Zenith TV Mute Won't Disengage

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Hi, I could use the expertise of anyone familiar with this situation.

First, I have a 1999 Zenith 19" Model B19A02D TV, in good working order except for this one glitch, which has now happened for a second time within about four months.

Directly following a sudden cutoff of electricity, when the TV was re-connected, there was no audio.

After fiddling with the remote control, at one point the closed caption text started appearing on the screen, with no resumption of audio, even despite repeatedly pressing the volume buttons (which normally automatically disengages the mute function) and repeatedly pressing the mute button on and off.

I started seeing the closed caption text after pressing the remote button to the setting "C1" which, among other choices, seems to be the only one which activates the text on my TV (or in this area).

BUT the menu option "CC When Mute" is still set at "Off", so there shouldn't be any text appearing at all, even when I deliberately hit the mute button.

Yet there it is, and there is no sound.

The first time this happened, I unplugged the TV set, waited perhaps ten minutes, and plugged it back in, and VOILA, it reset itself, and the volume control worked normally again, with the closed caption text gone.

This time, however, after unplugging the TV set many times, even overnight, and then plugging it back in, no such luck, the mute is stuck and the closed caption text is there instead of audio.

Is it possible that there is any sequence of codes I can enter through the remote, or sequence of pushing buttons, which would reset the audio and shut off the mute?

I have read elsewhere some vague information about a "service mode" on TVs, along with warnings that to enter it without knowing the exact sequence of actions to take will make things possibly irreparably worse than before, but is there some way to safely find out exactly how to either disengage the mute or to generally command the TV to return to its factory settings?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Bob

After repeatedly unplugging the TV set for a while and plugging it back in, the audio has come back on at a decent level--but only some of the time, with the mute re-engaged one of the next times I turn the set on.

Also, touching the volume control buttons either on the TV set or on the remote cuts off the audio and re-engages the mute, requiring another sequence of unplugging and replugging the TV into the electric socket.

If anything, I have established that there is nothing wrong with the speakers on my TV.

Therefore, I am left with asking once again if anyone knows of a sequence of pressing buttons or entering codes which might disengage the mute and allow me to use the volume control buttons again.

Obviously, there is also the possibility that the original disruption of electricity damaged the TV, permanently causing this effect, and I'll accept that if I have to.

But, having gotten the audio back from previously having complete silence, it would be nice to know that I didn't leave any remedy untried.

Thanks for your ideas.

Bob