I got a nice RCA tv from a friend (entertainment series) that's just a couple years old and ever since I've brought it home I've had problems with it. <p>First it would switch on and off without notice, and sometimes it would switch on and then scan upward through the channels. That seems to have stopped. Now we have cable and tivo and we hooked up the tivo remote to use with the tv. <p>Today I turned on the tv and it first goes to rca's guide mode (which we shouldn't even see anymore, now that we go through the tivo) and shows a snowy screen, then when I press "clear" on the tv remote, it goes to channel 11, which is blank -- no sound, no picture. The number 11 is a little fuzzy too.<p>The problem seems to be that the tv has slipped out of "vid 1" on the input control, but I can't get it to move off channel 11. When I press input on either the tivo or rca remote, the channel display briefly switches to vid 1 and then goes right back to 11.<p>I was thinking maybe the channel buttons were damaged when I moved the tv? I've tried to make sure they weren't jammed, and the tv has been working without problem for the last 2 weeks -- untl today.<p>Please help -- I'm a tv critic and I need the tv to work for my job!
Your going to need the original remote first off. Once you get the original remote, Go to the setup menu and do a channel scan with the cable attached and on. Then do a guid plus reset. If that doesnot help, then the front buttons may be jammed. i know you said they felt good but I have seen buttons that feel ok but ar still jammed. let us know how you made out. Good Luck
Thanks Larry. I tried what you recommended. I can get to the menu, but it just keeps scanning upward. I can't do a channel scan or a reset because the remote won't let me stop on anything. Sounds like jammed buttons, huh? Is there anything I can do about that? Can I fix it myself, or do I have to take it somewhere? Is it going to cost me a million dollars?
If you have confidence, maybe you can. But I highly recomend that if you had no type of TV repir experience, play it safe and seek a pro to assist you. First try to take off the back while the set is unplugged. see if you can slide out the chassis a little bit. No carefully plug in the unit and see if it still goes wild. If it does not act up anymore, unplug the set, slide back the chassis and it was a button stuck on the front. If it does not help, then one of the switches is bad or the data line going to the switch is bad. Worse case, the Microprocessor is bad.
Hmm, well I made a lame attempt at opening up the tv, but I don't think I have the right tool. I'm certainly not experienced at this. Do you think just transporting the tv by car could have messed up a switch or data line? I don't want to bring it to a repair shop if it's going to be a really expensive repair. But if it will be as simple as having someone open it up and wiggle something, then I could probably afford it. Any advice on finding a good repair shop? And thanks for replying in the first place. I really appreciate it.
No problem , as this is how we are here at Techlore, Freinds willing to assit. Shouldnt be expensive but of course I really cannot say for sure tilkl the set gets looked at. And yes I have seen the buttons get damaged from transporting or stuck between the switch and the button.
just thought i'd mention on this , it sound's like, the high $ solder that RCA was using at one point, this stuff was like $300.00 a pound, it was some kind of flexable solder, and it failed big time.... they had a major recall that noone every heard about of corse...but one of the problem was with it turing loose on the eprom, and it had the same effect as above.. and could be fixed if done promptly, but if not done in time the eprom had to be reprogrammed..
just thought i'd follow up and say that i brought it to a repair shop and they charged me $100 for a new processor. i have no idea if i was scammed, but the tv works great now. and i guess $100 for a nice big tv isn't a bad deal.
Probably replaced some tact switches for that price. A new processor would cost more then that I think to replace. Thanks for getting back with us.