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Problems with Pioneer Pro 510HD, 610HD, 710HD, SD532HD, 582HD, 642HD

15K views 91 replies 16 participants last post by  Mr Bob 
#1 ·
If you have had intermittent, infuriatingly hard to pin down problems with these units, please see this thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...5#post18948575


All units listed use the same power supply board - PS board for short - and have the same issues. Please disregard the opening pages of this thread, except for the problem descriptions. Avoid the fixes, they will only get you into trouble, more about that later.


At that time we were all shooting in the dark as to what the causes were. Now it has come to light that the entire PS board on these units - and many in the following year's models as well - was badly soldered by Pioneer, causing cold solder joints that would crop up years later, after countless cycles of heat and cold due to power up/down commands and countless regular viewing periods.


If you are noticing any intermittencies - blue flashes, fluctuating brightness, lack of picture even tho the unit's green indicator LED is still up and showing ops without any shutdowns - you're up and your board has finally failed. It will not get any better on its own, any more than needed dental work would.


If so, STOP USING YOUR SET. You must not allow it up to normal operating temp again, not even once, until this situation has been completely resolved.


Resoldering the board PROPERLY is the only way around these problems. Newbies opt out NOW. If you're a repair, design or assembly professional who does soldering every day and you are highly experienced, have at it, you can fix it yourself. If not, PLEASE don't make this your initial entry into the world of soldering! Far too much is riding on it, it has to be done right the first time, every time, before firing the unit up again. Nothing can be left to chance, and this is an impossibility if you are inexperienced and new to this sort of thing.


If any solder bridges are allowed past the inspection process, or any of the critical solder joints are left unresoldered - and 99% of them on that board need to be resoldered for permanent repair - I can't promise you exactly what would happen, only that it would not be good. Doing a partial job of the resoldering process - resoldering only those joints that are presently bad - only exacerbates the situation. Your set will work again, seemingly properly, but will go out again after awhile. Doing only a partial job - like most local service techs will do, spending only a modicum of time on it, the smallest amount of time they feel is absolutely required - makes your set all that more vulnerable to damage later as new solder joints go thru more continued heat/cold cycles, weaken and then go out themselves. The initial ones that go out and give you the warning signs are almost always not the highly damaging ones. Curing just those and continuing to use your set is a sure recipe for disaster, it's like playing Russian Roulette with your set.


If you are qualified to do this yourself, be my guest. This is a DIYer site first and foremost.


If you're not, please feel free to contact me and I'll get your set going again for you, even if you live far away. Boards are being sent to me every day with this problem, and I take care of them and send them back. Seems when you spend $5K, 6K, 7K - and I have heard of as much as $12K paid for the 710 back then - on your Pioneer Elite CRT set, as owner you want it to stay alive from then on, and these sets are only midway along in their life cycles. They were built to last. You paid for that, you deserve to have it.


And the HD they were designed to produce is to die for, properly dialed in. It is legendary and timeless. There is no reason to buy new, if you own a Pioneer Elite CRT. You just need to honor it with the proper attention.


I am here for that. I have extensive experience in this problem - I am all over that thread, which has been going on for more than 6 years now, since 2004. Read the last few pages of it. If you want this thing done right, please contact me directly, no pm's please. I have so far saved literally TONS of these elegant and top-performing HD Elites, which are still in their prime. Many screenshots of finished products are in that thread, ready to be viewed.


Please help me save your set!



Mr Bob
 
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#2 ·
I have an opportunity to pickup up a 610 for $200. The user states no issues with the unit what so ever. After reading a few of the forums, it seems like a lot of issues are related to cold solder joints on the PS board. I just read an interesting thread on the gun cleaning which is really interesting:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1129740


I don't know if this is the proper place for this post but I see you're the resident expert on these units :) I'm scheduled to visit the sellers house tomorrow, is there anything in particular I should look for/listen to on the unit? I REALLY WANT THIS. It's basically going to be a gaming TV.


Thanks,

Brian
 
#3 ·
I'm all over that thread too. Yes, the shimming op can be done on the Elites, you have a really good thread there for hints on how to best do it right.


When buying CRT tech used, there are a couple of things to be aware of.


Watch out for screenburn - take an all white or all gray pattern with you to watch for it, and make sure it has not been used as the family baby-sitter - on 10 hours a day - and that is has not been at Torch Mode - Contrast full up - for extended periods. Regular use is fine, even at that set's current age.


CRTs in general which have only normal, moderate usage and have been treated well are only midway thru their life cycle. They have many happy years ahead of them, of producing stealth grade, jaw-dropping HD.


Without the need to buy new bulbs. OR new CRTs.




b
 
#4 ·
If you are going to be using it for gaming, be sure and watch out for fixed images, which will ultimately show up as screenburn. Lots of today's games have no fixed images, so you can use them on CRT tech with no problems.


Some of the older games, tho - like Pong - had BAD fixed images.


If you have Dish Network, be VERY careful every time you go into menu or guide. That little "dish" insignia up in the upper left corner is dangerous. It it all white - 100 % white and fixed, which is the worst thing you can do to a phosphor based display, and that includes plasma.


Whenever I go into those modes on my Dish DVR, I lower my Contrast to zero and my Brightness to half, and I try not to keep those patterns up on my screen for any length of time. Get in, do whatcha gotta do, and get out again.


I have seen that "dish" insignia burned into the phosphors of one of my owners, and every time there's a fade to white that "dish" set of small letters appears as a browned-out area, in the shape of those letters. Not a pretty sight.


b
 
#5 ·
Bob has been nothing but kind and helpful guiding me in troubleshooting and repairing my PRO-610HD. Thanks to his advice I was able to repair the PSU board and adjust drive and focus. Anyone who thinks this thread is an infomercial type of thing, posting nasty things, and generally being a troll, needs to get a life and check their hatred at the door. As an electronics engineer, I can attest to the fact that Bob is indeed a very competent and knowledgeable technician who is more than willing to do phone consulting at a reasonable rate, and at the outset, for free. Please check the bitching at the door, there is no reason for it. I have been reading some of the nitpicky posts about Bob supposedly starting this thread for commercial reasons. Well let me start by saying that Bob has been nothing but helpful and courteous, taking time out of his day to help me troubleshoot and repair my Pioneer 610HD. Thanks to his help, I was able to find the problems with the PSU board and repair it. For those who think he has nefarious motives in starting this thread and a couple others, get over it. He's just trying to help us get our sets working again. That is all.


-A


-A
 
#6 ·
Thanks, Allen. Appreciate you climbing into the shotgun seat for me -




b
 
#8 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by ProAudio5 /forum/post/20074390


For those who think he has nefarious motives in starting this thread and a couple others, get over it. He's just trying to help us get our sets working again. That is all.

-A



Allen,


I do agree with you 99%...but be realistic... this *is* Bob's livelihood...he is most definitely drumming up business here...but who cares? I don't. He knows his stuff...is absolutely outstanding...and if *they* don't like it they can troll some other group. Right? He has more than earned the right to do what he does.


I mean...how could you complain with all of the freebie info that comes in these threads... the best thing we can do is contribute, which is what I've tried to do with my experiences.


No matter how nice you are, there will always be someone you can't please. For the rest of us, Mr. Bob...keep up the good work! The cheapskates don't belong here anyway...go troll Craigslist for your next freebie and stop complaining.



Joe
 
#9 ·
Joe and Allen -


Thanks whole heartedly for your support. And the support of other key individuals like Michael/Lastbutnotleast and Leo/Superleo. Michael was kind enough recently to send his only Hitachi remote to me from the East Coast when my customer had lost their remote and after replacing the convergence ICs the grid was all over the map! The sub remote she ordered at my behest was just that - a substitute, it would not get the job done in service mode. An actual OEM remote was the only way, and Michael sent me his! (His only-begotten remote...
)


When I visited Texas last, Leo was kind enough to put me up at his place with his family and show me around San Antonio, take me out to dinner several times and make me part of the family when it was time for him and his wife - and me - to all go out and see Avatar in 3D at the IMAX. I have memories of that Texas trip I will never forget.


Thanks, guys, all of you!


I man the Don't Dump Your CRT RPTV! thread every day, it's my baby.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...95922&page=271


Yes, I need to get business out of being there to stay here, devoting my precious time to it every day that could be used directly for more business activities per day than I can when lots of that time goes to being here on the threads, being a constant presence.


And that $ cannot come from direct solicitations for it on any threads of the AVS. Those rules apply to me as well as any other calibrator here. So I am totally dependent on the kindness of others in that regard.


So far it's working - I get enough biz from being here without making any solicitations, just picking up jobs people approach me about directly, off board - to make me want to stay. Would always like it to be more of course, but am willing to stick around and let it be just as it is, just because of the incredible response that thread has had over the last 4 - count 'em! - years. I never dreamed that thread would go this long, but it has! And that's because of you guys.


We will soon break 300 pages! My hat's off to all those who have stuck around and heard my message, and carried the torch with me. We'll talk again when that 300 happens -




b
 
#10 ·
My 510 has several issues including scratched screen, darkness, and trend towards green.


I started a separate thread on these and someone there suggested I post where Mr. Bob may see me.


So.... 'Hi Mr. Bob'


I'm going to be able to fix my screen myself, but am unsure of what to do about the darkness / green issue.


Suggestions?


-Mike
 
#11 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by mbahr /forum/post/20097130


My 510 has several issues including scratched screen, darkness, and trend towards green.


I started a separate thread on these and someone there suggested I post where Mr. Bob may see me.


So.... 'Hi Mr. Bob'


I'm going to be able to fix my screen myself, but am unsure of what to do about the darkness / green issue.


Suggestions?


-Mike

First of all, welcome! I invite you to join us at the thread I mention above, where we are all loyal to the CRT medium.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...95922&page=271


The 510/610/710 series from that model year have a misalignment that gradually happens over the years re. the amount of energy that gets to the guns to operate. This amount of energy per gun can be realigned very readily and rebalanced properly when you know how, with the result being a clean gray for then supertweaking the grayscale to ISF standards and the shadow detail being spot on at Black Level midpoint, once the optics are clean again (be careful there, too). At present you have to goose your Black Level up way high - probably at plus 12-15 - just to see detail in dark areas, it has gone so dim. I see it all the time on these sets. This goosing up of the brightness in dark areas alone causes your grayscale to be slewed one direction or the other, usually to the green, making the blacks green and affecting everything else in there as well.


Contact me directly if you want to go into depth about how this is done, it can be done on site by you, with the proper coaching. DO NOT try this on your own, however, you can screw up your grayscale in seconds with the wrong moves.


Use normal ways of contacting me off board, no pm's please -


b
 
#12 ·
Mr. Bob & others,


I am also interested in finding ways to solidify and preserve my PRO-710HD. I would appreciate any technical tips you could share concerning this model.


Lately I have been noticing a slight fluctuation in the green output of this display which is causing me great frustration with my calibration efforts. I recently added a DVDO Duo which allowed me to really dial in the color performance and most notably the gamma response of the set. Prior to the Duo I could not get good black performance and gamma response below 2.32 without external processing. This has now been taken care of with external processing, but now I can spend a couple of hours walking through a full calibration using the Duo and ChromaPure only to find the response slightly altered the next day. It looks like the green output is slowly fluctuating enough to lower the light output of the set by 3-4cd/m². It is not visibly bouncing, but doesn't want to stay put. As the depth of the picture and accuracy of its color have noticeably increased, my tolerance for error seems to be decreasing. I seem to spend more time looking at my television's performance than actually watching the programming (just ask my wife). I know I am not alone in this quest for image perfection. I am still not a fan of the newest display technologies. The benefits of spot-on sharpness and color accuracy of the flat panels seems to be lost on motion artifacts, limited field of view, and size limitations - IMO. The world just doesn't really seem that ridiculously colorized to me - again, IMO.


I actually found and repaired the cold solder joint problems on the power supply many years before finding the wonderful wealth of knowledge on this site. Maybe it's time to pull the board and give it another look?


My only other nagging issue with my Elite is the presence of a noticeable video ringing on the right side of certain objects. Depending on the video material it can be very noticeable. It is also present on the television's on-screen menu, so I have never suspected this to be a problem with the signal path. I also don't believe this to be related to optics cleaning, because one would not expect the ringing (ghosting) to appear just on one side of the reflected image.


I thank you for your passion in this technology and your willingness to share your knowledge.
 
#13 ·
When you did your resoldering, did you only do the joints that were bad at that time? If so that's how most local techs do it, and as such it was not future-proofed. Which, if so, is why those annoying things you describe are coming back to haunt you now. That's why I future-proof all boards I resolder, and warranty them as such, for the life of the set. When the boards I resolder are put back into their sets, those sets are rock solid from then on.


Have you cleaned your optics, does your set have a crystal clear optical path, all 10 (of its 28 surfaces) that will need that cleaning by now?


If not the gamma will always suck, no matter how well you set it and no matter what kind of external processing you employ. NO amount of external processing can restore something that is being hindered - and hidden - by 10 surfaces of the internal optics being dirty. That 30KV really does a number on the internal optical surfaces, they get bleck glopped on them and stuck on them far greater than 10 years open to the air in an attic ever could.


Am I hitting any marks yet? We can keep going on and talk about edge enhancement and other things, but let me know I'm on track first...


b
 
#14 ·
I have been pretty consistent with optics cleaning on this set. It's probably been close to a year since my last dive inside, but it was a very thorough cleaning. I definitely do not suspect the optics to be a problem.


Yes, I did touch up the solder all around the power supply. But as I indicated this was many moons ago when this problem was resolved. So whether this work was entirely future-proof I couldn't say. In all seriousness if I weren't going into calibration mode so regularly I probably wouldn't recognize any problem. And yes I do give the set plenty of warm up time prior to any adjustments.


I am currently using a HDFury-III connected via RGB, so no SVM is in play. I am not aware of any other edge enhancement options in the set.


I am one of the brave few who actually went through the pain of SM overscan reduction (also many years ago). Can you imagine my "I could have had a V8" moment I experienced when I later read about the shim method you introduced in this forum?!?!
 
#15 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by lbosley
I have been pretty consistent with optics cleaning on this set. It's probably been close to a year since my last dive inside, but it was a very thorough cleaning. I definitely do not suspect the optics to be a problem.
Meaning you did all 10 surfaces (of the 28 total) that get dirty in there? With the right materials, (which do not include microfibre cloths) and techniques?

Quote:
Yes, I did touch up the solder all around the power supply. But as I indicated this was many moons ago when this problem was resolved. So whether this work was entirely future-proof I couldn't say. In all seriousness if I weren't going into calibration mode so regularly I probably wouldn't recognize any problem. And yes I do give the set plenty of warm up time prior to any adjustments.
If you did not do every solder joint in there needing it - meaning 99% of them, no matter how small they are - you must shut your set down NOW, and not use it again until fixed PROPERLY and long term. I recognize that when you did it you were following the data of the day, but things have changed, and that info is hopelessly outdated by now.


You must shut it down right now, unplug it, and not allow your set to warm up to cruising temp again, even once, until it's been fixed PROPERLY. Otherwise you are playing Russian Roulette with it, and one of these times it will go into protection and not come back on. Then it gets expensive.

Quote:


I am currently using a HDFury-III connected via RGB, so no SVM is in play. I am not aware of any other edge enhancement options in the set.
They are there. Your set may not be a $50K studio monitor or Sony G90, but it can be improved on its crispness over factory issue.

Quote:
I am one of the brave few who actually went through the pain of SM overscan reduction (also many years ago). Can you imagine my "I could have had a V8" moment I experienced when I later read about the shim method you introduced in this forum?!?!
You and me both, bro. My year 2000 65" Panasonic is in the same boat!


That said, I can't take credit for coming up with that idea. It was due to an intrepid Aussie owner named Owen. To whom I will always be eternally grateful, now that my bigger 73" Mit with 9" guns has had the full shimming op treatment. See my Don't Dump Your CRT RPTV! thread for more on that.


However, if you have taken such good care of your set that there is still no aging footprint on your gun faces - and I have seen that happen, it's not a lost cause by any stretch - you can still do the shimming op.


Unfortunately I can't do that, the footprint is indeed there now on my 65" Panny. I also am stuck with the sm only method.


b
 
#16 ·
Interesting observation here, Bob. On your website you have a captured image from Toy Story. In this image if you look at Woody's fingers you will see the same slight ringing artifact just to the right of his hands. As is clearly seen in your sample this distortion is most visible against a tan or light brown background and generally is a ringing of hard black lines (like the outline of Woody's fingers). It does not show up in black backgrounds at all. The Disney Beauty and the Beast is one of the worst examples I have found - primarily because of the browns and tans in the characters.


I can't say that I counted surfaces in my optics cleaning, but I removed the lens assemblies and cleaned down to the coolant surface. I only used pre-sprayed paper towels and Windex - no shop rags here.


I will take your advice on the power supply and give it a good touch up tonight.
 
#17 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by lbosley /forum/post/20129937


Mr. Bob & others,


I am also interested in finding ways to solidify and preserve my PRO-710HD. I would appreciate any technical tips you could share concerning this model.


Lately I have been noticing a slight fluctuation in the green output of this display which is causing me great frustration with my calibration efforts. I recently added a DVDO Duo which allowed me to really dial in the color performance and most notably the gamma response of the set. Prior to the Duo I could not get good black performance and gamma response below 2.32 without external processing. This has now been taken care of with external processing, but now I can spend a couple of hours walking through a full calibration using the Duo and ChromaPure only to find the response slightly altered the next day. It looks like the green output is slowly fluctuating enough to lower the light output of the set by 3-4cd/m². It is not visibly bouncing, but doesn't want to stay put. As the depth of the picture and accuracy of its color have noticeably increased, my tolerance for error seems to be decreasing. I seem to spend more time looking at my television's performance than actually watching the programming (just ask my wife). I know I am not alone in this quest for image perfection. I am still not a fan of the newest display technologies. The benefits of spot-on sharpness and color accuracy of the flat panels seems to be lost on motion artifacts, limited field of view, and size limitations - IMO. The world just doesn't really seem that ridiculously colorized to me - again, IMO.


I actually found and repaired the cold solder joint problems on the power supply many years before finding the wonderful wealth of knowledge on this site. Maybe it's time to pull the board and give it another look?


My only other nagging issue with my Elite is the presence of a noticeable video ringing on the right side of certain objects. Depending on the video material it can be very noticeable. It is also present on the television's on-screen menu, so I have never suspected this to be a problem with the signal path. I also don't believe this to be related to optics cleaning, because one would not expect the ringing (ghosting) to appear just on one side of the reflected image.


I thank you for your passion in this technology and your willingness to share your knowledge.

If Mr. Bob is busy or otherwise indisposed, I can help you. Find me off board on Facebook.


I have a 610HD that with Mr. Bob's help and advice, I have learned quite a bit. I'm a professional MIL-SPEC Certified Solder guy and I can fix your power supply board, or as I call it, PSU. That's presuming Bob hasn't gotten to you yet. I can also do calibration, and I'll do it for free in exchange for borrowing your remote, as I have lost mine.


Alan Fletcher

Broadcast/Audio Engineer

Alan Fletcher Voice Productions, LLC.

203-942-4171
 
#18 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by lbosley /forum/post/20130639




I can't say that I counted surfaces in my optics cleaning, but I removed the lens assemblies and cleaned down to the coolant surface. I only used pre-sprayed paper towels and Windex - no shop rags here.

Definitely not how I would do it.
Quote:
I will take your advice on the power supply and give it a good touch up tonight.

Did you ever do that and did it help?


b
 
#19 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by ProAudio5 /forum/post/20180901


If Mr. Bob is busy or otherwise indisposed, I can help you. Find me off board on Facebook.


I have a 610HD that with Mr. Bob's help and advice, I have learned quite a bit. I'm a professional MIL-SPEC Certified Solder guy and I can fix your power supply board, or as I call it, PSU. That's presuming Bob hasn't gotten to you yet. I can also do calibration, and I'll do it for free in exchange for borrowing your remote, as I have lost mine.


Alan Fletcher

Broadcast/Audio Engineer

Alan Fletcher Voice Productions, LLC.

203-942-4171

I got your phone message too late to call you back today Alan, it being 8:30 pm here in CA, meaning 11:30pm your time. Maybe we can talk tomorrow -


b
 
#20 ·
Yes, I did remove and touch up the solder on the PS board last week. I believe the board was (and still is) as solid as it can be. As I stated I am not experiencing any flicker or flashes from the set. Those particular issues were resolved when I originally troubleshot the problem to the cold solder joints in the PS header block years ago.


I am still seeing minor changes in the CRT output levels from time to time. For example, I might spend an hour adjusting the gray scale and gamma to perfection (using a Duo processor). A week later during normal viewing I might detect a very minor color cast (something my family would never notice) and I end up walking through the calibration again noticing one of the colors has slightly changed. For example I might find red increased by 3%, or green has diminished by 2%. The adjustments are simply not remaining consistent. I am debating whether it might be worth removing one of the CRT boards to look for more cold solder joints on these components, but I don't want to make matters worse.


Mr. Bob - I might be interested in having you provide an optics cleaning of my PRO-710HD if the price makes sense. I have no doubt that you would provide a more thorough cleaning and I am never opposed to learning more about my set.


I never did receive any comments about the edge enhancement artifact that I questioned earlier in this thread. I know that my set is not particular to this distortion. I was also able to spot this ringing in one of the screen shots from Mr. Bob's website (Toy Story). If this is simply a commonly known result of analog processing and/or a high-voltage CRT technology reality, I can live with it. But if there is a way to reduce or eliminate the ringing I would love to know how. I absolutely do not believe this has anything to do with optics or signal path, but I'm willing to listen to suggestions.


- Larry
 
#21 ·
Remember you have a consumer unit. Is this something the normal consumer will spot, this 3% difference going on? If not, you may not be able to expect any more precision than that. If these were $25,000 studio monitors you might have a case, but as consumer units, if a consumer would not notice these differences, your set is probably well within design tolerances.


DK if you'll get completely away from that edge ringing. That TS shot was from a high grade, expensive ceiling projector back then. However it was also before HD, so it was line-synthesized 480i, on a line doubler, tripler or quadrupler.


I find that those edges are all but gone on bluray, but my Dish DVR still brings them in on lots of the material. On some sat material that ringing is gone, but most sat material does have some level of it.


For optics cleaning, since you asked I'll be glad to answer here - I would be glad to do it in person for you once a tour has been set up for your area. Please be the organizer and let's get that going.


In the meantime if you want to work with me on getting it done pronto, contact me directly and we'll do a phone consult and it can be done - and with you sitting back and enjoying the results of a crystal clear light path again - within 24 hours. My methods and your diligence will get you thru it with the same results as if I did it myself on your set.


b
 
#23 ·

 
#25 ·
Yet on! Put it together and I will come...




b
 
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