we have a panasonic tc-29v50a colour tv, and there is a problem with the power switch section, the standby light won't come on and operating the switch doesn't work. when we turn the power on at the wall we hear a noise in the set like it is going to turn on but no go.
can anyone give us some idea what this sort of repiar may cost or entail?
our service centre up here wants $66 just to look at it and if we then decide it is too expensive for us we lose the $66.
would it be too much to expect a competent technician to have some idea what it might be or cost without such high up front charges?
tia
len
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** Anyone who says they can based on this info alone is a liar.
** Boo hoo.
** $66 is not an "up front" charge - it is *very modest* fee for examination, diagnosis and quoting. It has to be collected first since folk dump unwanted sets on techs all the time.
I suggest you NEVER go near any lawyer, doctor, accountant or even a vet - they all charge WAY more than TV techs and offer no guarantee of outcomes.
It could be anything - from a simple broken switch or dry joint from about $60 repair fee, to a major failure of power suppy, custom IC's, EHT transformer etc costing $200+
It really isn't much for what is involved. $66 (60+ 6 gst) is really less than what should be charged by such a shop for one hours work, and it may take more time than that to come up with any sort of accurate estimate as to the cost involved here.
In many cases - to diagnose such fault, you virtually have to pretty much fix it !
If you are REALLY worried about this $66 - then go to woolies or such discount store and buy a 34cm portable set with warranty for about $100. They often are there at this price - even with an IR remote control usually.
Read the other 2 posts too - they are spot on.............
Also go out and buy a couple of issues of Silicon Chip magazine - and read "serviceman" section and see just how difficult, time and money consuming many "seemingly simple" repairs actually turn out to be. You would wonder how the hell he makes a living and puts food on the table every week with some of the stuff there that he cops.
Im bloody glad I never decided to pursue a career in consumer TV servicing
I have no idea what you do for a living but I'm certain (unless you are already a tvtech) that you don't spend your day behind a counter offering to work for nothing telling all and sundry the nature of the faults in their appliances!!!!!
I'm happy to offer free advice to you in a forum of this nature as it is considered an interest or hobby forum.
If you bring your tv to my shop you must understand that the doorway you use costs over $1000 per week to keep open. This means I have to make every hour count. The upfront diagnosis fee does two very important things for me at the counter.
It lets me know that you are serious and genuine about having your set repaired.
If you haven't placed a value on your set or aren't prepared to pay a diagnosis fee after having been giving a guestimate (based on your description of the faults) then you get to take the set away without charge and without wasting my time. This then allows me to focus on repairing genuine repair jobs. The racks are a bit less populated but every job on them is a paying job.
I find it amusing in a sad sort of way that employee's wont do
15minutes of overtime without getting paid for it but they all want their local repair guy (tech, mechanic, plumber, whoever) to spend over an hour for nothing.
For a guestimate I'd expect anything from $125 to about the $250 mark depending on the full nature of the problems. If it needed any more than $250 spent on it I'd pull the pin on the job and advise you to get a new set.
I don't recall ever putting a switch in one of these models and I expect yours would also be ok. The noise you hear when you turn the set on at the wall is most likely the degausing circuit working which suggests to me that the mains switch is ok - impossible to know anything certain without examination of course.
What was the picture like before the set stopped? Was it in focus? Were all the colours ok? I have written off a few sets for fautly tubes.
These sets have been around for quite a while and most of the common problems are known in the industry. You may have luck finding a hobbiest or amatuer radio guy willing to have a go for a few stubbies. Have fun. Sam
You may be very lucky and find a business that will give an accurate quote and not charge for it. You also require that the business tell you whether your equipment is in your best financial interest to repair. It would have to be a business that specialises in the product, does a high volume, has highly skilled and motivated staff at all levels, stocks parts in depth and is fully committed to doing the best possible job for the customer at a sensible, yet commercial, price. In addition you require a business that is completely honest at every level and has significant technical contact, through warranty repairs, with the manufacturer of that product. How to find such a business? You might start off by asking the manufacturers service people. They should know their dealers, not just as service centres, but as living breathing individuals. If there is one that stands head and shoulders above the rest, they are often keen to send work in that direction.
I should say that, as the price of replacement electronic items has fallen, the price of spare parts has risen together with labour costs. It is now entirely possible that a business run on such lines may not be financially viable in this increasingly throw-away society. You can only ask.
Remembering that as the actual fault is unknown it is a repairer that wants to stay in business will have to make sure that the quote is high enough to cover a bad scenerio - if it turns out to be an easy fix then the customer loses out.
Because of the time involved in accurate free quoting, it is better to put your faith in guesstimation tempered by experience. This can be less of a gamble than it seems if you have been seeing lots of the same equipment during the warranty period.
I had supposed that the honest repairer would have reduced the cost if the quote turned out to be higher than required. I always did, but I am thinking that I may have been in a small number of like minded individuals. Nothing gets a customers attention more than paying LESS than they were quoted.
If the quote turned out to be lower that was required, that was my loss. Didn't lose on many that way simply because we had done so many during the warranty period, and knew pretty much all the traps you could fall into. Some skill, some luck, and lots of volume!
I always declined to quote or repair butchered equipment.
Bill, I always considered myself as an honest serviceman, and made sure customers knew the difference between a quote and an estimate.
A quote is an agreement to fix the set( or whatever) for x$ - if my quote was too low, then my tough luck. If too high then that is a win for me, that time.
An estimate is just just that - no committment to a fixed sum, just your best honest opinion of what the cost is likely to be, and usually an agreement to let the customer know before they are committed if the end price is found to be considerably higher.
Of course you are right re the guesstimations - mostly we get pretty close based on experience with that particular model with that (apparent) fault.
We are just using a different song sheet to sing almost the same song.
I much preferred to pass the cost reduction of any over-quotes back to the customer. Because we surveyed every customer, we were able to see a very significant return from some of those customers in word of mouth referrals. In short, it was really good for business and I always slept a little better :
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