This is a weird one. Our 5-6 year old Hitachi 27-inch TV just turned off all of the sudden this morning... and will not turn back on. This happened about six weeks ago. I couldn't figure it out. Tried everything. Unplugged it... Changed outlets. Tested the outlet, etc etc. Nothing. So finally, I figured "ok, time to get a new TV (not a bad thing, actually.. plus its just the bedroom one). So I disconected everything (DirecTivo, receiver, etc etc), and sat it on the ground. Then, just for sh*ts and grins, I plugged it into another outlet (which I had previously tried!) and voila, it was back! No problems until this morning, when it did it again. Any suggestions? Is this a death rattle? The thing is in a tv armoire, so it is really a pain to get it in and out and get all the connections set up, so I don't feel like going through this again if instead someone can tell me what is going on! Thanks in advance, Frank
This often happens to receivers when a speaker wire has a few strands of copper that "bridges" between the terminals. This is a direct short that draws lots of current. Lots of current causes heat. This causes the receiver to go into "overload" or "protect" mode - shutting off to prevent more damage/fire. How hot is your TV getting in the Armoire? Does it have external speaker connections that might be shorted? (Remember to check BOTH ends of the wires). It may also be a cracked circuit trace somewhere so when the TV is cool, it works fine. But when the unit heats up, the small expansion on the circuit boards makes the crack expand into a break.
Bob - Thanks for the suggestion... but I don't think it is the case here. The only connections going to the TV itself are: SVideo to DirecTivo unit Audio outs to receiver We've noticed, on occassion, that we get a "static-y" sound from the TV speakers (even though the sound from the TV is turned complete off, as we listen through the receiver)... so I'm wondering perhaps if what is happening is something to do with static electricity/dust? I really don't know. But when I got home tonight and plugged it back in, it was fine. Oh, and temperature wise, the set is as cool as any other TV I've had. I've not noticed a thing. But I'll pay more attention.
I can't add to Bob's excellent assessment, Frank. But from the get-go, after you mentioned how the set is positioned in such close quarters, overheating came to my mind as well.
