ChrisLazarko

Wierd problem with TV! Please help!

Hey guys, got a 50" Mitsu back from about 1998 here. Beautiful TV and picture still pretty much comes through as if you just bought it. But recently I have been having a problem. For some reason everyone once in a while these wierd lines will go across the screen. Imagine your starting up an old Video Cassette. Right in the beginning you will see a bunch of little fuzzy lines go across and appear then disappear. Now in every input with every device, DVD, VCR, Cable TV, Xbox, PS2, those lines go across no matter what everyone once in a while.

Could someone suggest what is going on or what I should do? And also, if my TV is possibly going, where to pick up another 50" or 60" at a good price. Thank you for any help and replies.

Chris.

ChrisLazarko

By the way, this TV gets turned on an off an average of 7 or 8 times a day with 3 people watching it, and gets a daily use of 6 hours a day. I would say so far this TV has had about 20,000 hours put on it so far, give or take a little.

ChrisLazarko

Anyone? Please post something in reply to this if anyone has any idea.

Steve Berger

How does the Picture in Picture look ? (most of these sets had that feature) I suspect that the small surface mount electrolytic capacitors on the PIP board are leaking . The highly corrosive liquid will eat through the small board and components on it . They can give off a "dead fish" odor also (hence the term "fishcaps" for them). The video signal flows through this board even when not using PIP , that's why I wondered about the PIP function -- it might not work at all or have more distinctive symptoms if the capacitors are the problem. It can be a nasty , expensive , and short lived repair in many cases.

A bad ground on a connected cable or electrical interference (motor noise) could also produce a symptom similar to what you describe. Hard to say from your description.

ChrisLazarko

Well I have checked all my cables and connections and everything in that area is fine. I am not using PIP, it just happens across the whole TV, and it only appears at random times, just out of the blue. It just has a small little blip in maybe 15 or 20 spots across the tv that just show up as if I were getting a bad TV signal then suddenly dissapear wether is be CableTV or DVD, TAPE, whatever.

I am wondering if my TV is suffering severe damage here. This TV is also from 1998 and has been moved about 3 times, 1 time it was bounced around alot but that was 2 years ago. (I wasn't the mover). Thanks for any help.

ChrisLazarko

????

Steve Berger

I'm still wondering what the PIP looks like. ALL the video passes through the PIP board even when it's not being used. If PIP is OK then it's possibly an external interference problem (or even a tuner glitch). If the PIP has problems then it's probably leaking electrolytic capacitors.