Riddled TV Repair Forum

JeffNY · Joined: 24 Nov 2008 Posts: 3

Hi,

I have a Sony 32" Sony XBR (KV-32XBR45 1996) and last night the picture became distorted and only displayed on the top half of the screen (ound is fine)...
http://home.earthlink.net/~jeff810095/IMG_1508se.JPG

What are my option to fix? This thing is a bear to move and take to a repair center. Plus the local repair center here are crooks!

This must be just s board swap....anyone know who would do that in the Albany, NY area? Is it worth fixing?

Thanks,
Jeff

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Jesse Mack · Joined: 22 May 2008 Posts: 600 Location: The Last Frontier

Hi Jeff,

I have never been to your area but CAN tell you what to look for if you are looking for a service center. Look for a Factory Authorized Service Center. They should make service calls and they should NOT have to haul your set to the shop. They SHOULD be able to simply pull the chassis and jig the chassis at their shop which eliminates the need to haul the VERY heavy picture tube around.

That being said, you seem to have a limited knowledge about the 40 years it took to develop a TV set that does what this set does.

Now for the problem at hand.

The picture you have shown is described as a trapazoidal picture (caused by a pincushion problem and insufficient sweep) and vertical foldover. The possible causes are: Defective IC301 Jungle IC, Defective Vertical output IC, Defective Pincushion IC, Yoke, or bad capacitors. This is a complex TV and you may have more than one component failure. The Vertical and Pincushion control IC's are on the D board and the jungle IC is on the M board. The D and M board's are no longer available and must be repaired at the component level.

Since this is a 32 inch, I would suggest you look at what new sets cost (with the SAME or GREATER minimum features of your set)and then decide if the service center you are talking about are crooks.

If you expect to have a repair center repair this set for maybe $150.00 It simply is not going to happen.

Hope this helps

Jesse

JeffNY · Joined: 24 Nov 2008 Posts: 3

Hi Jesse,

The repair center in my area is a "factory authorized" service center. You know how they fixed my dads stereo years back when the right channel went out? They soldered a jumper to the left channel in. I have heard many other bad stories. I will never use them.

I did meet a guy at my dads house a few months ago when he was doing a warranty fix on my dads 47" Vizio. I emailed him yesterday, he says he mostly fixes flats screens now but he would ask his brother what he thought, he does a lot of work on CRT's. But off hand he said it could be pricey to fix and it may not be worth fixing.

>>That being said, you seem to have a limited knowledge about the 40 years it took to develop a TV set that does what this set does.<<

Well, that is probably true :) I was building kit computers (like IMSAI 8080's) 30 years ago and did some minimal work on the CRT's in the original Macs. But no, I don't repair CRT's. And with two pacemakers in me now I have little desire to be around that kind of voltage. But still, I would have thought a set built in '96 would have been easier to diagnose and repair. Especially an expensive Sony XBR.

The funny thing is this TV has ALWAYS been rock solid. I was watching it the other night, dozed off and when I woke up I had the picture you see. I can't help but think it's a single point failure...but as you point out it could be one of several things.

I was just getting ready to get a big HD flat screen and move this set to the bedroom. I may just have to junk it. A real shame. The set is in excellent condition except for the failure of a part that is literally worth a couple dollars.

Thanks,
Jeff

JeffNY · Joined: 24 Nov 2008 Posts: 3

hmmm....I just realized I am no longer seeing the green text the XBR puts on the screen ("Mute", volume bar, channel).....is there a board in there that "overlays" these graphics into the video signal before it goes to the CRT? Could this indicate these is where the failure occurred? Geez, I know so little about these TV's to know where to even start trying to figure it out....and I suppose a service manual (if I could find one) is probably around $75 bucks?

Jesse Mack · Joined: 22 May 2008 Posts: 600 Location: The Last Frontier

Jeff,

The service manual is available here http://www.samswebsite.com for $22.00 or from http://www.andrewselectronics.com for $46.48 or from http://www.searspartsdirect.com for $61.00
Price variables are due to the sams lit is an aftermarket, the andrews lit is OEM but shipping is high, sears usually has extremely low shipping.

There is another consideration. You said that your dad used this "Factory Authorized" servicer Years Back and you must consider that the one thing in life you can count on is change. EVERYTHING CHANGES This shop may not have even been a factory authorized shop back then and there could have been ownership changes, personell changes etc etc that may have occurred. Please do not think that I am trying to defend anyone, what I am saying is that they have to answer to Sony for any complaints that they recieve about wrongdoing and most shops do not want complaints to their manufacturers about them.

Stories heard can often be sour grapes because they could not afford the repairs. Go to your local Better Business location and see if there are indeed many complaints.

Most people do not have enough knowledge about how todays electronics work to make an accurate judgement. For instance, do you know how may jumpers are in recievers today or back then? For all you know it was a rosen connection that was found with instrumentation and not visually and it took 3 or 4 hours to find.

Yes, there are crooks out their, however, I do not believe the shops that are indeed crooks would be in business very long given the volume of information available on the internet in which to challenge them or to complain to the manufacturers. Their "Factory Authorized" status would soon disappear.

As to the missing text, this would be a normal condition given the level of distortion of the picture. The text would be in the overscan foldover area and you would not be able to see it under these conditions.

Hope this helps

Jesse

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