studebaker hawk wrote:
First of all, I'm new here and I have to tell you experienced folks my
knowledge of household and automotive electronics is pretty darn good
but with these newfangled electronics, it's what you'd call rather
limited. You know, as in the tube technology stuff my dad taught me.
Now that you folks have all had a good laugh, I need some post stone
age experience.

I have a Sanyo DS31580 tv that took ill. It starts up but the picture
immediately flashes approximately two times a second which is
accompanied by a snapping sound through the audio. I don't think this
is "motorboating", or at least it doesn't sound like the motorboating
of old tube type receivers. Yeah, I know, another laugh. The volume
of the snapping sound is in direct relation to how high you have the
sound turned up. After running a bit I can hear the flyback
transformer whine for a bit and then quiet down. After several minutes
of operation, the flashing and snapping increases in tempo to
approximately four times a second. I've removed the little circuit
board on the back of picture tube and the snapping sound continues, so
I don't the tube has fizzled out. I can't see any visible signs of
burnt components or arcing on the board or flyback transformer and the
whole works has suprisingly little dust. My profound ignorance makes
me think it's a high voltage problem but I leave that up to your more
experienced minds. I know you can use refrigerants to cool down
individual components to see if they're running hot and would that be
applicable here? Since the flashing increases in speed, foolishness
leads me to believe something is getting warmed up but don't ask me
what. Maybe it's just my frustration at my ignorance that's warming
things up.

Any of you good folks out there have any suggestions as to what to
check and how to check it? Remember now, you might describe what these
components look like because I still have a box of resistors that are as
big as a cigarrette butt and not these little gnat sized jobs. I really
hate to pay some guy $60 just to bring the set into his shop and let it
collect dust for months while he uses it for a table eat his lunch off
of. I think they must charge storage on them also........ The other
thing is there's very little I can't do other than sing or swim and I
hate to be foiled by some dinky little Chinese made "thing". Thanks in
advance!






I fixed a Sony with this problem, it was arcing within the focus block
on the flyback.