I have an older 32" Sony Trinitron. When you turn it on you get audio but the screen is black for a good five minutes before the picture comes on. Then every once in a while while are watching the screen will go black for 1/2 mimute then comes back on. What is the problem and is it worth fixing.

Mary, January 2007

another thing could be the tube is on its way out. the AKB circuit is kicking in - very common on sonys. But do get it looked at by a tech, this sort of thing cannot be diagnosed accurately with internet guesswork.

romko, January 2007

Sounds like a tuner related problem. I have repaired several Sony's (amongst others!) with bad solder joints on the tuner.

My fix has been to de-solder the tuner from the mainboard, then remove the shields and inspect for cracked solder joints. This issue has been quite common on tube-type TV's from the 90's; poor soldering quality from the tuner vendors.

If you have electronic experience, this is a simple fix, but not for novices - televisions can maintain a lethal charge in the tube even when unplugged.

Feel free to contact me through electricalrepairlinks.com if you need any additional information.

Tim, January 2007

It sounds to me like a badly soldered joint , I had same problem on an older tv... it would be no pic until things warmed up and expanded enough to make the joint connect.
I found that when the pic went blank if I gave a sharp thump on the cabinet it would bring the pic back.

Pete., January 2007