Panasonic TV won't power up

I had a Panasonic that did this after a static discharge upon manually turning off. It fixed itself only after I left it unplugged for a short while.

Smitty Two wrote in news:prestwhich- snipped-for-privacy@newsfarm.iad.highwinds-media.com:

electrolytic caps;bad ESR. look for discolored or swollen caps,and a ESR meter would be very handy. a DMM isn't much use for checking caps with bad ESR.

Buy your GF a new tv.

Agreed. Also look for bad joints on the field output chip.

Arfa

I think your last paragraph says it all. The TV is 19 years old. IF you knew what values of caps were used in the power supply secondary you could replace the lot and have a good chance of fixing it. Without that information it is unlikely you would be able to fix it in a weekend.

A few hours spent perusing your local Craigslist's electronics section will likely turn up a newer, working TV for little more than the cost of repairing the Panasonic. Ideally, this would leave time for other, more pleasant passtimes. Such as watching the WNBA playoffs.

I'm of two minds about upgrading to LCD at this time. I recently purchased a new Sony 19" LCD tv. The retailer provided a 5 year warranty. I think it very unlikely the TV will last 5 years. In another 5 years I am confident a more reliable set will be available for less money.

PlainBill

snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

I just picked up,from the trash,a 13" TV built in 1989,and it runs great. I use it with one of my ATSC converters. I also had a "recycled" 1986 12" TV that had a great CRT pic,but the cold solder joints became too much a problem,so I replaced it with the 13."

Yes, well, your response was voted "Best Choice" by the Usenet Inquiry Response Evaluation Committee, otherwise known as my girlfriend.

Thanks to all for your suggestions. The TV is working. I intentionally waited several days to post this follow-up, and the problem has not reappeared. Since it wasn't intermittent before, I'm reasonably sure the problem isn't going to resurface.

However, it would be a little inaccurate to say that I "repaired" it. I did blow 18 years worth of accumulated dust out of it, and remarked to her at the time that I thought there was a 50/50 chance that that might be all it needed.

While I had the back off, I inspected the board topside for any bulging caps or other visual signs of component problems. And I pulled the board out far enough to check the solder side thoroughly for any cracked joints. Finding no visual problems, I decided that it was either going to work or not, but that's about all the time it was worth.

So I lucked out on the 50/50 bet and it cost me little time and no money to be the hero again.

Good luck - but this only suggests to me that yours is an intermittent problem - bound to recur.

Mark Z.

FWIW, it's now been two months with no recurrence. The TV is used at least twice daily.