Sony Plasma Problem (PMF 42B1)

[RAB2000]

Hi

This is my first post on here so hello to all .

My brother and I recently purchased the above used plasma. Once we worked out how to get everything connected to it we were happy with it except for it seemed to make a lot of noise but we just put this down to it being quite an old screen. It wasn't over intrusive anyway.

Yesterday it developed a fault. The screen now switches itself off. From cold it lasts about 3-5mins and then turns off. I suspect that the cooling system was faulty and has now failed, now with nothing to cool it the screen shuts down to protect itself once it hits a certain temperature (I'm guessing here!)

When the screen is on for a short time the picture is fine, this gives me some hope....

Does anyone recognise this as a fault. What are your opinions on getting it repaired, any idea on cost ? Would be useful to get a ball park figure so that we don't get ripped off if we do get it repaired.

The screen does have a self diagnosis system. The standby light is flashing 6 times - that should mean something to a Sony guru.

Thanks in advance for any replies

ps we're a bit gutted about it really but fingers crossed .........

 

[RAB2000]

We're in London - can anyone suggest a reliable (and cheap!) place to get this repaired?

Thanks

 

[james_19742000]

Dont want to sound rude, but maybe it was developing problems, maybe th ereason why it was being sold on the second hand market, but anyway, I have had a similar problem with a Goodmans LCD we had in the bedroom, the cost of repair outweighs purchasing a replacement so I have had to throw it away and am looking out for a new LCD for the bedroom!!!!

Hopefully yours wont end up in the same position, so good luck, just thought I would pass on my similar experience.

Regards James

 

[RAB2000]

Thanks for that

Did your LCD screen still work fine though?

Surely a new cooling system is the worst case scenario?

Anybody else any thoughts?

We are going to ring Sony tomorrow to see what they suggest.

Cheers

 

[james_19742000]

Yes it would switch on fine, run for a while sometimes 5 seconds sometimes 5 mins and then presumably got too hot and switched itself of, and that was it, we spoke to various TV engineers and repair companies and thety just wont touch it as they are very complicated these days unlike the old days with basic TV's, I also rung Goodmans but they were as much use as a chocolate tea pot!

But anyway, hopefully you can get it repaired!

Keep us informed on here and let us know what it was diagnosed as and what it cost to repair etc.

Thanks, James.

 

[RAB2000]

Thanks for the info - we'll wait and see...

 

[RAB2000]

Sony helpline's closed at the weekends so no luck there.

Spoke to a Sony approved repairer, he's quoting £65+VAT to look at it and give us a quote to repair (we take the screen to him). If we accept the quote then the £65+VAT is deducted from the final bill.

He seemed to understand the fault but couldn't give us any idea on cost to repair without looking at it (obviously he's not going to say that it's not repairable as he loses his £65 straight away). He did say that it depends on whether circuit boards need replacing (these apparently cost between £200-350) sometimes they can be repaired. So even if one board needs replacing it's going to be £300+labour+VAT I'd imagine.

Anyone experienced this kind of thing?

Thanks

 

[RAB2000]

Screen worked for 1.5 hrs earlier today, had to go out so turned it off. Came back later and it's back to switching off. Weird.

No further developments on getting it repaired though.

Will contact sony in the week.

 

[RAB2000]

Screen behaved funny today! Screen turned on first thing after being unplugged overnight. Worked for a bout 1.5hrs then switched off, then tried to switch on itself, on the 2nd attempt it worked. Worked for another hour and it repeated the turning off/on sequence. This process happened about 3 times in all. Then it happened again and didn't turn back on!

Strange stuff.

Could it be a software problem?