Links http://home.comcast.net/~larryh791/elitepsfix.html http://www.justanswer.com/tv-repair/3x5m8-pioneer-sd-532hd5-times-picture-just-goes-off.html Shows suggested areas to check and fix. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=402397 Main thread on problem. Hello everyone, I'm new here, and my 4 year-old Pro610HD had the same problem. Mine started acting up about three weeks ago, so I did a search on several forums, and thankfully found this thread. I fixed mine, so far no problems. Up front, I would like to thank everyone for their contributions to this thread, and many, many thanks to Siloreed, for posting the link to his video. As soon as I saw it, I knew I was in the right place. This post is quite long and I apologize for it's length, but I feel this information will be helpful to others. Disclaimer: This information is provided as-is and based on my observations. I assume no responsibility for what you do to your set or, in the extreme, your health. If you feel uncomfortable going about this, then call a technician and provide him with the info from this entire thread. Diagnosis: I began by tapping the heat sinks on the power supply board (part # AWV1795), and got a few flickers of blue, but that was about it. I was about to put the cover back on when I decided to tap the connectors that go to it. Immediately, the screen went ballistic - it can be only described as "blue thunder"! I decided to work on it ASAP. The following is a general procedure based on what I did to fix the board. Allow yourself an afternoon to do this, TAKE YOUR TIME. BTW, I recommend to everyone to buy/beg/borrow or steal the two service manuals that go with the x10 series HDTV's. These are ARP3051 and ARP3047, they contain info on how to get to the service menus, and parts lists and schematics as well. Board Removal and inspection: Turn off main power switch, wait a few minutes and UNPLUG SET. Wait several minutes to completely drain high voltages. The power supply board is large vertical board in the back on the right side, AC cord goes to it. There is an RF coil near the connectors at upper left, be careful not to squash it with your thumb when disconnecting wire harnesses. (oops....) After removing all those screws, handle board with two hands, as it flexes quite easily. For some reason the actual PC board is very thin, in relation to the weight of the components. Try not to flex it too much, or it may cause more broken solder points. Rest the board on blocks of wood when working on it. Use an 8x magnifying loupe (available at photographic supply houses) or glass to inspect solder joints, as you will not be able to see breaks with the naked eye or reading glasses. A cold solder joint can be described as being dull gray and/or pebbly in appearance, sometimes accompanied with a "fracture ring" around it. Found quite a few on my board. Gently wiggle the component on the other side to see if the actual joint wiggles as well. if it does, re-solder it. As I suspected, there were broken solder joints on connector E3 (12+ supply and a GND) and the joints for and around IC204 and IC202 looked "cold" with possible ring fractures. It's amazing how little solder was used on these joints, especially the connectors. (shame on Pioneer's QC...) Re-soldering: This section assumes that you have had previous soldering experience, such as an electronics hobby kit, repairing something on a circuit board, etc. Again, if you are not comfortable doing this, have someone who knows how do it for you. Work on the board in a well-lit area, such as a workshop. (a dinette set with chandelier lighting just doesn't work!) A desk lamp for additional lighting helps. Prop the board up to prevent flexing. I suggest using a magnifying headset such as an OptiVisor (available online or dedicated tool supply shops) to see what you're doing while soldering, some of these joints are quite small. Use an AC-powered 30-40 watt soldering iron with a fine tip. Cordless units, such as a Wahl, are okay, but pressing the "on" button gets tedious after awhile, and because of the wait time for heat-up, may not be consistent. Do not use a high-wattage soldering gun, the trick is to solder the joints, not vaporize them... I used a Weller soldering station set on "4" with good results. The iron must be hot, meaning that the solder liquifies instantaneously on contact. Also used fine 60/40 rosin core solder, for PC work. Clean the tip on the iron frequently, using a wet sponge. It's your choice if you decide to re-solder all the joints on the board, I only did the questionable ones. On the connector pins, however, I desoldered these with a vacumn pump and re-soldered them. I did ALL the connector pins just to be safe. Re-flowing solder on the other components should be sufficient, just do it quickly to prevent over-heating of the actual component. You can also use clip-on heat sinks on the component leads, if you can reach them. (the board heat sinks sometimes get in the way) When you're finished, inspect your work - look for free-floating solder "blurbs", and make sure you didn't solder two joints together accidentally. Re-install the board, and hopefully, the flicker is gone for good. Well, that's about it. I hope this info helps someone in the future, I know this thread helped me. Thank you again. --Dave G. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pioneer has had cold solder joint problems that cause shutdown for years, ever since the SDP line of SD units. I have repaired many of them, and almost without exception they always come down to cold solder joints. "Cold solder joint protocol", as I call it, means going to any solder conn's that have a "halo" around the leg where it meets the pad. One of the worst I ever saw was in a ceiling pj, where the pad was very big - off the flyback - and the halo was enough to almost see thru, a chasm! Very obvious. This can most easily be seen by holding your flashlight such that you are viewing the solder connection dead on, but with the light hitting it from the side. Some cold solder joints are invisible to the naked eye, even to a microscope. Only intuition and experience can help you there. They look perfectly good, but can be completely disco'd. Rare, but true. Then resolder, using good "solder technique". Which means making sure there is enough flux to keep the solder joint gleaming and glossy, refreshing any "dried out" connections. Just touching the joint lightly with your solder will usually lend it enough flux to do the job, without having to add too much solder in the process. Temperature of your soldering iron tip is important. Keep a sponge handy to wipe your soldering iron tip on, both to clean it and get it gleaming again, and to control the temp, which can easily go into overrun just by sitting there unused. Dragging it across the sponge will cool it to just the right temp when done right. Look for raised resistors - raised off the board for the purpose of dissipating heat, sometimes with a hole in the board beneath them. To see if they are cold soldered, move them from above the board, and see if the leg moves underneath the board. If so, it is probably a weak joint and should be resoldered. If not, it is tight and secure and probably does not need any further attention. Anything with a heat sink could cause cold solder joints, just from the expansion and contraction of heat up and cool down. This is especially prevalent in today's convergence ICs, which run ungodly hot in there. Be very careful of solder bridges, make sure your lighting is very very good. If you unknowingly short 2 legs together by being just a bit sloppy, the results could be devastating to your set. Use a flashlight and view everything you have soldered from several different angles, and if still questionable, from above, THROUGH the board from the top, observing from the bottom where the light shines thru from the top --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I was going to live with the blue flash for awhile,while considering whether to replace the board or attempt to execute the repair. I don't have much experience soldering, so I was somewhat reluctant. However, the set starting shutting off rather frequently, so this weekend I elected to attempt the repair. A few tips for those considering the repair. Many of the connections are extremely small and close together. It is a necessity that you have a wet sponge and an exacto knife in order to be as precise as possible. It is also important when you remove the board to use a screwdriver that has been magnetized as those small screws holding in the board are very small and tough to find when they get away. I found removal to be tedious, but fairly straight forward. I did not test the board for bad spots with the power on, as I have already had some extremely bad experiences with electricity. I removed the board (power board previously identified as the verticle board on the bottom right of the television), which consists of simply removing all of the connections that plug in and then all of the screws. As I mentioned the screws are very small and fall through the air holes in the frame when you drop them, so be prepared to move the television around and search for a dozen of those little screws. You have to move all of the harnesses out of the way, and then the board pulls out quite easily. I was extremely careful in transporting the board, given that it has many heavy pieces mounted to it making it pretty flimsy. I purchased a soldering kit that stated that it was specifically designed for working with small electronics, and I had two exacto knives handy. I also purchased some very thin solder at the hardware store that stated it was designed for use in small electronics. The total cost for all items was nominal. It was very thin, and ideal for re-soldering the joints. It was also very easy to work with, because only a very, very small drop of solder would be produced. Originally, I was only going to resolder those points corresponding to the connectors, but once I got going -I ended up re-soldering almost the entire board. It took a couple of hours, but once you get a system going it was fairly simple. I always approached with the solder from the direction that was the opposite of the closest connection. Some of these points are extremely close together and you have to be very careful that the two points don't inadvertantly end up connecected. As I was going, I used the exacto knife to make sure that there was complete separation of any two close points. Anywhere that looked even remotely too close, I was able to reheat and use the exacto knife to ensure that there were no inadvertant connections. It took 2 hours or so just to solder all of the points. I originally did not intend to, but there were 2 or 3 different areas that looked suspect , especially those areas around E5 and C204 (someone had previously stated that E3, 202 and 204 were the worst for them-for me it was E5 and 204). Additionally, there were a few other points scattered around the board that looked suspect, so in the end I ended up doing most, if not all of the board. After it had cooled for awhile, I went back with the iron and the exacto knife to make sure there weren't any areas that might be too close. I feared that I might have touched something when I was working on a subsequent area, or that something might have shifted while it was drying. I then reassembled the television, and left it on for 48 hours. I have yet to see the blue flash nor have I had the television shut off. Tremendous success, and I sincerely wish to thank everyone who has contributed to this thread. Not only is the television functioning without the shutoffs and without the blue flash and loss of contrast, but the picture is the best that it has looked in years. I must have had the loss of contrast far longer than I thought, as the picture looks fantastic. It may sound like a daunting task, but with some patience and precision it can be done. I would love to keep this set working for many more years. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I checked all the connections but focused on E3, E5 (power harness connections), IC204 (per the techs download) and the ground screw that I think DJGUY mentioned. --- what we did 1. resoldered pins 1 - 13 at E3 (1&2 were partiallt cracked, 13 conpletely) 2. TC (or JC) 202 & 204: area around them heat discolored and joints looked cold but intact - resoldered 3. E2 - resoldered partial cracks on pins: GND, GND, and 304 4. generally resoldered all connector pins He strongly believes that primary problem was #1 above. Best of luck to all and thanks so much for your efforts. --------------- My soldering iron settings were 15watts for the tiny joints and up to 35w for the big ones plus 0.032" solder. 60/40 @0.032 gauge solder <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Medium sized solder tip, at mid temp, using a WET sponge to cool it just before you hit your work with it, and to clean off the tip each time. Too hot and the things you're trying to share heat with will just stay isolated from each other. Solder Iron 30 watt pencil item: 2062758 Solder .032 item: 2062731 De-Solder Iron this one provide heat 45 watt and bulb to remove solder. Item: 2062719 --- http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062711 -------------- next +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Cleaning..... This is a reprint from an answer to a question in the Ask A Calibrator section at the SPot about a certain type of optics cleaner - one of the dry type, I believe - and whether it should be used on RPTVs: My optics cleaning technique is to suspend ALL the gritty particulates that have built up over the years in liquid before attempting to do ANYTHING with them. Lenses are usually made of plastic, and are extremely susceptible to being scratched. Even glass lenses can be scratched. High voltage attracts the smallest of particulates to your optics, including smoke, and it is VERY IMPORTANT not to scratch your optics. It is also important not to allow any of the liquid to go down into the space between the edge of the lens and the lens barrel. If it does, it will cause the inner lenses to fog up. There are usually 4 lenses in a stack, in each lens pack. 3 guesses as to why I know that... So when you send your spray to the optics, you DIVE, DIVE, DIVE with your aborbent material to the lowest part of the lens surface, to make sure that doesn't happen - that the liquid doesn't penetrate to the lower levels of the stack, to the inner lenses. The best stuff I've found for wetting the surface is an aerosol, because it foams up and doesn't run. Don't know what the name of it is, I've only used it a couple of times, when the customer already had it lying around. I usually use non-ammoniated Windex, or Glass Plus, and very very carefully. Non-ammoniated because of the first surface mirrors used in HDreadys. Don't want to be mixing aluminum with ammonia. Once the mist has penetrated the contaminants and lifted the grit off the surface, a careful swipe in one direction only will get the critical mass of grit off the surface, to one side of the lens. A rolling motion as you do so, like a streetsweeper, is best and will very cleanly remove the bad stuff. Usually takes several very careful swipes, all in the same direction, to gather and remove all the particulates - and you're done. Then one more very light cleaning swipe - It is better to leave trace streaks than to rub till the surface is clean. Rubbing is VERBOTEN! Doing so will "scuff" the plastic with thousands of permanent streaks, which you will then rub harder and harder only to find out they don't come out, and you've just exacerbated the situation gravely. 3 guesses as to how I found out about THAT one... As such, no I don't think these things are the thing to use, unless and until the surface is 99% clean already. I use pure wood fiber paper towels - not shop towels, which contain lanolin and will NEVER get your mirror clean - and the wetting materials mentioned above. On the outer lenses, the mirror, and the inner CRT coolant covers, where you remove the lenses to get to them. This method has been doing it for me - and very pristinely - for years and years and years. It's all in the wrist. Mr Bob Later: Some further notes - When you check ANY of the optics for contaminants, shoot your flashlight at the lens surface FROM THE SIDE. It never looks that bad when you hit it head-on - but Lordy, when you shoot it from the side, MAN, that's dirty... I usually do just a quick bump from the back of one of my fingers - no more than 3/8" long - to the surface, just to see if that bump turns clear black, in the middle of the gray dust. If it is dirty, it does. If not - if that surface was black and remains black after bumping it with the back of my finger - I may just leave that surface alone. On the lenses facing up, often to make my point in front of the client, I wet one finger - don't want to DRYRUB any gritty particulates - and draw a happy face in the middle. Viewed from the front at an oblique angle, with the flashlight hitting it from the side, that usually does the trick, when that happy face jumps off the surface at you, revealing how clear your optics are SUPPOSED to be... If you are removing and going under the lenses, be sure and check the rear surface of the lens pack - the one the becomes exposed when you remove the lenspack, whose surface faces the CRT. It is usually full of smoke, and responds the same way to the "touch" test mentioned above. When you shoot the Windex in there, be sure and clean the outer surfaces of overspray, before cleaning the lens itself. If you don't - if you just leave it - its moisture is trapped and will eventually fog everything up in there, after you have put things back together. 3 guesses as to how I found out about THAT one... If you do it after cleaning the surfaces in question, more lint - and other new contaminants - fall onto the surface you just cleaned, than if it is the other way around. I have found that the actual coolant covers themselves are usually plastic, tho I have seen glass ones - very expensive to do it that way - on Runcos and Pioneer Elites. You can tell by looking at the edge. If it is plastic, you won't really see that edge, it will be inside where the coolant is and not available to your view. If it is glass, you will see the curvature end, and straight flat glass will go to the edge of the circular chamber, usually just over 1/4" in all directions. I just completed this protocol on a 6 year old Runco 770 at Harbin Hot Springs last week, and a 9 year old Pioneer PRO-119 last night in Redwood City. The Runco had VERY thick dust on the entire lower half of its glass coolant cover, and its keeper couldn't get over how distinct and impressive the colors had become, later. The response from the Elite owners was that they had NEVER seen it look that good, even when new. At 9 years old... Naturally, the rest of my calibration protocol was also applied in each case, after hours of fine precision work. But the importance of the light path remaining clear as glass in a projection system cannot be stated strongly enough. There are MANY surfaces to deal with in a projection environment, NONE of which exist in a directview environment. EACH of those surfaces needs its own individual attention. Especially in the face of the high voltage of the CRTs, which always wants to cause floating airborne contaminants to cling to nearby surfaces over time, hour after hour - multiplied by hundreds of hours of use over time - PER YEAR! This is definitely an op that cannot be left to chance. Mr Bob Later again: I just learned the name of the foam, which I think has been the same in all cases, just from the look of it. It is SprayWay Glass Cleaner. Locally, it is available at Restoration Hardware, somewhere here on the Peninsula in the Bay Area. Elsewhere, I do not know where to get it.