[BliND123]

I have a 54" Samsung PCN5425R with some problems right now, the picture is a little blurry and blue doesn't seem to be showing or something, stuff thats supposed to be blue is more of a greenish color. I have an HTPC I am building which I connected to it to load one of those pictures with the color bars and blue looks black. Also, there are like moving horizontal lines, don't really know how to explain what they look like but they are across the picture.

I was wondering if there was a service mode on this I could safely use to try and fix it on there. The TV is out of warranty and I'm not sure its worth trying to get it repaired somewhere. It is about 5 years old.

Here is a picture I took of it:



And here I found a thread on another forum abou the same TV with one of the same problems:

http://www.techlore.com/forum/thread/16464/Samsung-PCN5425R-54-quot--TV-Strange-Lines/

 

[lcaillo]

You have a very common problem with contaminated coolant.

http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/diy-repair-maintenance/8019-crt-based-rptv-coolant-problems.html

 

[BliND123]

Doesn't sound like something I would be able to fix. Would it be expensive to get it fixed without warranty? Also, what about those lines going across the screen that fade in and out?

 

[lcaillo]

Some people do coolant changes themselves, but it does require a great deal of dissassembly and alignment, and a great deal of care.

The lines look like some kind of interference. Are they on all inputs and channels? Are they there all the time? Generally, solving this kind of problem requires tracking down the source of the problem, which could be internal or external. Not likely something that you could fix in a service menu.

 

[BliND123]

Yeah its on any input and channel, and like I said it fades in and out so I'm not sure its interference from another device around it. I tried to disconnect all other electronics and it was pretty much the same (and I say pretty much because I think it was less often but might have been my imagination).

So any idea how much it could cost to have it fixed by a professional? I have no more warranty.

 

[lcaillo]

I generally charge $225 labor, plus parts for coolant changes, but rates vary greatly, and mine seem to be on the low side nationally. Your lines may be from some aging capacitors in the set, but it is hard to say without being there to test it. Has the set ever been serviced?

 

[BliND123]

Yeah once probably around 2 years ago for convergence problems, was still under warranty at that time, couldn't adjust them from the menu.

 

[lcaillo]

The servicer may not have dressed the wires properly. This is very common and can cause internal interference.

 

[BliND123]

I have another thread here about me making an HTPC and well today I received all the parts and I now have it connected to the TV. It seems that the cloudiness has gotten worse quick, picture didn't look as bad as it did today 2 weeks ago when I connected my PC to it. And I just noticed something else now, there is now a black edge across the top on any input and any channel. Did my HTPC cause it? I have the HTPC connected through the s-video and well, messing with the resolution it was flashing off and on.

 

[lcaillo]

What is a "black edge?" Is the picture shrunk or blanked or is it a line on top of the video? Is it stable or does it vary?

 

[BliND123]

It was as if the picture had been moved down, the picture wasn't shrunk, and the line or whatever it was wasn't moving. But actually this morning it is almost gone, it's not as thick probably like 3/4 inch while yesterday was a full 2 to 2 1/2 inches. Now since there seems to be something wrong with the blue color (actually seems gone and not just cloudy like the others) I was messing with the Green/Red tint and I was noticing that there is a lot of noise when setting it all the way to green while Red has none.

 

[lcaillo]

Could be an aging capacitor o bad solder connection. Just a guess.