TV problem

[newshound]

Panasonic plasma, just under five years old, sounds to me like power supply tripping out when switched on. Blown capacitors?

Amazon (quick response) say speak to Panasonic first.

Panasonic (slow response) say sounds like motherboard, needs to be inspected and they give me the number of a service guy (but not been able to get hold of them yet).

A fair amount of stuff on the web about how to diagnose boards, but arguably obsolete technology so not worth spending much money.

On balance better to whip the back off and poke around, rather than getting a man in? I have some electronics experience, plus DVMs (and an oscilloscope, for that matter).

[Brian Gaff]

Well dried out capacitors are one thing, but Panasonics of that vintage were pretty well made so you need access to diagnostic kit. I don't know if old fashioned service manuals still apply these days when companies were willing to admit common problems did exist. Brian

[Graham.]

The most valuable asset in fixing that sort of fault isn't either of those, it's an ESR meter.

First use your eyes and replace any elecrolytics that have acquired domed tops, If that doesn't work use the ESR meter on all the caps in the PSU in situ with the power off, and the big one after the bridge rectifier carefully discharged.

[pamela]

Why muck about with it if it's still under warranty? If they see you had a go then you're on your own.

If Panasonic are dragging their feet then I would go back to Amazon, even if the warranty isn't with them, to see if they can somehow arrange for a faster response.

[Bob Eager]

Not many TVs have a five year (or even four year) warranty.

[pamela]

It seems Panasonic have sometimes offered a 5 year warranty as a promotion.

Here's a current offer although it's so recent that it doesn't make much difference to the OP.

eng.faq.panasonic.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/10498/p/5/related/1

[John Rumm]

Have a look on the youtube channel norcal715, he has done diagnostics on lots of similar sets.

Yup, checking on the outputs from voltage regulators and buck converters is a good starting place. An ESR meter can also be handy for testing caps.

[Biggles]

I'm surprised that anyone would buy a TV without a 5 year warranty. It's an indication of quality - the vendor (manufacturer or retailer)) knows that it is very unlikely that you will need to claim.

Biggles

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Have a look on Ebay. You can usually buy used but good boards quite cheaply - unless it is a very common fault. Should be worth the punt if you are otherwise happy with the set.

[newshound]

It's way out of warrenty, my "protection" is via SOGA which in England seems to be taken as 6 years for TVs. Plus the fact that Panasonic has a top reputation for reliability, although there do seem to be board problems with the Plasmas.

The question is, whether it is worth faffing around getting a service guy to call, which might cost £70 or more, then paying for a replacement board, then chasing Amazon to get this refunded under SOGA for a machine where another board might die next year. Rather than write off the last year of life (worth about £100), and buy a new one. That's assuming I can't find a quick fix if I have a poke around.

So on balance I think I will probably do that. I have already wasted half an hour on the phone getting this far.

[The Natural Philosopher]

IN these things you have to decide what your time is worth. AND what the cost of running it is.

PLasma looks great but its power hungry, and that puts a strain on the electronics as well as costing money.

By and large electrolytics are the first place to look, and power transistors and diodes the second.

If you cant fix it on 4-6 hours, buy a new one is my inclination, but that's how I value my time

]

[newshound]

Totally agree. Its residual life is worth ~£100, no more than a couple of hours of my time.

[newshound]

Thanks to all for the advice which pretty much supports my feeling that it's worth a quick look. Will report the results.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Some will remember I had a similar problem with a much newer Samsung LED set. Sadly bought from Curry - so only the nominal one year warranty. The PS was very accessible after removing the back - and also easily removable. I checked every single electrolytic with my ESR meter - and every single diode too, and the opto isolator. No fault found.

Eventually bought a used board off Ebay which sorted it. Cost about 35 quid.

With an older set - and one which cooks like a Plasma - there's a much bigger chance it is just a failed cap.

[Mike Tomlinson]

En el artículo , newshound escribió:

Recent reports of Panasonic TVs being unable to decode ITV HD after a change in the way it's broadcast. Panansonic blaming Freesat, Freesat blaming Panasonic, customer caught in the middle. Panasonic advising users to use the SD channel as a fix (!)

May give you some indication of Panasonic's attitude if you have trouble down the line.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Its a reasonable thing to say on both sides.

I have a pana TV and it has irritating faults.

1/. When looking at the program guide, it mutes the sound and removes the picture of the current channel. My Samsung is much better in that it shows a thumbnail and keeps the sound

2/. In the same program guide, The speed of retrieval of information about any given program is slow. About a second, which suggests the set hasn't downloaded it and cached it like any other set does.

3/. The set is unable to keep up with BBC I_player content streamed over the internet. It does the jerk and freeze thing. To be fair I haven't tried i_player since it (the TV) downloaded the latest firmware update.

OTOH the picture and sound quality are excellent.

I am having issues with HD its true, but I put that down to a not very good antenna.

As they affect the samsung as well.

[pamela]

The technical problem is bad enough but Panasonic's attitude is appalling.

Some posters to that page said their Humax was affected too. I wonder if Humax fixed their equipment?

[alan_m]

I subscribe to a group where this was discussed with regards third party software/firmware for a PVR. The split was around 50:50 for muting and not muting audio/video. The adopted solution was to provided both modes of operation by way of a menu option.

[Huge]

Following our foolish (*) purchase of a Panasonic DVR, I will never be buying another Panasonic product ever again, and I recommend everyone else to do likewise, especially after the above.

(* I'm never buying a complex technological product on the basis of on-line reviews ever again. The damn thing is a total piece of shit. I should have manned up and taken it back.)

[Dave Plowman (News)]

My Panasonic - under two years old - shows a thumbnail of the channel and keeps the sound on too when you select the EPG. There is a brief interruption in the sound when selecting the EPG - and cancelling it too - though which annoys.

The actual picture quality of the Panny is far better than the previous Samsung as regards fleshtones and details therein. The Samsung seemed to do a Photoshop job on faces. It also was by far the most difficult set I've ever had to set the picture close to what I'd expect from a broadcast monitor. It appeared to be designed for those who only watch cartoons in bright sunlight. The Panny wasn't a million miles out straight from the box, and easy to adjust.

Panasonic have always been an odd company to deal with - based on Panasonic Broadcast many years ago. Didn't like any design faults pointed out.

Other thing which really annoyed with the Samsung was different picture levels between its own tuner and my Humax HD one - fed HDMI. With no way of correcting this.

The same PVR into the Panny is just fine.