Sony TV Red Light Blinking 5 Times? Here’s How to Fix It

Last Updated: March 17, 2023 / By

Compared to more technically complex devices such as computers and mobile phones, we can consider televisions to be relatively simple in nature, making it less likely to experience an issue related to your TV as opposed to the many problems that are possible to encounter when using a computer or a mobile phone.

On the other hand, this is not to say that televisions are entirely free from technical troubles, as even though the chance that you experience an issue with your TV is usually relatively low, you will most likely come across situations where your TV fails to work as intended now and then, requiring you to troubleshoot the issue at hand.

In today’s article, we will be talking about a certain issue that you can face as the owner of a Sony TV, in particular, where the TV refuses to power on, and the red standby light blinks five times to indicate that the TV is having a problem that prevents it from operating as intended.

So, how can you fix a Sony TV with a red light that blinks five times?

Below, you can find the solutions we recommend applying to fix the issue of your Sony TV’s red light blinking five times:

  • Soft reset your Sony TV.
  • Remove all connected devices from your Sony TV.
  • Prevent your Sony TV from overheating.
  • Hard reset (factory reset) your Sony TV.
  • Maintain (or replace) the affected hardware component.

In the following sections of the article, we will be diving deeper into each of the solutions that we have mentioned above to fix a Sony TV with a red light that blinks five times and discuss the factors that can contribute to the occurrence of this problem.

Sony TV Red Light Blinking 5 Times – Troubleshooting Guide

There is no denying that seeing your TV responding with a blinking red light instead of powering on, as usual, can be a bit of a nightmare scenario, as it’s practically impossible to know what’s going on with the TV or what to do to fix it in that exact moment.

Below, you can find all the solutions we recommend applying in the case where your Sony TV’s red (standby) light is blinking five times, with each solution separated into its individual sub-section, in which you can find a detailed guide that will help you apply the solution and explanation about how this particular solution can be helpful to fix the problem.

Soft Reset Your Sony TV

Soft resetting your Sony TV is a straightforward fix that can be helpful to quickly resolve minor software bugs and get your TV back in working condition, which is definitely worth a try considering how quickly you can apply it.

Below, you can find a step-by-step guide that you can follow to soft reset your Sony TV:

  1. Turn your Sony TV off.
  2. Unplug your Sony TV from power.
  3. Wait for a minute or two while the TV is still unplugged.
  4. Plug your Sony TV back into power.
  5. Turn your Sony TV on by pressing the power button on the TV.

While the exact location of the power button can vary between different Sony TV models, it’s usually located at the bottom of the front side or somewhere at the back side.

Remove All Connected Devices From Your Sony TV

As connected devices, whether it’s a gaming console or a streaming device, can sometimes be the culprit behind your Sony TV acting up, removing all these devices and powering your TV on can sometimes be helpful to resolve problems.

For this solution, we highly recommend removing every single external device from your Sony TV, regardless of how they are connected, whether it’s through the HDMI, USB, composite, or optical ports, only leaving the power cable plugged in.

Once you remove all the external devices, we highly recommend another soft reset before you try powering on your Sony TV as usual and see if the issue is resolved.

Prevent Your Sony TV From Overheating

Overheating is an issue that can easily prevent your Sony TV from operating as intended, which makes it vital to ensure that you’re taking the necessary steps to allow all the components in your TV to maintain a stable temperature where they won’t malfunction.

Below, you can find our recommendations for reducing the likelihood that your Sony TV overheats during regular use:

  • Place your Sony TV in a well-ventilated room where there is a consistent flow of cold (room temperature or colder) air.
  • Place your Sony TV in a spot that will allow it to have enough space around it for air to circulate, with no immediate blockages that can prevent the air from going in and out.
  • Avoid placing your Sony TV next to other electronic devices, whether it’s a gaming console or a standard power adapter, as such devices generate heat and increase the temperature of the air that flows around the TV.
  • Clean the air vents of your Sony TV frequently, especially if the television is placed in a room that is more prone to collect dust quickly.

If your Sony TV works for a bit when you turn it on for the first time in the day after it has been off for a while and starts blinking when you have used it for some time in the day, it’s usually a strong indication of overheating problems.

Hard Reset (Factory Reset) Your Sony TV

A factory reset is usually the go-to solution when everything else fails, as this process resets the software of your Sony TV to the factory default state where it was working without any problems, fixing a considerable portion of major software errors.

Below, you can find a step-by-step guide that you can follow to factory reset your Sony TV:

  1. Turn your Sony TV off.
  2. Unplug your Sony TV from power.
  3. Simultaneously press and hold the Power button and the Volume Down button (if it exists) on your Sony TV, and plug the television back into power without letting go of the button(s).
  4. Keep holding the buttons until a white or green (depending on the model of the TV) LED comes on near the Sony logo on the front of the TV. Start over if the LED doesn’t come on after a minute.
  5. Release the button once you see the LED come on, and wait for the factory reset process to conclude.

If the process was a success, your Sony TV should restart twice and then power on. In cases where the TV doesn’t automatically power on after the restarts, you can power it on manually by pressing the Power button on the TV.

Please be aware that factory resetting will permanently erase all custom data on your Sony TV, meaning that you will have to go through the initial setup process that initially appeared when you first purchased your TV and turned it on.

Maintain (Or Replace) The Affected Hardware Component

In cases where even a factory reset cannot solve the problem at hand, it’s highly unlikely that the problem is software related, meaning that it becomes necessary to dive into the hardware.

While we can’t give any direct instructions for this solution due to there being so many distinct types of hardware failures that require different approaches, you can find a guide that will allow you to locate the malfunctioning hardware component in the next section.

We recommend applying this solution at your own risk, as disassembling your TV will void its warranty, and procedures such as replacing a hardware component and re-assembling the TV will require a certain degree of technical expertise to conduct successfully.

What Causes the Red Light to Blink 5 Times on a Sony TV?

Even though the blinking of the red light doesn’t exactly say a whole lot about the nature of the problem by itself, you will find that the number of blinks actually conveys a very valuable piece of information once you have a list of blink codes and their meanings at hand.

Below, you can find a step-by-step guide that will allow you to see the meanings of the blink codes and find out what caused the red light of your Sony TV to blink five times in your case:

  1. Power your Sony TV off.
  2. Press the following buttons in quick succession to bring up the service menu: Display -> 5 -> Volume Up -> Power. If done right, a blue screen should appear on your Sony TV.
  3. Navigate to the “Self Diagnosis” or “Self Check” section of the service menu.

Following the steps above, you will see a table with the following columns in order from left to right:

  • Blink Code
  • Error Code
  • Error History (3 columns)
  • Error Count

To locate the failing component(s), start by looking at the Error Count column (rightmost), and note down the error codes where the Error Count shows more than 0 (000).

When you have the error codes at hand, look for the service manual that belongs to your Sony TV online, and find the appropriate section that corresponds to the error code you have noted, which will give you information about the failing component and how it’s failing.

Finally, it’s also worth noting that this process will allow you to verify the blink code you have been observing, as the blink code next to the failing component should show 005 in this case, indicating five blinks of the red light.

While it’s not exactly possible to tell the factor that caused the particular hardware component to malfunction and lead to the occurrence of the problem that you’re having, isolating the hardware component that’s creating the issue will give you the necessary information to apply the suitable fix.

Conclusion

While the combination of your Sony TV’s screen not coming on and its standby light blinking does, without a doubt, indicate something is wrong with your television, it can sometimes be possible to fix this problem at home and avoid having to send your television in for repair.

Here is a quick summary of the fixes that we recommend applying in the case of your Sony TV’s red light blinking five times:

  • Soft reset your Sony TV to resolve any minor software bugs potentially creating the problem.
  • Remove all connected devices from your Sony TV to rule out the possibility of external devices creating the problem.
  • Place your Sony TV in an appropriate spot that provides adequate airflow and prevents overheating.
  • Hard reset your Sony TV to resolve the more major software bugs that can contribute to the issue.
  • Maintain or replace the affected hardware component to ensure that the hardware is in working order.

On the other hand, as it’s also entirely possible for the issue to be caused by a hardware problem, which would require the disassembly of the TV, the location of the problematic part, and its replacement or repair, there can be cases where the solutions we have mentioned above may not work.