I've had this nice little Trinitron for a few years now, and it did work perfectly, until it blew its internal fuse. Replacing it had the same thing happen.

If it was tubes, I'd know where to begin - a re-capping would probably cure the problem, but my experience with solid state is virtually zilch. Close inspection in the back doesn't reveal any obvious problems.

Without a circuit diagram, I could still replace the big caps - would this be the way to go? All advice appreciated.

PS the analog TV signal is being switched off in South Australia in early April, and if I can get this one going I'd be using a set-top box and modulator to keep it current.

Cheers from summery SA.

Nice set, I like the design, hope you get it going again soon. I'm not a professional by any means but I can throw my 2 cents in...

Caps might be part of the problem but most likely you have a failed transistor or IC in the power supply or horizontal section. You probably won't get anywhere replacing the big caps.

Can you get your hands on a schematic? If so, go for it. You could also probably stand to go through the small electrolytic caps with an ESR meter and replace those that measure high. (Sony is pretty notorious for electrolytic caps going high ESR in their mid-80s gear.) However, your main problem is probably one or more shorted transistors or ICs...

There are 3 things that generally cause the fuse to blow in a solid state TV set. The first thing is the diodes that make up the bridge rectifier that rectifies the incoming AC voltage. There could be four seperate diodes; or, it could be a bridge rectifier module. Checking these diodes with a DMM or VOM should give you a reading (using the Rx1 scale on a VOM or the diode test function on a DMM) in one direction and an open when you reverse the probes. If you get a reading both ways, the diode is shorted.

The next thing is the voltage regulator or other semiconductor devices in the PS. This regulator may consist of an IC or several individual components.

The third thing is the horizontal output transistor. HOT's usually don't short on their own and they usually short due to either a bad flyback transformer, bad caps in the power supply and/or horizontal drive circuits, or cold solder joints in the horizontal driver/output stage.