It still points to the IC 551 thing on the power supply PCB.

Neil at Daves Radio and TV up in your area is familiar with this.

TW

Thanks TW.
Can you supply more info on how to contact these people?

Hi,
I have a Panasonic TH-42PA20 which was purchased in the summer of 2003 and I am having the powering off problem. So how do I go about fixing this problem? I have read this thread and it says that their is a broken IC in the power supply. So from what I gather I can either bring it to a Panasonic Authorized Repair Center and get it repaired their or I can get the IC and take the circuit board out and bring it to an elecronic store. So I want to know how hard would it be too remove the board? How much would it be to get it repaired at an Authorized dealer? We got the TV as a deal for about $700 so we dont want to spend more than the actual TV was for us to repair it.

For Panasonic Service Center listings, go to www.panasonic.com
Look under SUPPORT and FIND A SERVICER enter your model # and zip code and you'll find all nearby service folks.

Costs are about $25 parts and 1-2 hrs labor. Get an estimate first if you're worried.

I had to replace that part and the cost was $324!
This was in the Boston area.

Labor rates are running $130 - $150 per hour which is about right.

You are a genuis! The tech guy came out last week to service my plasma and was well aware of the shutdown problem. (I did tell them mine was only blinking twice). He even brought the "shutdown" replacement part. I showed him your post and after realizing it was not the usual shutdown issue he called Panasonic tech support and within a few minutes came to the conclusion that we needed to replace pn# TNPA2626!
He ordered the part before he left my house and came back today and installed it. Thanks GOD I have my plasma back! I forgot how good it looked....

FYI, the tech told me he's been out to many of the local dep't stores (Circuit City etc..) to fix the broken Panny 42's with the shutdown problem! When he left my house last week he was on his way to fix another customer's Panny in the next town over.

Also, I would highly recommend Columbia TV in North Attleboro MA if anyone needs service.


Well, I was fine for while............My 37" panny worked fine for almost 2 years after having the 2 blink issue repaired only a month after I bought it. Now, about 3 weeks ago I had the same shutdown with 2 blinks. I brought it back in and had the same repair done at my cost for labor ($225) but panasonic paid for the part, thanks to Marek in the consumer division. Now a week after the 2nd fix, it shutdown AGAIN with 2 blinks. It's back at the repair shop awaiting diagnosis. There's got to be another issue causing this. It's free standing with plenty of airflow and I even put a fan behind it after the 2nd fix. It had only been on for 1/2 hour before it shutdown the last time and wasn't hot. Even it they perform the same repair (for a third time) what's to say it not going to happen again? It's probably too late to realize now, but I've got a lemon........

Hello All...
I love this TV...

But here I'am - Whenever I turn it on it shuts off with a high pitch.

Any recomendations on where to go to get this fixed? I live in NY city and willing to travel...
Technowizard - Can you tell me whats the best thing to do? I have the 6UY with a manufacturing date of july 2003 (As you may have guessed ) and wouldn't mind going to the service center.

This problem has been going on since a few months after I bought it but I hadn't read this thread.. and It didn't really continue happening until just recently when it started again. But now I can't watch it at all ... Just won't turn on. But sometimes it does... and when its on it works as normal.

Thanks in advance...and...
Cheers!
William.

Thought I'd post this here first. I have a new Panasonic TH-42PHD8UK, just received within the last several days. Last night, while changing channels, the display suddenly shut down. I haven't been able to turn it on since. The red standby light is blinking, but the display does not respond to the remote. When I power down then up using the display hard button, the green light comes on for a moment, and a fan begins to whir, at which point the display shuts down again. A Panasonic service tech said that this is likely a defective power supply. Thankfully, DTVCity will be replacing the defective unit at no charge.

Anyone else encountered this problem with the newer displays? I'm worried I'll get another dud.

One VERY good reason to always buy from a Forum provider or other well known dealer.

Internet buying is fine just avoid the fly by night bottom line types who seem to change their name every month.

BTW, how MANY blinks of the RED LED ? Count them as they go DARK, not as they light up.

Common with HDs, 6 blinks...indicates some dust, dirt, or construction debris has found its way into the fan innards slowing rotation leading to a 3-4 second shutdown.

T Wiz

BTW2 - DTVCity is AOK.

Wpozo,

From the city, bring the unit over to the Factory Service Center in Secaucus.

Call 201-348-7975 and ask about "Plasma Repair" they'll hook you up.

Thanks for the reply T Wiz. I actually didn't even count the blinks. Within a few minutes, I was on the line with DTV City and Panasonic, and within an hour the PDP was boxed and ready for exchange. I'm hoping this is a fluke and not something that will happen again.

No, defects on the 8 series are quite low, in the tenths of 1% like 0.1- 0.2 so you're pretty safe.

I bought a Panasonic TH42PA20 in August of 2003 (manufactured in June 2003) and last week or so it started the infamous shutdown. Prior to coming to the website I contacted Panasonic to get an idea as to what might be causing the problem and they told me that it could be that the power to the outlet is fluctuating and the TV is protecting itself by shutting down. They suggested trying a different outlet, so 9 outlets later I was still having the problem.

With this information I contacted the power company and they came to the house to check the power supply and lines that run to my house and said I was fine, but to be sure they installed a device that monitored my power for several weeks to see if things were kosher.

In the meantime I started to do some research and came to the forums and found that folks had the same problem as me. Techwizard laid things out well and I appreciate your dedication to this issue. My unit had an extended warranty through Mack Camera and the call was made. A little hassel with them to get the paperwork in and to find a local vendor willing to come to the house to make the repair and a week later the tech arrived.

The tech came yesterday, I helped him remove the TV from the wall and he went to work. He took out the board and began removing the faulty part by removing the solder and screw holding the part to the board. He replaced the part with a new part, put it back together and hung it on the wall. This took approximately 45 minutes total for the tech to do all the repairs and to have my TV back working. The cost that was submitted to Mack Camera for the work was $165.00 total. I have not had the TV on much since the fix, but so far so good.

The few things I took away from this whole experience is:

1. Get the extended warranty for equipment that costs greater than $1000
2. Before placing the TV on the wall, get the serial number and write it down somewhere so you have it for issues like these.
3. Use this forum for issues you may be having with your equipment, as other folks may be in your same situation.

By the way, the power company called me today and said I had no time during the last two weeks where I had a drop in power coming into the house. So that is some good news there that I can use in the future when someone tells me to check the power.

I would like to thank everyone in here, especially techwizard for their insight and experiences. It led to me having an almost painless experience in getting the repair done. Thanks Again!

Tillerman

Glad it worked out for you. Others have paid twice that amount which of course will vary by area and is not unusual.

Techniwizard

Long time lurker, first time poster. I have followed this thread with some interest when it first came out as I have a TH-50PHD6UY purchased in Sep '03. Due to no reports of 50" issues, figured I was safe. Panicked call from wife today at work indicated that I may have the same issue. On power-on, the screen dies and the standby light flashes 7 times. The part I'm concerned about is that the screen displays a smallish box in the upper right quadrant with some vertical lines in it prior to shut-down.

Techniwizard, or whoever may know. Does the box w/ the vertical lines indicate another issue, or is this similar to the known 42" ED issue?

bump

The 50 inch never had the problem that the first couple months of the 42 WD had.

The "lines" are probably the corrupted initial menu video. Sounds like the scan sustain has gone south.

Actually, the scan flash codes are counted as they go dark,not as they light up. So if you have 7 lit, it may really be a code 6 which is only fan rotation failure. There are two fans in the 50H6. If one should get clogged with dust bunnies or develop a bad bearing and slow or stop rotation, the unit will go to shutdown with 6 blinks of the LED.

You might be able to check the fan by yourself if you are brave, otherwise it needs to go in for service. Depends on your location where it should go.

T. Wiz,

Thanks for the response. I mis-typed in my first post. I meant to say that it looks like the light goes dark 7 times. Do I count from the first dark? If so, it goes dark 7 times.

Based on one of your earlier posts, the first thing I checked was that both fans did spin up. From what I can tell, both fans do spin up on startup. I did take apart the back casing and cleaned both fans in case there was another issue. I also disconnected each of them in turn. With one or both fans disconnected, the flash code did not change.

Question, when does the shutdown sequence check fan rotation? If it's early in the sequence, this would point to one/both fans spinning below spec.

You mention the scan sustain, could that cause a shutdown issue by itself?

If the issue doesn't sound like a faulty fan or some other relatively easily diagnosible/fixable issue, any recomendations on where to take it for service would be appreciated. I'm in Colorado Springs, CO.

Has anyone experienced the shut down issue with the Panasonic TH-42PX50U ?

I purchased 2 in July '05 and one has has shut down randomly about 12 times since then (The other was for a relative and gets very minimal use). Initially, I thought maybe the sleep timer was set incorrectly - I had originally set it to shut down every night at midnight, incase I fell asleep while watching :). However, I can now rule out the timer(disabled), but the problem persists. On my first call to Panasonic, the rep asked if there were any diagnostic lights upon shut down - there are none. The TV is now in the shop for almost 2 weeks, and I can't seem to get a clear status from the service provider or from Panasonic. I called Panasonic today, and the rep indicated that if they can't reproduce the problem at the shop, they will have to look at other issues, like "environment". She then proceeded to ask a bunch of questions about how/where the TV is installed. Is it over a fireplace? (yes), gas or wood-burning? (gas), is it on a Panasonic mount? (not sure). I get the feeling that if they can't reproduce the problem, that they are going to blame it on the installation. Lastly, I asked the rep if there were any Panasonic rules/protocols for transporting plasma sets, and she indicated that they should always be transported vertically. Although I provided the pedestal stand to the service tech, he insisted on placing the unit on it's back in his van. Should I be concerned about this? Thanks

T. Wiz,

Thanks for the response. I mis-typed in my first post. I meant to say that it looks like the light goes dark 7 times. Do I count from the first dark? If so, it goes dark 7 times.

Based on one of your earlier posts, the first thing I checked was that both fans did spin up. From what I can tell, both fans do spin up on startup. I did take apart the back casing and cleaned both fans in case there was another issue. I also disconnected each of them in turn. With one or both fans disconnected, the flash code did not change.

Question, when does the shutdown sequence check fan rotation? If it's early in the sequence, this would point to one/both fans spinning below spec.

You mention the scan sustain, could that cause a shutdown issue by itself?

If the issue doesn't sound like a faulty fan or some other relatively easily diagnosible/fixable issue, any recomendations on where to take it for service would be appreciated. I'm in Colorado Springs, CO.

You can go to the web www.Panasonic.com and search under SUPPORT - FIND A SERVICER which will ask for the model number and zip code and then return a list of those in the area.

If you need more, PM me tomorrow and I'll hook you up with the regional engineer in Denver.

TW

Looks like I'm part of the blinking light club. I have a August 2003 42PA20 that just started shutting down last week. It flashes 6Xs and stays steady on the 7th. It normally shuts down after using the set for an hour or more. Is this the IC 551 issue that is well documented here or possibly a fan issue. Usually after having the 42PA20 on for a while the room temperature rises. I haven't noticed that as much recently. It could be that the house is a bit cooler since it is February.

It's out of warranty so should I still call the Panasonic 800-211-7262 support number first? Any suggestions on service centers in Central Jersey, East Brunswick area? Any help to make this as painless as possible would be much appreciated.

Looks like I'm part of the blinking light club. I have a August 2003 42PA20 that just started shutting down last week. It flashes 6Xs and stays steady on the 7th. It normally shuts down after using the set for an hour or more. Is this the IC 551 issue that is well documented here or possibly a fan issue. Usually after having the 42PA20 on for a while the room temperature rises. I haven't noticed that as much recently. It could be that the house is a bit cooler since it is February.

It's out of warranty so should I still call the Panasonic 800-211-7262 support number first? Any suggestions on service centers in Central Jersey, East Brunswick area? Any help to make this as painless as possible would be much appreciated.

Send me a PM tomorrow

TW

Mine just started doing it last week... have an Oct '03 42PWD6UY... I get "Unable to locate a matching model number." ... for zip 91362

Anyhow found out servicers & made a few calls AUDIO SERVICE CENTER in LA (323) 935-1175 were the most upfront... $150 for the fix & $75 for pickup & delivery.

Techniwizard & those who know, did any of you have had any experience with this center ? Mine is scheduled to be picked up tomorrow afternoon.

Thanks for the responses in advance!

I dunno , for west coast you can call the Panasonic Broadcast Service center in Universal City at 323-436-3503 and ask for my friend Jim. I think this is one of their authorized service centers.

T Wiz

TechWizard and the many fine contributors of this thread.

:( :mad: I just joined the 7 blink club. TH-42PWD6 Manf 6/03 I was one of the first in the country to have one. Never a problem. I bought from Visual Apex, a great forum sponsor.

I went back and reviewed nearly every post on this thread. and have counted many different reactions to this shameful Panasonic issue. It can be offered that in the day of beancounters saving a Yen or two makes a difference. Yet, add it all up to how fast bad word of mouth travels, this has to cost Panasonic loads in the long haul not to have sent a campaign notice for repair to all that could possibly been included. This has been reported on this thread to be a very small percent.
I also remember Techwizard saying it failure rate would be within early use if it was to fail. I wonder how many of these are yet to come?

All I can say judging from the amount of people who had it on this forum, this must be much larger than reported. I would think Panasonic would want to contain this one, given how early it was detected. I am only sorry I had not seen it on this forum before the expiration of my warranty date.

If I get this right, if this well noted ticking bomb went off earlier than latter for those over the warranty period, then they get stuck compared to some leniency offered by Panasonic.

Techwizard, Although you have been of considerable help and support to people here who have been pulling their hair out, I still have to view you as someone who work in public relations for Panasonic. I might add you do a superb job at it. I have to remember it is your job to put out or put water on fires.

Up to date it has cost me $3 a day to view this (and I must say) very good viewing plasma. That number will go up now. This reminds me of when Ii was a teenager (a long time ago-I'm now 55) I bought a Sony Receiver and in short time it failed. I told I myself, I would never buy Sony again, and I didn't. That was 37 years ago.
I will say now that I will never buy a Panasonic product again and neither will those who ask my opinions of them.
It was not that this problem happened it was and continues to be the shameful way Panasonic has handled this. I will go have it repaired and learn a valuable lesson. Thanks all for their very valuable contributions to this thread. Tom :(

Mine is the what you refer to as the commercial model TH-42PWD6 manf 6/03 I haven't looked hours up,but we don't look at it too much.

TechWizard or anyone, if you can please direct me appropriate repair facility, I would appreciate it. I live in Central Florida between Tampa and Orlando zip 33803 carmantom@highstream.net

Thanks, I feel better.

Shutdown Fix for the 42PWD6UY (Commercial Unit) & 42PA20 (Consumer Unit)

Problem: Upon turning on TV, loud hissing noise could be heard. Once the TV was on and running, when the power was interupted the TV would shut down. Either 5 or 7 blinks will occur depending on unit. It would take 15min to 4hrs to be able to get the TV back on, followed by it shutting down once again.

Fix: Order the new transistor (Part# C5HABZZ00123) from Panasonic for $20.02 plus shipping, comes up to about $30 total.

Remove the back off the unit, find the IC551 on the power supply board. The board is located near the top and off center to the right. The transistor your looking for is located to the far right on the board, attached to a cooling bar. You'll notice most the IC's on this board begin with the number 5, you've got the right board.

Find IC551 and the black transistor with a screw through it, this is the transistor you want. This part number should be CXA1315P, but don't be worried if you don't find it printed on the transistor. Remove the board by unplugging everything and unscrewing the board (5 screws I believe). I wraped the board and

I went to a Local TV Repair guy (a friend) and had him replace the old transistor (CXA1315P) with the new transistor (C5HABZZ00123). Took about 15min with no charge. If you were charged, I'd estimate maybe $20 for his time.

Replace the board, plug everything back in, screw everything into place, and your ready to go. I ran my TV for hours on end to make sure it wouldn't quit. After three weeks of testing the TV through everything that would shut it down, I have yet to experience anything. The TV is NEW AGAIN!!! I am confident this was the issue and has been solved with the new transistor.

The Panasonic Authorized Repair Center in Denver, CO quoted me $500+ for the repair. Another posting showed a bill of $519.19 for his repair from Denver, and he was without his unit for nearly a week. With a little research online, I fixed my Plasma for $30, and it took about an hour from off the wall to back on the wall!!!

I don't check these posts regularly, but figured I owed it to these forums to post this considering this is where I received most of my research. I hope this posting helps.

TechnoWizard,

Thanks for your help hooking me up w/ the Regional guy here. He sent me the I.C. It cost about $25 shipped and I had an authorized repair facility in town. He charged me $75. I suppose $100 for after 2 1/2 years use wasn't too bad.

I think I was more freaked out not knowing how bad it might be. It's a good thing for these forums.

Tom

Glad it worked out for you.

This is cross-posted on the "Official Panny Thread" for the PX50U models. While it doesn't relate to the 42PA20 model, I thought someone here might be able to help. I apologize for any inconvenience.

I purchased my TH42PX50U in mid-December, and in the last week it has begun to act badly. When it has been on for about an hour, it will suddenly cease operating. The small red light on the from panel, which is supposed to communicate to the informed user what is wrong, glows steadily for a minute, then begins flashing in a code that is too rapid for my eyes to comprehend. Finally, after five minutes or so, the thing switches off, then back on, and operates normally for 30 minutes or so.

I have called the licensed repair folks in my area (Sacramento, CA), and they have ordered a new power supply from Panasonic. But, they report that this does not appear to have happened to anyone else.

So, my questions: First, has anyone had a problem similar to mine? And, second, does anyone have any thoughts on what might be wrong?

Thanks for any thoughts you might have.

I have a TH-42PWD6UY. It sounds like I have the usual problem, but I'd appreciate Techniwizard's and others thoughts.

Here are the symptoms:
(1) Whistling/squealing sound at initial startup.
(2) After the unit has warmed up and typically adjacent to a black screen (between commercials, for instance) the unit shuts down and whistles/squeals again.
(3) The red Power On light flashes on for six short intervals and one long interval (or off for seven short intervals). This pattern repeats.
(4) To turn on the unit, I have to push the power switch on the unit twice, to turn it off then on. Again, the unit whistles/squeals at startup.
(5) Steps (2) to (4) recur a few times each evening.

I live in zip code 94062 in the San Francisco Bay Area. I would appreciate advice. Thanks, in advance!

sounds like it.

Check the web for a service center nearby.

Steves59,
In the BA, I had Media Associates fix my 6UY. They are authorized Panasonic servicer, ph. (650) 968-2444

Thanks, gents!

I've happily owned a Panasonic TH-42PA20 for over 2 years now. Just this past week, it began to shut itself off (I think only during HD viewing, but I haven't been able to verify this--I'm using a Comcast box via DVI). After it shuts itself off, the power light indicator (by the power button) blinks a few times, pauses, and repeats itself. The panel is not responsive to any remote control commands or by the buttons on the panel itself (including power). The only way I've been able to (temporarily) fix this problem is by unplugging the power supply. I was able to watch a 1.5h movie (via component input) without this happening but otherwise it seems to be after at least an hour or more of viewing. Has this happened to anyone else? Any help?

By the way, I live at 7500 ft altitude but haven't had problems to this point (even the buzzing has been minimal).

Shutdown Fix for the 42PWD6UY (Commercial Unit) & 42PA20 (Consumer Unit)

Problem: Upon turning on TV, loud hissing noise could be heard. Once the TV was on and running, when the power was interupted the TV would shut down. Either 5 or 7 blinks will occur depending on unit. It would take 15min to 4hrs to be able to get the TV back on, followed by it shutting down once again.

Fix: Order the new transistor (Part# C5HABZZ00123) from Panasonic for $20.02 plus shipping, comes up to about $30 total.

Remove the back off the unit, find the IC551 on the power supply board. The board is located near the top and off center to the right. The transistor your looking for is located to the far right on the board, attached to a cooling bar. You'll notice most the IC's on this board begin with the number 5, you've got the right board.

Find IC551 and the black transistor with a screw through it, this is the transistor you want. This part number should be CXA1315P, but don't be worried if you don't find it printed on the transistor. Remove the board by unplugging everything and unscrewing the board (5 screws I believe). I wraped the board and

I went to a Local TV Repair guy (a friend) and had him replace the old transistor (CXA1315P) with the new transistor (C5HABZZ00123). Took about 15min with no charge. If you were charged, I'd estimate maybe $20 for his time.

Replace the board, plug everything back in, screw everything into place, and your ready to go. I ran my TV for hours on end to make sure it wouldn't quit. After three weeks of testing the TV through everything that would shut it down, I have yet to experience anything. The TV is NEW AGAIN!!! I am confident this was the issue and has been solved with the new transistor.

The Panasonic Authorized Repair Center in Denver, CO quoted me $500+ for the repair. Another posting showed a bill of $519.19 for his repair from Denver, and he was without his unit for nearly a week. With a little research online, I fixed my Plasma for $30, and it took about an hour from off the wall to back on the wall!!!

I don't check these posts regularly, but figured I owed it to these forums to post this considering this is where I received most of my research. I hope this posting helps.


Thanks for the tip! I live in Evergreen. Can you give me the name of the person who replaced the part for you?

Well, after 2.5 years I finally have been hit with the shut down bug with my 42 6UY. There date on my Panny is July 2003. Since it's out of warranty how much should I expect to shell out to get the issue fixed in the SF Bay Area. I just threw the box away last month too. Boy, what timing. I will have to have someone come to my house & fix it. I assume since this problem started in 03 that most service centers will know exactly what I'm talking about when I call?

norcalsvt,
See my post above on where to get your 6UY fixed.

norcalsvt,
See my post above on where to get your 6UY fixed.


hiker. saw the post & called them, but havn't received a call back yet. was yours done under warranty? If not how much did it run you? I hope they do house calls. I am next to SF & I think I remember it said they were in mountain view.

I'm in Novato and they came here and did the repair for less than $200, out of warranty. They did my neighbor's PA20 at another time under warranty without cost to them.

I'm in Novato and they came here and did the repair for less than $200, out of warranty. They did my neighbor's PA20 at another time under warranty without cost to them.

thanks for the info. I ended up emailing them & Jeff emailed me back saying it's about $450 for in home repair. He did mention that I may get it covered if I can find my invoice even though it's out of warranty. I would have to bring it in because it's a "bench warranty"? I'm not sure what that means so I'll have to try to call them during the day.

I just got hit by the Panasonic TH-42PA20 shut down glitch in the past month. This site has been valuable in opening my eyes to the problem and solution. I have the IC 551 and will install this week. The question I have, if anyone cares to comment, is whether this problem is due to a "over sensitive" power shutdown, or a part which is going bad. If the part is too sensitive, why does it wait for a time period before starting to affect the TH-42PA20. (in my case, almost two years, though the set was little used for the first year). Wouldn't anunderdesigned circuit show symptoms almost immediately. This strikes me as the performance of a part which is failing after some point in time, either thermally of from defect. Maybe somebody has already discussed this? Thanks.

Hello everyone,

I have extended Service Agreement on my 42" Plasma...

Got hit with the shut-down problem a just after 2 years -- close to 3000 hours of viewing time.

After waiting almost a month for the board (the service tech ordered a new board rather than the IC), it was put in and worked great -- for about 6 weeks.

Now it's worse than before, sometimes taking 20 or 30 minutes before it can actually power back on.

Any word from Panasonic on possible recalls, etc.?

The 3rd party that services the extended warranty contract won't consider the tv replaceable until the 4th time the problem occurs.

Thanks
CF

Hello Flt Instr,

My 3 year old Panasonic 42" plasma (TH-42PWD6) just experienced the shut down problem. It was manufactured in August of 2003.

I took your advice and ordered the replacement IC551 part (part # C5HABZZ00123) for $20.02 from Panasonic and installed it myself.

My TV works great now! My wife is so amazed we were able to fix it for so little money. I owe you big for saving us $400+.

THANK YOU!!!!

Peabo

07/17/05
It is July 17, and my 42PA20 has not shut down once since February. The interesting thing is, no repair was ever done.

On Feb. 22 I ordered the IC from Panasonic for 19.95 + shipping. It arrived in five days. I removed the unit from its mounting, took the back cover off and after studying it for a while, came up with my strategy of fixing it.

Figuring I would commence repairs within the next few days, I left the cover off to save the time and hassle of having to deal with all of the numerous screws that hold it on. I also continued using the unit.

As the days went by, I became busy with other things and so the repair kept being put off. In April, since I had experienced no additional shutdown problems with the unit and with the May season finales right around the corner, I decided to postpone the repair until summer. Instead, I remounted/reinstalled the entire monitor, but chose to leave the back cover off

Five months have passed now, and the plasma has operated normally with no flaws, no shutdowns. This experience may serve as further proof that the IC551 flaw is indeed heat related since, without its back cover, the entire unit is able to give off its heat more readily.

I still plan on replacing the IC on mine soon since I already have the part. But for those who may be looking for an immediate, low cost (or really a no cost) solution, this may be an answer, especially if your unit is installed in a wall recess... well ventilated, of course.

Well I decided to go ahead and finally replace the defective IC with the new part I had shipped to me over a year ago. It had been 14 months since I experienced any problem with the shutdown issue, but it returned 2 weeks ago.

The repair took 3 hours and a little patience and care with the soldering. Afterwards I turned the unit on (no power-up whine) and operated it for 8 hours with no flaws. It was like a new unit.

It's a good feeling to finally have the peace of mind that I can watch the thing without having that uneasy feeling that at any moment, I'm going to see that ugly shutdown picture smear accompanied by the even uglier shutdown squeal.

I'd like to pass on my thanks to bvstone and jpbrody for their valuable info that helped guide me through. I'm done!

I got bit, will order the replacement part tomorrow! Thanks for all the info.

- Ryan

Thanks to the information on this thread I have installed the new part in my Panasonic. The Panasonic part is actually a voltage regulator according to the package coding, probably a $5.00 part from an electronics dealer. It cost $20.02 from Panasonic plus shipping, but I, like most, people here was so desparate to get it fixed that I forked out the money. It seems to me that Panasonic should at least provide the part for free.

Let's see how that could work. They know how many sets they have made, after all they have these things called serial numbers. Panasonic could ship one voltage regulator to each incident of an owner indicating the problem, when and if the person calls in. Maybe they could keep track of this in a modern device called a database and a computer! Naw, thats too easy. Let's pretend that there is no real problem and tell people when they call in that they have to pay $200+ for a service call and subsequent repair (another $200) and then they can argue with Panasonic to get their money back if and only if Panasonic agrees. But let's see, if we admit there is a problem, people might expect us to fix it. (Duh)

I wonder how much bad will has been generated by 42 inch EDTV Panasonic plasma screen purchasers of sets made between June and August of 2003. It seems to me from reading this thread and my own experience, that failure of this set due to this voltage regulator is just a matter of time, not an isolated incident. Panasonic should take a cue from Phillips, who is currently doing a recall fix of US sold plasma TV's which had a faults capacitor. Cheers!

As long as I'm on a soapbox, I have an observation for anyone (perhaps another techie). In troubleshooting this set, prior to replacing IC551, I plugged the set into an isolation transformer to make sure I had no ground problems. The unit would not even stay on for 5 seconds before shutting off in some LED blinking shutdown mode. I checked all line voltages and they were fine. After replacing the infamous IC551 I have been running the unit for the past two hours on this very same isolation transformer. Any thoughts, anyone.

I think it is time for Panasonic to issue a recall on this set and voluntarily fix the problem. Admit you have the problem and be up front about it. I'm fortunate in that I got the set as a gift and my costs of fixing it have been the part and aggravation, but as much as I like the plasma TV, I know my next high end electronics purchase will not be from Panasonic, it will be from somebody who I think will stand behind their product. (see above)

All comments, positive or negative aprreciated.

Thanks,

BugBitten :(

I got bit, will order the replacement part tomorrow! Thanks for all the info.

- Ryan
For anyone in the Toronto area, I ordered the part through HyTech Electronics and pulled the board myself. They had the part the next day and installed the chip in less than 1/2 hour. Great service, and total cost was under $80 CAD! Their contact info is on the Panasonic website.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread, it saved me several hundred dollars. Removing the circuit board was a slice, by far the hardest part was lifting the Plasma off the wall!

Cheers,

- Ryan

unfortunately joined the club

i turn it on (switch), led is green for 3 seconds, then a wide horizontal bar flashes and then it turns off, followed by blinks

i think it blinks twice, then solid, then twice again

after that the tv wont turn on through power button of remote

i have a clip of a video but the site wont let me post it (spam prevention)
its at vimeo, enter search term "panasonic plasma busted"

my model is pwd6, business model

this happened the same day some guy was doing home inspection at my house. i suspect he f'd with the outlets but he says nothing he did coulda broke my tv. im so mad

called media associates in mountain view, they said theyd charge me $110 just to diagnose.. wtf

any input would be nice, thanks

unfortunately joined the club

i turn it on (switch), led is green for 3 seconds, then a wide horizontal bar flashes and then it turns off, followed by blinks

i think it blinks twice, then solid, then twice again

after that the tv wont turn on through power button of remote

i have a clip of a video but the site wont let me post it (spam prevention)
its at vimeo, enter search term "panasonic plasma busted"

my model is pwd6, business model

this happened the same day some guy was doing home inspection at my house. i suspect he f'd with the outlets but he says nothing he did coulda broke my tv. im so mad

called media associates in mountain view, they said theyd charge me $110 just to diagnose.. wtf

any input would be nice, thanks

Two blinks is not the classic failure. More than likely a scan drive problem unrelated to the power supply or your inspector.

Send a PM for more details.

TW

Sorry to ramble here, but I really hate getting screwed and so please bare with me while I vent for a moment...

I have a TH-42PA20 that went black on me last week. When I turn it on, I hear the relay click but the screen doesn't light and then I hear another click of the relay (as if the TV is shutting down) and the LED blinks one shots flash, followed by a long flash and repeats (which persists til the set is unplugged). I called Panasonic and they denied any known problems and referred me to Elite Electronics in Alameda. They guy at Elite said that 'it sounds like a power supply failure, which will cost $500 for the part plus labor, which would cost a few hundred more'. Needless to say, I was a little surprised that he could diagnose the problem in 3 minutes of conversation so I called Panasonic back, who told me that indeed it was impossible to know if a power-supply has failed and that they would make some phone calls on my behalf and help to get me to an authorized repair service (truth be told, they were very helpful). They recommended another place in Foster City who asked about the LED sequence and then said that the service call would be $95 and that the repair labor cost would be $395 (not including parts, irrespective of the issue).

Thank you VERY much for the recommendation for the self-fix (I'm a technical dude and I'm very comfortable doing this myself). Worst case, I'll call Media Associates. It is very nice to hear that there is a professional repair alternative available in the Bay Area.

What is really frustrating to me is not that there is a problem with the TV (stuff happens, right?), and not even that Panasonic is not admitting to the issue (oh well), but instead, to add insult to agony, they don't even have the decency to police their 'authorized service agents' to ensure that their consumers don't get screwed when it comes time to fix the problem.

Anyhow, thank you all for your help here!

unfortunately joined the club

i turn it on (switch), led is green for 3 seconds, then a wide horizontal bar flashes and then it turns off, followed by blinks

i think it blinks twice, then solid, then twice again

after that the tv wont turn on through power button of remote

i have a clip of a video but the site wont let me post it (spam prevention)
its at vimeo, enter search term "panasonic plasma busted"

my model is pwd6, business model

this happened the same day some guy was doing home inspection at my house. i suspect he f'd with the outlets but he says nothing he did coulda broke my tv. im so mad

called media associates in mountain view, they said theyd charge me $110 just to diagnose.. wtf

any input would be nice, thanks


Yikes, I just tried to post a message and I could not post so I will try to summarize again. I have a TH-42PW5 and I am having the same issue. Powers up for a few seconds, 2 flashes and then the power supply relay shuts off. Diagnostic LED's on the SS and SC boards light up. D6769 first, then D6765 (SS) and D6583 (SC) concurrently and then all 3 turn off < 1 sec later when the relay turns off.

I found a good Panasonic service manual on the net:

Google "gphd5_techguide", since this forum will not let me put a link in this post yet. Should be on wimtv.be site.


Flow chart on page 42 says to check SS/SC LED's. Although they turn on only momentarily I assume the SC/SS boards are OK. VDA voltage seems OK so it then points to the D1 board. Anyone have any ideas on how to debug the D1 board? I really don't want to swap the board unless I know that it is bad.

A quick probe of the a few "SOS" signals seem to indicate some protection problem but I have not had a chance to probe with a scope.

My manufacture date is September 2002 (I think, not at home now) and it has worked flawlessly until now.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Remove the mounting screws and pull the SU pcb loose from the SC pcb. Leave the ribbon cables to the panel connected. Power up and look for a good lower half screen. If so, replace the SU pcb, If not, replace and do the same to the SD pcb and look for a good top half screen. If so, replace the SD pcb. If neither, possibly the SC or one of the other boards are bad. They all interact so it is hard to pinpoint except by substitution.

The guide you have is for an HD unit. Yours is standard definition so the circuitry is different although similar. TH42PW5UZ is the same as the industrial TH42PWD5UY in that model year except the video inputs are BNC jacks instead of common RCA jacks.

Remove the mounting screws and pull the SU pcb loose from the SC pcb. Leave the ribbon cables to the panel connected. Power up and look for a good lower half screen. If so, replace the SU pcb, If not, replace and do the same to the SD pcb and look for a good top half screen. If so, replace the SD pcb. If neither, possibly the SC or one of the other boards are bad. They all interact so it is hard to pinpoint except by substitution.

The guide you have is for an HD unit. Yours is standard definition so the circuitry is different although similar. TH42PW5UZ is the same as the industrial TH42PWD5UY in that model year except the video inputs are BNC jacks instead of common RCA jacks.


Thanks for the leads. I cannot get to it until this weekend but I will update the board when I get additional information.

Thanks to the tech guys on this forum, I had the above mentioned shut down fault. Purchased the uprated 551 IC. Fitted it myself, works great. Again, many thanks.

No luck with the SU/SD boards. However I did some more probing on the SOS signals (Digital Volage Meter only) and found out that there are multiple failures. It appears that the failures are all related to the scan and sustain pulse generation circuitry. I took a brief look at the schematics and the digital signals which control the high-voltage generation originate in the D2 board. To really check this out I will need to probe with an oscilloscope but I was wondering if the you think that D2 failure seems reasonable or could it be D1 or both D1 and D2. Any ideas on how to narrow this down?

Thanks

[B]Dead_42PW5

I have a TH-42PWD6UY with the same exact problem as yours and kewlio. So far from talking to a local television service repair technician and a EXTREMELY helpful Senior Engineer with Panasonic we have come to the conclusion that it is possibly the scan drive pc board. 2 blinks on a 6uy (most likely the same on a 5 series) refers to a problem with the scan drive, and after trying the SU and SD pc board test with no resolve I will hopefully be trying a replacement SC board in the near future.

I'd be really upset if a few yr old plasma had problems, you guys paid a premium for these panels and feel panasonic should really own up to the problems even after 5 yrs
It's s shame!!
Only thing is i'm glad i bought mine at Costco's and i'd really use it if i had problems, e-bay is also a good place for cracked panels, i'd def get a "parts" panel.
Good luck to you all!

[B]Dead_42PW5

I have a TH-42PWD6UY with the same exact problem as yours and kewlio. So far from talking to a local television service repair technician and a EXTREMELY helpful Senior Engineer with Panasonic we have come to the conclusion that it is possibly the scan drive pc board. 2 blinks on a 6uy (most likely the same on a 5 series) refers to a problem with the scan drive, and after trying the SU and SD pc board test with no resolve I will hopefully be trying a replacement SC board in the near future.

My probing seems to point to protection on both the SC and SS boards turning on. Not sure if one causes the other to fail or from a common source and at the same time. You might want to verify it by looking at the diodes on each SOS signal prior to the wired-OR connection where all diodes are connected. On SS there is a window comparator which looks to see if a divided-down voltage is between 5 and 10 volts and I am getting about 1.5V DC. This is apparently a high voltage signal (10:1 divider so looking for about 50-100V peak) so even though I am measuring DC it is still way too low and should fail. I also see "SOS" failures on other high voltage related signals generated on the SC board. The HV generation all seems to be controlled by D2 timing/logic.

Can you ask your Panasonic tech if he thinks the D1 or D2 board is bad and how would we verify it? Also, how did you contact the tech. Can anyone call or do you have to be an authorized repair center, etc. If I could talk to a tech it would be alot of help.

You're not kidding. My manufacture date was November 2002 (I think I posted September previously) and I purchased around May 2003. So it's 3 years old and cost me $4000. I cannot believe that the big electronics firms still only offer a 1 year warranty when all electronics component vendors offer better warranties.

Hard disks: 3-5 years.
Computer RAM: lifetime.
Video cards: 3-5 years

It's just a big scam to force you to pay an extra 10-25% for an extended warranty when the electronics should last the lifetime of the set. Any electronic part that fails after the infant mortality period (the period when failure occur do to manufacturing defects) is due to poor design. Most IC's are designed for at least a 10 year lifetime under extreme voltage and temperature stress. This is 10 years operating, not 10 years calendar. They basically don't stand behind their design quality and expect you to pay extra to CYA. If some of the vendors offered a longer warranty this would be a huge competitive advantage but I don't see it happening any time soon.

If a $200 DVD player fails after 3 years I'll take my lumps but for a $4k set to fail in 3 years is a real pisser. Plus, you need to spend a ton of money to get it fixed. Those D1/D2 board cost about $650 apiece.

My probing seems to point to protection on both the SC and SS boards turning on. Not sure if one causes the other to fail or from a common source and at the same time. You might want to verify it by looking at the diodes on each SOS signal prior to the wired-OR connection where all diodes are connected. On SS there is a window comparator which looks to see if a divided-down voltage is between 5 and 10 volts and I am getting about 1.5V DC. This is apparently a high voltage signal (10:1 divider so looking for about 50-100V peak) so even though I am measuring DC it is still way too low and should fail. I also see "SOS" failures on other high voltage related signals generated on the SC board. The HV generation all seems to be controlled by D2 timing/logic.

Can you ask your Panasonic tech if he thinks the D1 or D2 board is bad and how would we verify it? Also, how did you contact the tech. Can anyone call or do you have to be an authorized repair center, etc. If I could talk to a tech it would be alot of help.


Well unfortunately I have no degree in electronics so I have not done such a indepth diagnosis of any of the boards. From what I understand anyway, most technicians would not do this either as the most common way of fixing these panels is to keep swapping boards until the problem is resolved.
Both the engineer and the local tv tech said the SC pcb could be my problem, but short of them physically seeing the unit its only a logical guess. Unfortunately talking only gets you so far and swapping boards gets it fixed!

Dead_42PW5 check your PM's

I don;t like the sounds of that because I am planning on buying a similar model :(

I don;t like the sounds of that because I am planning on buying a similar model :(

The "Shutdown Issue" is related to the Panasonic 6th Generation Models. Newer generation plasmas can have problems with the power supply but nothing to do with the above posts.

.

wow, there is a ton of information in this thread. i have a TH50PHD7UY and i am experiencing this problem. it's been about 16 months since i bought the plasma so it is out of warranty.

when i turn on the tv, it is green for a few seconds and then immediately blinks red. it blinks for 6 times and then stays steady red and then blinks again, etc.

i called panasonic support and they wouldn't help me much...just referred me to the local service techs. local service techs said they never heard about this problem and they would have to send someone over, etc.

guy came by today to check it out. he took the tv apart, ran a bunch of tests and said that he's never seen this happen and that it's a weird issue that i'm having, etc. he said that he thinks it's the "SC board" that is bad. he also didn't give me an estimate but said that he'd call next week after doing more research. his "ballpark" figure was $600-$1000 to fix this!

i told him i read about this on the internet and it might be a power supply unit that is bad, etc. he said he'd do some research on the internet also.

obviously, this guy didn't seem to know what he was doing. i paid $45 to have him come out.

anyone know of a tech who can fix this in the southern california area? thanks.

RVD.

wow, there is a ton of information in this thread. i have a TH50PHD7UY and i am experiencing this problem. it's been about 16 months since i bought the plasma so it is out of warranty.

when i turn on the tv, it is green for a few seconds and then immediately blinks red. it blinks for 6 times and then stays steady red and then blinks again, etc.

i called panasonic support and they wouldn't help me much...just referred me to the local service techs. local service techs said they never heard about this problem and they would have to send someone over, etc.

guy came by today to check it out. he took the tv apart, ran a bunch of tests and said that he's never seen this happen and that it's a weird issue that i'm having, etc. he said that he thinks it's the "SC board" that is bad. he also didn't give me an estimate but said that he'd call next week after doing more research. his "ballpark" figure was $600-$1000 to fix this!

i told him i read about this on the internet and it might be a power supply unit that is bad, etc. he said he'd do some research on the internet also.

obviously, this guy didn't seem to know what he was doing. i paid $45 to have him come out.

anyone know of a tech who can fix this in the southern california area? thanks.

RVD.
You may want to check and see if all your fans are operational. I remember reading a panasonic service manual and seeing that 6 blinks refers to a fan malfunction. I am pretty sure that a malfunctioning fan could cause a shutdown leading to the 6 blinks. Although if it is the SC pcb you are probably easily looking at $500-$750.

it's weird. the technicians left so i tried plugging in the tv set (to mess with the fans). to my surprise, the tv turned on and the light stayed green. so i went ahead and reattached the hdmi cable (i have the hdmi slot extension installed) but no picture. then i noticed that even when i change inputs, there's nothing on the screen. it's like i just get a black screen now no matter what i do but the light stays green. i think i should be seeing "video 1", "video 2", stuff like that on the screen when i press the input button even if there's no picture right?

RVD.

thanks to Techniwizard's help, I got this fixed. The two guys who came by last Friday still haven't called. I received some information from Techniwizard about a local technician here so I called him.

The only catch was that I had to bring the unit over to his location. This is tough because the TV is mounted on the wall and the TV is located on the second floor of my house. Last Friday when the other techs were here, we removed the TV from the wall so that part was already done. I spent some time last night with my wife bringing the TV down the stairs and into the car. She was complaining but we got it down...wives don't seem to appreciate physical manual labor.

I took the unit over to this guy's office and about 20 minutes later, he had it fixed. It was a bad SC board. They were able to figure out in like 10 minutes what the other techs couldn't figure out in 4 days and counting...He said that the other techs unplugged a part so that the light would stay green but it was a bad part.

It was expensive but they charged me for the part (he said it was his cost) plus $100 for labor which I thought was fair.

If anyone else is in the southern California area, I would recommend them.

Mir Nazarzai
M INDUSTRIAL AUDIO VIDEO
950 E. Orangethorpe, Unit H
Anaheim, CA 92801
Tel: (714) 992-0984 Fax: (714) 992-0937

RVD.

BTW, they have an office in Las Vegas also so they will travel, for a fee of course.

TW

Just for the record I bought a TH-42PWD6EX (I am in indonesia) about 28 months ago and recently started having the shutdown problem. I have a plug-in board for DVI and noticed it happens more often on that input when I switch off my DVD player which uses that DVI connection. I called panasonic and didn't do a www search until he was here and didn't find anything. This thread was great finding the problem. Same symptoms high pitch and usually 5 blinks of the LED when I was hit by it. They finally came back today after the initial visit and replaced the power board for the price of 35 US$ workman ship and only charged me for the value of the IC (20.02) so about 55 $ total.... Lets hope it'll stay good now. I had them check the chip Code and it ended with 'M' on the replacement board. Kudos to them for doing it this way.

PS My Serial number is YH3630001, so I guess it was manufactured some where in august 2003.

Thanks a lot for all the Good info in this thread..


Erick :o

Agree with RVD, lots of info on this site. My 50PHD7UY show symptoms similar to what is described in this thread the major difference being that the screen goes black (the led stays green) and I get the yellow “no signal” on my screen. This happens after few hours of football on a Sunday afternoon. I turn the display off with my remote and back on and everything is fine for a short while and then the sequence repeat itself again. I have experienced the same as described in an earlier post, coax dies (no signal) and I can still watch on the component input. I recently added a HDMI card and now it is worse for the HDMI and coax inputs. Can watch TV for about two hours and the HDMI and coax slots will die but the component input seems to function, screen does blink now and then on the component like it wants to die also but so far it just keeps going. I removed the coax input (slot 2) last night and I it has not gone to a black “no signal” screen for me after two hours on the HDMI (slot 1 input). So it looks to me like the power supply cannot handle the extra card and the additional current required by adding a card is making the power supply problem worse for input 1 and 2 but not for 3.

Techniwizard or anybody else’s comments will be appreciated very much.

You're not kidding. My manufacture date was November 2002 (I think I posted September previously) and I purchased around May 2003. So it's 3 years old and cost me $4000. I cannot believe that the big electronics firms still only offer a 1 year warranty when all electronics component vendors offer better warranties.



Did you ever get this problem resolved Dead_42PW5?

Sorry to say no. I have not had the time to try and debug it but I am going to borrow an oscilloscope from work this week and try to capture the waveforms. It might not help at all. Tough to get used to watching a 25" analog tube I have upstairs.

So the big question is to:

a) spend $500 per board (maybe two) and hope it works.
b) take it to a shop and spend $1000 and be totally pissed off since the boards they are going to replace really cost $50.
c) Say "screw it" and just buy another TV.

What would you guys do?

BTW I tried e-bay to see if I could get a TV for parts only but no luck so far.

SCREW PANASONIC! I spent over $4000 for this set and it broke for a part which which proabaly costs a couple of dollars.

Sorry to say no. I have not had the time to try and debug it but I am going to borrow an oscilloscope from work this week and try to capture the waveforms. It might not help at all. Tough to get used to watching a 25" analog tube I have upstairs.

So the big question is to:

a) spend $500 per board (maybe two) and hope it works.
b) take it to a shop and spend $1000 and be totally pissed off since the boards they are going to replace really cost $50.
c) Say "screw it" and just buy another TV.

What would you guys do?

BTW I tried e-bay to see if I could get a TV for parts only but no luck so far.

SCREW PANASONIC! I spent over $4000 for this set and it broke for a part which which proabaly costs a couple of dollars.

I'm in EXACTLY the same spot as you. 2 possible dead board, each $500+ with no guarantee that I've got the right one pegged as "bad", and a perfectly good PDP (the most expensive part) that's just sitting not getting used.

I really needed a new set, so I went out and bought a 42PX60U, but I'm holding onto the PW5 hoping that I can track down one with broken glass or something. Otherwise, it's ebay/craigslist for it.

I bought mine new for $3500 from visual apex in dec 2001. :(

Lets not get into a bidding war if a PW5 does come up on ebay....I'm boykster there too, so if I'm bidding against you send me a PM to let me know and we'll work something out. No reason to screw each other over ;)

No problem. If you find out what board it is let me know. At least that way I'll only be spending $500 and not $1000.

I had the same problem after 3300 hours. Manufactured Aug 03. Thanks to this thread, it only cost me $40 TOTAL. Thanks again.

Dead_42PW5 & boykster...

If you look back a page in this thread you can see I had the same problem as both of you. Well sorry it took so long but I have a update. Its been fixed.
It turned out to be the SC PCB. Once I was able to get the board, it took about 15 minutes to pop it in.

Note to others reading this:

This problem while being a shut down issue is in no way related to the power supply problem that started this thread, although similar. Below is a link from another member to a video showing our problem. So if your plasma does this, it is more than likely a SC PCB gone bad.

http://www.vimeo.com/clip:73124

MadnSA was your problem power supply or SC PCB related?

PowerStrokeHD -> thanks for the update!

My set is doing exactly what is seen in that video, AFTER staying on WITH video for a few minutes, then with no video for a few more minutes. While its on without video, I get white flashes on the screen, then off with red blinking.

Where did you get your SC board? From a panasonic service center? Direct for Panasonic?

Cheers,

Rich

PowerStrokeHD -> thanks for the update!

My set is doing exactly what is seen in that video, AFTER staying on WITH video for a few minutes, then with no video for a few more minutes. While its on without video, I get white flashes on the screen, then off with red blinking.

Where did you get your SC board? From a panasonic service center? Direct for Panasonic?

Cheers,

Rich
Well myself I got mine directly from Panasonic. But if you look back a couple of posts on the previous page and see whats said. You seem to find that if you take it to the repair shop it can be done for about $100 plus the cost of the part. That I believe is in the $250 area. That is if you have a decent repair person in your area. Must be Panasonic authorized to get the boards.

I have a TH-50PX60U manufactured in April 2006, bought in June 2006. 2 days ago while watching an HD broadcast I heard a loud "pop" from the set and the display went out. Attempting to turn it on results in the power LED blinking 7 times, going dark, then repeating the 7 blinks.

I called Panasonic the next day and set up an in home service appointment. The repair man came to my house, did not perform any diagnostics, and said he needed to replace 2 boards that he would need to order. I called the Panasonic concierge program back and they said that the 7 blinking lights could be caused by any one or combination of 3 boards, not two: the SU, SS, or SD board. They instructed me to call another repair facility in the area.

I am awaiting a call back from another repair facility who said they will need to pick up my set, transport it to their facility for diagnostics, order repair parts, put them in the set then return in.

Is this the same problem as the thread starter?

Thanks

Not related at all.

Your first servicer is probably correct, possibly the Power Supply or what is known as the DG board.

The other combo is actually SC, SU, and SD but would not blink 7 times.

So instead of letting the first one try to fix it on site you'll let another pulll it to service at his shop ?

Only one will ever get paid for the warraty claim which is not Earth shattering to begin with.

So instead of letting the first one try to fix it on site you'll let another pulll it to service at his shop ?

Thanks for your reply. I'm very hesitant to let someone take the plasma out of my house for a week or more. The first repair shop called and said they were trying to get the parts overnighted for me, and I havent heard back from the shop that wants to take my plasma...so I'm sticking with the first guy.

Not related at all.

Your first servicer is probably correct, possibly the Power Supply or what is known as the DG board.

Techniwizard- in your experience, is this common with the TH-50PX60U? Have you seen this type of failure before?

Same issue going on here, although I haven't read anyone with my number of blinks. Model # is a TH-42PD50U and after shutting off I get 4 red blinks on the power light. Anyone have any idea what 4 blinks means?

Not related at all.

Your first servicer is probably correct, possibly the Power Supply or what is known as the DG board.

The other combo is actually SC, SU, and SD but would not blink 7 times.

So instead of letting the first one try to fix it on site you'll let another pulll it to service at his shop ?

Only one will ever get paid for the warraty claim which is not Earth shattering to begin with.

A repairman came out today and replaced the SC, SU, and SD boards on the right side of the plasma. It was blinking 7 times before he repaired it. Thanks for your replies!

Glad to hear it worked out.

TW

Same issue going on here, although I haven't read anyone with my number of blinks. Model # is a TH-42PD50U and after shutting off I get 4 red blinks on the power light. Anyone have any idea what 4 blinks means?


4 Blinks = Power SOS

So most likely a problem with the Power Supply.


.

Well myself I got mine directly from Panasonic. But if you look back a couple of posts on the previous page and see whats said. You seem to find that if you take it to the repair shop it can be done for about $100 plus the cost of the part. That I believe is in the $250 area. That is if you have a decent repair person in your area. Must be Panasonic authorized to get the boards.

Well panasonic and one other vendor I found wanted $500-$600 ea or the SC and SS boards, and I'm not sure I want to spend $600 to fix a 4 year old plasma.

However I DID find someone selling an exact model on ebay with a broken PDP (otherwise in working condition) who was willing to remove the SU, SD, SC, D1, D2, Z, P F, and SS boards along with the input terminals (essentially gutting the electronics) and send it all to me for $300!

We're mid transaction so I probably won't have the boards for a week or so, but here's hoping!

Well boards arrived yesterday from the gutted plasma and I installed em and everything's working just fine now! I replaced both the SS and SC boards (but will hold onto the old ones) and now have an entire spare board-set to keep this baby running for years to come ;-) I could have (but didn't) even swapped the industrial input module with BNC's for the consumer set with RCA's as this was a consumer version set.....

And the best thing was, the plasma was brand new when it was broken (during shipping) and had never even been powered on....

what about 5 blinks on the th42pwd8uk?

Shutdown Fix for the 42PWD6UY (Commercial Unit) & 42PA20 (Consumer Unit)

Problem: Upon turning on TV, loud hissing noise could be heard. Once the TV was on and running, when the power was interupted the TV would shut down. Either 5 or 7 blinks will occur depending on unit. It would take 15min to 4hrs to be able to get the TV back on, followed by it shutting down once again.

Fix: Order the new transistor (Part# C5HABZZ00123) from Panasonic for $20.02 plus shipping, comes up to about $30 total.

Remove the back off the unit, find the IC551 on the power supply board. The board is located near the top and off center to the right. The transistor your looking for is located to the far right on the board, attached to a cooling bar. You'll notice most the IC's on this board begin with the number 5, you've got the right board.

Find IC551 and the black transistor with a screw through it, this is the transistor you want. This part number should be CXA1315P, but don't be worried if you don't find it printed on the transistor. Remove the board by unplugging everything and unscrewing the board (5 screws I believe). I wraped the board and

I went to a Local TV Repair guy (a friend) and had him replace the old transistor (CXA1315P) with the new transistor (C5HABZZ00123). Took about 15min with no charge. If you were charged, I'd estimate maybe $20 for his time.

Replace the board, plug everything back in, screw everything into place, and your ready to go. I ran my TV for hours on end to make sure it wouldn't quit. After three weeks of testing the TV through everything that would shut it down, I have yet to experience anything. The TV is NEW AGAIN!!! I am confident this was the issue and has been solved with the new transistor.

The Panasonic Authorized Repair Center in Denver, CO quoted me $500+ for the repair. Another posting showed a bill of $519.19 for his repair from Denver, and he was without his unit for nearly a week. With a little research online, I fixed my Plasma for $30, and it took about an hour from off the wall to back on the wall!!!

I don't check these posts regularly, but figured I owed it to these forums to post this considering this is where I received most of my research. I hope this posting helps.

Has anyone seen this issue on the 8uk model? If so any advice would be greatly appreciated.
It happened for the first time last night and made me quite upset to say the least. I will monitro again tonight after work, but I am just trying to brace myself for a tech visit or a little solder action of my own.

Thanks again for any info from anyone regarding the Th-42pwd8uk model .

Well, add another TH-42PA20 to the 7-blink club list. It is a June 2003 build, purchased in August 2003 for $3500.

I remember reading this thread a few months after we purchased the TV and was greatly concerned, but figured we were lucky so far and gradually forgot about it.

It was the bright, orange and yellow static menu on the Beatles "Love" DVD-Audio disc that caused the shut down for the first time. A friend brought the disc over to hear it in surround, and after about 3-4 songs in it occured to me that I better change the input on the TV to avoid burn-in. I clicked the input button on the remote, and WHAM, the TV promptly shut down. I immediately recalled this thread with considerable dread, as the TV is now long out of warranty.

It has shut down 4-5 times since then, usually after about 2-3 hours of steady viewing. At first I though I might be able to leverage this into getting a new 1080P LCD flat panel, but no deal, she is having none of it. She is beside herself that a 3.5K TV would fail after only 3 1/2 years and insists on getting it repaired. In her mind, it is 3.5K down the drain - even though I tried explaining that most of the 3.5K was used up by our viewing enjoyment over the years and these ED plasmas are only worth about $500-$600 at most now-a-days. She is having none of it and is willing to spend whatever it takes to get it fixed, despite my protests that I saw new Panny 42" HD plasmas going for about $1299 over the holidays and it makes no sense to spend more than a couple hundred bucks fixing this thing.

Well, thank god this thread has been updated over the years. I'm not handy with a soldering iron, but I will order the needed part as recommended here and find someone locally to do the repair. I did notice a few pages back that people were having some luck with the Panasonic rep in Northern CA authorizing repairs for this problem on out of warranty TV's. We are in the East Bay and I will give this a try before proceeding - hopefully the phone number is still good.

The number for Ted Castillo at (425) 483-0192 is no longer in service. Anyone know how to get in contact with this guy?

I'll just order the part for now and go from there. Thanks for all of the info in this thread.

The number for Ted Castillo at (425) 483-0192 is no longer in service. Anyone know how to get in contact with this guy?

I'll just order the part for now and go from there. Thanks for all of the info in this thread.

I would try calling Panasonic to see if he still working for them.

I would try calling Panasonic to see if he still working for them.

He retired about a year ago. Ted was with the Broadcast group so would be no help with the PA20 as this is a consumer group product.

All Plasma service is now coordinated by the Plasma Concierge.

As this is now a 4 year old failure, you are pretty much on your own.

T Wiz

He retired about a year ago. Ted was with the Broadcast group so would be no help with the PA20 as this is a consumer group product.

All Plasma service is now coordinated by the Plasma Concierge.

As this is now a 4 year old failure, you are pretty much on your own.

T Wiz


Thanks for the info Tech.

Yes, unfortunately 4 years is way too long. :(

Thanks for the info about Ted, I guess I'll get this done on my own.

I don't mind paying the $100-$200 for the IC511 repair, but unfortunately, all of the service centers I've spoken with are saying $150-$200 just to diagnose. Plus, some are saying that it is not possible to just solder in a replacement part, indicating a circuit board replacement will likely be necessary. One guy even told me that replacement parts are not available for this TV!

I can understand not honoring the warranty after 3 1/2 years, even though the problem was a manufacturing defect that was known very early on and the sets should've been recalled. But as stated elsewhere, to then be shaken down by the authorized service centers is just inexcusable. Bye, bye Panasonic - never again will you get my money.

I'll keep trying to find one that knows what's going on, otherwise I'll go with the "pull the circuit board myself and have a local TV shop guy solder in the part route".

I have a panasonic TH-42PW5 that has the shut-down issue with 2 flashes. What does this code stand for? It was built in April 2003 serial # YB 3240498. Can I take the board out and have it repaired by a electronic guy?

For those that have desolder the IC yourself, what wattage iron do I need. I have a 25 watt & it wouldn't melt the solder. I was surprised since I left it on each pin a very long time, but I guess the 25 watt is too small for this chip. I even tried some desolder wick to no avail. I just don't want to get too high wattage of a iron & then it fries the new chip when I'm soldering it in.

I have a panasonic TH-42PW5 that has the shut-down issue with 2 flashes. What does this code stand for? It was built in April 2003 serial # YB 3240498. Can I take the board out and have it repaired by a electronic guy?

read my posts a few up....look for one with a broken panel off of ebay. each it's probably either the SS or SC board, and if you can find a cheap broken set, you can get an entire board set for less than the cost of replacing one of these boards.

I setup a search watch using the search terms: (TH42PWD5UY, TH42PW5UZ, 42pwd5, 42pw5)

Before I start looking for a broken plasma TV on E-Bay, is it possible to narrow down the bad board SC,SS, or C-Board / led light , and then pull the suspected bad board and have it repaired by an electronics expert. (less costly ?)

I never thought my August 2003 built unit will ever be off the hook, 7 blinking lights and i knew right away that the IC551 had gone bad. As what the others did, i took the board to a TV repair shop and paid them $50 to put in the new IC that i bought in January '04, One thing's for sure, Panasonic will never ever have my business from now on, for not acknowledging this issue at all ! Shame on you Panasonic. As a sign of my disappointment, i just place an order thru one of AVS Forum sponsor, Invision Display a Pioneer PDP-5070HD. It could have easily been a Panasonic TH-50PX600U if not for the unacceptable manner Panasonic handled this shutdown issue. Oh well, time to think for my other panasonic brand tools/gadget replacements...digital camera, cordless phones, cordless power drill, dvd players, cellular phone...

Hey 1:400_clctr

As Panasonic's Saying :

"panasonic..... Slightly Behind In It's Time."

bbad4all,

I couldn't agree more with you on that. Seriously, i just can't imagine why did Panasonic ignore this issue at all? Did they not realized that we, shutdown victims/owners will upgrade at some point?

I never thought my August 2003 built unit will ever be off the hook, 7 blinking lights and i knew right away that the IC551 had gone bad. As what the others did, i took the board to a TV repair shop and paid them $50 to put in the new IC that i bought in January '04


Looks like I need to do the same. I have the replacement chip. Did you just call a local tv repair shop. I called one & I didn't feel too confident in them so I passed. It seemed they did not do much replacement of individual components but rather replacing whole boards when a chip went bad. Trying to find a place to do this in the bay area, esp the same day or 1 day turn around at most.
Any ideas anyone?

Norcalsvt,
Yes, i just look a for local tv repair shop(yellow pages) here in vegas and asked them how much they'll charge to replace an IC, tell them as well that you'll be taking the board with you. I'm assuming you've read this whole thread about this shutdown issue, if not you can go back to posts 376 and 378 where a fellow member took a picture of the board and the IC 551 that needs to be replaced, just to familiarized yourself. You can do it man....Good luck..

Norcalsvt,
Yes, i just look a for local tv repair shop(yellow pages) here in vegas and asked them how much they'll charge to replace an IC, tell them as well that you'll be taking the board with you. I'm assuming you've read this whole thread about this shutdown issue, if not you can go back to posts 376 and 378 where a fellow member took a picture of the board and the IC 551 that needs to be replaced, just to familiarized yourself. You can do it man....Good luck..

Thanks for the reply. Actually based on those pages I already took it out & attempted to desolder the chip. It didn't work & I also noticed the chip is very close to a couple of solder pads that I might ruin. I put the board back in & am just trying to find a place to solder it. I will keep trying. Thanks

TO ALL PANASONIC OWNERS WITH SHUT DOWN ISSUES:
MY BROTHER, WHO IS A HIGH POWERED ATTORNEY IN NEW YORK CITY AND I HAVE BEEN DISCUSSING THE PROBLEMS THAT HAVE COME UP WITH ALL THE MODELS OF THE PANASONIC PLASMA TV'S. AFTER SHOWING HIM THE PROBLEM I HAVE WITH MY PANASONIC MODEL TH42PW5 (SHUT DOWN AND TWO BLINKING LIGHTS) HE HAS AGREED TO LOOK INTO SERVING A CLASS ACTION SUIT AGAINST PANASONIC. HE HAS ASKED ME IF I WOULD REQUEST THAT ANYONE THAT HAS HAD A FAILURE OF THEIR PLASMA MADE BY PANASONIC
TO CONTACT ME DIRECTLY BY THIS FORUM AT bbad4all WITH YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS SHOWING YOUR PERSONAL NAME, MODEL/SERIAL NUMBER AND DATE PURCHASED. HE WILL THEN CONTACT YOU IN THE NEAR FUTURE WITH INFO. OF THIS CLASS ACTION SUIT. THIS WILL COVER OWNERS THAT HAVE HAD REPAIRED THEIR PLASMA OUT OF POCKET COST AND FUTURE FAILURES THAT MAYBE OUT OF WARRANTY .

Add me to the list of Panasonic shutdown owners. I own a TH-42PA20 that I purchased August 2003 with a manufacture date of July 2003, and I just started experiencing the shutdown issue last week. I don't know what my run hours are, but I will use the useful information that was posted here to check. I will probably do what 1:400_CLCTR did and buy the part and remove the board and have a tv repair place install it. Thanks to all that posted their experiences and information on this issue.

I ordered the chip & brought it to a tv repair shop & he desoldered the old & installed the new chip I had already bought. He only charged me $20.00 for the job. No more shutdown & high pitch wine when turning it on.

I too have just joined the club. I purchased my TH42PA20 in Dec 2003 (July 2003 manufacture date) and wouldn't ya know it - last night during the 2nd half of the Superbowl I experienced my first shutdown. Like others, I heard the high pitched whining noise followed by the shutdown and red blinking lights. I was able to re-boot by unplugging. However this was only a temporary fix. It shutdown again and again. I see that there is a possible fix, however I have a question. Has anyone experienced this problem ONLY when using cable TV? After enduring a shutdown this morning while watching cable TV (Comcast) I decided to conduct a non-scientific test. I watched DVDs for hours without incident. Only when I returned to watching cable did I experience a shutdown (within 25 minutes). Is there a correlation between the shutdown and cable TV. Additionally, during the shutdown this morning I was receiving 7 blinking reds - now I'm only getting 5. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Am in the club with my TH-42PA20. Thanks to all for the important technical information you've provided. I used the instructions here to find my service hours and found that we've only put about 5400 hrs on the set. (Not sure if that's low or high for a 4-yr-old set, but we travel a lot, so my guess is low.)

Mine shutdown for the first time last month. Am 6 mos pregnant and husband is deployed, so I can't get the TV off the wall for the repair, but am enduring the unplug and reboot process over and over. I find mine lasts for about 35 minutes at a time now -- regardless of what I'm watching (satellite or DVD).

I can't get to the serial number, but I assume the part is the same for all of these 2002 models, right? Am planning to go ahead and order it and have the husband deal with it when he gets home in April. Am in agreement with everyone else that a serious acknowledgment by Panasonic along with in-home repair would be a huge plus (especially in my situation) right now.

Thanks again, everyone.

And boom there goes my TH-42PWD6 in the UK, 5 blinking lights and squealing noise. lasted a long time, set is probably 3.5 years old.

Just wanted to check the part number i need
#C5HABZZ00123

not #C5HABZZ00115 as i have seen in some threads?

also anyone know of a UK parts seller?

thanks for all the great advice, i would have been forever lost, if it wasn't for this place!

Another joins the club

My TH-42PWD6 started the shut down problem yesterday.
My unit Manufactured Date JUL 2003
Serial# YB3420048

findon,

I called Panasonic and they told me that C5HABZZ00123 is the same as C5HABZZ00115.

Another joins the club

My TH-42PWD6 started the shut down problem yesterday.
My unit Manufactured Date JUL 2003
Serial# YB3420048

findon,

I called Panasonic and they told me that C5HABZZ00123 is the same as C5HABZZ00115.

Not true. 00123 is the one you want.

Techniwizard:

I Had My Panasonic Th42pw5 With 2 Flashes Looked At For $65.00 Diagnostic Charge. Tech Guy Says My " Y Buffer " Is Bad. He Wants To Charge Me $450.00 For Labor And The Part . I Took It Home Opened It Up And Found That On Start Up The Ss Board Diode Light Does Come On - But The Sc Board Diode Light Will Not Come On.
Can You Tell Me What Is Wrong?
Thanks!

My TH-42PA20 took a dump last week while I was turning it on "power-up" and the L.E.D. flashes twice . I've tried to unplug and try again with no luck, just tries to start up then fails and blinks twice at me again and again. I've read this entire thread and unless I missed it didn't see what part I might be able to replace. I've gone through panasonic and got the name of the repair shop and spoke to them and our hrs won't mesh until my business slows down and I can take some time off to take it down. I'd really like to tear into it myself if any one "TW" has any tips or ideas.
It's lame to have a $4000 (not in todays dollars but what I spent) dead display on the wall that I totally did the remodel of my living room around. I work with my hands and am sure I can replace whatever part on whichever board. I believe It was spoke of ( 2 blinks ) in an earlier post but the model of the display was not the same as mine.

Thanks for all the info I've already got as a lurker in past posts.

Techniwizard:

I Had My Panasonic Th42pw5 With 2 Flashes Looked At For $65.00 Diagnostic Charge. Tech Guy Says My " Y Buffer " Is Bad. He Wants To Charge Me $450.00 For Labor And The Part . I Took It Home Opened It Up And Found That On Start Up The Ss Board Diode Light Does Come On - But The Sc Board Diode Light Will Not Come On.
Can You Tell Me What Is Wrong?
Thanks!

Doesn't sound right. Try running with the SU and SD alternately disconnected from the SC board (leave ribbons connected, and only do one board at a time)

Look for a good top or bottom half of a picture depending on which board is removed. Probably the SU board but if not, find another service center.
Where are you located ?

T Wiz

My TH-42PA20 took a dump last week while I was turning it on "power-up" and the L.E.D. flashes twice . I've tried to unplug and try again with no luck, just tries to start up then fails and blinks twice at me again and again. I've read this entire thread and unless I missed it didn't see what part I might be able to replace. I've gone through panasonic and got the name of the repair shop and spoke to them and our hrs won't mesh until my business slows down and I can take some time off to take it down. I'd really like to tear into it myself if any one "TW" has any tips or ideas.
It's lame to have a $4000 (not in todays dollars but what I spent) dead display on the wall that I totally did the remodel of my living room around. I work with my hands and am sure I can replace whatever part on whichever board. I believe It was spoke of ( 2 blinks ) in an earlier post but the model of the display was not the same as mine.

Thanks for all the info I've already got as a lurker in past posts.

This is not the classic failure symptom spoken of in this thread. The power supply failure is usually 5 or 7 blinks.

Yours is probably a similar problem to the unit mentioned before your post although a different model. Same troubleshooting procedure...

Try running with the SU and SD alternately disconnected from the SC board (leave ribbons connected, and only do one board at a time)

Look for a good top or bottom half of a picture depending on which board is removed. Probably the SU board but if not, there is not much more you can do by yourself without electronic test equipment - it wouls need to go to a service center. Where are oyou located ?

T Wiz

Albuquerque NM and THANKS

Sorry, I'm not familiar with any service centers out your way.

Try this number:

Plasma Hotline for Priority Service at 1-800-973-4390

The old on-line locator now points to this number only.

T Wiz

Techniwizard:
I live in Prescott, AZ will the parts from a TH-42PWD7UY fit my TH-42PW5UZ.
Thanks

Techniwizard:
I live in Prescott, AZ will the parts from a TH-42PWD7UY fit my TH-42PW5UZ.
Thanks

Sorry, no they will not. All model years are different.

Industrial TH42PWD5UY boards will fit consumer TH42PW5UZ

Consumer TH42PA20 boards will fit TH42PWD6UY except the tuner and input boards of course.

T Wiz

bbad4all,

did you ever figure out which board has failed on your plasma?

I have spare SU, SD, D1, D2, and power boards from the broken plasma (a 5UZ) I bought off of ebay. I don't have a known working SS or SC boards though, as I replaced both of those in my plasma.

Also to anyone swapping out these actual boards, those little ribbon cables are a real PITA to get seated properly. It took me about 20mins to get them right.... :(

bbad4all,

did you ever figure out which board has failed on your plasma?

I have spare SU, SD, D1, D2, and power boards from the broken plasma (a 5UZ) I bought off of ebay. I don't have a known working SS or SC boards though, as I replaced both of those in my plasma.

Also to anyone swapping out these actual boards, those little ribbon cables are a real PITA to get seated properly. It took me about 20mins to get them right.... :(

FWIW the SC in a TH37PW5UZ and TH37PWD5UZ is the same as TH42PW5UZ. The SS, SU, and SD are different. THE D1, D2, and PS are also the same in the 37 and 42 W5 series.

Prime suspect is the SU. By pulling it from the SC, you can look at the tops of the drive ICs on the underside of these boards. Any cracks or obvious overheating on these ICs will point out the bad board.

When changing the SU and SD, you can remove the sef tapping screw that holds the bezel, lift it slightly and move the bezel forward to give better access to those troublesome ribbon cables. They must fit exactly. If not the unit may still shutdown, show black horizontal lines, or worse yet, short out the panel.

T Wiz

FWIW the SC in a TH37PW5UZ and TH37PWD5UZ is the same as TH42PW5UZ. The SS, SU, and SD are different. THE D1, D2, and PS are also the same in the 37 and 42 W5 series.

Prime suspect is the SU. By pulling it from the SC, you can look at the tops of the drive ICs on the underside of these boards. Any cracks or obvious overheating on these ICs will point out the bad board.

When changing the SU and SD, you can remove the sef tapping screw that holds the bezel, lift it slightly and move the bezel forward to give better access to those troublesome ribbon cables. They must fit exactly. If not the unit may still shutdown, show black horizontal lines, or worse yet, short out the panel.

T Wiz

Good to know about the SC board being the same with the 37-5U series as well. I spent a good amount of time cross referencing part numbers to make sure that I bought a dead plasma that would provide the proper parts for my 5UY.

Also good to know about moving the bezel, too bad I didn't know this before I wrestled with those cables :p I was getting the black horizontal lines, so I would power the unit on briefly to determine which ribbon cable was mis-adjusted (each cable represents a section of the screen), power off, adjust that one and re-power. I'm glad I DIDN'T know that it could result in a panel short out, as I probably would have gotten nervous and broken something . :rolleyes:

Quick question: is there a "trick" to disconnecting the SS2/SS3 child boards from the SS board? I actually ruined the cable/connector on my "old" board when disassembling (was putting together a disassembly/packing how-to for the person I bought the parts from), but it sure looks like those boards "should" be able to seperate. No big deal, as I was going to replace the SS / SS2 / SS3 boardsets anyhow, just curious.

Cheers,

Rich

Rich,

The connector pulls straight up from the SS2 and SS3. Notice there are small "tabs" on either side of these connectors. Gingerly use the thumb and forefinger to "rock" the beast until it pulls up.

Sometimes it's just easier to change the entire assembly including the sub-boards.

TW

TW,

Thanks, that's how I figured it should work, but for some reason the board I tried to remove I somehow applied too much pressure in the wrong place. I did end up just replacing the entire assembly, and had the seller of the "donor" plasma pull all 3 boards as one unit to avoid him possibly doing the same damage.

If I ever need to re-visit the SS board issues (replaced SC and SS boards without fully diagnosing which board was the culprit) I could possibly replace the sub-board I damaged and re-purpose the "old" SS board. Those pesky SS and SC boards are expensive..... :eek:

Cheers,

Rich

o "We're not worthy, we're not worthy"
<|\ o__
_/ \_ _/ \_
Techniwizard

o "We're not worthy, we're not worthy"
<|\ o__
_/ \_ _/ \_
Techniwizard

No need to grovel, just remember knowledge is power...

I got the parts(C5HABZZ00123) yesterday, it took me 30 mins. to install it. No more shut down problem. For those of you installing it yourself, be careful not to put too much solder, the trace on the pc board are very close to each other that if you put too much solder, it can make a short circuit. if somebody needs help with the same problem, let me know. I live in the Bay Area.

Hi! We've had this problem with our TH-37PA20 over the past three years but just dealt with it until now, it won't turn on at all, just whistles. So now we have to get it fixed. We've considered trying to do it ourselves to save money but I'm kind of afraid we'll mess something up. Any idea of a good repair center in the Seattle area that is aware of this issue?

Thanks!
Kelly

Techniwizard
I Have A Broken Panasonic Th-42pw5 Plasma Tv.
Can You Tell Me What Panasonic Plasma Model Tv's Are Available On E-bay That Can Be Used For Parts To Fix My Plasma Tv.

Thanks

TH42PWD5UY is the same as TH42PW5UZ

Thw 37 inch versions TH37PWD5UY and TH37PW5UZ use the same power supply, D board, and SC board. The SS, SU, and SD boards are different between the 37 and 42 inch units.

Be very careful of what you buy on Ebay.

If you look a few pages back, I listed the ebay search phrase I used. I got lucky and got essentially a brand new plasma with a broken panel. Hard to say what you might find....

Our 37" Plasma TV, model # TH-37PD25 EDTV, died Friday (April 27)-- without any warning!

We get the 1 long light and 11 blinking lights. Anybody know what that diagnostic code is for? What part do we need to order from Panasonic?

We'd appreciate any help we can get from the members of this forum. Our LAST resort will be to take it to an authorized Panasonic repair shop here in Indianapolis.




***As a side note: We've had the TV for only 2 1/2 years ( bought Sept 2004 - built May 2004). We paid $2500 for it and figured it would last a LOT longer before dying! We paid $800 in 1980 for our Sony console TV. It lasted 24 years and never had one repair!***

I've got a broken TH-42PA25 I'm trying to fix.

It had fried SU and SD boards. I took off most of the chips on those boards and now I have 1/8th of my screen working (~ 64 rows) so I think its just those boards. However the heatsink on IC551 gets too hot to touch if the tv is on for just a few minutes. Is this normal?

The temperature seems to stabilize, it just seems wierd that there isn't a fan there if the heatsink is meant to run that hot. All voltages check out.

Also, please let me know if anyone has any extra compatible SU and SD boards sitting around they want to sell. ;-)

Add another to the list!!! I have a TH-37PD25U-P manufactured OCT 2004. Bedroom set, wall mounted, rarely used. Never shut down, then one day a big POP and green flash of light from the rear and it's dead. Red light flashes 7 times. I open the back and find that damn IC551 has EXPLODED! It is on the AH board and has the M suffix. THIS IS A JOKE PANASONIC! I will NEVER buy another Panasonic product again! There are SO MANY people on here reporting this problem, just imagine all the people who are NOT REPORTING on this site that have had the same problem! UGGGH! :mad: :mad: :mad:

Add another to the list!!! I have a TH-37PD25U-P manufactured OCT 2004. Bedroom set, wall mounted, rarely used. Never shut down, then one day a big POP and green flash of light from the rear and it's dead. Red light flashes 7 times. I open the back and find that damn IC551 has EXPLODED! It is on the AH board and has the M suffix. THIS IS A JOKE PANASONIC! I will NEVER buy another Panasonic product again! There are SO MANY people on here reporting this problem, just imagine all the people who are NOT REPORTING on this site that have had the same problem! UGGGH! :mad: :mad: :mad:

TuffyRosie...I've started a new THREAD for our Plasma TV ("Panasonic TH-35PD25 - DEAD") http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=841583

How about if you, and EVERYONE that has one of these DEAD Plasma TV's, add your post to that thread, too. Also, let us know if any of you were able to repair the TV at a reasonable price.

Replaced IC551 and it didn't help at all. Any other suggestions? Still getting the red light flashing 7 times.

I've got a broken TH-42PA25 I'm trying to fix.

It had fried SU and SD boards. I took off most of the chips on those boards and now I have 1/8th of my screen working (~ 64 rows) so I think its just those boards. However the heatsink on IC551 gets too hot to touch if the tv is on for just a few minutes. Is this normal?

The temperature seems to stabilize, it just seems wierd that there isn't a fan there if the heatsink is meant to run that hot. All voltages check out.

Also, please let me know if anyone has any extra compatible SU and SD boards sitting around they want to sell. ;-)

Did you ever find these PCBs ?

TW

Replaced IC551 and it didn't help at all. Any other suggestions? Still getting the red light flashing 7 times.

Likely that you may need the entire Power Supply PCB. Something caused the IC551 failure so just replacing that would probably not fix it as you have discovered.

TW

Did you ever find these PCBs ?

TW
Panasonic sells them for $100 each. I'm now sure enought that the tv should work with new boards that I will probably spend the 200 on new boards if I don't find a cheaper source.

I'm an electrical engineering student, I bought the tv already broken as a project to see if I could fix it easily. I was hoping it would be ic551 or something small.

I emailed someone who bought a broken tv on ebay to see if he used those boards. He told me he thinks he still has them and will check in a few days when he gets home.

I'll let you know if that doesn't work out.

Thanks,
Jim

Likely that you may need the entire Power Supply PCB. Something caused the IC551 failure so just replacing that would probably not fix it as you have discovered.

TW

At this point I'd rather just sell the thing to someone who needs parts. That, or roll a few bowling balls at it.

What a major, major bummer this has been. I swear I will NEVER buy another Panasonic product again. They should acknowledge the design flaw and fix it. It's the right thing to do.

Shutdown Fix for the 42PWD6UY (Commercial Unit) & 42PA20 (Consumer Unit)

Problem: Upon turning on TV, loud hissing noise could be heard. Once the TV was on and running, when the power was interupted the TV would shut down. Either 5 or 7 blinks will occur depending on unit. It would take 15min to 4hrs to be able to get the TV back on, followed by it shutting down once again.

Fix: Order the new transistor (Part# C5HABZZ00123) from Panasonic for $20.02 plus shipping, comes up to about $30 total.

Remove the back off the unit, find the IC551 on the power supply board. The board is located near the top and off center to the right. The transistor your looking for is located to the far right on the board, attached to a cooling bar. You'll notice most the IC's on this board begin with the number 5, you've got the right board.

Find IC551 and the black transistor with a screw through it, this is the transistor you want. This part number should be CXA1315P, but don't be worried if you don't find it printed on the transistor. Remove the board by unplugging everything and unscrewing the board (5 screws I believe). I wraped the board and

I went to a Local TV Repair guy (a friend) and had him replace the old transistor (CXA1315P) with the new transistor (C5HABZZ00123). Took about 15min with no charge. If you were charged, I'd estimate maybe $20 for his time.

Replace the board, plug everything back in, screw everything into place, and your ready to go. I ran my TV for hours on end to make sure it wouldn't quit. After three weeks of testing the TV through everything that would shut it down, I have yet to experience anything. The TV is NEW AGAIN!!! I am confident this was the issue and has been solved with the new transistor.

The Panasonic Authorized Repair Center in Denver, CO quoted me $500+ for the repair. Another posting showed a bill of $519.19 for his repair from Denver, and he was without his unit for nearly a week. With a little research online, I fixed my Plasma for $30, and it took about an hour from off the wall to back on the wall!!!

I don't check these posts regularly, but figured I owed it to these forums to post this considering this is where I received most of my research. I hope this posting helps.


Thanks for the information. my TH42PA20 is as good as new again! Total Cost is 55 bucks.


Jack

Hi everyone, as a new member of the 7 blink club. I'm glad I came across this forum, cuz my TH-42PA25 Panny did the shutdown mischief as everyone else's in this thread. I took out the board with the culprit part (IC551) and after reviewing this thread, part number P6668M for IC551 which is supposed to be the updated version, is what I have originally installed on the board. Manufactured date for the unit is March 2004. Has onyone had theirs fail even with the updated IC551? I will just order the chip from Panasonic and install it myself, but before I do I would like to know if this has happened to anyone else with the new IC.

Hi everyone, as a new member of the 7 blink club. I'm glad I came across this forum, cuz my TH-42PA25 Panny did the shutdown mischief as everyone else's in this thread. I took out the board with the culprit part (IC551) and after reviewing this thread, part number P6668M for IC551 which is supposed to be the updated version, is what I have originally installed on the board. Manufactured date for the unit is March 2004. Has onyone had theirs fail even with the updated IC551? I will just order the chip from Panasonic and install it myself, but before I do I would like to know if this has happened to anyone else with the new IC.

This would not be the same problem. The IC 551 with the B suffix was only on June-Aug 2003 production. Every failure of this model is not automatically IC 551 even though many of you would like to believe so.

The TH42PA25 is an updated TH42PA20 similar to the TH42PWD6UY and the updated TH42PWD6UYA. IC 551 was changed at the factory long before these models were introduced, (Jan 2004) so there is probably some other failure on the Power Supply PCB that requires service.

This board is the later TNPA2841AH, with the AH suffix having the newer IC 551.

Most service centers will quote $3-400 for this PCB, which can only be ordered by a service dealer, plus labor.

It becomes more economical to swap the entire PCB that to troubleshoot at $150-$200 per hour labor rate and end up with a $600 labor charge and a $20 part.

Thanks Techniwizard for your reply. As you mentioned, swapping the pcb may be a more cost effective solution in this case where the parts are the updated version, and yes, the board has the "AH' suffix on it. I'm glad I came across this forum, and people willing to share their knowledge with this technology. I used to work on old TV's (vacuum tubes and a few transistors) in my days, and have been out of it for awhile.

Dead_42PW5 & boykster...

If you look back a page in this thread you can see I had the same problem as both of you. Well sorry it took so long but I have a update. Its been fixed.
It turned out to be the SC PCB. Once I was able to get the board, it took about 15 minutes to pop it in.

Note to others reading this:

This problem while being a shut down issue is in no way related to the power supply problem that started this thread, although similar. Below is a link from another member to a video showing our problem. So if your plasma does this, it is more than likely a SC PCB gone bad.

http://www.vimeo.com/clip:73124

MadnSA was your problem power supply or SC PCB related?
Hi all,

I finally decided to bite the bullet and purchase an SC board (TNPA2534AE). Total costs was about $580 ($520 + tax and shipping) from www.partstore.com. I installed it last night and it works. I would like to point out 3 things:

1. This is the REV E board. My origianal board was REVD. I did a quick check and noticed that 4 Power MOSFETS or bipolar transisotrs were added. These were unstuffed in the REVD board. Since these "placeholders" existed in REVD it is obvious that Panasonic anticipated a potential problem in this circuitry. Instead of stuffing these components at a cost of maybe $0.50 or a $1 they decided not to, their board became less reliable, and they pissed off alot of customers. Great job Panasonic.

2. I did not see the exact failure shown in the video. I did get the 2-flash diagnostic but no screen flash.

3. Panasonic customer service is so worthless as you all know. The said they "might" be able to give me a discount on a new set if I took my bad set in and paid for the diagnostic. Yeah right.


Anyway, thanks for all of the info on this great board. You may want to look back at some of my previous posts to see if my observations (LED sequence, probe voltages, etc.) match what you are seeing if you have the 2-flash diagnostic code.

Good luck to all

With respect to my previous comments I don't know if the board failure was related to the circuitry where Panasonic added more transistors. However, the fact that they added them on REVE still tells me that this circuit still needed to be improved.

Also, if you do any probing be careful because there is alot of high voltage on these boards.

Wow, glad it worked out for you, but ouch on the price!!!

I'm glad I was able to find a dead 5UY off of ebay to act as a donor.....

With respect to my previous comments I don't know if the board failure was related to the circuitry where Panasonic added more transistors. However, the fact that they added them on REVE still tells me that this circuit still needed to be improved.

Also, if you do any probing be careful because there is alot of high voltage on these boards.

Changes are quite common during a model's production run. Usually it involves parts changes, many times to a cheaper part or different source vendor. The additional parts did nothing for reliability or improvement in this case, the later boards were used across both consumer and industrial lines to lower the required number of replacement parts that needed to be stocked. This board also fit the 37 inch models of this series.

Thanks Techniwizard for your reply. As you mentioned, swapping the pcb may be a more cost effective solution in this case where the parts are the updated version, and yes, the board has the "AH' suffix on it. I'm glad I came across this forum, and people willing to share their knowledge with this technology. I used to work on old TV's (vacuum tubes and a few transistors) in my days, and have been out of it for awhile.

I've been bit by the HV out of a 6JE6 many times. Fond memories.

I'd also like to thank everyone on this forum. This forum has been a great resource for me in fixing my 42PA25.

I put in new SD and SU boards and it seem to work fine. I also added a 12v fan pointing at the IC551 heatsink since it was very hot and I want the tv to keep working.

I'm attaching some pics of my burned chips and boards and the fan I added.

-Jim

Changes are quite common during a model's production run. Usually it involves parts changes, many times to a cheaper part or different source vendor. The additional parts did nothing for reliability or improvement in this case, the later boards were used across both consumer and industrial lines to lower the required number of replacement parts that needed to be stocked. This board also fit the 37 inch models of this series.
No disrespect Techniwizard but designer's usually don't put options on the boards unless there is the potential for a future problem. The REVE board appears the same as REVD but REVD had unstuffed components. If this was a cost reduction cheaper components or different circuitry would have been used. Generally speaking cost reductions utilize 2nd-source components which are pin-compatible to the previous components but which are cheaper or from a preferred vendor. I would agree with your comments if transistors had been REMOVED, and not added.

Well they could have switched to cheaper transistors that can take less current and used more of them instead. But if the part numbers are the same, then they probably anticipated the problem.

My 42" Panny ED 42PWD6 is shutting off again with the 5 to 7 light blink thing. I am frustrated as it has done this for 2 years. I have never taken the time to research the problem as it would correct itself for a period of time. Now, I cannot get the TV to stay on for just a few minutes. Like everyone else, it whines when it is turned on. It also whines when it cuts off. Now I am whininig. :p

Should I order the replacement part C5HABZZ00123 to fix this problem? The IC 551 part that I have is Part #F6668B. It was manufactured in Sept 2003. Quite likely it was using the culprit product.

Alan :eek:

No disrespect Techniwizard but designer's usually don't put options on the boards unless there is the potential for a future problem. The REVE board appears the same as REVD but REVD had unstuffed components. If this was a cost reduction cheaper components or different circuitry would have been used. Generally speaking cost reductions utilize 2nd-source components which are pin-compatible to the previous components but which are cheaper or from a preferred vendor. I would agree with your comments if transistors had been REMOVED, and not added.

No disrespect taken. However as it turns out, there were only two versions of this PCB, TNPA2534 originally with no suffix for the 42 inch and with suffix AB for the 37 inch. Only the 37 inch board was stocked as a service replacement and had as you have seen 4 extra power mosfets and one other in another location.
As the power mosfets appear to be all in parallel, perhaps they were driving the 37 harder to achieve the same level brightness or some other reason that we can only speculate now some 5 model series later.

The 37s came with the "extra parts" from the start of production so their reason for being was not some "improvement" but as part of the original 37 design.

The schematic never changed throughout production although the board layout may have leading to the D and E revisions, D for the 42s and E for the 37s.
SC schematic attached showing 37 additional parts noted in dashed boxes.

BTW, did you check with "PARTS STORE" for a DUD credit ? Many of these boards carried a $150 board return credit that would take some of the sting out of that board's high price tag.

Well they could have switched to cheaper transistors that can take less current and used more of them instead. But if the part numbers are the same, then they probably anticipated the problem.

See above...

My 42" Panny ED 42PWD6 is shutting off again with the 5 to 7 light blink thing. I am frustrated as it has done this for 2 years. I have never taken the time to research the problem as it would correct itself for a period of time. Now, I cannot get the TV to stay on for just a few minutes. Like everyone else, it whines when it is turned on. It also whines when it cuts off. Now I am whininig. :p

Should I order the replacement part C5HABZZ00123 to fix this problem? The IC 551 part that I have is Part #F6668B. It was manufactured in Sept 2003. Quite likely it was using the culprit product.

Alan :eek:

Yes, order the part, it will have an "M" suffix instead of your "B"
Order number is different than the number stamped on the part.
C5HABZZ00123 is the correct part to order.

Thanks Techniwizard. There is a packing slip which states that I should get a DUD credit although partstore did not specifically say so. When I was looking at another distributor it did say that there was about a $150 core charge included in the price (also ~$520) so I assume that I will get a similar amount back. I will let everyone know if I get the credit back.

4 Blinks = Power SOS

So most likely a problem with the Power Supply.


.

I am having the same problem as flag8r. didnt see a resolution posted. My TV will randomly shut down followed by 4 blinking red lights.
Unplug for about 1-2 hours and the tv will work again for anywhere from 15 - 45 minutes.

TH-42PD50U

Serial: YJ536XXXX

After doing a factory reset and running the self check, everything comes back OK followed by the following 2 lines:

SOS: 2 4 A
ROMCORR. CHECKSUM: 5C

Any help/advice would greatly appreciated. The service center Panasonic told me call wants to charge 60 bucks to come look at it, then $350 labor to fix (regardless of the problem - this seems really odd to me) + Part(s).

Hey so I attempted to install the part in my panny 6wd and I guess screwed something up as it doesn't power on and flashes. Is there a way I can get a replacement board or something??? I checked the traces that the part goes to with an ohm meter and they seemed legit but dunno?? HELP!! Thanks sean

Also what are the differences if any between the different boards??? I see that mine is a tnpa2841AB and I am told that the AH is the same but newer what about the AJ??

Hey so I attempted to install the part in my panny 6wd and I guess screwed something up as it doesn't power on and flashes. Is there a way I can get a replacement board or something??? I checked the traces that the part goes to with an ohm meter and they seemed legit but dunno?? HELP!! Thanks sean


I'm sure SPR will chime in here once he can tear himself away from his repaired Plasma. Long of the short is he needed to solder some of the IC connections on top of the board (component side) as well as underneath (conductor side). The IC mounting holes are plated through at the factory but that through-plating is usually pulled out with the old IC. Solder both sides and you're in fat city.

He also had a problem with over-bright washed out video using the composite BNC input. These inputs have an auto-terminating looping output connector that would serve to feed another unit. Trouble is a lot of folks add TWO BNC-RCA adapters on both of the BNCs before they realize that this opens the auto-terminator. Removing the second adaptor cures that problem and then you are really in Fat City.

T Wiz <----solves another impossible case (grins)

Dead_42PW5 & boykster...

If you look back a page in this thread you can see I had the same problem as both of you. Well sorry it took so long but I have a update. Its been fixed.
It turned out to be the SC PCB. Once I was able to get the board, it took about 15 minutes to pop it in.

Note to others reading this:

This problem while being a shut down issue is in no way related to the power supply problem that started this thread, although similar. Below is a link from another member to a video showing our problem. So if your plasma does this, it is more than likely a SC PCB gone bad.



Well, it's my turn now.... Just the other day my Panasonic TH-42PWD6 started doing exactly what the attached video shows in the above quote. What really ticks me off is I spent over $3000 just 31/2 years ago (oh wow, I JUST gotta have a plasma...) and now its gone. Well sort of anyway. Means I have to take it off the wall, open it, and try T-wiz's troubleshooting tips he's posted all over this forum post. As well as looking at an older version of the tech manual for geographic reasons anyway. I'am sure my actual display is fine, but the electronics are crap period. I'll never buy another Panasonic, or plasma for that matter. I sure miss my old Sony CRT 27in right now and that lasted over 15 years. We're forced to watch anything on my old (yeah, bought in 1989) Toshiba 21in. that has absolutely no amenities, but it does one thing, it's still running.... What a piece of crap I now own, eh?? Trouble is, I don't believe you can get a CRT type TV anymore... I'am getting the picture now, "throw-away" tvs...... Just a vent....
go to post #576 for a link ot the video, I'm a new poster so I can't link to videos...
or try cut,paste, and add periods to vimeo_com/clip: 73124

Anyone have part # for blink/shut down problem (else all is perfect) for TH-42PWD5UY (mfr. Nov. 2002)? The post for part#C5HABZZ00123 doesn't correlate with 42pwd5 on a retailer's parts list/ordering page.
Or do I face a different problem?
Mahalo

Anyone have part # for blink/shut down problem (else all is perfect) for TH-42PWD5UY (mfr. Nov. 2002)? The post for part#C5HABZZ00123 doesn't correlate with 42pwd5 on a retailer's parts list/ordering page.
Or do I face a different problem?
Mahalo

The "Shutdown Issue" is a problem related to the 6th Generation Consumer and Commercial Models.

Your's is a 5th Generation Commercial Display.

What's wrong with your Plasma???

The "Shutdown Issue" is a problem related to the 6th Generation Consumer and Commercial Models.

Your's is a 5th Generation Commercial Display.

What's wrong with your Plasma???

It works, then goes to standby (flashing red, didn't count flashes), unresponsive to remote. If I manually shut off & on, it works again (duration varies).
I had read through a bunch of posts (here & elsewhere, but virtually quoting avs forum posts), and it seems to be the same cycle as previous posts on this thread.
Other than suddenly powering down, everything else seems fine.
Thank you.

It works, then goes to standby (flashing red, didn't count flashes), unresponsive to remote. If I manually shut off & on, it works again (duration varies).
I had read through a bunch of posts (here & elsewhere, but virtually quoting avs forum posts), and it seems to be the same cycle as previous posts on this thread.
Other than suddenly powering down, everything else seems fine.
Thank you.


That's the protection circuit shutting down the Plasma due to a problem. Can you count the blinks???

That's the protection circuit shutting down the Plasma due to a problem. Can you count the blinks???

2 blinks, about 4 seconds steady red, repeat.
(cross of the fingers)

Not related at all.

Your first servicer is probably correct, possibly the Power Supply or what is known as the DG board.

The other combo is actually SC, SU, and SD but would not blink 7 times.

So instead of letting the first one try to fix it on site you'll let another pulll it to service at his shop ?

Only one will ever get paid for the warraty claim which is not Earth shattering to begin with.


Yikes, I just tried to post a message and I could not post so I will try to summarize again. I have a TH-42PW5 and I am having the same issue. Powers up for a few seconds, 2 flashes and then the power supply relay shuts off. Diagnostic LED's on the SS and SC boards light up. D6769 first, then D6765 (SS) and D6583 (SC) concurrently and then all 3 turn off < 1 sec later when the relay turns off.


Flow chart on page 42 says to check SS/SC LED's. Although they turn on only momentarily I assume the SC/SS boards are OK. VDA voltage seems OK so it then points to the D1 board. Anyone have any ideas on how to debug the D1 board? I really don't want to swap the board unless I know that it is bad.

A quick probe of the a few "SOS" signals seem to indicate some protection problem but I have not had a chance to probe with a scope.

My manufacture date is September 2002 (I think, not at home now) and it has worked flawlessly until now.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Remove the mounting screws and pull the SU pcb loose from the SC pcb. Leave the ribbon cables to the panel connected. Power up and look for a good lower half screen. If so, replace the SU pcb, If not, replace and do the same to the SD pcb and look for a good top half screen. If so, replace the SD pcb. If neither, possibly the SC or one of the other boards are bad. They all interact so it is hard to pinpoint except by substitution.

The guide you have is for an HD unit. Yours is standard definition so the circuitry is different although similar. TH42PW5UZ is the same as the industrial TH42PWD5UY in that model year except the video inputs are BNC jacks instead of common RCA jacks.

I'm in EXACTLY the same spot as you. 2 possible dead board, each $500+ with no guarantee that I've got the right one pegged as "bad", and a perfectly good PDP (the most expensive part) that's just sitting not getting used.

I really needed a new set, so I went out and bought a 42PX60U, but I'm holding onto the PW5 hoping that I can track down one with broken glass or something. Otherwise, it's ebay/craigslist for it.

I bought mine new for $3500 from visual apex in dec 2001. :(

Lets not get into a bidding war if a PW5 does come up on ebay....I'm boykster there too, so if I'm bidding against you send me a PM to let me know and we'll work something out. No reason to screw each other over ;)

Dead_42PW5 & boykster...

If you look back a page in this thread you can see I had the same problem as both of you. Well sorry it took so long but I have a update. Its been fixed.
It turned out to be the SC PCB. Once I was able to get the board, it took about 15 minutes to pop it in.

Note to others reading this:

This problem while being a shut down issue is in no way related to the power supply problem that started this thread, although similar. Below is a link from another member to a video showing our problem. So if your plasma does this, it is more than likely a SC PCB gone bad.


MadnSA was your problem power supply or SC PCB related?

PowerStrokeHD -> thanks for the update!

My set is doing exactly what is seen in that video, AFTER staying on WITH video for a few minutes, then with no video for a few more minutes. While its on without video, I get white flashes on the screen, then off with red blinking.

Where did you get your SC board? From a panasonic service center? Direct for Panasonic?

Cheers,

Rich


Hi Techniwizard, Bruzzi, powerstrokeHD, boykster, Dead_42PW5 and all

I'm a total noob in this but the does the above sounds similar to my problem: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=835603

But I don't have the blinking lights or shut down issue, half the screen is blank when powering on, problem may disappears after 1/2 to 1 hour or so when I leave it on. But it may recur after that.

SOrry to post here as mine is a 5 series commercial. Any help is greatly appreciated.

kinetics,
I'd say from your description that you have a bad SU or SD PCB. Don't know off the top of my head which one controls which half of the screen (and if you wait for tecnowizard, he'll tell you) but they are daughter boards that work in conjuction with the SU board which is the mother board. Either of them are much less complicated and much smaller in size than the SU board. Look back on page 19 or so to read the posts in that area and you'll see some descriptions about this issue. Hope this helps....

Help! I'm trying to locate IC551 on the main power supply board so I can replace the transister, but I can't locate it on my TH-50PHD6UY. Can anybody help????

thanks.

'Fix: Order the new transistor (Part# C5HABZZ00123) from Panasonic for $20.02 plus shipping, comes up to about $30 total.

Remove the back off the unit, find the IC551 on the power supply board. The board is located near the top and off center to the right. The transistor your looking for is located to the far right on the board, attached to a cooling bar. You'll notice most the IC's on this board begin with the number 5, you've got the right board.

Find IC551 and the black transistor with a screw through it, this is the transistor you want. This part number should be CXA1315P, but don't be worried if you don't find it printed on the transistor. Remove the board by unplugging everything and unscrewing the board (5 screws I believe)."

Posted by other Members on this thread:

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/6831/ic55101ff4.jpg

http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/9781/ic55102mf7.jpg

http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/1627/ic55103eu6.jpg


.

Posted by other Members on this thread:

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/6831/ic55101ff4.jpg

http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/9781/ic55102mf7.jpg

http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/1627/ic55103eu6.jpg


.

Sorry Bruzz, the TH50HD6UY never had this problem. Only TH42PWD6UY June through August 2003 production.

Probably SU, SD, or SC PCBs. Depends on how many (dark) blinks the power LED goes after shutdown. Hint: 6 Blinks = bad fan rotation in 1 of 4 fans.

TW

BTW, Bruzzi's PIX are of a TH42PA20.

TW

Thanks, folks. Next time, I'll post HERE before I do anything else.

I had the back cover off when I spoke to a local shop-they said the same thing about 6 blinks is a fan problem. So, I blew off the fan and fired it up. The fans were working, but IMHO-kind of wimpy compared to computer case fans.

Does anybody think the fans either shut off during viewing, or can't keep up with the heat? There doesn't seem to be much airflow coming out of the holes in the cover-also, the bracket that holds the monitor to the wall covers some of the holes.

So far, it's been three hours and it hasn't shut down yet.

Dale

Thanks, folks. Next time, I'll post HERE before I do anything else.

I had the back cover off when I spoke to a local shop-they said the same thing about 6 blinks is a fan problem. So, I blew off the fan and fired it up. The fans were working, but IMHO-kind of wimpy compared to computer case fans.

Does anybody think the fans either shut off during viewing, or can't keep up with the heat? There doesn't seem to be much airflow coming out of the holes in the cover-also, the bracket that holds the monitor to the wall covers some of the holes.

So far, it's been three hours and it hasn't shut down yet.

Dale

Dale,

It is likely to happen again. Once they start to act up it's only a matter of time.

Fan PN# is FBL08A12LS

Order online here:

http://www.pasc.panasonic.com/epartr/

T Wiz

Do I need to take the back cover off and see which fan is failing? I only saw two fans-are there really four???

Thanks a lot!

Dale

Do I need to take the back cover off and see which fan is failing? I only saw two fans-are there really four???

Thanks a lot!

Dale

Maybe only two. (It's late here !)

Why guess ? They are four years old. Replace both and relax for another 4 years.

Factory recommends that fans be changed every year, which nobody does.

TW

Yeah, that makes sense-kind of like replacing two garage door springs versus the one that broke, huh?

Thanks for your help and advice!

Dale

good strategy....like replacing belts, seals, et al when pulling an engine to replace the timing belt. Its out, might as well do it.

Update on my 42-5UY...it's working like new still. It's been moved to guest bedroom duty, so its not used nearly as much, but it hasn't had a single hiccup since I swapped those 2 boards.

I have a Panasonic TH-50PX60U that was purchased Dec. '06. It has shutdown and will not stay turned on. I have 11 blinks & then repeats. Berst Buy came to service TV. They needed to adjust wall bracket & had it completely off the wall & unplugged. When they put it back on wall & hooked everything back up - it worked fine. So they thought it was a bad HDMI connection.

Well, that was Aug. 6th & it shutdown a few days ago & same 11 blinks. Any idea what 11 blinks mean? I can't find any info on 11 blinks & tech guys were looking in my operating manual when they were here a few weeks ago but nothing in the manual. So what's that error code mean. And it repeats 11 blinks & then a pause & repeats again.

After unplugging everything I got it to at least turn on but it shuts down as soon as set up screen appears.

Thank You In Advance For Your Help:)
Roxy1

Sorry Bruzz, the TH50HD6UY never had this problem. Only TH42PWD6UY June through August 2003 production.

TW

Yes I know that.

For some reason I thought I read TH42PWD6UY on daleebob's post.

Sorry about that.


BTW, Bruzzi's PIX are of a TH42PA20.

TW

Yup.

Aren't they similar in design... the power supplies for the Commercial and Consumer 6th Generation Models ???

.

I have a Panasonic TH-50PX60U that was purchased Dec. '06. It has shutdown and will not stay turned on. I have 11 blinks & then repeats. Berst Buy came to service TV. They needed to adjust wall bracket & had it completely off the wall & unplugged. When they put it back on wall & hooked everything back up - it worked fine. So they thought it was a bad HDMI connection.

Well, that was Aug. 6th & it shutdown a few days ago & same 11 blinks. Any idea what 11 blinks mean? I can't find any info on 11 blinks & tech guys were looking in my operating manual when they were here a few weeks ago but nothing in the manual. So what's that error code mean. And it repeats 11 blinks & then a pause & repeats again.

After unplugging everything I got it to at least turn on but it shuts down as soon as set up screen appears.

Thank You In Advance For Your Help:)
Roxy1


11 Blinks = Fan SOS

Same problem as above. One of the fans might not be working properly.


.

11 Blinks = Fan SOS

Same problem as above. One of the fans might not be working properly.


.

Thank You !

Now to get Best Buy Techs to have right stuff w/ them to repair it in one visit.

I'd have Panasonic techs do it but they want TV off of the wall. Best Buy sends 2 techs who can do that. Panasonic doesn't want liability for it if they take it off of the wall. I'd have to pull power cord out of wall to reach back of TV elsewhere. Plus, I have 2 dogs & young adults living at home so I could see something happening to it while it was leaning against a wall. That sucks that Panasonic service is like that.

But thanks again!!!
Roxy1

OK, having no luck finding PCBs for my TH-42PWD6 (s/a a TH-42PA20 or TH-42PA25 model). Any of the readers out there have any spare PCBs for this model? Looking for the SC board, as my troubleshooting seems to indicate that that is the culprit. Doing what TW states doesn't point to either the SU or SD boards.... I live at least 21/2 hours from any authorized Panasonic dealer, and do not have any warrenty left on my 31/2 year old plasma.... Local service people who are dependable won't work on a brand that they don't sell ( go figure, eh) Anyway, please contact me via a PM if you have this board and it'll work for me....
thanks...

Hi Techniwizard, Bruzzi, powerstrokeHD, boykster, Dead_42PW5 and all

I'm a total noob in this but the does the above sounds similar to my problem: sorry cant link but its a few threads below

But I don't have the blinking lights or shut down issue, half the screen is blank when powering on, problem may disappears after 1/2 to 1 hour or so when I leave it on. But it may recur after that.

SOrry to post here as mine is a 5 series commercial. Any help is greatly appreciated.

I'm curious & a bit desperate, why mine doesn't have the blinking lights? : http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=835603

Techniwizard: I'm going to replace the two fans tomorrow. Do you (or anyone else) think that this problem could be related to the board the fans are plugged into? Or, are we pretty sure that the fans are the problem here?

Has anyone ever seen the fans stop spinning once they were running?

Thanks!

I'm curious & a bit desperate, why mine doesn't have the blinking lights? : http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=835603

You only get blinking LEDs when certain voltages dip below 75%.

You may just have edge connector problems between the SU/SD and the SC board on the left side (as viewed from the rear) of the chassis.

Pull the SU/SD from the SC (leave ribbons connected) and clean the edge connections with isopropyl alcohol and a Q-tip. Twist the Q-tip so no cotton strands come loose while cleaning.

Be careful not to flex the ribbon cables too much, they are fragile.

Techniwizard: I'm going to replace the two fans tomorrow. Do you (or anyone else) think that this problem could be related to the board the fans are plugged into? Or, are we pretty sure that the fans are the problem here?

Has anyone ever seen the fans stop spinning once they were running?

Thanks!

Go for it. It's the fans. Old fans will stop, sputter, slow down, speed up and otherwise make your life miserable until replaced.

Yes I know that.

For some reason I thought I read TH42PWD6UY on daleebob's post.

Sorry about that.




Yup.

Aren't they similar in design... the power supplies for the Commercial and Consumer 6th Generation Models ???

.

No need to be sorry. Happens to me more and more as I get older and miss my ginko biloba...

Yes for the PWD6 and PA20, the power supplies are exactly the same.
To answer a ??? a few posts back, suffix AJ is the latest version of this board and does have the newer IC 551.

And to repeat for the newbies, this problem is only for June - August 2003 production of the standard def TH42PWD6UY and TH42PA20. Does not apply to 50 inch models.
Other models and years with shutdown problems are NOT related to IC 551.

Techniwizard:

Thanks for your advice! I went down to Panasonic's parts warehouse in Kent, WA and picked up two fans yesterday. I ran the monitor 3 hours or so in the afternoon and a couple more last night with no shutdown issues. Much appreciated.

Techniwizard:

Thanks for your advice! I went down to Panasonic's parts warehouse in Kent, WA and picked up two fans yesterday. I ran the monitor 3 hours or so in the afternoon and a couple more last night with no shutdown issues. Much appreciated.

Glad to hear it worked out. Nice to be close to the National Parts Depot, that is one BIG warehouse.

TW

so instead of buying a dead plasma off of ebay for parts, I could have strolled down to Kent to buy replacement parts? Good to know

so instead of buying a dead plasma off of ebay for parts, I could have strolled down to Kent to buy replacement parts? Good to know

Actually, no. PCBs are generally restricted for sale only to service centers.
Your Ebay price was probably cheaper anyway.

You only get blinking LEDs when certain voltages dip below 75%.

You may just have edge connector problems between the SU/SD and the SC board on the left side (as viewed from the rear) of the chassis.

Pull the SU/SD from the SC (leave ribbons connected) and clean the edge connections with isopropyl alcohol and a Q-tip. Twist the Q-tip so no cotton strands come loose while cleaning.

Be careful not to flex the ribbon cables too much, they are fragile.

Thanks Techiwizard. Sorry to ask a noob questions now but where are the above boards located? Are they any photos online like the one above to show? And any links to show how to open up the back of this plasma? Thanks a lot.

Thanks Techiwizard. Sorry to ask a noob questions now but where are the above boards located? Are they any photos online like the one above to show? And any links to show how to open up the back of this plasma? Thanks a lot.

None that I know of unless someone here has done it.
Basically, remove the four large screws where the wall mount would go, unless you already have one, remove the 5 or 6 little screws around the
input card cage, and then remove all of the screws around the perimeter of the back panel.

Viewing from the rear, the SU and SD are along the left edge and they plug into the SC, a larger board just to the right of SU/SD.

When you touch boards, unplug the AC first and wait a few minutes for them to discharge. Of course, do not touch while its on, you can get knocked on your butt or worse.

If you get lost, better to call a Pro.

TW

I'd also like to thank everyone on this forum. This forum has been a great resource for me in fixing my 42PA25.

I put in new SD and SU boards and it seem to work fine. I also added a 12v fan pointing at the IC551 heatsink since it was very hot and I want the tv to keep working.

I'm attaching some pics of my burned chips and boards and the fan I added.

-Jim

None that I know of unless someone here has done it.
Basically, remove the four large screws where the wall mount would go, unless you already have one, remove the 5 or 6 little screws around the
input card cage, and then remove all of the screws around the perimeter of the back panel.

Viewing from the rear, the SU and SD are along the left edge and they plug into the SC, a larger board just to the right of SU/SD.

When you touch boards, unplug the AC first and wait a few minutes for them to discharge. Of course, do not touch while its on, you can get knocked on your butt or worse.

If you get lost, better to call a Pro.

TW


Thanks so much TW. I'd attached Jim's post 2 pages back with some photos, was wondering if it showed any of the boards. Just wanna be prepared when I open up the back. Cos I'm in a location outside US that's has very limited tech resources :( and I'm not great at these stuff though I can DIY a desktop.

Well, unfortunately, my TH42PWD6UY shut down again AFTER I replaced the two fans a couple of weeks ago! Again, 6 blinking lights. When I would turn off the display manually via the switch (lower left corner) and immediately turn back on, you could hear both fans spin up but shut down after one second.

Any ideas? Help!

Dale

Well, as it has turned out there is a happy ending to my sick Plasma story. Through a source suggested by Techniwizard, I was able to locate a scrap unit that had the board(s) I needed - SC, SU, and SD. I was able to negotiate a reasonable price somewhat lower than 1/3 of the original repair estimate, so I went for the deal.

Following the previously posted directions, I first installed the SC board and Lo and Behold - a perfect picture appeared. I did not swap the other two boards (SU and SD) but will keep them in case of future problems as they were cheap compared to the much larger and complex SC board.

It has now been a few days without problems so it looks like I'm good to go. My thanks to the AVSForum and all involved in this thread that made this DIY repair possible.

daleebob,
I had a somewhat different problem than yours, but if you search this thread, you'll find the answer(s) to your problem. Solving it, however, could take you a little more time... Good luck with it, and listen to the advice of "those-who-know" will give you, it worked for me!!

Well, I think I figured out the problem myself.

I realized that the monitor would shut down ONLY when I was viewing programming (cable or DVR) via my Sony HDG-HDD250, an OTA/cable DVR. I have two outputs-component and HDMI.

I ran a DVD movie the whole way through this morning without any shut down, then I ran the DVR via component outputs for a couple of hours.

Then, I ran my DVD player with the HDMI/DVI connection (usually, I had only used the component out for the DVD) and it ran fine, too.

So, I narrowed down the problem to the Sony DVR using the HDMI/DVI output. So, I use different outputs for both the DVR and DVD players.

Clever, huh? I guess I don't have an excuse to upgrade to a 55" or 58" monitor...Oh, well.

Oh, the shutdown problem only occurred when using the DVR with HDMI/DVI outputs (HDMI out with a converter to DVI, since I use the digital audio out to the processor for sound).

Well, unfortunately this is my introduction to this fantastic forum...my TH42PWD5 gave it up 2 weeks ago and starting the two blink shutdown. The shop I took it to stated that 2 boards would need to be replaced for a total charge of $638.00 parts and labor which I politely declined, whereupon I stumbled onto this amazing thread. After a small bit of troubleshooting, disconnecting the SU board results in a viewable bottom half screen, so I suppose I need to replace the SU. Do I need to have a authorized repair shop order this or do I need to take the used ebay route? What is the exact part number I'm looking for? And how difficult is it to replace (it looks like something fairly simple)? Am I missing anything here? Thanks in advance for any help.

Well, unfortunately this is my introduction to this fantastic forum...my TH42PWD5 gave it up 2 weeks ago and starting the two blink shutdown. The shop I took it to stated that 2 boards would need to be replaced for a total charge of $638.00 parts and labor which I politely declined, whereupon I stumbled onto this amazing thread. After a small bit of troubleshooting, disconnecting the SU board results in a viewable bottom half screen, so I suppose I need to replace the SU. Do I need to have a authorized repair shop order this or do I need to take the used ebay route? What is the exact part number I'm looking for? And how difficult is it to replace (it looks like something fairly simple)? Am I missing anything here? Thanks in advance for any help.

The part number is stamped on the board - TNPAxxxx
You can try to order it through Panasonic Parts online at www.Panasonic.com should be around $100.

When replacing, be VERY CAREFUL of the ribbon cable ends. They must fit exactly into their connectors. There are little "ears" on the ribbon that just fit a notch under the (flimsy) latches. Take a flashlight and inspect very carefully before you remove (to get an idea what they should look like) and after to be sure they are perpendicular to the board.

The connectors have a hinged latch that you gingerly lift up with a fingernail at the ribbon side. THEY BREAK EASILY and there is not a lot of clearance.
You can remove the self-tapping screw that holds the bezel and frame/front glass assembly to the chassis, it is about 2/3 down the side near the edge. Then lift the frame up slightly and move forward a couple of inches to give more clearance. Do this CAREFULLY. (Did I say that already ?)

Good luck. TW

Thank you sir....I especially appreciate the detailed hints on installation. Your reputation for helpfulness is obviously well-deserved. For the benefit of those similarly situated, the part number is for the SU board is TPNA2583 and costs $150.00 plus shipping per Panasonic. I'm now in the convoluted process this company has set up to request the part (involves faxing a request for a waiver, signing and notarizing the waiver and then mailing it back...after that, they will supposedly authorize the purchase of the board--what a feckless company Panasonic is...) Will report back the results.

Hey Strfish7,

I should still have my 'spare' replacement SU board (as well as SD) that I'm not using. I replaced the SC and SS boards, but had the previous owner pack all the boards in case they were needed later.

I'll sell both the SU and SD boards to you for way less than panasonic wants if you want them....

shoot me a PM

Hello all,

Thanks to the helpful advice and efforts of Techniwizard and Boykster (for selling me the board I needed; excellent packing and speedy service, BTW), my PWD5 is now functioning again! Cannot thank the individuals on this board enough for providing an alternative to the official outlet, which was unhelpful, misleading and/or incompetent (told me I needed two boards, not one, and that the commercial boards were more expensive; when I picked the unit up from the service center, most of the screws to the back had not been put back on, and some are still missing). Contemplating a letter to Panasonic relating my experience at the moment...

Excellent news! Glad the board was able to get you back up and running again. If you need some extra screws, let me know, I have basically an entire set from the dead one I bought off of ebay.

I have not had time to read through all the posts yet but I just wanted to let you guys know that I have the TH-42PA20 and about a week ago after having it for around 4 years it started this shut down issue. So I had a service place in my area look at it and they said it would be 650 to repair and I turned it down since it was not still under warranty and I bought a new 42in for 850 at best buy, but now I have faith that I can fix this TV myself maybe for way less than 650?? ..... was wondering if you guys could point me in the right direction as where to begin and it does the high pitch noise then shuts down and then the blinking red light and does not turn back on unless i unplug and plug it back in. And per instructions on here i checked the hours logged on the TV in case you all are interested and it had 1900 when it started doing it. I will try to look for the build date later and get that to you all as well. Thanks in advance for any help.

Ray

Techniwizard-help! After replacing the two fans, my TH50-PHD6UY worked great for a while. Now, it's shutting down again (6 blinking lights). I've taken it into a shop, and they've yet to re-create the problem.

I checked the voltage on the outlet-it's a 40 year old house, and this particular plug had a 10 volt drop when I tested the circuitry using a 17 amp blower.

Can this voltage variation/drop cause the shutdown? Or, should I sell the unit and move up to a 55" LCD?

Techniwizard-help! After replacing the two fans, my TH50-PHD6UY worked great for a while. Now, it's shutting down again (6 blinking lights). I've taken it into a shop, and they've yet to re-create the problem.

I checked the voltage on the outlet-it's a 40 year old house, and this particular plug had a 10 volt drop when I tested the circuitry using a 17 amp blower.

Can this voltage variation/drop cause the shutdown? Or, should I sell the unit and move up to a 55" LCD?

6 blinks is fan rotation error. It is possible that the voltage drop is doing it especially because the shop cannot recreate the problem.

Try running an extension cord to another outlet on a different circuit or an isolated circuit like for an air conditioner.

Can anyone help me ? I still havnt found the right page with info that i need.
thanks

Ray

Just wanted to let you know of my experience as of late.

I did try another outlet on a different circuit, and the same thing happened (shutdown, 6 blinks). I had a multi meter in the same outlet, and was enjoying my morning latte as I watched the numbers. I had output of 118.2 V down to 116.9 V with no shutdown. The unit shut off with a reading of 118.1 V (luckily, I was watching the meter at the time). Teletron in Seattle hypothesized that the voltage may have dipped below what I saw for a milisecond, thus creating the shutdown.

I know, long story, but stay with me here please! In reading posts WAY earlier in this thread, it sounded like my Panasonic may also have a problem in being too sensitive to voltage dips (75% below nominal). So, I went to Panasonic's parts distribution depot in Kent, WA.

Since I knew these folks from purchasing new fans, I made it as far as finding the power control board part number after they searched around for it a while. While they were searching, I called Teletron in Seattle to ask them what that part number would be. They told me they wouldn't give me that part number, but if I wanted them to install the board, it'd be $610 (including labor). I told them I already gave them a shot at fixing my unit, but they didn't come up with anything. Needless to say, I'm a little put-off by these guys and will go elsewhere next time.

I installed the board, and lo and behold, it was D.O.A. I've had similar experiences with computer motherboards, so I know it is dead. And, the 9 digit serial number is LOWER than the one that came out of my unit. It also was in a sealed plastic bag, but had dust all over it. I put the original board in and it started the unit up again, so it wasn't my installation...

My last ditch effort is to get a uninterruptible power supply and see if the steady voltage provided will keep it from shutting down. Tomorrow I expect to post this thing on Craig's list.

I have had this tv for 2.5 years now without any issues, now all of a sudden it will not turn on. It tries to turn on the screen attempts to light up an shuts down. I have 7 blinking lights on led by the power switch. Any ideas?

Hi there and apologies if this post has been seen multiple times by some. This thread seems the most relevant.

Turned on the TV today, and noticed the remote was unresponsive. Cycled it, same thing. The only thing responding is the power button on the TV and the power button on the remote. The TV turns on normally, and it's working on it's last known settings (i.e. volume level, input selection, etc.). However, as I mentioned it's unresponsive to everything else and when I power it off the power led on the front blinks red 20 times b/w pauses.

I called Panny tech support, they had me try a couple things.

- First, unhooked power from main for 2 min. then plug back in. No change.
- Next, hold power button on front for 10 seconds. Unit cycled, but still unresponsive.
- Moved to other outlets to test power issues in house. Tried other outlets, then other circuits in other rooms. No change.
- Changed power cords. Realized that during the last move I'd used the non-standard power cord. Found the original, thicker gauge, but no change.

At this point, my next step would be to take it in for further diagnosis. Unit's not under warranty though, so I'd like to get a better idea of what the problem is w/out taking it in.

Anyone know what 20 blinks is, or have a chart that lists the code def's? I've found some charts for other Panny TV's, but not mine. Tech support was useless in this area, and haven't found any threads with it yet.

Anyone know if the firmware update listed on Panny's site for the 60U's lock-up issue extends to the 50U's???

Any and all help appreciated. Thanks.

Hi there,

I've saw that TechniWizard seems to have access to some schematics...Do you have SC board full schematics or diagrams (I saw you had a part of it in a doc attachment).

Also, do you have the meaning of the 2 leds of the SS Board and the led of the SC Board.

Regards, Jerome

Hi there,

I've saw that TechniWizard seems to have access to some schematics...Do you have SC board full schematics or diagrams (I saw you had a part of it in a doc attachment).

Also, do you have the meaning of the 2 leds of the SS Board and the led of the SC Board.

Regards, Jerome

You may purchase the service manual through the parts department. Go to www.Panasonic.com ---> support ----> purchase parts and call the number there for a price quote. part number = the model number.

That being said, the repair of these is not for the faint of heart or casual DIY. many of the exposed metal items when operating with the rear cover off are a HOT chassis. It is quite easy to get knocked on your butt or cause more damage hooking up test equipment even though the highest voltage is 400 Volts.

Search this thread for a quick troubleshoting procedure of DOA units and especially search for IC 551 if you have a TH42PA20 or TH42PWD6UY with a date of manufacture Jun-Aug 2003.

IC 551 problems do not apply to any other dates or models.

TW

Hi,

I'm gonna look for the service manual. My TV is not a panasonic but a fujitsu but it's using the same boards as some panasonic TVs (especially the SS and SC boards). Power board seems to be a different model of those (TNPA2599) but problem seems to come from the SC and SS boards as only one of the led are lit (the upper one on the SS board). I can lit one more led by unplugging one of the power connector and using a screw driver in the vbk variable resistor then, some voltages reappears...seems fixable...

I already did component level repair on two previous fujitsu plasma and now I'm working on this one plus a lcd TV with backlight intermittent problem so I know the risk of shock.

Regards, Jerome

I have a 5UZ that went out on halloween night. Has the two red blinks.
Needs the sc-board part # TNPA2434 but panasonic wants 550.00 for it.
As you all probably know, a brand new panny isn't that much more! I don't know what to do... anybody know where I can get this part cheaper other than e-bay?

My th42pwd6 bought in Oct 2003. Just started the blinking thing, I turn off at power button then turn tv back on, it runs for a while then it happens again.
6 or 7 blinks 1 steady, whining noise,

I ordered the part as recommended by Techniwizard.
https://www.vancebaldwin.com/webwiz/wwiz.asp?wwizmstr=WEB.SEE&partnumber=5644488


I will update after I replace the part myself, looks pretty simple

After I purchased the part to fix this problem. Something strange happened my Pany was in the off state for about two hours or so while I was reading through the threads here. I turned Pany on as well as my comcast HD/DVR to watch the (#1Patriots). Whenever I changed the channel there was a delay for about 3 seconds the picture was not great and then after five minutes the picture went out due to comcast shutting down and then on the comcast screen it read boot, then everything turned on and it was a great picture and never shut down again. I will leave the tv on for a couple of days and see if it goes dead or not. I will post an update soon.

I read daleebob's post on 9-05-07 01:28AM and was wondering if it is the same.

My screen went black today and did the 7 flash, so my part is still ordered and I will replace and get back to the forum.

My SN is YB3520356
Sept 03

My screen went black today and did the 7 flash, so my part is still ordered and I will replace and get back to the forum.

My SN is YB3520356
Sept 03

When you take it apart, if IC 551 is silk-screened with a suffix B, you should definitely change to the new part with a suffix M

TW

Hi Techniwizard and everybody,

Can you please help me with my plasma ?

I'd like to know if signals coming from D boards to SC and SS boards (i mean, USL/H, CSL/H and all those signals) should be present before the diagnostics leds on those boards lit ? Does voltages have to be present to make voltages appears on test points (I mean, MOS drivers must be driven by D board signal before the led lit or does D board wait for a good SOS line voltage before output the signals ?)?

On mine, the D6769 is lit when powered up but D6765 and D6583 stays off. No signals are present onto the SS23 and SC20/21 connectors (except +5V and SOS lines).
Otherwise, do you know the SOS line voltage for a working unit so that I can try to simulate a good working board to check if the D board will ouput good signal (of course, with disconnected SS and SC board to avoir any damage...)?


My plasma is a fujitsu unit but uses same boards as TH-42PW5 units (TNPA2535 and 2534).

Also, can you tell me if the TNPA2535AD and TNPA2534AE are for 37" or 42" model ? What boards are made for the 42" ? Can the 37" boards be used with the 42" (as it's only some more mos in parrallel) ?


Thanks a lot, Jerome

Hi Techniwizard, Well like you said the part has a B suffix and the new has an M suffix, My board ver is AE.

My new problem put in the new part turn on in 3 seconds the light turns red and flashes 6-7 times. Could I have a bad solder?
Should the solder show on the top of the board at the pin as well as underneath the board

Hi Techniwizard, Well like you said the part has a B suffix and the new has an M suffix, My board ver is AE.

My new problem put in the new part turn on in 3 seconds the light turns red and flashes 6-7 times. Could I have a bad solder?
Should the solder show on the top of the board at the pin as well as underneath the board

Yes, solder both sides. The holes are plated through but this plating usually pulls out with the old IC.

TW

Just wanted to thank you for the fast reply, sitting here thinking I should just buy the new PS for 393.69 :eek:

I will solder and post back

Drew

I'd like to know if signals coming from D boards to SC and SS boards (i mean, USL/H, CSL/H and all those signals) should be present before the diagnostics leds on those boards lit ? Does voltages have to be present to make voltages appears on test points (I mean, MOS drivers must be driven by D board signal before the led lit or does D board wait for a good SOS line voltage before output the signals ?)?
On mine, the D6769 is lit when powered up but D6765 and D6583 stays off. No signals are present onto the SS23 and SC20/21 connectors (except +5V and SOS lines).
Otherwise, do you know the SOS line voltage for a working unit so that I can try to simulate a good working board to check if the D board will ouput good signal (of course, with disconnected SS and SC board to avoir any damage...)?

Also, can you tell me if the TNPA2535AD and TNPA2534AE are for 37" or 42" model ? What boards are made for the 42" ? Can the 37" boards be used with the 42" (as it's only some more mos in parrallel) ?

Thanks a lot, Jerome

I've pretty much forgotten any tech theory on specific chassis from six years ago. The key to fixing this or most any Plasma is to swap known good parts. It is way faster than trying to figure out what the designers intended to do.

The most common failure for the xxWD5 seires was the SU board. Visually check the surface mount ICs of the SU and SD for signs of cracking and overheating. You can operate with one or the other pulled out of the SC board and look for a good 1/2 PIX either top or bottom depending on which you have removed. If this does not work, change the SC and try the alternate SU, SD removal again as one of those may be bad as well.

As I recall, all main boards from a 37 will fit a 42 except the SS because the right side ribbons do not line up. It can be used as a test but only 2 of the 4 ribbons can be connected. If it does fire up, the original board is bad.

The C boards on the top and bottom edge, the SU, SD, and the input card cage are different between the 37 and 42. Power supply, D boards, and the SC should be the same between a 37 and 42.

TW

:):) Well I soldered the other side (top side) put back together and it is up and running. I will keep the forum posted after watching the #1 PATRIOTS win the SUPER BOWL

Sorry for the plug, but that is why I bought this beautiful Plasma

Thanks Techniwizard for all of your incredible talent in helping the small people in this world save themselves a buck or $300.00 :)

Thanks Techniwizard. I've just received the two SC and SS boards I've order so I should be able to test it out. I'll let you know if one of those board were faulty.

Regards, Jerome

Unfortunately, after replacing the SC and SS board, still the same problem. I've checked the SPARTAN II FPGA which should generates the signals for those ards and it seems it fails to read it's configuration from PROM. Do you know where can I get a working PROM so that I can test it (If there is any reference to order it from panasonic...). Mine is TVRJ884 but If I can find an original TVRJ742-2 from panasonic, I would be able at least to check if working OK.

Regards, Jerome

Unfortunately, after replacing the SC and SS board, still the same problem. I've checked the SPARTAN II FPGA which should generates the signals for those ards and it seems it fails to read it's configuration from PROM. Do you know where can I get a working PROM so that I can test it (If there is any reference to order it from panasonic...). Mine is TVRJ884 but If I can find an original TVRJ742-2 from panasonic, I would be able at least to check if working OK.

Regards, Jerome

What is the original LED blink code for your problem ? Count them as the go dark, not as they light up. Most common is two blinks and the most common failure is the SU board. The SD board may also fail and sometimes they take the SC along with them when they go. TNPA2583 (SU) and TNPA2584 (SD)

You have replaced SS and SC with no cure. Try to altenately pull the SU or SD from the SC while leaving the ribbon cables connected. Operate in this fashion and look for either a good upper or lower screen depending on which board you remove.

Inspect the surface mount square ICs on the underside of the SU and SD looking for cracks and signs of overheating. They may also be bad without showing any signs of damage.

TW

Already tested this but didn't worked. No IC seems to be wrong on the SU or SD boards. I'm trying to find from where I would be able to source a TNPA 2653 board (I can't find it anywhere...)

regard,s jerome

There seems to be a lot of knowledge here, so here is my issues. Panny th-42px25 goes black screen after a couple hours, channel up or down restores the picture for a couple of minutes then black screen again. cold set will be good for a couple hours. i have 94 of these in my NFL stadium suites and there are a couple of these doing the same thing. thanx in advance.

There seems to be a lot of knowledge here, so here is my issues. Panny th-42px25 goes black screen after a couple hours, channel up or down restores the picture for a couple of minutes then black screen again. cold set will be good for a couple hours. i have 94 of these in my NFL stadium suites and there are a couple of these doing the same thing. thanx in advance.

TH-42PX25 was the high definition 42 inch from 2003-2004.
The symptom you describe would happen sometimes on 1080i signals from cable boxes that may have less than stellar performance.

Change the forced upconversion output of the cable box or Sat receiver to 720p. Still Hi Def with no change in picture quality but without the blackouts.

TW

TW, Thanks for the quick reply. Inputs to the tv's is local catv provider broadband RF with Motorola card for hd channels. The tv's that are showing these symptoms are on random branches of the coax infrastructure. Other thoughts or possibilities?

All,

It appears I am joining the club as well. :( My panny TH-50PHD8UK has 8 flashes. After I turn the main power off, it powers on for about 1-2 seconds (with a grey/blackish screen) then the power led begins the flashing sequence.

I scanned the thread but didn't see any others with an 8UK with 8 flashes. Can the root cause of 8 flashes be grouped with the others mentioned in this thread?

I also called the local video repair shop (referred by Panny's conceriege service)...they want $225 just to come out and diagnose the issue.

I've had the panel since Jan 06 and have had no issues. I recently bought an Oppo DVD player and watched a movie or two using its HDMI out to my panel's DVI input. I don't think this could be the cause of the failure given what's been posted, but it's the only thing in my set up that's changed in the last 2 weeks.

All,

It appears I am joining the club as well. :( My panny TH-50PHD8UK has 8 flashes. After I turn the main power off, it powers on for about 1-2 seconds (with a grey/blackish screen) then the power led begins the flashing sequence.

I scanned the thread but didn't see any others with an 8UK with 8 flashes. Can the root cause of 8 flashes be grouped with the others mentioned in this thread?

I also called the local video repair shop (referred by Panny's conceriege service)...they want $225 just to come out and diagnose the issue.

I've had the panel since Jan 06 and have had no issues. I recently bought an Oppo DVD player and watched a movie or two using its HDMI out to my panel's DVI input. I don't think this could be the cause of the failure given what's been posted, but it's the only thing in my set up that's changed in the last 2 weeks.

There is no 8 blink code on a 50PH8. The blinks are counted as they go dark, not as they light up so you probably have 7 blinks.

7 blinks is a SCAN DRIVER 2 defect. Most likely a bad SU or SD board. As in most of these models, you can alternately pull the SU or SD where it plugs into the SC board leaving the ribbons to the panel connected. Look for a good upper or lower screen depending on which board is removed. If it is not one of those, it could be the SC board or a combination. At that point it is best to spend the $225 and let a pro do the job.

BTW, this seems a common theme that $150 - $300 is high for an estimate. The days of free estimates are long gone and the test gear and training to service flat screens are quite expensive. Compared to some of the other trades, electronic service is relatively cheap. It is also real easy to create a more expensive repair by casual DIY dabbling so be careful if you choose to look at this yourself.

TW

I am also getting the 2 blink issue on my 42pwd5 from September 2002. I tried removing the SU board first, SD board later, and both boards - still have the blinks. The blinks go away when I disconnect the SC board completely (connectors SC2, SC4, SC20, SC21). What is the likelyhood of the SC board being bad?

I am also getting the 2 blink issue on my 42pwd5 from September 2002. I tried removing the SU board first, SD board later, and both boards - still have the blinks. The blinks go away when I disconnect the SC board completely (connectors SC2, SC4, SC20, SC21). What is the likelyhood of the SC board being bad?

Quite likely

Just wanted to share my experience, and say thank you to the global community!

I have a Panasonic TH-42PW6 that I inherited with the house move this year. Serial number YB3330015 (manufactured ~April 2003) and of course 2 days before Christmas the television went into the twilight zone of the 5 red LED blink problem with a singing power supply. Turning on and off, normally twice, brought it back to life, but was highly irritating when not watching a commercial TV channel!

I found this thread and decided to give the IC551 swap a try as the PSU board was a TNPA2841 unit, similar to the other models listed in the thread. I tried find the datasheet and schematics for free but the closest I got was a block diagram for the power supply board for the TH-37/42PD25U/P.

I ordered the same part (Sanken STRF6668B) from SignalsUK in the Birmingham UK for £13, and it arrived 3 working days later. With the aid of a good soldering iron and a solder sucker I changed the part over. Some heatsink compound would also have helped but luckily there seemed to be enough from the last one. Note: the legs of the regulator had to be re-formed in a different direction but were just long enough. I did not want to change it for the STRF6668M part just in case there were problems, and oddly this part is £21.89 instead of £10.99.

We then watched television for 4 hours after the fix without interruption. It is just in time for a marathon Pirates of the Caribbean I,II,III sleep over so it will get a good test tonight as well! Many thanks again.

I still have one question though, how do you get to the service menu on this model, I tried the {VOL-} and then R key 3 times and that did not work. Any more ideas??

Regards Ian

I have a Panasonic TH-42PW6 that I inherited with the house move this year. Serial number YB3330015 (manufactured ~April 2003) and of course 2 days before Christmas the television went into the twilight zone of the 5 red LED blink problem with a singing power supply.

I found this thread and decided to give the IC551 swap a try as the PSU board was a TNPA2841 unit, similar to the other models listed in the thread. I tried find the datasheet and schematics for free but the closest I got was a block diagram for the power supply board for the TH-37/42PD25U/P.

I ordered the same part (Sanken STRF6668B) from SignalsUK in the Birmingham UK for £13, and it arrived 3 working days later. With the aid of a good soldering iron and a solder sucker I changed the part over. Some heatsink compound would also have helped but luckily there seemed to be enough from the last one. Note: the legs of the regulator had to be re-formed in a different direction but were just long enough. I did not want to change it for the STRF6668M part just in case there were problems, and oddly this part is £21.89 instead of £10.99.

We then watched television for 4 hours after the fix without interruption. It is just in time for a marathon Pirates of the Caribbean I,II,III sleep over so it will get a good test tonight as well! Many thanks again.

I still have one question though, how do you get to the service menu on this model, I tried the {VOL-} and then R key 3 times and that did not work. Any more ideas??

Regards Ian

It may have been better to go for the suffix "M" part instead of the original "B" item. All failures (and repeat failures) have been with the B but never with an M.

Use the STATUS button (the one with the little + on it) instead of the R key and you should have it. DO NOT change any values !

TW

Use the STATUS button (the one with the little + on it) instead of the R key and you should have it. DO NOT change any values !

TW

Sorry this did not work either. Pressed and held down the Vol- and then pressed the status three times. Also tried Vol- until minimum and then pressed the status three times. Any more ideas?

Thanks Ian

Sorry this did not work either. Pressed and held down the Vol- and then pressed the status three times. Also tried Vol- until minimum and then pressed the status three times. Any more ideas?

Thanks Ian

Vary the speed of the 3 status button presses. The manual says 3 times within 1 second. That is way too fast. It is more like 3 times - 1 second to each press. Try a little faster or slower until you see the CAT (Computer Aided Test) Menu. Then go to the SD (screen display) field and press enter.

You will see boxes with numbers. There are 2 small ones in the center WT and PT. The center box is the number of power ON/OFF cycles and the right hand box is total hours. DO NOT CHANGE remote from A to B or you will disarm the entire remote IR system.

Anything else here and you really need the manual.

TW

Well, I'd just like to throw this out there. I'm getting the 7 blink code with my only 32 day old 42pz77u! Bad thing about it is though is that sears won't even take it back for an exchange as its 2 day's past its 30 day policy. Give me a break.

Anyone know am I best off calling the panasonic desk and let them come out and diagnose/fix under warranty, or will this TV never be the same again?

TIA

There is no 8 blink code on a 50PH8. The blinks are counted as they go dark, not as they light up so you probably have 7 blinks.

7 blinks is a SCAN DRIVER 2 defect. Most likely a bad SU or SD board. As in most of these models, you can alternately pull the SU or SD where it plugs into the SC board leaving the ribbons to the panel connected. Look for a good upper or lower screen depending on which board is removed. If it is not one of those, it could be the SC board or a combination. At that point it is best to spend the $225 and let a pro do the job.

BTW, this seems a common theme that $150 - $300 is high for an estimate. The days of free estimates are long gone and the test gear and training to service flat screens are quite expensive. Compared to some of the other trades, electronic service is relatively cheap. It is also real easy to create a more expensive repair by casual DIY dabbling so be careful if you choose to look at this yourself.

TW

Well the techinician came out and opened up the panel and determined that i need a new SS board (he had a heavy accent so i hope i understood correctly). He was not sure what caused the SS board to go, but that it needs to be replaced. I plan to call panasonic to get a price for this part. Stay tuned...

Hi, I’m working on a Panasonic PH-42TA20 TV that shuts down with two error code counts. I have already removed the SU and SD boards with no status change. I can leave the SC2 and SC23 connectors attached, but disconnect the SC20 plug and the TV will stay turned on but with no picture. While I have the TV on with the SC20 unplugged the LED on the SC board is not turned on, but the two LEDs on the SS board are turned on. I suspect either the SC (TNPA2867) board or the D (TNPA2825) board are bad, but do not know how to track it down to which one. Would you please let me now the best way to proceed from here.

Thanks for your assistance,
Duncan

Hi, I’m working on a Panasonic PH-42TA20 TV that shuts down with two error code counts. I have already removed the SU and SD boards with no status change. I can leave the SC2 and SC23 connectors attached, but disconnect the SC20 plug and the TV will stay turned on but with no picture. While I have the TV on with the SC20 unplugged the LED on the SC board is not turned on, but the two LEDs on the SS board are turned on. I suspect either the SC (TNPA2867) board or the D (TNPA2825) board are bad, but do not know how to track it down to which one. Would you please let me now the best way to proceed from here.

Thanks for your assistance,
Duncan

Most likely the SC board. Sometimes an SU or SD will go bad and take out the SC as well so carefully check the surface mount ICs on the SU and SD for small cracks, bubbles, or other signs of overheating.

Doubtful that the D board is bad, almost never happens and not with 2 blinks.

TW

Most likely the SC board. Sometimes an SU or SD will go bad and take out the SC as well so carefully check the surface mount ICs on the SU and SD for small cracks, bubbles, or other signs of overheating.

Doubtful that the D board is bad, almost never happens and not with 2 blinks.

TW
Thank for the quick reply Techniwizard, I'll take a look for heat damage to the SU and SD boards. The D board is very expensive, so I'd prefer to replace the SC board. Is there any way to be sure it is the SC board before ordering one?

Thanks,
Duncan