused by the pins on the T-CON ribbon cables not having full contact with the connectors, which is a common issue, then this should fix it.
Replace the back panel of the TV once you’re done and connect it to the power outlet to power up and see if the lines are gone.
If that didn’t work, then you may need to do some deeper cleaning.
Step 6: Clean And Reseat T-CON Ribbon Cables
It’s possible that the T-CON ribbon cables are bit dirtier than expected and you need to carefully clean them and reseat them on the board.
For this, you will need a steady hand and be sure to discharge any potential static electricity buildup before touching these fragile TV components.
After removing the back panel of the TV and discharging your static electricity carefully disconnect the T-CON ribbon cables by pulling them up from where connected to the electrical board.
Use a soft, dry clean cloth to wipe the cables clean before securely reconnecting them to the board.
You may also want to use that can of compressed air to clean the connector pins on the board and the cable in case there is some dust buildup.
Replace the back panel of the TV once you’re done and connect it to the power outlet to power up and see if the lines are gone.
If that didn’t work, then you may need to do go all MacGyver on it with some tape (see next step).
Step 7: Use Tape To Fix Partial Horizontal Lines On TV Screen
If you still have those annoying horizontal lines on the screen, but they are only one one side of the screen, then you may be able to MacGyver this whole thing with some tape.
Note that this potential fix only works if the lines are on one side of the screen only.
For this, you will need a steady hand and be sure to discharge any potential static electricity buildup before touching these fragile TV components.
After removing the back panel of the TV and discharging your static electricity carefully disconnect the T-CON ribbon cables by pulling them up from where connected to the electrical board.
You can carefully apply a small piece of tape on the connector pins on the side of the TV where you see the lines to eliminate that specific connection and remove the lines.
This is often a process of elimination where you have to test which connector pins need covered with the tape.
If you are careful, then you can leave the TV connected to the electric outlet and powered on while you attempt this.
If that still doesn’t fix the problem, then it is time to contact RCA TV customer support.
Last Resort: Contacting RCA TV Support
If none of the DIY troubleshooting tips above got the horizontal lines on your RCA TV to disappear, then you’re at the end of the rope.
Yup, you’ve got to contact customer support.
For TVs made under the RCA brand and you can contact their customer support agents at this website.
You can call support at 1-800-968-9853 (excluding major holidays).
The customer support agents are experienced in helping people like you with problems like this.