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A Sony TV red light blinking 6 times usually means that you have a backlight or other power issue.
It’s straightforward to fix this at home, without the need for an expensive replacement TV or technician visit.
Because the red light flashing 6 times can have a few different but related causes, there’s a few different possible fixes, all of which I’ve covered in this guide.
Folllow each step to get your TV back up and running again.
Sony TV Red Light Blinking 6 Times
Your Sony TV red light blinking 6 times means that there is a problem with the power board, main board or backlights or inverter of your TV. Check for any burned out capacitors and replace any failed boards.
Power problems are the most usual suspect if your red light is blinking 6 times when you try to turn your Sony TV on.
We’ll go over detailed steps for how to fix this below, starting with the easiest fixes before moving onto hardware fixes if none of those work.
1. Check Your Power Supply
It might seem obvious, but the most common reason why your Sony TV red light is blinking 6 times is because of a household power issue, rather than a problem with the TV itself.
First, you need to confirm that your wall socket is supplying enough power, and there is no interruption of supply during use.
There’s a few methods that you can use:
- Unplug your Sony TV from your wall socket.
- Remove any surge interruptors or smart plugs so that you have a direct line to your wall socket.
- Plug another large device that you know works into the same socket and check that the new device works as normal. (It’s important that this device draws approximately as much power as your TV, to confirm the socket is fully working).
- Remove the other device and plug your TV back into this socket.
- Switch on the power and switch on your TV using the physical power button located somewhere on its case (usually beneath the Sony logo).
- See if the red light is solid. If so, this means your TV is getting sufficient voltage.
- If your Sony TV’s red light is blinking, then repeat these steps with another wall socket to confirm your household electricity supply isn’t a problem.
You also need to confirm that the power cord has no kinks and knots, which can damage the copper wires both mechanically and from increasing the electrical resistance, which generates heat, causing damage that may not necessarily be obvious.
Because of potential damage within the cable that you cannot see due to the protective sheath, it can be a good idea to use a new power cable, if you have one or can borrow one.
Also, be sure to carefully look at the power connector on your TV to confirm that the port is free from corrosion, dirt and dust.
2. Look for Bravia Sync Problems
There’s a strong possibility that a poorly seated cable is automatically switching inputs on your TV, but as it’s not fully connected, it isn’t able to supply a signal and so it looks like your TV isn’t working, with the red standby light flashing 6 times.
This comes down to either a:
- Faulty HDMI cable with a break in it
- Damaged HDMI port with broken pins
- Poor HDMI connection where the cable and connector are not fully making contact
To check your HDMI and other cables:
- Switch off your TV.
- Remove any HDMI or other physical cables connected to the back of your TV.
- If you have any compressed air, use that to clean the contacts both of the cable and in the connector on the TV. If you don’t have compressed air, then blow gently on them.
- Firmly push the cables back into their slots on the TV.
- Switch your TV back on again.
It that hasn’t fixed the problem, then try using a different HDMI input. Most TVs have 3 or 4 HDMI ports.
If you have one that is on a different part of the TV then that would be the best one to try, as it this should have a separate connection to the TV’s main board.
Plug you HDMI cable into the new port, note the number next to it, then choose this HDMI input on your TV, by using the Input or Source button on your TV remote or the Input or Menu button on your TV itself.
You can also try removing all external devices, including those connected by Bluetooth and any coaxial or signal cables, so that the TV only has a power cable going into it.
This is because a flaw with the HDMI-CEC settings can stop your TV coming on properly if you have other devices, particularly games consoles, plugged into your TV.
HDMI-CEC allows two-way communication between your TV and console, allowing your console to switch your TV on automatically.
The problem is that if you do not switch inputs on your TV away from your console’s input before switching off your TV, then your TV will not “listen” to your remote, and will instead just blink its red lights.
Unplugging all cables will temporarily solve this, so if your TV’s red lights are no longer blinking and your TV is working as normal, then try switching off HDMI-CEC before re-instating the cables.
To switch off HDMI-CEC on a Sony TV, look in the Settings -> Watching TV -> External Inputs -> BRAVIA Sync Settings menu for BRAVIA Sync/Link, which is Sony’s name for HDMI-CEC.
3. Check for an In-Progress Update
Before rushing into these, you should first confirm that your Sony TV isn’t running a software update via WiFi or Ethernet.
A red light blinking 6 times with the TV not responding to your remote is a potential sign that it is updating.
This should only last for a few minutes, but if the red light is still blinking after you have waited 10 minutes and tried to turn it on, then it’s possible that the software update has encountered a problem and is stuck in a loop.
In this case, it’s sensible to try to power cycle your Sony TV to reset it.
Resetting your TV will clear out any issues with non-permanent memory and reset your main board without losing your personal settings.
This is quick and painless and won’t cause you to lose any of your saved settings.
- Make sure your TV is switched off and unplug it.
- Hold down the physical power button on the TV for at least 15 seconds.
- Wait for at least 2 minutes for any residual power to drain from the TV’s capacitors (which are capable of storing charge for several minutes).
- Plug your TV back in and try switching it on. You should see a red light if you have been successful.
Make sure you do wait for the full 2 minutes before plugging your TV back in – you would be surpised how long the components within your TV can hold charge, and you want to make sure it has fully reset.
Although this seems a very basic step, don’t overlook it because in the vast majority of cases a simple soft reset fixes most issues.
4. Check Your Sony TV Remote is Sending a Signal
If the red light is blinking 6 times, this means that your TV is receiving power, but there is a chance that it’s not responding to you because your remote isn’t working.
If you are using an IR remote, then confirm that you have a good line of site to your TV.
If you are using an RF remote, confirm that it is connected to the same local network as your TV.
Don’t forget to check the batteries in your remote, replacing the existing ones with brand new batteries if you have no way of checking them.
For IR remotes, it’s possible to check if the remote is working by using your smartphone’s camera.
Simply point the IR transmitter on the end of your remote at your phone’s camera and you will see a red light appear when you press any button on the remote.
This doesn’t work for some cameras though, notably some iPhones, so check with another remote if in doubt about your camera.
5. Sony TV Red Light Blinking 6 Times Reset
You can hard reset an Android or Google Sony TV using only the buttons on the TV itself. This does not work for non Google / Android Sony TVs, and depends on the number of buttons that your TV has.
To hard reset your Sony TV if it only has a power button:
- Unplug your TV.
- Hold down the power button and plug your TV back in.
- Wait for a white light to appear, then release the power button.
- Your TV will now reset itself.
To hard reset your Sony TV if it has a power button and volume buttons:
- Unplug your TV.
- Hold down the power button and volume down button, and plug your TV back in.
- A white light will appear, which will change to green within 30 seconds.
- Release the buttons.
- Your TV will now reset itself.
To hard reset your Sony TV if it has more than three buttons:
- Unplug your TV.
- Hold down the power button and volume down button, and plug your TV back in.
- A white light will appear, which will change to green within 30 seconds.
- Release the buttons.
- Your TV will now restart.
- You now need to navigate to the factory reset menu. Go to Home -> Settings -> Storage & reset -> Factory data reset -> Erase everything and choose Yes.
- Your TV will now reset itself.
6. Look for Component Failure
If you’ve checked external connections, then all that’s left is internal connections, and in particular the main board and/or power board and the backlight.
Your Sony TV red light blinking 6 times is a BL_ERR error code sent from your power board to your main board, which is causing your main board to not allow your TV to come on.
The boards are hidden away inside the case of your TV and can be checked for failure by simply taking your TV’s case apart and using a multimeter to check that voltages are correct across the boards.
You should note that this invalidates your warranty, so if you bought your TV in the last year, then contact Sony to have them fix it.
Out of warranty fixes are likely to run to $200 – $400 to check and replace a main board, but if you do it yourself, you are looking at around $30 – $50 in parts from eBay.
Troubleshooting the main board and power board is easiest to see in video form, so take a look below for the full details on doing this for Sony Bravia TVs.
You want to check for burn marks around any components that are near the backlight power cables on the power board.
The two things that you are looking for are:
- If there is power received by the power socket on the power board, and if all components are receiving power from this.
- No components are showing signs of damage. Particularly look at capacitors as these are prone to swelling after power surges which causes them to fail.
Look for the BL_ERR connector on the cable connecting the power board to the main board and try grounding it.
Even if your can now get your TV to come on, you will almost certainly need to replace the backlights themselves, the backlight inverter or the power board at some point in the near future.
The inverter powers the backlight of your TV by uprating the standard voltage and current of your home supply to the higher levels required by the backlight.
It’s a very small board in most TV models (although in some is integrated onto the power board). Check this board with your voltmeter, and don’t forget to also look at the cable. These boards are only around $10-15 on eBay, so are very cheap to replace if they have failed.
The final thing to check is if your backlight itself has failed.
If the inverter and cable are working normally, with normal voltages shown on your voltmeter, then it’s possible that your backlights themselves need replacing.
Many models of Sony TV will fail to come on with the red light blinking six times if there is a failed individual backlight or backlight strip.
Backlights on modern Sony TVs come in LED strips of varying lengths. Older models used lengths that spanned the entire frame of the TV, but due to cost savings, more recent TVs use a set 16″ LED strip which is connected in series for each row to span your TV.
These cold soldered connectors are a notorious failure point on Sony TVs, but can be easily fixed if you are willing to re-solder a joint yourself.
Equally commonly, the LED backlights themselves can fail. This is due to repeated current over powering, which over time causes thermal degradation of the LEDs leading to burnout.
You can replace any failed LEDs by just removing the entire strip and replacing it.
The problem with fixing the LEDs is that they are located in the most difficult to access part of your TV. So if you are not comfortable with a larger repair job, then now is a good time to seek help from a professional.
You need to remove the back panel, remove all of the circuit boards and connectors, then another layer of screws for the front panel, and only when you have fully removed the LCD panel can you get to the backlights.
You will also need a multimeter or TV backlight tester to test the backlight strips to find out where the problem lies.
Assuming you have followed the steps to check the Power and Main Boards:
- Any wires or ribbons that are near the edge of the TV should be disconnected.
- Then remove the screws around the edge that hold the bezel of the TV.
- With some care, you should be able to remove the bezel, panel and reveal the TV backlight underneath, which will be in strips of LED lights.
- Use a multimeter or TV backlight tester to check whether they are working, and replace any failures.
If you have a Sony Bravia plasma TV, you cannot change the backlights.
In this case, your only option is to ground the error cable which is causing your red light to blink 6 times, although this will only ever be a temporary fix. Follow the steps in the below video to do this.
Sony TV Red Light Blinking 6 Times Repair Cost
If you repair your Sony TV at home using the steps in this guide, then it will cost you between $30 – $80 in parts, plus the cost of your time for a complete repair, with a temporary repair grounding the BL_ERR cable costing only a few minutes of your time.
If you call in a technician, then expect to pay $200+ with older TVs potentially costing more as their parts are harder to source.
Sony TV Support & Warranty
It goes without saying that if your TV is under one year old, then you should contact Sony customer support to get it replaced under warranty.
You can call Sony directly on:
- 239-245-6354 (Mon – Fri, 9am – 9pm ET, Sat – Sun, 10am – 8pm ET)
Or text them on 239-245-6354, or ask for a callback.
Even if Sony won’t fix your TV, they might still offer you a discount off a future model if you pester them hard enough! This is always worth a try in my experience.
Sony TV Red Light Blinking 6 Times: How to Fix
To wrap up, if your Sony TV red light is blinking 6 times, then to fix it you can:
- Check your TV is receiving power by testing your wall sockets.
- Check your TV isn’t running a software update.
- Check your HDMI cables are firmly connected.
- Check your remote is working and has batteries.
- Hard reset your TV.
- Test for power board and backlight failure.
If you haven’t been able to fix your problem using the steps above, then your next port of call should be customer support, who can advise you if they are able to fix it.
If not, then you can try a local TV repair technician, but if they are unable to help, then unfortunately you are most probably looking at having to get a new TV.
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