Can you guys help me troubleshoot my set?I'm trying to figure out if it's worth fixing or not.

It's a 27" Panasonic Flat screen that's around 10 years old. A few months back, it started showing some fine horizontal white lines on the top of the picture and we just got used to it. Well this morning we turned it on and ther was no picture. Sound yes, picture no. I switched it on and off a few times, but all I could get was a thin horizontal line of color in the center. I flicked through some channels, and could hear the tuner changing, but no real picture.

So what do you guys think went out here? Tube shot? Just an adjustment? some bad electronics somewhere? We thought it may have been residual smoke damage from the fire, but the adjuster doesn't find that too likely. I checked out prices on sets today at work, and I could pick up something for around the cost of a couple hours service charges plus parts, so I'm not going to drop big coin on getting it fixed if it's a major issue, like the tube.

Any and all help, as always, is appreciated!

You have a PM!!

Probably lost some caps in the vertical, is about the right age. Look for swolen caps or ones where the sleve has shrunk from excessive heat - may have caused the vertical IC to go bye bye,

It sounds like some caps in the vertical circuit were failing which eventually caused the vertical IC to fail. This is a common problem and should be worth fixing, or getting fixed.

easy fix and common on these sets.
look for a chip amp with a la or an number.replace it and the caps near it.
might be a fusable resitor open too.

Thanks to all that helped me out so far :thmbsp:

Now here's the problem. I checked out new sets at work and the price has really dropped on TV in the last few years. I can get a new Philips 27" for $190 or a Toshiba 32" for $300, so I'm wondering if I shouldn't go that route.

My busted set is a Panasonic 27" flat screen, CT-27SF from 1993: we paid $600 for it back then. I really don't want to spring for a bigger screen or an HDTV yet, our family room is only 17' x 11' and I have preteen kids; I really don't need to see HDTV Nickeleodeon, etc.

Have modern sets advanced so much that the newer, much less expensive sets outperform my 11 year old set? I know they aren't flat screens, but it seems to me that they may serve me reasonably well. It just doesn't make sense to spend half or more of what a new set would cost to get the old one fixed, unless the old one is markedly "better". You guys know a whole lot more about these things than I do, so any help here would be great.

TIA, Andy

The older Panasonics are GREAT televisions. The tubes tend to last forever. For $10 to $20 max in parts it will be fixed. We can help. New TV's are junk. I haven't seen a solidly built one since 2000. You've got one of the last good Panasonic sets in my opinion. You WON'T get that kind of reliablity out of a new TV. And when you're in there look at all the power resistor solder connection, they like need to be resoldered. Also the horizontal driver transfomer. When those connections go it takes out the output transistor. Send me a model number I likely have a service manual or something close.

Devoid:

Well, I lugged it into the local shop today. They said $95, so I said OK. I'll call them and give them the info and have them do the work for me.

FYI, we bought the set because of my wifes' old Panasonic 13". She got it over 30 years ago and it still has a great picture on it!

ANDYMAN, check this out; http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?p=283931#post283931
Dave.