Panasonic TV temporarily died on me. What to check?

[Rupert]

My Panasonic TX-39AS600 TV died on us for a short while this afternoon while we were watching the tennis.

My wife activated a channel change key on the remote control and it just went off. The red stand-by light went out too, something which normally only happens when I turn off the mains switch at the back before going to bed.

I pulled out the mains lead, reinserted it and tried again, but nothing happened. While I was wondering what to try next it spontaneously sprang into life again, with all the usual functions working normally.

Currently I have switched the set off completely, just in case there's some sort of heat protection circuit that might have activated (unlikely). The instruction manual doesn't have a trouble shooting section so I'm left rather floundering around wondering if my telly is going to misbehave again on this very busy weekend of sport! The kitchen TV is working perfectly, so it's not a transmission issue, and the hard drive recorder hasn't gone off either ... it just seems to be the TV for some reason.

I bought the set from John Lewis in October 2014 so, as it came with a 5-year warranty, I have until October next year before that expires. However, that's not a lot of good in the immediate term if it malfunctions again. Has anyone got any ideas what might have happened or what I might check?

 

[bigboss]

I would suggest you report it to John Lewis and see what they say. It's important for them to log the issue, in case it crops up just after the guarantee expires.

 

[Petherick]

Perhaps?

 

[Rupert]

I would suggest you report it to John Lewis and see what they say. It's important for them to log the issue, in case it crops up just after the guarantee expires.

Thanks bigboss, I intend to ring them on Monday to see what arrangements they have to provide a service engineer. The user guide just says in the event of service contact your local Panasonic dealer. These days you'd be hard put to find a TV retail outlet anywhere, let alone a 'Panasonic dealer'!

The TV has been misbehaving the same today, intermittently shutting down completely (no red standby light at all). Checking on the kitchen TV reveals that all is well with HD signals, etc., so I don't think signal issues are somehow triggering the unit to switch off like this. After about five minutes (I've not timed it) it comes back on again, to the same channel where it shut off, and all is well again for a while. Very annoying .. we missed a crucial deciding two points in a tennis match earlier on, but fortunately it waited until the ref had blown the final whistle at the end of the England game before shutting off again!

I wonder if service engineers come with a replacement motherboard - if modern tellys have such things - so that a repair can be instant and we needn't be without the set.

 

[abacus]

Probably a dodgy connection or thermal problem, make sure all vents are clear and there is no heat source getting to the TV. (This hot weather can cause all sorts of problems if ventilation is not as it should be)

Bill

 

[Rupert]

Probably a dodgy connection or thermal problem, make sure all vents are clear and there is no heat source getting to the TV. (This hot weather can cause all sorts of problems if ventilation is not as it should be)

Bill

Thanks Bill. The user manual does actually address this issue in the FAQ section 'Parts of the TV become hot'. It advises: 'Even if the temperature of parts of the front, top and rear panels has risen, these temperature rises do not cause any problems in terms of performance or quality'.

I'll be ringing John Lewis in the morning - hopefully a remedy will be quickly forthcoming.

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

Sad to say that unless its something easy to fix on the spot like a fan or thermostat your TV is probably going to be condemned. Not much gets fixed these days and the cost of a motherboard plus the labour to fit it probably exceeds the new value of the TV, let alone its current value.
If you've got new for old coverage that's great but otherwise they'll probably just stiff you with a hundred quid gift voucher towards a replacement.

Still. Look on the bright side: new telly in time for the Wimbledon finals....

 

[Rupert]

Sad to say that unless its something easy to fix on the spot like a fan or thermostat your TV is probably going to be condemned. Not much gets fixed these days and the cost of a motherboard plus the labour to fit it probably exceeds the new value of the TV, let alone its current value. If you've got new for old coverage that's great but otherwise they'll probably just stiff you with a hundred quid gift voucher towards a replacement.

Still. Look on the bright side: new telly in time for the Wimbledon finals....

I was wondering if, in the event of a 5-year warranty, if the set was to be condemned, could I claim that it was no longer 'of merchantable quality' and get the original purchase cost towards a new, slightly more updated telly?

Just a thought!

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

Simply put, no.

The "merchantale quality" thing applies to new or newly purchased used goods.

If your TV had let the smoke out a few weeks or even months after you bought it then you would have a case. After nearly five years of use, sadly not. I mean, if you bought a new car, drove it for five years and burnt the clutch out, would you expect Ford or whoever to give you a brand new car?

Its down to the wording of your extended warranty now.