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It’s super frustrating when your TCL Roku TV gets stuck on the red screen with the logo and nothing you try seems to work, I know.
This can either have an external cause from the Roku service, a software cause or a hardware cause, but it’s difficult to know which without some further investigation.
I’ll guide you through this investigation below, and if you follow each step in order, then I’m sure we can get your TCL Roku TV working again.
TCL Roku TV Stuck on Red Screen
You should reset your TCL Roku TV if it’s stuck on the red screen by unplugging it, holding down the power button for 15 seconds, then plugging your TV back in after waiting a further 30 minutes.
It’s also possible that the Roku service is down, which can cause some models of TCL Roku TV to get stuck on the logo screen, or for the main board to have a failure. The latter is the most common reason if you are also see your TCL TV’s power light blinking.
I’ll go through each of the possible fixes below in more detail, so that you can get your TV back up and running again.
1. Check The Roku Service Is Up
Particularly if you are using a new TCL Roku TV straight out of the box, you need to make sure that the Roku service is live for your TV to work.
Some Roku owners have reported that their TV gets stuck on the red screen, even for older TVs, if it cannot access the Roku servers.
Check if the Roku service is currently up and running at Down Detector or a similar website.
2. Power Cycle your TCL Roku TV
Although this might seem a basic step, power cycling your TV is often the best way to fix your TCL Roku TV.
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.
To reset your TCL Roku TV:
- 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 30 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 light if you have been successful.
Make sure you do wait for the full 30 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.
Most people will now have their TV fixed and back up and running, but if your TCL Roku TV is still not working properly, then we’ll move onto the next step.
3. Restart Your TCL Roku TV Via Remote
Resetting your TV and remote can help resolve any issues, and with the Roku Voice remote this doesn’t require you to go through any on-screen menus.
On your remote, restart your TV using the button combination: Home – press 5 times; Up Arrow – press once; Rewind – press 2 times; Fast Forward – press 2 times.
Your TCL Roku TV should then restart, and hopefully will not get stuck on the red screen.
You can also run a system restart from the menu.
To restart a TCL Roku TV:
- Go to the Home screen.
- Then Settings.
- And System.
- Then Power.
- System restart.
- And click Restart.
4. Check Your TV’s Power Supply
When your TV isn’t working properly, you naturally jump to thinking that there must be a fault within your TV itself.
Actually, the fault is often within your household power supply, or more specifically within the surge protector or smart plug that your TV is plugged into.
So, 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 TCL 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 TCL logo).
- See if the power light is solid. If so, this means your TV is getting sufficient voltage.
- If your TCL TV’s light is blinking 5, 6, 10 times or more, then repeat these steps with another wall socket to confirm your household electricity supply isn’t a problem.
Also make sure to look at your power cord, checking there are no knots or kinks that could have damaged the internal copper wires and that could be affecting electricity transmission.
If you’re still stuck on the red screen, then you can move onto the next step.
5. Hard Reset Your TCL Roku TV
Roku TVs can be reset via menu option or usually also with a recessed button somewhere on the case.
Look on the back or sides of your TV for a hole with the word Reset written above or next to it, probably next to your I/O ports.
Switch your TV on, so that you see the red screen, then hold down the Reset button until you see the light on the front of the TV flash.
This is the same as performing a factory reset and should get your TV working again normally.
Check out this video for an example of this in action.
6. Check for Overheating or Main Board Issue
A more serious issue, but one that is still easily fixable at home, is a failure caused by overheating of the internal components.
Switch your TV on and wait for a few minutes. Then, move your hand around the back panel of your TV and see if you can find any hotspots.
If any area is nearly too hot to touch, then you have likely found your overheating chip. Mark this location and we can take a look at it in more detail.
If there are no hotspots, then there could be capacitor damage, which we will also need to take off the back panel to investigate.
To check this, you will need to remove the back panel of your TV, which will invalidate its warranty, so this is only practical for older TVs.
To remove your TV’s back panel:
- Unplug your TV, hold down the power button and wait for at least 30 minutes. There are large capacitors in the power board for the backlight and these can hold charge for an extended period of time.
- Place your TV face down on a large table or workbench. Make sure there is nothing that can scratch the screen on your work surface.
- Ground yourself.
- Open your TV by unscrewing the screws in the backpanel. It should come apart in two pieces: front and back.
- Put the back panel somewhere out of the way and take a look at the circuit boards that have been revealed.
- You will see a T-Con panel for translating the signal into a TV picture, a power board and a main board.
The Timing Control (T-Con) board is a small PCB board that drives your TV’s panel, sending the signal to each pixel row of your screen using internal clocks to keep each row in sync.
The Main Board is a larger PCB where you plug your HDMI and other connectors into. This does a lot of the work of translating the input into signal, which then goes to the T-Con board.
The Power Board is where you plug in your power cable, and which converts your home electricity supply into a voltage and current that your TV can use.
There may also be a number of additional boards, such as a backlight inverter, but these vary between models and shouldn’t be the cause of your TCL Roku TV getting stuck on the logo screen.
If you found a hotspot earlier, find the chip that corresponds with the hotspot’s location. These can be replaced with a soldering iron, but given the difficulty of finding an identical logic chip, you might want to replace the entire board that it is connected to.
Both Power and Main Boards can be replaced for around $30 – 50 from eBay.
To get the correct board, note the Power / Main Board model number written on the label on the board, and put this into eBay. You can also search for the specific chip if you are confident you have identified it.
See how to replace the board in the video below.
If you don’t want to replace the board, you can instead try directing a small fan through the grill of your TV, or even cutting a small hole over the chip and pointing the fan in there.
You can also reduce the brightness of the backlight, as powering this requires a large drain on some of the TV’s chips and so causes a lot of the heat.
If you did not find a hotspot earlier, then look at the capacitors on the power and main boards for signs of bulging or damage. Capacitors are particularly prone to damage if subjected to power surges, and are a very common cause of your TCL Roku TV getting stuck in loop where only the red screen is showing.
If you see any damaged capacitors, they can be easily replaced with a soldering iron and new components costing a few cents each, or by entirely replacing the board.
Check out this video for a good example of doing this at home.
TCL Roku TV Support & Warranty
It goes without saying that if your TV is under one year old, then you should contact TCL customer support to get it replaced under warranty.
You can call TCL directly on:
- 1-877-300-8837 (Mon – Fri, 9am – 12am ET, Sat – Sun, 9am – 6pm ET)
Even if TCL 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.
TCL Roku TV Stuck on Logo: How to Fix
If your TCL Roku TV is stuck on the logo screen, to fix it:
- Check the Roku service is up.
- Power cycle your Roku TV.
- Restart your Roku TV by remote.
- Check your household power supply.
- Hard reset your TCL Roku TV.
- Check for overheating components or main board damage.
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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