My old Sony 27" Trinitron turned off while watching it and now it
won't turn back on. Unplugged the TV for several hours, tried again,
still does not work. Verified the AC outlet is working fine. Tried
turning on from both the front panel and the remote -- there is no
response at all, as if the TV is not getting power.

I sensed a slight burning smell when I got close to the TV, but I
can't be sure if it's not just the normal smell of the TV after being
on for several hours.

For a few days leading up to its death, I noticed a slight image
distortion -- a white jagged pattern on the right edge of the screen
running from top to bottom, less than 1 inch wide, slightly thicker in
the middle. I didn't think twice about it at the time; I chalked it up
to RF interference as our cable signal is often noisy. But now I have
a feeling it was foreshadowing the failure.

I am wondering if it pays to try to fix this TV, or if it is time to
toss it. I'd love to keep it if I can get it running for under $100;
it still had a great picture. I've seen the $34 repair kit at
fixyourowntv.com but I'm hesitant to try it unless there's a good
chance it will solve the problem.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated... Please respond via email


--
Dave

DaveR.
The repair kit you mentioned may or may not fix the problem..... installing
a "repair kit" is a shotgun approach to servicing and does not replace step
by step troubleshooting and testing.
Based on the lack of technical details or testing and troubleshooting
results there is no way anyone on the Internet or telephone can tell you
what exactly is faulty and how much it will cost to fix. A tech with test
instruments and repair experience and electronics knowledge will have to
pull the back off the television and proceed with testing and
troubleshooting.
At the very least you should TAKE your television to a service shop for a
repair cost estimate so you can make an intelligent repair decision with
facts instead of Internet wild guesses....... or take you chances and
install the $34 repair kit.
--
Best Regards,
Daniel Sofie
Electronics Supply & Repair
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


"DaveR" wrote in message
...
My old Sony 27" Trinitron turned off while watching it and now it
won't turn back on. Unplugged the TV for several hours, tried again,
still does not work. Verified the AC outlet is working fine. Tried
turning on from both the front panel and the remote -- there is no
response at all, as if the TV is not getting power.

I sensed a slight burning smell when I got close to the TV, but I
can't be sure if it's not just the normal smell of the TV after being
on for several hours.

For a few days leading up to its death, I noticed a slight image
distortion -- a white jagged pattern on the right edge of the screen
running from top to bottom, less than 1 inch wide, slightly thicker in
the middle. I didn't think twice about it at the time; I chalked it up
to RF interference as our cable signal is often noisy. But now I have
a feeling it was foreshadowing the failure.

I am wondering if it pays to try to fix this TV, or if it is time to
toss it. I'd love to keep it if I can get it running for under $100;
it still had a great picture. I've seen the $34 repair kit at
fixyourowntv.com but I'm hesitant to try it unless there's a good
chance it will solve the problem.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated... Please respond via email


--
Dave

You can fix these with that repair kit, but you must find the real
cause of the initial problem. Found mine to be the metal heatsink that
the Horizontal Output Transistor had some fractured solder joints where
it gets mounted to the main bord. Also I removed the Horizontal Driver
Transformer and re-installed it per everyone else's recommendations...

Been working good ever since, but head the advice of nailing the
problem, or it will just happen again.

Bill

Thanks for the advice.

I would gladly take the TV to a service shop if it is likely that the
repair will be less than $100.

But even if the burnt components are replaced, I wonder how much more
life to expect out of this set, since it is nearly 10 years old?

Then again I have a 19" Sony Trinitron that must be at least 20 years
old and it is still going strong...