Replacing Panasonic A Board

The A Board in my Panasonic 42PX80U needs to be replaced. It did the exact same thing in January when it was still under warranty and they fixed it by replacing the A Board, but now it is 5 weeks out of warranty. I'm waiting for a call back from Panasonic to see if they will still cover it since this had been a problem before. If they don't cover it, I need a plan B. I've swapped out electronic components before. but I still have a few questions:

1. Is leaving the TV unplugged for a significant period of time (it will take several days to get the part) enough to discharge the power? Death or serious injury would not be a successful outcome .

2. How is the A Board attached? Screws or special connectors?

3. Are any special tools needed to remove and replace the A Board?

4. Is any soldering necessary?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Unfortunately, Panasonic called back and said that it will not be covered. So I'm basically on my own. I downloaded the service manual and figured out the answers to the questions above. It seems pretty simple.

One thing I'm not sure about. What is the difference in TNPH0716AGS found in the TH42PX80UA and the TNPH0716S found in the TH42PX80U? All the parts listed on the popular auction site are listed as TNPH0716 without any suffix pulled from various models including TH42PX80U. Mine is the TH42PX80UA. I found a parts place that lists the TNPH0716AGS, but it is three times more that the cheapest ones on the auction site that may or may not be the same part.

One last update that may be helpful to someone in the future who runs into the same problem. According to the service manual, my set needed TNPH0716AGS. The boards just have the model number TNPH0716. To find out which variation the board is, you apparently have to look at the serial number. The board I took out had “AG2” at the end of the serial number and the board I bought at the auction site had “AG” at the end of the serial number. This made me a little nervous, but I figured they were most likely both the “AGS” version.

The installation was problem free and the TV is now working perfectly. Some of the electrical connections were a little difficult to disconnect, but I was able to get them all loose by applying gentle pressure from various angles. I was able to find the service manual at http://elektrotanya.com/panasonic_ch...f/download.cgi. The main information you need can be found on pages 6 and 18.

The answers to my questions above are: 1. Yes, 2. Screws, 3. No, and 4. No.

When I took off the back cover, I felt like I was really in over my head. Now I feel truly blessed to have had such a positive outcome to this problem.

If I had known what I know now, I would have definitely bought it at Sams or Costco. Everyone is saying that the Sams return policy is changing November 1 to 90 days. The Costco site still says 2 years.

I'm not too upset with Panasonic since the set was out of warranty, but it does seem like they would stand by it since the same part went out twice in less than 14 months from the date of purchase. My mother-in-law has me looking for an HDTV for her. This experience makes me apprehensive to recommend Panasonic.

Hopefully I won't have this problem every few months. I think this is likely surge related since there were thunder storms in the area both times this happened, but nothing else in my house was damaged so I can't be sure. I bought a better surge protector with coax protection just in case.