WTH just happened ??

[Ken C]

Not a Sage problem but interesting ...

Watching a pre-season football game. ( Did you know a 3 hour+ football game can be watched in about 45 minutes using commercial skip and a 30 second FF )

Anyhow, I hear a 'whump' from the TV and it goes blank. Oops. It won't respond to the remote and the little red power led is blinking, normally it's steady. Hmmm...

This is a six year old Toshiba 4-3 rear projection and, although it would be nice to upgrade to a flatscreen, I really don't want to spend the money right now.

So, pull the TV out and unplug it. Wait a couple of seconds and plug it back in. TV comes on with picture and sound for about 30 seconds and "whump", dead. Repeat this a few times with the same result (what's one definition of insane ?)

The TV is plugged into a surge protector and I notice that both the red and green leds are lit on the protector, no idea what that really means, but probably not good. Remove the surge protector, plug the TV in and all is well.

Has anyone experienced anything similar ? Can a surge protector screw up the voltage ?

I gotta stop buying this stuff at Home Depot ...

[kevine]

Originally Posted by Ken C

Watching a pre-season football game. ( Did you know a 3 hour+ football game can be watched in about 45 minutes using commercial skip and a 30 second FF )

No you can't. Not unless you are only watching 3 quarters. 15 mins/quarter. It would only be possible to do this if you skipped in between plays and why watch the football if you can't watch the fans/commentators/players reactions. IMO anyway.

Sorry I cannot help out with your problem though.

[samgreco]

Yes a surge suppressor can go bad. The varistors in them can only take so many "hits" before the bite the dust. So they could be causing a voltage dip or something.

But if you plug straight into the outlet and the problem goes away, doesn't matter what happened to the surge suppressor. It's just bad

[bcjenkins]

You can watch a football game (in 45 min) if you cut out the huddle time. Clocks a ticking then too.

B

[Menehune]

It could be that a component inside the TV has drifted far enough out of tolerance that a protection circuit activated and put the TV to sleep.

There are a few protection circuits in the high voltage areas that shut down the TV when voltages go too high or too low, but unless you have a service manual and access to parts, I would have a shop look at the TV.

There could be cold solder joints on the circuit boards that may cause problems. Sony TVs are famous for cold solders in the RF tuners and mainboards. Several in our shop have been fixed just by reheating the solder pads.

If you have a Voltmeter and you know how to measure line voltage, you can test the receptacle where the TV is plugged in to see if a high or low line voltage is your problem.

I do not recommend you open the case since I don't know your repair skills, but if you do go poking around inside the TV, please be very careful of the high voltage (30-50kVac) inside.

[Ken C]

Originally Posted by Menehune

It could be that a component inside the TV has drifted far enough out of tolerance that a protection circuit activated and put the TV to sleep.

It appears this is what's occurring. The TV worked until last night when it died again. It wasn't the surge protector. Didn't think a surge protector could cause this type of problem.

Anyhow, maybe this is a good excuse to get a new 1080p widescreen ! Any suggestions for a 50 " ? Is plasma still the way to go ?

Ken C

[Menehune]

Unfortunately I'm too cheap to upgrade my 13" sony CRT at home and work rarely has equipment replacement budgets . I did recently install a 50" Plasma made by LG in a video conferencing room and the PQ is very nice.

Other than the traditional advice of plasmas above 45" and LCDs below 40", I have not kept up with the advances in TVs and display technologies. We mainly installed video projectors in the classrooms at work.