I have a Pioneer Elite PRO-510HD. It has two problems: 1) It's bowed in at the sides for the first 15-20 minutes that it is on. After that, it straightens out to be mostly unnoticable and 2) The color has drifted a bit over the years. There seems to be a bit more of a green-cast to things. I try to compensate for it with the Color and Tint controls, but there is only so much I could do.

The repair person from Magnolia came out (flat $250 service call). He first tried replacing the convergence amps ($100 for the pair) to fix the bowing problem, but that didn't work. Then he tried a whole new convergence assembly, but that didn't fix it either. Now according to the Magnolia service department, they have identified three other components that it could be...but these components are $350 each, so I'm looking at a repair total of at least $600. I was willing to go with a $400 repair bill before, but I'm thinking it's may be time to just give the thing away and buy something new...either a new RPTV or a front projector.

What do you think? In a way, if I could restore the TV to like-new condition for $600 and have it another few years, that sounds good to me. But the repair person said that, given that the set is 9 years old or so, there is only so much you can do with the picture...and restoring it to like-new condition probably isn't realistic. IE even if he can fix the bowing problem, he might not be able to adjust the picture to my satisfaction.

Anyone else been in a similar situation? What did you end up doing?

Cheers!
Dan in Seattle

I have a Pioneer Elite PRO-510HD. It has two problems: 1) It's bowed in at the sides for the first 15-20 minutes that it is on. After that, it straightens out to be mostly unnoticable and 2) The color has drifted a bit over the years. There seems to be a bit more of a green-cast to things. I try to compensate for it with the Color and Tint controls, but there is only so much I could do.

The repair person from Magnolia came out (flat $250 service call). He first tried replacing the convergence amps ($100 for the pair) to fix the bowing problem, but that didn't work. Then he tried a whole new convergence assembly, but that didn't fix it either. Now according to the Magnolia service department, they have identified three other components that it could be...but these components are $350 each, so I'm looking at a repair total of at least $600. I was willing to go with a $400 repair bill before, but I'm thinking it's may be time to just give the thing away and buy something new...either a new RPTV or a front projector.

What do you think? In a way, if I could restore the TV to like-new condition for $600 and have it another few years, that sounds good to me. But the repair person said that, given that the set is 9 years old or so, there is only so much you can do with the picture...and restoring it to like-new condition probably isn't realistic. IE even if he can fix the bowing problem, he might not be able to adjust the picture to my satisfaction.

Anyone else been in a similar situation? What did you end up doing?

Cheers!
Dan in Seattle
I had the same situation with a Mitsu ws55807.
When I had the extended warranty repairing problems and footing the bill it wasn't too bad but that ended and the pain began.
$200 for a convergence problem... worked for awhile...more problems...then another $120 to diagnose a further problem and $300 more to fix it.
I looked back on all the service problems I had with it and decided it was several years old and enough was enough. I thought I would fix and sell but you can't even sell it to anyone as nobody wants a giant tv anymore.
I'm sure the mits was alot less than you paid for the PIO, however, these things are not investments and will never attain antique status. Put it up for adoption to a good home and don't look back.
So anyways... for less than $2000 I got a 60a3000 and it's awesome. Good luck.

You need a crt tech.
Just like a good auto mechanic/medical doctor will correctly diagnose the problem before repair/treatment, a good crt technician will identify the problem and do the correct fix the first time.

I'm sorry you spent good money so that Magnolia techs can confirm that they don't know how to repair a crt projection television.

This Magnolia tech has been doing AV repair for 20+ years. My concern, other than the price, was that he immediately started off the repair session by trying to manage my expectations instead of saying, "Let's try to get this thing looking as good as possible." I was left wondering what am I paying $250 (plus parts) for?

Any recommendations for a CRT repair specialist in the Seattle area that would have a better attitude about trying to restore the picture to as close to new as possible?

This Magnolia tech has been doing AV repair for 20+ years. My concern, other than the price, was that he immediately started off the repair session by trying to manage my expectations instead of saying, "Let's try to get this thing looking as good as possible." I was left wondering what am I paying $250 (plus parts) for?

Any recommendations for a CRT repair specialist in the Seattle area that would have a better attitude about trying to restore the picture to as close to new as possible?

Mr Bob (aka Robert Jones), one of AVS Forums most active posters/members, is a licensed service repair tech & ISF calibrator that specializes in CRT RPTVs & FPs.

He's located in the SF Bay Area, but does travel to the Seattle area frequently, I'm told. Check his thread "Don't Dump Your CRT RPTV" here in the RPTV threads. His business email & web page link are part of his AVS signature. Might just be the guy to fix & "improve" your set the first time out.

While he may not be the "cheapest" option, Bob can not only fix your set properly, but also get it looking better than it ever has.

And Pio Elites are Bob's speciality.

While ultimately it is your decision, one thing is for sure. The more you spend on it to repair, the harder it will be to get rid of as you feel you just spent this much on the set so it is better to spend some more. 9 years is a good life for a tube TV. Eventually you will need one or more crts for that.