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Internal Crack on my 46" Panasonic Plasma? :(

4K views 15 replies 8 participants last post by  medw 
#1 ·
Last night I came home and there was a crack on my Panasonic P46S10 screen - not on the glass - the glass looks still looks flawless - but on the plasma panel behind the glass. To me it looks like there is a small space between the glass and the panel so I would think if something were to have struck the glass and broken the panel there would be a chip or mark on the glass and you would of really had to hit the glass rather hard. Since I unfortunately have to replace the TV, I didn't want to spend any money for a technician to take a look at it so I thought I'd check here for thoughts. Is it possible to break a plasma screen without damaging the glass? The Panasonic customer service rep while friendly, was not at all helpful. He claimed he'd never heard of something like this....
 
#2 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by th3sp3ck /forum/post/21896680


Last night I came home and there was a crack on my Panasonic P46S10 screen - not on the glass - the glass looks still looks flawless - but on the plasma panel behind the glass. To me it looks like there is a small space between the glass and the panel so I would think if something were to have struck the glass and broken the panel there would be a chip or mark on the glass and you would of really had to hit the glass rather hard. Since I unfortunately have to replace the TV, I didn't want to spend any money for a technician to take a look at it so I thought I'd check here for thoughts. Is it possible to break a plasma screen without damaging the glass? The Panasonic customer service rep while friendly, was not at all helpful. He claimed he'd never heard of something like this....

Sounds like you're not sure if something happened...have kids?
 
#3 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by lovinthehd /forum/post/21896691


Sounds like you're not sure if something happened...have kids?

Correct! However the lack of not even the slightest blemish on the glass makes me think it wasn't one of them, especially since they can't help but tell me every detail especially if it involves something the other one did. That is part of what I'm wondering - could something (or someone) damage the panel and not damage the glass?
 
#4 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by th3sp3ck /forum/post/21896717


Correct! However the lack of not even the slightest blemish on the glass makes me think it wasn't one of them, especially since they can't help but tell me every detail especially if it involves something the other one did. That is part of what I'm wondering - could something (or someone) damage the panel and not damage the glass?

It could have been spontaneous but like spontaneous combustion, you'll probably find few believers. I can imagine that an impact on the front may not leave a mark yet sufficient to damage a layer behind the front...depends on the elasticity of the front panel I would imagine. Grill the kids! I know I sure as hell wouldn't admit it when I was a kid until I got grilled...
Could anyone else have access? Grill them, too. Or just replace it and be happy since it sounds like you're just going to get denial of possibility from Matsushita...
 
#5 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by lovinthehd /forum/post/21896760


It could have been spontaneous but like spontaneous combustion, you'll probably find few believers. I can imagine that an impact on the front may not leave a mark yet sufficient to damage a layer behind the front...depends on the elasticity of the front panel I would imagine. Grill the kids! I know I sure as hell wouldn't admit it when I was a kid until I got grilled...
Could anyone else have access? Grill them, too. Or just replace it and be happy since it sounds like you're just going to get denial of possibility from Matsushita...

Yeah I hear ya and I grilled them pretty good... To my eye, it looks like there is a good quarter to half inch in between the glass and the panel itself - and when I pressed on the glass to see if the glass would bend I didn't even get close to touching the panel.
 
#6 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by th3sp3ck /forum/post/21896777


Yeah I hear ya and I grilled them pretty good... To my eye, it looks like there is a good quarter to half inch in between the glass and the panel itself - and when I pressed on the glass to see if the glass would bend I didn't even get close to touching the panel.

I doubt by pressing you'll get the same elasticity effect from a sharp impact but I'm no engineer...


Sorry to hear about it in any case...good luck!
 
#8 ·
The outer glass will not bend enough to reach the plasma panel's glass face, which as you noted is indeed set back about 1/4" on the S1. I'm virtually positive that the internal crack wasn't caused by an impact as the outer glass would have surely broken first.


If the TV won't power up then it's entirely possible that the crack was spontaneously caused by a sudden component failure behind the panel while the kids were watching TV. It has happened to several people here. Ask the kids if the TV went dead while they were watching it and if there was a pop sound when it happened. They probably think they're in trouble and that you won't believe anything they say at this point since people think that TV's can't spontaneously crack all by themselves, but it does happen.


Here's a pertinent thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...e#post21811102
 
#9 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by RandyWalters /forum/post/21896861


The outer glass will not bend enough to reach the plasma panel's glass face, which as you noted is indeed set back about 1/4" on the S1. I'm virtually positive that the internal crack wasn't caused by an impact as the outer glass would have surely broken first.


If the TV won't power up then it's entirely possible that the crack was spontaneously caused by a sudden component failure behind the panel while the kids were watching TV. It has happened to several people here. Ask the kids if the TV went dead while they were watching it and if there was a pop sound when it happened. They probably think they're in trouble and that you won't believe anything they say at this point since people think that TV's can't spontaneously crack all by themselves, but it does happen.


Here's a pertinent thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...e#post21811102


Thanks - that helps confirm my suspicions. Even looking at the crack and the "impact" point, it looks to be almost bubbling outwards. Obviously its an older unit (well only just over 2 years) so its no longer under any kind of warranty, but I will send some emails/letters to Panasonic, needless to say I am feeling gun shy about purchasing another Panasonic.
 
#10 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by th3sp3ck /forum/post/21897703


Thanks - that helps confirm my suspicions. Even looking at the crack and the "impact" point, it looks to be almost bubbling outwards. Obviously its an older unit (well only just over 2 years) so its no longer under any kind of warranty, but I will send some emails/letters to Panasonic, needless to say I am feeling gun shy about purchasing another Panasonic.

Oh i certainly understand you being gun shy, but this sort of failure seems to be extremely rare on the Panasonics (i can only recall maybe 3 victims over the past several years). But spontaneous panel cracking was rampant on the Samsungs with several victims (there was even a big thread about it last year), and Samsung was refusing to repair or replace TVs that were under warranty. Panasonic on the other hand has stepped up and repaired or replaced the TVs. It's unfortunate that your failure happened out of warranty though.


This has more to do with the nature of these newer very thin TVs which now places circuit boards and the power supply right up against the backside of the plasma panel. Power supplies and circuit boards have been blowing on all brands of TVs for over twenty years (my 1990 Sony Triniton blew a board at 2 years then blew another one at 3 years - both fixed under extended warranty) and it's also been happening on LCD and Plasma Flat Panel TVs since their inception ten years ago, but those older TVs had more interior space and such failures didn't cause damage like they now do on these newer thinner TVs.
 
#12 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by BrownRB /forum/post/21901758


I had a 65" Panasonic delivered that had at least a dozen long cracks in it - some up to 18" long. All of them were internal - the outer glass was not cracked at all.

That's completely different than a crack caused by an internal failure while watching TV.


Your panel was broken by the TV taking a bad bounce on the back of a delivery truck, which is very very common. Truck hits a dip or railroad crossing or speed bump, TV gets bucked a foot or two into the air, and comes slamming down on the truck bed. Hidden damage like this happens all the time in my industry.
 
#13 ·
Yes, I have the same problem. I bought a 50" panasonic from Costco on the 11-28-12, thee weks later I was watching tv and heard a pop and the tv went off and the screen on the inside shattered. Costco wouldn't talk to me and said the tv was damaged and told us to talk to Panasonic. So. I called Panasonic and they give me a case number. A few weeks later I called them and they said they couldn't help me . So don't what to do. Has anyone out there had the same problem with Panasonic. I have a new tv that I can;t watch.and paid cash for it. HELP Robert .
 
#14 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert Bartolin  /t/1405049/internal-crack-on-my-46-panasonic-plasma#post_22784582


Yes, I have the same problem. I bought a 50" panasonic from Costco on the 11-28-12, thee weks later I was watching tv and heard a pop and the tv went off and the screen on the inside shattered. Costco wouldn't talk to me and said the tv was damaged and told us to talk to Panasonic. So. I called Panasonic and they give me a case number. A few weeks later I called them and they said they couldn't help me . So don't what to do. Has anyone out there had the same problem with Panasonic. I have a new tv that I can;t watch.and paid cash for it. HELP Robert .

I would say that if you are unable to work your way up the line at Panasonic to find someone willing to help you that you should file a small claims suit, and either plead your case or hope for a default judgment.
 
#15 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by RandyWalters  /t/1405049/internal-crack-on-my-46-panasonic-plasma#post_21897831



Oh i certainly understand you being gun shy, but this sort of failure seems to be extremely rare on the Panasonics (i can only recall maybe 3 victims over the past several years). But spontaneous panel cracking was rampant on the Samsungs with several victims (there was even a big thread about it last year), and Samsung was refusing to repair or replace TVs that were under warranty. Panasonic on the other hand has stepped up and repaired or replaced the TVs. It's unfortunate that your failure happened out of warranty though.



This has more to do with the nature of these newer very thin TVs which now places circuit boards and the power supply right up against the backside of the plasma panel. Power supplies and circuit boards have been blowing on all brands of TVs for over twenty years (my 1990 Sony Triniton blew a board at 2 years then blew another one at 3 years - both fixed under extended warranty) and it's also been happening on LCD and Plasma Flat Panel TVs since their inception ten years ago, but those older TVs had more interior space and such failures didn't cause damage like they now do on these newer thinner TVs.

Samsung internal cracks are NOT "Rampant" regardless of what you like to believe.


For every 1 you point to I can point to a Panasonic one.


More people PILED ON to the "I didn't break my screen" at the official Samsung support forum on C-net. but the thread was filled with 2 or 3 people constantly complaining about 2 or 3 problems.
 
#16 ·
I actually have a reverse "problem." I had a crack in my screen and for some reason they covered it. Why would they do that?


I had Panasonic 50in 3D Plasma TV. In Oct 2012, About 10 mos. in, it would not turn on and gave off a series of blinking red lights. I called in to warranty service and while I was talking noticed a small starburst crack near the bottom towards the right side. As soon as I described the damage the rep let out a sympathetic "ohhhh". I have two rambunctious little boys, which I mentioned to them, so at that point I figured they wouldn't cover it. But to my great surprise, they did!? They sent a repair service to replace some parts related to the power system, and when that didn't work and the repair service said the problem was the screen they sent an entirely new set as a replacement.


Based on my research and some common sense I have no clue why they covered it. I even called the Panasonic agent handling the case and asked him why it was covered. He was very nice but never really answered the question.


Any ideas? Was it just stupid, random luck on my part or could there be something else going on?
 
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