Problems with Panasonic DMR-E95H

Sorry if this has been covered in the forum, I did a search for this problem with no success. My always reliable E95H now has serious problems related to the northeast storm last week. We were running a generator and to minimize load (lots of components were in standby mode) I unplugged my HT power conditioner and plugged the DVR directly into a dedicated 20 amp outlet reserved for the power conditioner. Used the player to watch some dvd's during the storm (no cable). When power came back on I assume damage occurred to the recorder due to the surge. When I press the record button, the REC light goes on, counter goes to 0001 and that's about it (no recording file is created, counter starts at 0001 and never moves forward). After pressing stop, all the function menu options are grayed out (ie. clock, setup etc.). After pressing the off key and powering down and then powering back up unit goes into check/recover mode. After check/recover is completed, function menu is acessible again. All files on HDD are accessible and can even be edited (ie. shortened) or dubbed to RAM or DVD. Recording issue also occurs when recording to RAM instead of HDD. In addition, audio out is not working (Ie. no sound output to TV). Hooked up a brand new 59 last night purchased from B&H a few weeks ago (was planning to put this away in attic as a backup as I worry about how long these will be available) using same audio cable and same TV input and audio works fine. Have tried resets (pull power cord and unit reset using keys on front panel, disabling TV guide etc. with no success). Was thinking of dubbing files I want to keep to RAM (Crutchfield sells RAM at a reasonable price) and then maybe have Mick in CT look at it? (I live in CT myself). have had this unit since it was introduced many years ago and have never had a single problem with everyday usage. Thanks, Tom.