2 TVs in a row shut off randomly

[space-time]

OK, I must be very unlucky regarding TVs.

the 1st TV was a Panasonic CRT I bought in 1997 and worked fine till 2004 when the image became a horizontal line, and I fixed it myself, I think it was a cap or a resistor that crapped out. Then I fixed it and worked fine one more year and then started to randomly shut off by itself. I check various sources of IR, like the Palm I was using, my wife's TREO, we could not find why the TV was shutting itself off. I even blocked the IR sensor on the TV. a few weeks later it would shut off and not turn on for several minutes.

I gave it away on CL, and the person who took it told me it did the same thing at their house,


Second TV, Samsung CRT bought in 2005, worked fine for about a year and started also sutting off by itself. By this time we moved to a different place altogether (in case you suspect the wiring in the house was bad). Now it did that, maybe once a month, then more often, and now we just moved in this house about 4 weeks ago and it does it here too, and now it just did it 3 times in 3 minutes.

I was planning to upgrade to a LCD or Plasma this coming Black Friday, but I am afraid I'll have the same problem.

discuss.

EDIT: it was plugged into an UPC, but not in the battery powered part, only in the surge-protected part. I plugged it into a different outlet altogether (but on the same circuit breaker) and it still shuts off.

I have other things connected on that circuit and they run just fine. As I said, it did this at the old apartment, so I see no reason to suspect the wiring, I think the damn TV is defective.

[Black]

When you covered the IR sensor hole did it make a difference?

[space-time]

Black wrote:
When you covered the IR sensor hole did it make a difference?

back then (with 1st TV) it didn't make a difference. Now I am repeating the experiment and so far it seems like the TV does not shut off. Maybe one remote is firing random signals?

[Black]

I had a garage door opener that was riding around in a tenant's car-- when she parked a certain angle from the garage (garage in back of house, street in front of house) the door would open.
Took it out of service when I realized it was bad (broken piece inside).
Anyways, maybe there's a TV-be-gone in the picture here?

[space-time]

I just taped a Quarter over the IR sensor, tested and I cannot turn the TV ON or OFF with the remotes (so I know the quarter is blocking the IR signals), and the damn thing still shuts off. and about 5-10 seconds later I hear a click from inside the TV, I think this was also happening with the old TV. A relay going bad maybe?

oh well, maybe I'll hit "BUY" on this panasonic combo

Panasonic 42" S1 1080P plasma with DMP-BD60 Blu-ray Disc player $706.40

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1614747

EDIT: if I buy this panasonic 42" TV, I will probably watch from 12-13'. Right now we watch a 24" CRT from about 11'

[Black]

Is the whole thing turning off or just the picture tube?

[ADent]

Flouresent light can wreck havoc with IR as can plasma TVs. But if cover the IR ports that would seem to eliminate that problem.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

There could be a lot of noise on the power line, or a lot of electromagnetic interference in the area. Compact and regular fluorescent lights can also be a source of electromagnetic interference.

[TheCaber]

Could be a bad ground or cold solder joint(s) on the circuit board inside the TV.
I had a 27" RCA (way back when) that developed the sudden-off problem within a year of purchase; it was still in warranty, and included one housecall for service. Repair guy popped the case open and resoldered the RF shield box around all the tuner components. Worked fine after that for another 10 years, then started again.
I did the open up and resolder but it was very tricky, since there were multiple stakes from the circuit board to the box top, and the stakes ended exactly at the top (nothing sticking out), so no way to guarantee the solder made a good electrical connection. In time, with heating/cooling cycles, thermal expansion and contraction would cause the solder joints to fail. Thank you, Thomson-CSF SA, for a totally lame implementation (they did the RCA electronics and other brands as well).

Is there a lot of vibration transferred to the set? Does the time-honored pound-on-the-side-until-it-works approach correct the issue, at least temporarily?

[space-time]

Black wrote:
Is the whole thing turning off or just the picture tube?

I think the whole thing, if I turned it on it would start again (and shut off within 1 minute).

we just got back home (beautiful day, went for a walk in princeton) and now I need to decide if I should order the panasonic set from amazon. is 42" too big for 12-13' viewing distance?