Everytime the weather was humid, my Panasonic TV (CTX - 3 yrs old) wouldn’t turn on. I can hear the TV “clicking” maybe 3 times, it pauses, then it shuts off. On a normal (dry) day, it “clicks” maybe 5 times, and the picture comes on. Recently however, the TV finally wouldn’t turn back on. I brought it into the repair shop, they fixed it, and I brought it home. It rained a couple of days later and the TV wouldn’t turn on again (same “clicking” sounds). I brought it back to the repair shop. It worked till it rained again. Now the TV won’t even turn on when the weather is dry. I’m wondering if I should bring the TV (175 lbs) back to the repair shop (do they know what they’re doing?) and spend more money. I would appreciate any tips/suggestions on what to do!

ds, July 2006

PS. If you think the fault is related to humidity then, the fault would more likely be in high voltage areas of the set. ie. around the cathode ray tube rim, tube base or line output (high voltage supply to crt). They can arc to ground in damp conditions if insulation breaks down. Especially, if the picture should apppear briefly out of focus, before tripping off. Usually, it is easy enough to find the point of breakdown. But again be sure to emphasise to the engineer or whoever takes notes of the fault your reporting that it especially occurs in humid conditions, as it will direct them immediately to take special attention of those high voltage areas. Also, ask for an estimate, as repairs to acring can (but certainly not always) involve expensive components.

Cobweb, July 2006

Intermittent and temperature sensitive faults can be difficult for an engineer to trace. Make sure to they know it is temperature sensitive, as they will then use heating/freezing methods to locate it more quickly, whereas otherwise they may simply be running it on test with their fingers crossed waiting for the fault to occur. Although, maybe it will stay off now and that will make the fault easier to locate.

I had a Panasonic widescreen crt model of about the same age as yours in for repair, with very similar symptoms about a month ago. The fault turned out to be a small diode (type IN4150T) in the 12V relay circuit which was breaking down under temperature. Otherwise, it measured perfectly OK as a diode. Heating and freezing located it.

You paid to have the TV repaired and I'm sure their engineer would prefer to complete the repair to your satisfaction, so take it back and ask them to take another look at it, while reminding them you have already paid a repair bill. If they are a decent company they will look at the final bill fairly.

Cobweb, July 2006