Sony KV-32S45 convergence (1 Viewer)

[Mike Bushroe]

my 32 inch Sony is becoming more badly converged, especially the bottom left corner. Can I re-do the convergence myself, or do you need special equipment/codes? And if it must be proffesionally done, how much will it cost? I saw other posts say $700 for full calibration, but that is nearly the full cost of the set. It is also about 3 years old, so I doubt it is still under warraunty. I am an electrical engineer/programmer, so I have some skills, but I do not even know how to get to a 'service menu' on this set. I am just starting out in home theater, and this is my best set, so I would like to get a clearer picture on it. The convergence is bad enough to make some text un-readable.
Mike

 

[Mike Bushroe]

I was able to perchase a service manual from Sony for $42 (called 1-800-488-7669). With the manual I was able to get into the service menu and made HUGE improvements in the geometery, but there are no software controls one the convergence. Primary converegence is done with the defelection yoke and magnets. To adjust convergence in just one corner they specify using permalloy magnets taped onto the side of the tube. Now I am looking for a source of the permalloy magnets, and taking the set apart to try tweaking the convergence.
Mike

 

[Mike Bushroe]

It took a long time to find the permalloy strips, but I finnaly talked a tech out of a few of his fromthe local Sony service store. He was convinced I would electrocute my self tying it, but gave me the strips, plus the instructions: keep one hand in you pocket, with the other DO NOT touch the anode, or wires on the cathode end of the tube. Actually, I think he didn't want me to touch ANYTHING, just look, even leave the set closed up and call someone.
Well, as you can tell by my writing this, I did not get electrocuted. And, I discovered that removing old strips did more to fix the converegence than adding new ones, although the geometery got worse. That is probably why there were so many before, to fix the geometery. But, I have noticed recently that convergence errors bother me a whole lot more than geometery errors. I see from other posts that some people spend days tweaking until every line is straight, and every box exactly the same size. I guess I am just less sensitive than most, or they already have the convergence nailed and are not ruining it by tweaking the geometery.
And yes, I do begin to feel like I am talking to myself.
Mike