Phillips 27" Dead after 4 months

Alex: A television "not turning on" can be a "common problem" with ANY electronic device.... just like "my car doesn't start" is certainly a common problem and fault with any automobile. The diagnosed faults could be something simple like a blown fuse to a more complex and costly repair involving expensive parts and labor..... and everything in-between. If you or someone you know has any relevant technical experience and electronics knowledge along with the proper test equipment, tools and parts.... this is something that can obviously be diagnosed and repaired but first the back will have to come off and some initial and basic technical troubleshooting and component testing will need to be performed. For additional repair & saftey information you should visit the website for this newsgroup at

Plan to spend some search time there.... lots of useful information including important SAFETY information that will help you to stay away from dangerous and lethal electrical shock hazards inside your television... note that there hazards can still be present even when the television is unplugged from the AC power. If after looking over the website you are still not certain how to proceed you would be best advised to TAKE your television to a qualified service shop for at the very least a repair cost estimate so that you can make an intelligent repair decision with facts instead of internet or telephone wild guesses. Since the television is only one month out of it's 90 day warranty have you contacted Phillips to see if they will do anything about the problem? ? ? That would be my first thought. electricitym .

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Alex wrote:

Since I heard this is a common failure with this unit, just thought I'd ask around before I jump in.

Alex: BEFORE you "jump in" you might re-consider my previous suggestion about contacting Philips.... since it is only 4 months old maybe they will cut you a break.... certainly worth the phone call. electricitym

I've seen a LOT of recent Philips TVs with bad degaussing thermistors. They come in dead with a blown line fuse. If you replace the fuse it degausses very loudly and blows the new fuse. The sets run fine with the degaussing coil unplugged. Replacing the degaussing thermistor seems to cure the problem. I suspect the theirmistor isn't increasing in resistance fast enough with temperature. Has anyone else seen this? Is there anything official from Philips? Andy Cuffe

snipped-for-privacy@psu.edu

That could still be in warranty.

Do you have a chassis number? Then do a google search on that. Normally this could be any number of problems.

--
Met vriendelijke groet,

   Maarten Bakker.

where are you based? in the Uk, things like tvs have a 3 YEAR no quibble warranty from most the big stores. you say you got 4 months???!!! that's downright robbery! I'd call the shop you got it from , or failing that, trading standards or your local consumer rights people, as the unit clearly is not 'of merchantable quality'.

-B.

Phillips has graciously conceded to pay for parts...I pay for labor.

No thanks!!

Thanks, Met. I will give that a try also.

I'm with you...but many electronics sold here(USA) have 90 full coverage, up to 1 year - You pay labor.

Doesn't say much for confidence in their product!

Thanks, Andy. That sounds exactly like this problem. The fuse is blown.

I'll replace the fuse, unplug the degassing coil and give it a go. I'll let you know how it went.

Just in case...got a spec or part number for that thermistor?

Alex

Chassis: LU04.1U AA Nothing found with Google.

But see my response to Andy.

damn right! I thought the states was supposed to be the land where the customer is king, capitalism par excellence blah blah.....what a hose job! Although in the Uk, after about a month if you have a problem, I think you have to put up with repair or replacement rather than a straight refund. In any case, I've read that the Sale Of Goods Act covers you for up to 5 years, a consumer law above and beyond the shop or manufacturer guarantee, so with that in mind most shops treat you well since they don't want to be taken to court over some product. They usually just exchange to avoid the hassle. At least thats been my experience....maybe you should 'lobby congress' (or whatever is usually done stateside) to bring in something like that ! ;-)

Anyway, in the mean time, power the set with the PTC removed, see what happens. B.

Well, B. I guess it has been this way here for some time and there doesn't seem too much concern over such a deal. That's how those "Extended warranties" are sold. It will likely remain so until our trash dump fills up with throw-away products. This TV cost me $200 new... the repair cost was quoted as "about" $130 (Sight un-seen). Think this may be a common problem???

I would toss it out before repairing it for over 75% of the cost.

In any case, it appears to be functioning just fine with a new fuse. I bought a package and decided to see if it would blow without removing anything. It has been running for 5-6 hours solid and I did try powering it off and on several times since that would be when surge current would be high... Still works. Defective fuse?? Doubt it. Hate when that happens. After hearing Andy's findings and having found basically the same story from a Google search, I decided that the thermistor may be on the hairy edge of functioning so I'll buy a replacement to have on hand. When the fuse blows again I'll replace fuse and thermistor and go from there.

No doubt it will blow as soon as I put the cover back on! :-)

Appreciate all the help guys!

Thanks, Alex

Alex,

I repair those Philips and your is one of those models under that Philips' bulletins and there are 3 bulletins for that chassis to increase reliablity and to repair one that failed as well. It is common failures till Philips put the corrective actions into production with changes to components parts.

You merely just replaced a fuse which we don't do until the problem is repaired or done according to the bulletins.

Need to take care of all 3 bulletins. Your shop that quoted you sounds they're not famillar with recent philips stuff. Take the TV to shop that is philips authorized servicer and philips should able to authorize the bulletins.

Next time, do not buy anything from stores that does not have 1 year warranty especially on electronics over $200.

Not just Philips, other makers had bulletins as well, they only take place if there's bulletins to perform when product is in for repairs for any reason.

Cheers, Wizard

Alex: Fuses do "wear out" ....... unless they are blown and all black inside, which may indicate a serious short or fault in the circuitry, a fuse can simply open up due to fatigue of the fuse element. If the replacement 4 AMP SLOW BLOW fuse soon blows again then I would be looking at some of the repair suggestions given to you by the other reply posts. You can also go to the website for this newsgroup at

for more repair and troubleshooting suggestions including IMPORTANT safety information when working on your television. electricitym . .

This bugger is still going...so far. So I am applying the well known rule: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".

Thanks, Alex

Hummmm.

One wonders what those bulletins say...............