Hisense TVs with blinking red lights are trying to convey error codes – these are specific signals meant to indicate the type of problem your Hisense TV is struggling with.
- 1 Blink often indicates power supply problems
- 2 Blinks are a sign of minor/limited mainboard issues
- 3 Blinks stand for backlight inverter breakdowns
- 4 Blinks mean that your backlight inverter’s wiring isn’t working
- 5 Blinks, unfortunately, cue serious mainboard malfunctions – unplug your TV ASAP
Kindly note that the guide above is only meant as a general outline of what to expect. There’s a bit of variance between Hisense TV releases, so we’d also recommend getting ahold of the manual your TV came with (or even download it online!).
We’ll teach you everything we know about Hisense TV blinking red lights. If the problem goes outside of our general scope, don’t worry – we’ve thrown in a few pointers on how to proceed beyond that, and even included notes on how to get in touch with Hisense directly!
Dealing With Hisense TV Blinking Red Lights
A General Guideline to Error Codes
While red lights are a common sign of problems for hardware (i.e. Alexa devices), Hisense TVs’ blinking red lights are actually pretty sophisticated – they aren’t just there to indicate a problem but also to highlight the nature of the issue at hand.
Error codes tend to have more than one possible cause behind them, so there’s a bit of overlap between entries. We’ll try to mitigate this by covering the most likely reason for each error code rather than every possible reason for them.
1 Blinking Red Light
A single blinking red light on your Hisense TV is primarily associated with power supply issues – usually shortfalls, meaning your TV isn’t getting enough energy to function.
This error code isn’t encountered too frequently, as power shortages often lead to more pressing signs than simple blinking red lights (i.e. your Hisense TV constantly restarting!).
2 Blinking Red Lights
Two blinking red lights indicate your TV’s main board acting up, though in a much less extreme way than another entry in the list. Think of this more as a “partial” mainboard failure.
There are many intermediaries between your TV’s main board and its LED lights, and any malfunctioning could be the reason for your Hisense TV’s two blinking red lights.
It’s simply too broad to cover in depth with one subheading – though we’ll definitely go over it more expansively in a different, dedicated article.
3 Blinking Red Lights
Three blinking red lights on your Hisense TV are usually a cue for backlight inverter failures.
Your TV’s backlight inverter serves as a voltage booster, supplementing low-voltage outputs to ensure that they reach the threshold your LEDs need to function. This isn’t a standardized procedure, but one that requires careful power regulation for optimal service life.
A backlight inverter problem disrupts the power supply, though in a way your Hisense TV actively screens for it. This makes diagnosing this issue far less ambiguous compared to other error codes and even comes with a distinct three-blink format.
There’s a lot more complexity involved, so we’ll have to save the rest for another article.
4 Blinking Red Lights
Four blinking lights on your Hisense TV means your backlight inverter’s wiring is acting up. The inverter itself should be serviceable, with the culprits in this case being ruined connections, damaged components, or compromised connections in your TV.
It’s a little tricky to differentiate between the earlier causes, so we’ll provide a rough analogy. Three blinks would be like your phone having problems, but four blinking lights probably indicate your charger isn’t working.
It may also indicate issues with your T-Con board, which is the component in your TV responsible for processing video signals for your display. Think of it as the “brain” of your Hisense unit.
Communication between your T-Con board and main board might be impeded by glitches or component failure, potentially causing your Hisense TV’s four-blink error code.
5 Blinking Red Lights
Five blinking red lights on your Hisense TV are typically a sign of serious mainboard failure. The main board is responsible for handling power and communication between components, along with supporting Hisense’s operating system. It’s best envisioned as the “heart” of your TV.
Serious mainboard failure might manifest in different ways like blank displays, audio completely cutting out, screen artifacts/distortions, or even random restarts.
All of these issues can cripple your TV, and you may even encounter a combination of them (or even all of them at once!) if you’re particularly unlucky.
For this reason, you’ll want to unplug your unit and get in touch with a technician the moment you see five blinking red lights on your Hisense TV!
What’s the Best Resource For This?
We’ll be completely honest: everything we mentioned is a general outline for Hisense TV error codes. It won’t always be 100% accurate for your unit, as there’s a ton of variance in Hisense’s TVs – even from models released in the same year. This is the reason why so many Hisense TV error code guides tend to contradict each other!
The instructions we’ve provided earlier are great for most situations, but if they aren’t panning out for yours it might be wise to consult the manual your Hisense TV came with.
Finding the Manual
If you don’t have the manual (or lost it recently), get in touch with your retailer. Most of them are happy to provide free copies for recent purchases, though this varies on a case-by-case basis.
If you can’t do this for your situation (i.e. purchased your Hisense TV secondhand), you could try checking their website for instructions. Input your Hisense TV’s model number on the search bar, then skim the page for the unit’s manual.
Do note that your model may not have a downloadable manual available. Hisense TV pages tend to be quite long, so you could save yourself time checking by keyword searching for the word “download” or “manual”. If nothing pops up, move on to the next step.
Contacting Hisense Support
You can get in touch with Hisense’s support team directly by using this website. Parse through the directory until you find your country’s contact info, then give them a call or send an email.
Make sure to include all relevant information (i.e. TV model, warranty information, date of purchase, number of blinks) to maximize their chance of providing a workable solution. If they can’t figure out specifically why your TV is acting up, they may recommend a replacement unit. Always go for this if offered!
Your goal isn’t to figure out why your Hisense TV has blinking red lights, but how to get rid of them. Even seasoned technicians struggle with identifying specific error codes due to the number of different models in circulation!
