Greetings, TV people. My first time here in the TV sections... spend most of my time in the audio boards...

Anyway, my TV is acting funny and I was hoping to get whatever info you can give. I'll probably be calling a repair tech and the more info I have before hand, the better.

Sometimes when I turn it on, the relay clicks (as it always does) and I get sound, can change the channel, etc. but the screen is dead. It fires up most of the time, and the problem seems completely random. Whenever the problem happens, I can leave it on for a few minutes, unplug it for a while, try turning it off and on a few times... no apearent affect. It works whenever it feels like it:dunno:

The TV is a little more than 2 years old. here is the model, BTW:

http://www.rca.com/product/viewdetail/0,2588,PI700676-CI700226,00.html?

Any info, suggestions, what to expect from a repair tech, etc... anything you can tell me will be helpful.

Thanks!

a chassis number would be helpfull.
also usefull to know if it has high voltage and heaters.

Solder joints around the area of the flyback transformer sometimes develop cracks. Try resoldering all the circuit board connections that hold the flyback to the board. Unplug the set first!

Check and see if the CHASSIS number, listed on the back of your set, (This is an rca, ge or proscan, right?), is a ctc203, or an atc113. or a ctc197. if it is ANY of these three, you MUST resolder, not the flyback, but the Horizontal drive transformer,(a small transformer, close to the flyback and horizontal out). and the coil off of it, i think L14401.(both ends of the coil, in fact RCA recommends that you remove the coil, scrape the leads, and then, replace it. It seems that these were installed with a small plastic sleeve left in place, and this caused air bubbles in the solder, which breaks down within a YEAR or so. IF you allow it to continue, it WILL blow the horizontal output, and maybe, the switching regulator, among other things.

Trust me, I do this for a living,and see a lot of these sets. After you do fix that connection problem, those are pretty good sets, with a GOOD crt.

AK members are the coolest people on the net. I'm making a donation.

The chassis number is ATC113CA1. The problem just started this week. My question is, will I blow the horizontal output by leaving it running, or is there danger only when I power it up?

I am not going to attempt to do the soldering myself. Did I read correctly... that both the horizontal drive transformer and the coil must both be removed/cleaned/resoldered? How much should I expect to pay a repairman to come to my house and do this work? How much if I lug this thing to their shop?

thanks sooo much

cheers

shut it down NOW and repair as rca2000 suggested or call someone with experiance to do it.
sometimes these get ugly when they blow up and it WILL.
i see lots of those chassis and the question is when not if it will blow up.

I lugged it to a repair shop this morning. He said he sees this problem often and just like you guys said, it was good not to let it continue. He didn't remove anything, just added solder to a bunch of connections on the bottom of the main board. He said they where barely making contact. He also said it wasn't the horizontal drive transformer, but the horizontal output coil that had the obviously weak connections. Anyway, he added solder to many contact points.

Hope this cures its ills. Thanks so much for sharing your expertice and advice.

cheers!