Which Trinitron?

[radiotvnut]

I don't know how much help I'll be; but, here are my observations:

I don't think there were any Trinitrons bigger than a 19" in the '70's. Most were fairly reliable except for those models that used a device called a gate controlled switch in the horizontal deflection circuit. This device was prone to failure and cost out the butt to replace.

Sony came out with a 26" set in the early '80's that should be avoided because the CRT (710AB22, IIRC) was not reliable at all. After that set, Sony's got pretty good during the '80's. I've still seen plenty of weak CRT's on the '80's Sony's; but, not as many as I've seen on the newer models. I'm currently watching an '85 Sony that was a repair shop reject about 6 years ago. I replaced the bridge rectifier in it when I got it and, for some reason, had to do the same thing a couple of weeks ago. Other than that, it's been a great TV.

Sony's from the '90's started going downhill. There was a sound decoder board that was a common failure in the early '90's sets and the mid to late '90's sets were prone to power supply failure due to poor soldering in the horizontal output circuit. I've seen more than a few flyback transformer failures on the later '90's models. Lastly, weak CRT's tend to be more common on the '90's era sets. The '90's era Sony's have circuitry that will blank the video if the CRT becomes a little weak. Some will just blank the screen and others will flash on and off.

I really don't care for the newer Sony's manufactured in the last few years. Flyback transformer and CRT failures are more common, as well as other "odd ball" problems. Overall, they "cheaped out" on the quality but they didn't "cheap out" on the price!

So, if I were looking for a larger screen Sony, I'd try to find one from the mid to late '80's. Whatever you get, check out the picture before you buy. With the color control turned down, you should have a B&W picture. Also, the picture should be sharp and there should not be any color "bleeding". If there is tinting in the B&W picture, color bleeding, and overall lack of sharpness, the CRT is likely weak and should be avoided. If the picture is slightly tinted and there is no bleeding or lack of detail, there are adjustments inside the set that can be made to give you a B&W picture. If you get a '90's era Sony, it might be a good idea to resolder (or have resoldered) all the connections that tend to take out the power supply.