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Is your Panasonic plasma television broken, blinking red?

post #1 of 83
7/6/09 at 11:41am
Thread Starter 
My less than 2 year old Panasonic TH-50PX77U stopped working today. The power indicator is now blinking red, 8 times in a row, over and over. After much searching this seems to be a somewhat common problem with many Panny owners reporting a failure in the first year or two of ownership.

Please take the poll, especially if you have NOT had this problem as I'm trying to get an accurate picture to see if this problem is as pervasive as I'm starting to suspect.

Thanks.
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post #2 of 83
7/6/09 at 11:54am
I have a 50" that the picture freezes up-any help?
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post #3 of 83
7/6/09 at 12:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jetstream23 View Post

My less than 2 year old Panasonic TH-50PX77U stopped working today. The power indicator is now blinking red, 8 times in a row, over and over. After much searching this seems to be a somewhat common problem with many Panny owners reporting a failure in the first year or two of ownership.

Please take the poll, especially if you have NOT had this problem as I'm trying to get an accurate picture to see if this problem is as pervasive as I'm starting to suspect.

Thanks.

You might want to use the search button at the top of the forum, various threads on here dealing with different issues. I'm mad at Panasonic right now. I've had my Panny Plasma for almost 3 years now and NO problems, not anything, nada. You see I have a 4 year extended warranty and I'd love to cash in and get a current Panasonic Plasma, but this stupid display just keeps working.

Just a thought, if you bought it with a credit card you might have an extended warranty, it's worth checking with your credit card company if you used one.
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post #4 of 83
7/6/09 at 12:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jetstream23 View Post

My less than 2 year old Panasonic TH-50PX77U stopped working today. The power indicator is now blinking red, 8 times in a row, over and over. After much searching this seems to be a somewhat common problem with many Panny owners reporting a failure in the first year or two of ownership.

Please take the poll, especially if you have NOT had this problem as I'm trying to get an accurate picture to see if this problem is as pervasive as I'm starting to suspect.

Thanks.

I think you can already see what the trouble will be from these polls. You have me saying no trouble with blinking power lights, another guy saying his picture froze, which has nothing to do with blinking lights, but yet you have more than 2 replies. People that don't own Panasonics will be over here casting votes, so there is no credibility in these type of polls. Better to look around at these type of exisiting threads with actual posters, not "ownerless" pollsters looking to influence the numbers.

LOL...up to 7 votes, yet only you and I addressed the issue you mentioned...
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post #5 of 83
7/6/09 at 12:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by speedking View Post

LOL...up to 7 votes, yet only you and I addressed the issue you mentioned...

as far as im concerned a poll is supposed to be anonymous and those that feel like responding can do so... otherwise whats the point of a poll when one can just post in the thread???

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at any rate, i have two panny plasmas - a 50px80u and a 50g10 and neither has had any problem, though the former is 8 months old and the latter is only a month old. crossing my fingers nothing bad happens.
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post #6 of 83
7/6/09 at 1:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by fastrandstrongr1 View Post

as far as im concerned a poll is supposed to be anonymous and those that feel like responding can do so... otherwise whats the point of a poll when one can just post in the thread???

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at any rate, i have two panny plasmas - a 50px80u and a 50g10 and neither has had any problem, though the former is 8 months old and the latter is only a month old. crossing my fingers nothing bad happens.

Why would a poll, "supposed to be anonymous". A lot of polls on here AREN'T and for a good reason. Many posters on here have agendas, and most forum regulars know their preferences or in some cases, "obsessions". This prohibits the fanboys posting about "imaginary" findings.
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post #7 of 83
7/6/09 at 1:12pm
Thread Starter 
No need to be anonymous. In fact, I'd like to hear about the problems, if any, that people are having related to the topic. I have seen several other threads here related to the topic and have done the requisite searching. I just haven't seen a poll that tries to capture if this is a fairly common problem or if it is pretty uncommon.

Also, hopefully people are smart enough to read Panasonic plasma in the title and not vote if they have a different TV.

I discovered this floating around the Net. Wondering if anyone can validate it relating to the "blink codes"?

"1 blink STV 5v sense DG Board

2 blinks 15v SOS D Board

3 blinks 3.3v SOS D Board

4 blinks Power SOS P Board

5 blinks 5v SOS D Board

6 blinks Driver SOS 1 SU / SD / SC Boards
(SC energy recovery circuit)

7 blinks Driver SOS 2 SU / SD / SS Boards
(SC floating voltage area)

8 blinks Driver SOS 3 SS Board
(SS energy recovery circuit)

9 blinks Panel Config. SOS

10 blinks Sub 5v SOS / Main 3v SOS DG Board
DTV 9v SOS / Tuner Power SOS

11 blinks Fan SOS PB Board

12 blinks Sound SOS H Board

13 blinks Communication error DG Board
with IC8001 (Pesks Lite 2)"
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post #8 of 83
7/6/09 at 1:13pm
My Panasonic has been working just fine for just shy of two years now, and no problems, best display I have owned so far, I have a 54g10 on the way which will be my second Panny Plasma.
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post #9 of 83
7/6/09 at 1:32pm
Voted. My S1 died in the first 60 days, 7 Blinks.

Ended up being one of the SU boards, but immediately after replacement of said board the panel had some display issues so TV was replaced. A little on edge about the TV failing so soon, and replacement took longer and more effort than I would have liked but fingers crossed there are no more problems going forward.

Previously had a Sony HD CRT that blinked at me around the 5 year mark. That 200+ lb behemoth just went to the dump as opposed to repair.
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post #10 of 83
7/6/09 at 1:37pm
My panasonic is bullet proof. It's the 50" top of the line 2006-07 model, 600U. It has never failed to turn on once. However, there is a ghost in my house that tries to turn on my panny, but can't. When When I had an old 27" tv, the ghost could turn it on. The panny power button just clicks likes it's trying to turn on. I don't think this plasma will ever die.
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post #11 of 83
7/6/09 at 1:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by speedking View Post

Why would a poll, "supposed to be anonymous". A lot of polls on here AREN'T and for a good reason. Many posters on here have agendas, and most forum regulars know their preferences or in some cases, "obsessions". This prohibits the fanboys posting about "imaginary" findings.

is it really that bad? i figured a science forum would limit the amount of fanboyism you see on more juvenile websites.
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post #12 of 83
7/6/09 at 2:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by fastrandstrongr1 View Post

is it really that bad? i figured a science forum would limit the amount of fanboyism you see on more juvenile websites.

LOL..you have obviously never been on a Panasonic vs Samsung thread(what should I buy). Trust me, it's not my first rodeo on here
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post #13 of 83
7/6/09 at 3:45pm
My Panasonic 50" will be 4 year in service in October. Zero issues so far (other than having outgrown its size and wanting larger, and 1080p...)
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post #14 of 83
7/6/09 at 6:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jetstream23 View Post

My less than 2 year old Panasonic TH-50PX77U stopped working today. The power indicator is now blinking red, 8 times in a row, over and over. After much searching this seems to be a somewhat common problem with many Panny owners reporting a failure in the first year or two of ownership.

Please take the poll, especially if you have NOT had this problem as I'm trying to get an accurate picture to see if this problem is as pervasive as I'm starting to suspect.

You will not get an "accurate picture" from a poll on a message forum. The only way to get an accurate picture is to poll every single person who's bought a Panasonic plasma over the past few years and tally the results.

Here it is in a nutshell - Consumer Reports and three different Authorized Pioneer/Samsung/Panasonic/Philips Plasma TV repair centers i talked with all said the Panasonic plasmas have the lowest failure rate of all the other brands (2%). There are probably 10 different things that can fail in a plasma TV and one of those failures has to be the most prevalent - and that happens to be the most stressed component in a plasma TV; the Power Supply. That's the 7-blink code you read so much about here.

Power Supplies on TVs have been failing early for over 20 years and it's no different on today's Flat Panel TVs than it was on your dad's 1990 tube TV (my 1990 Sony Trinitron suffered two separate power supply failures in year 2 and again in year 3). Some of my previous tube TVs also had power supply failures as did a few computers and a couple of A/V receivers. If you think anyone is going to be able to make a power supply that is 100% failure-proof then you're dreaming. I would venture to guess that it's the most failed component on every single brand of plasma TV and in my years here on AVS it does seem to be the biggest complaint across all brands. I sell electronic and electrical products for a living and over the past 30 years i've seen a steady increase in the failure rates as more and more electronic control is incorporated into the products. I expect a 5% failure rate on everything made today - anything less is doing pretty good.
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post #15 of 83
7/6/09 at 7:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RandyWalters View Post

You will not get an "accurate picture" from a poll on a message forum. The only way to get an accurate picture is to poll every single person who's bought a Panasonic plasma over the past few years and tally the results.

Here it is in a nutshell - Consumer Reports and three different Authorized Pioneer/Samsung/Panasonic/Philips Plasma TV repair centers i talked with all said the Panasonic plasmas have the lowest failure rate of all the other brands (2%). There are probably 10 different things that can fail in a plasma TV and one of those failures has to be the most prevalent - and that happens to be the most stressed component in a plasma TV; the Power Supply. That's the 7-blink code you read so much about here.

Power Supplies on TVs have been failing early for over 20 years and it's no different on today's Flat Panel TVs than it was on your dad's 1990 tube TV (my 1990 Sony Trinitron suffered two separate power supply failures in year 2 and again in year 3). Some of my previous tube TVs also had power supply failures as did a few computers and a couple of A/V receivers. If you think anyone is going to be able to make a power supply that is 100% failure-proof then you're dreaming. I would venture to guess that it's the most failed component on every single brand of plasma TV and in my years here on AVS it does seem to be the biggest complaint across all brands. I sell electronic and electrical products for a living and over the past 30 years i've seen a steady increase in the failure rates as more and more electronic control is incorporated into the products. I expect a 5% failure rate on everything made today - anything less is doing pretty good.

Spot on and let me add this. Due to the increased demands on electrical components, standard factory warranties will cover less parts of the TV. While they all will tout the life of the panel brightness....they will be decreasing their liability on the other components of a display. It's already happening, nobody really notices it.
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post #16 of 83
7/6/09 at 7:24pm
My 2 1/2 year old Panasonic professional TH-50PH9UK still looks and works just like new with an amazingly beautiful picture and it still has another 2 1/2 years of the original 5 year free warranty direct from Panasonic.
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post #17 of 83
7/7/09 at 6:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by speedking View Post

Spot on and let me add this. Due to the increased demands on electrical components, standard factory warranties will cover less parts of the TV. While they all will tout the life of the panel brightness....they will be decreasing their liability on the other components of a display. It's already happening, nobody really notices it.

Yup. Panasonic has always warranteed the plasma panel module (and it's integral boards) for TWO years while the rest of the TV had a one year warranty, but starting with the 2009 12G models they dropped the two year panel warranty and now warranty the whole TV for one year. I saw this right away and commented about it early in the 12G Lineup thread.

But i must say kudos to Panasonic for fixing so many AVSers' TVs one month, two months and even 5 months after the one year warranty expired.

I have no faith in the reliability of modern electronics, i don't care how high-end they are. Electronics Fail. People need to realize that and quit crying about it. All three of my Plasma TVs (2005, 2007, 2009) have been on several hours a day every day of their lives and are working perfectly but i know that there is a high likelyhood that one day one of em will not power up. I reduce this possibility by only buying the more reliable brand names.
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post #18 of 83
7/8/09 at 5:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by fastrandstrongr1 View Post

as far as im concerned a poll is supposed to be anonymous and those that feel like responding can do so... otherwise whats the point of a poll when one can just post in the thread???

A poll about a problem with a particular brand needs to be a Public Poll, not an annonymous. Making the results public would help to keep the fervent Panasonic haters from posting a negative vote. I remember in one poll Optivity didn't realize that the poll was public and voted that he had returned a set that buzzed when in fact he had done no such thing and he got exposed as voting fraudulently. And i another public poll, Omletpants voted that his Panasonic plasma failed when in fact he's never owned one, hates Panasonic and literally wants them to go out of business, owns a Samsung LCD, and suddenly had nothing to say when confronted about his name appearing in the voters list. The haters have an agenda here and some of em will always post a fraudulent vote if the poll is anonymous.

Can you change this poll to public and show the names of the voters or is it too late?
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post #19 of 83
7/8/09 at 6:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by RandyWalters View Post

A poll about a problem with a particular brand needs to be a Public Poll, not an annonymous. Making the results public would help to keep the fervent Panasonic haters from posting a negative vote. I remember in one poll Optivity didn't realize that the poll was public and voted that he had returned a set that buzzed when in fact he had done no such thing and he got exposed as voting fraudulently. And i another public poll, Omletpants voted that his Panasonic plasma failed when in fact he's never owned one, hates Panasonic and literally wants them to go out of business, owns a Samsung LCD, and suddenly had nothing to say when confronted about his name appearing in the voters list. The haters have an agenda here and some of em will always post a fraudulent vote if the poll is anonymous.

Can you change this poll to public and show the names of the voters or is it too late?

+1 Yep, you can bet the "usual" suspects would show up....a certain "disco" lover comes to mind.
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post #20 of 83
7/8/09 at 9:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by RandyWalters View Post

A poll about a problem with a particular brand needs to be a Public Poll, not an annonymous. Making the results public would help to keep the fervent Panasonic haters from posting a negative vote. I remember in one poll Optivity didn't realize that the poll was public and voted that he had returned a set that buzzed when in fact he had done no such thing and he got exposed as voting fraudulently. And i another public poll, Omletpants voted that his Panasonic plasma failed when in fact he's never owned one, hates Panasonic and literally wants them to go out of business, owns a Samsung LCD, and suddenly had nothing to say when confronted about his name appearing in the voters list. The haters have an agenda here and some of em will always post a fraudulent vote if the poll is anonymous.

Can you change this poll to public and show the names of the voters or is it too late?

haha how sad. what do these people care which TV a person gets? unless their agenda is based on some sort of financial deal with manufacturer A and not manufacturer B, then their stupidity (and annoyance) is just off the charts.
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post #21 of 83
7/8/09 at 10:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Citivas View Post

My Panasonic 50" will be 4 year in service in October.[IMG]http://www.****************/img/i/P.jpg[/IMG] Zero issues so far (other than having outgrown its size and wanting larger, and 1080p...)

Is there much defect? i have no problem with the red flashing because i doubt i would notice it but 4 1/2 years is good going
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post #22 of 83
7/8/09 at 3:21pm
Thread Starter 
Randy, thanks for your posts in this thread. Based on your experience, I trust the failure rates that you mention and that Panasonics may be some of the better ones out there. Unfortunately, my failure rate is 100% as the one plasma TV I own has failed after 23 months of ownership. I'm trying to see if I have any remedy being outside of warranty. If not, and it turns out to be an expensive repair, I may be SOL and have to make a tough decision to ditch the TV. I'd hate to pour $500 into it and watch another component fail shortly thereafter.

I will also try to make this a public poll. Not sure I can do that. But if any moderators read this thread and can edit it, please feel free to modify my poll to make it public and not anonymous.

Thanks.

EDIT- I can't change the poll to public it seems. Any mods can feel free to do so if possible.
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post #23 of 83
7/8/09 at 5:10pm
I'm writing from Brampton Ontario, Canada.
I have a 42" model TH-42PZ77U. I've had the TV for a little less than 19 months. The Tv now will not come on and has eight red flashes. I called Panaonic yesterday and the rep told me it was out of warranty and I would have to pay for the repairs. The service people called today and the cost will be $618.
Needless to say, I am extremely disappointed that this happened. I didn't push the rep at all on covering it because I wanted to find my proof and date of purchase first. After reading these posts, I'm hoping they will cover it. This seems to be a long standing problem. I was told nothing about the risks when I bought the TV. If they new than they should be telling people.
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post #24 of 83
7/8/09 at 7:52pm
So what is more likely to stress a power supply to failure?

1. Turning the tv on and off frequently, instead of just leaving it on?

2. Having it on for hours on end without turning it off?

BTW, 58pz700u still working great after 18 months.
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post #25 of 83
7/9/09 at 2:09pm
Contacted Panasonic last night and spoke to them again today. They have agreed to cover the cost of the part which will leave us with a bill for about $230. Our TV is out of warranty so they really may not have any legal obligation to fix it, but we were hoping they would have a moral one. Especially since this seems to be a common problem. A lot of people here seem to know their TV's pretty well and may not think a TV having this problem after 18 months is such a big deal. From our perspective, we just spent over $2,000 on a TV we thought would last for years. With 3 kids this is a significant purchase for us. I guess I can say I'm honestly not turned completely off Panasonic,(the Viera is fantastic when it's working) because they did cover the part. They had a chance to make me a Panasonic only man and blew it for a couple hundred bucks. This doesn't stop me from considering another purchase in the future, but we'll definitely look at all brands now and see what the best deal is.
A bitter sweet ending for us. They didn't have to do what they did, but when the same part breaks on several TV's, you should cover the full repair costs or atleast let the consumer know this is fairly common occurence. If about 1% of the brakes on new cars failed, I'd like to think the manufacturers would still do something about it.
This forum helped us get a lot of information so I thank you for that. Fingers crossed that we won't need it again.
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post #26 of 83
7/16/09 at 12:46am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by 42" Panasonic View Post

Contacted Panasonic last night and spoke to them again today. They have agreed to cover the cost of the part which will leave us with a bill for about $230. Our TV is out of warranty so they really may not have any legal obligation to fix it, but we were hoping they would have a moral one. Especially since this seems to be a common problem. A lot of people here seem to know their TV's pretty well and may not think a TV having this problem after 18 months is such a big deal. From our perspective, we just spent over $2,000 on a TV we thought would last for years. With 3 kids this is a significant purchase for us. I guess I can say I'm honestly not turned completely off Panasonic,(the Viera is fantastic when it's working) because they did cover the part. They had a chance to make me a Panasonic only man and blew it for a couple hundred bucks. This doesn't stop me from considering another purchase in the future, but we'll definitely look at all brands now and see what the best deal is.
A bitter sweet ending for us. They didn't have to do what they did, but when the same part breaks on several TV's, you should cover the full repair costs or atleast let the consumer know this is fairly common occurence. If about 1% of the brakes on new cars failed, I'd like to think the manufacturers would still do something about it.
This forum helped us get a lot of information so I thank you for that. Fingers crossed that we won't need it again.

Great information. I'm going to contact Panasonic and try for the same thing. Get them to cover the part. I'd rather pay $230 in labor than $2300 for a new TV.
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post #27 of 83
7/20/09 at 8:56am
Mine did the same thing about a week ago after owning the TV for 18months.
7 Blinks.
Looked around the net, and downloaded the Service Manual for the TV.
7 Blinks is The SC, SU or SD card.
After looking around the Net, noticed this is a very common problem. Phoned Panasonic Directly, and by asking for the Part # by its complete technical part # (For the SC board), they were willing to sell it to me for $108 usd dollars, (The SU & SD boards are about $123).
They gave me another # to phone to get an authorization #, who then told me that Panasonic was covering the 7 Blink problem under warrenty up to 2 years.
As I'm in Canada, I then phoned the # they gave me, who also told me it was covered untill they realized I was in Canada.
They then refered me to a Canadian #, who after "A discussion with her manager" has authorized to replace the board, but only if I pay either $200 to take the TV in to an authorized repair depot, or pay $300 to have a tech come out to site.
Does anybody out there have access to panasonics internal repair websites, who can tell me which part of the SC board normally blows?
I suspect that it is as simple as replacing a transistor and would be considerably cheaper than the other options, plus providing those who own tv's that are no longer under warrenty an option to repair them other than throwing them out. (AS the repairs are starting to cost as much as a new TV.)
Thanks
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post #28 of 83
7/20/09 at 9:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nodrog69 View Post

I have a 50" that the picture freezes up-any help?

I have the same problem, can't find any answers searching online
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post #29 of 83
7/20/09 at 2:25pm
Bought a TH 50 800 in Feb of this year.

Died in April (8 blinking lights).

Took over a month to fix.

Got it back in June.

Died again in July (8 blinking lights!).

Sent a letter to Panny about 2 weeks ago asking them to give me a new TV as I believe this one is obviously a lemon. They haven't responded yet.

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post #30 of 83
7/20/09 at 3:50pm
no issues with mine so far( other then a blown speaker that was replaced in warranty). got ive had it for 1 1/2 years
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