Appreciate comments from those knowledgeable about TV repair
 

I own a 50 inch Pioneer plasma TV (PDP5010FD) whose extended warranty expired last November. About a month ago the power to the house was interrupted for a second (no storms ect.) everything came back on except the TV. When I turned the TV on there was no picture instead the on light blinked in 12 blink intervals - later 8 blink intervals. A small window at the bottom of the screen said "Starting up. Please wait". This would stay on for a minute and disappear. Called authorized Pioneer repair store who came to the home, diagnosed it as needing a new power circuit which would take a week to fix and cost $400 with a $200 deposit. They took the TV to the shop. After no word for 3 weeks I called them and they said with the power unit they installed the TV stayed on for an hour or two and then turned off. They said the TV needed a new "main" circuit board installed and the total bill would now be $875 and would take two more weeks to fix. Two days later they said it was fixed and would deliver it the next day. After they plugged the TV in it would still not come on (not even the two hour window it was supposedly working for) and the on light blinked in 8 pulse increments. Does anyone have any idea what is going on? This place has been in business for many years and I do not think that it has a reputation for ripping people off.

decline the repair

eat the $200 deposit loss

go get your old tv

go buy a new tv

try to sell your old tv and get SOMETHING for it

The TV was $2500 four years ago when I purchased it. I love the picture and I do not think that I can get anything as good with the $875 repair cost + some extra change. Besides Pioneer does not make Plasma TVs anymore and they were the best.

Sounds eerily similar to what happened with my Mitsubishi.

I had purchased the extended warranty, so i was covered, but....after repeated attempts to fix it (trouble also with the main board)...they just replaced it with a new one for me.

I ended up giving the new one away and buying a Sony.

You can, actually. You can usually find great deals on Samsung plasmas. Also, the Panasonic Viera plasmas are good.

Exhibit A: http://www.frys.com/product/6546273?...H:MAIN_RSLT_PG

Shop around - I've got a feeling you are getting jerked around a little bit. Take that with a grain of salt though because I'm no expert.

This $675 will get you a pretty nice TV these days

You are unwise paying that much on a repair of a television. Pioneer made great TVs, but that model is still several years old, will be out of warranty even after the repair, and suffered electrical damage. Even if they fixed the main board there is still other damage that the surge/outage could have caused, and it doesn't appear like they seem to know what the hell they are doing.

Nope...it sounds like they're just replacing parts until they find the right one.

Two words for you: sunk cost.

The weird thing about the world today is that electronics are never repaired any more. It's always cheaper to replace them and typically upgrade at the same time. I'm kind of shocked that a TV repair place still exists.

Taking a shotgun approach while throwing out false diagnoses is the epitome of "not knowing what the hell you're doing."

People who strip and recycle old electronics in China make significantly more than farmers. Right now some planeteer's old 17" CRT is probably being harvested by an 11 year old amongst a cloud of mercury vapor in Shanxi province.

By "nope", I meant you were correct in saying the didn't know what they were doing.

Maybe they could fix my sarcasm meter too.

8 pulses is probably an indication of what area the problem is it, I would talk to your insurance agent to see if it is covered, kind of like lightening damage during a storm.... talk to Pioneer about your situation if you are unhappy with the service and see if they can help.

Call Stan at service mart.

I guess I'm lucky. I have a plasma and two LCD TVs. Never had a problem with any of them. I just saw an ad for a 39" LED for $277. Why would anyone repair a TV?

I appreciate all the comments. Thank you for taking the time.

I called Pioneer about the problem. The only thing that they did is to give me the phone number and address of the authorized TV repair shop near me.

The Pioneer plasma picture is the best that I have seen. That is why I spent the big bucks. No Samsung Led Lcd picture comes close. It would still take me $2000 for a Panasonic that would be somewhat close.

Any comment from a TV repairman would be helpful.

You're in an impossible situation. The Pioneer Elites were the best TVs made, but as they've been disco'd for several years now support and service will be difficult. With that said, it's not wise to throw good money after bad in search of repairing a TV that has suffered electrical damage.

I think you have three options:


1) Buy a functional, used Pioneer that you can use as a replacement
2) Buy a used Pioneer with a cracked screen, swapping out your screen with the guts of the TV you are acquiring.
3) Buy a new TV.

not a repairman, but i work with tvs all day.
my first hdtv was a vizio 42 inch. great tv for the price, and for what i needed.
after a year and a half of owning it, turned it on one morning. no sound. switched to the dvd player. no sound. turned on the (2 different) game systems. no sound. switched to a component cable. no sound. switched the hdmi cables no sound.
not a huge issue for me, as i had an old stereo receiver, so i used that for sound. finally after a year or so, i finally called vizio, as i had taken out the extended warranty (tv was mounted to the wall, and i needed help taking it off to get the serial number and such, which is why it took me so long to call).
vizio repair was more than helpful, set me up with a repairman here locally, they actually made a housecall. sent 2 guys, we took off the tv. they were looking at their workorder, said "oh, you're having sound problems. huh". they were sent with all the parts of the tv, except for a sound card, or speakers or whatever the needed to replace. they actually replaced every part of the tv, except for the screen and speakers.
and of course we still had no sound. they came back 3 weeks later with the speakers, and i've been back to normal ever since.

talk to the manufacturer. keep on them. sadly tho, the general concept is that we are a throwaway society right now. and it is generally "easier" to buy a new tv, than have a great one repaired.

good luck.

these are great options. especially if you are handy.

I was a technician for 35 years. I can tell you this...
they are guessing and you get to pay for their theories.

Eat the 200. Buy a Sony. Enjoy football.

Yep. Better to buy a new one.

I can fix it. My dad's a television repairman..he's got this awesome set of tools.

In high school I bet you ordered pizza to be delivered in the middle of class.

There's nothing wrong with a little snack on our time.

Yeah. Stan will do an in-home repair even, heh.


Maximize your TV-buying dollar and go to that special isle at SAMs.

Their generous return policy + jerks who take unrealistic advantage = an isle full of TVs that have been returned, then shipped back to the manufacturer to be reconditioned, then back to the store to be resold. Crazy low prices in my experience.