The control panel is supposed to be replaced as a module. The ribbon
cable will be difficult to reliably fix. It is replaced together with
the panel.

There are worn caps in the power supply and the scan circuits, that are
causing the faults you are describing.

As for the sound problem, this is probably a component(s) that are
failing in the sound demodulator area, or in a sound sage that is after
the demodulator, that is before the switching circuits that select the
input devices. The tech is going to have the proper test equipment, and
service information, and knowledge to know how to find this one. This
type of fault can be complex to find.

The white screen problem can be from a number of things. Considering
the age of your set, I would not rule out that the picture tube is
starting to fail. The other faults that can cause this may be in the
brightness control circuits, blanking circuits, or in the video drive
circuits. The CRT would be much too expensive to replace, even if you
could find one. I believe it is no longer available, as like many other
parts in this model.

Considering the faults on this set, and the description of the person
who is working on the set, I would have brought it to the Panasonic
authorized factory service.

Another thing, is that if the man is not well, he must be a single
independent technician since your set is not being properly looked
after since he has been off from work.

Also, considering what you have described here, in consideration the
age of the set, I would be seriously thinking of a new set rather than
trying to service it. There is nothing saying that after it is
serviced, that other parts will soon fail. You may get locked in to a
situation where you put a lot of money in to the set, and you will be
in a position where you will need parts to service again, that are no
longer available.

When a set is about 5 to 6 years old, I would say if it needs service,
I would be very cautious about how much I would invest in to it.

To be fair,I would pay the man for his work, and scrap the set, or tell
him to dispose of it for you. You can then go out and buy a new set,
and have a new warranty for a reasonable period of time. The new set
will out perform the old one that you have. Both Panasonic and Sony
have excellent sets for a reasonable cost.

Jerry G.
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