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Have had our Hitachi Ultravision TV for a few years, ran fine. Last as I was watching it, the screen went black, and now the ON button flashes 3 times repeatedly. Is that a code? Is there a reset button? Any ideas? Would like to get it working, but don't want to spend a lot on it?
Optional Information: Make: Hitachi Model: Ultravision Already Tried: unplug, and plug back in, tried to reset, same result
Hi! Thank you for using Just Answer today! My name isXXXXX am happy to help you with this! Please bear with me and be patient as sometimes these issues take a little bit of figuring out before we know what's wrong. If you could give me some more information it will be very helpful: -What is the model number for the television? (this can be found on the back of the unit) -How old is the unit?
Please give me this information and I will be happy to assist you further. Thank you, Tim Nolan
Model # XXXXX
Looks like manufact. date is Oct 2007
OK do you have sound?Tim
I will check, I have surround sound, but not sure it it comes out the TV, let me check
no sound without the surround on
OK you definitely have an internal failure, the code doesn't tell us much beyond that. If you can use a meter and troubleshoot, I can help you fix it, you are probably looking at $100-200 in parts. IF you have a shop repair it you are looking at another $200 in labor. Let me know if you want to pursue it.Sorry for the bad news, I am sure you were hoping for an easier fix.Tim
I can use a meter, limited electricXXXXX XXXXXc., master HVAC lic., so that would be great if you could help
Ok awesome...do you have the back off the tv?Tim
the back is off
OK look on the left side, do you see two skinny boards, one goes from the top of the tv half way down and one half way down from the bottom.There are a bunch of black square chips on these boards, do you see them? Inspect them really close, do you see any holes, pin holes or burns in any of them?Tim
the black square chips look fine, but the gray border around a couple of them look like they may have been a little hot at one time.
OK, now what I want you to do is take the top board all the way out of the tv. Then turn the tv on, look at the screen and the light on the front, what do you see? If you get the same blink you got before, put the top board back in and take the bottom board out, turn the tv on, any change on the screen or the light on the front?Tim
unplug the ribbon connectors, or just remove from main board
Both, take the board completely out of the tv.Tim
had no problem getting it off the board, cant seem to get the ribbon connectors off, not sure how hard to force
You should not force them too much, you have to flip up the clips holding them down.Tim
yes, got the clips up, i"ll try again
OK once the cips are up, the ribbon cables should pop up a little and then slide out.Do not damage them thoough, that will destroy the tv.Tim
ok, got it, the ribbon pulls out of the bar. took the board out, blue light stopped blinking, red "STANDBY" light was on, pushed POWER button got blue light, mostly black screen with some white strips in the middle, strips went away, now blinking blue light. put it back and do the bottom one?
OK, yes put the top one in and take the bottom out...what happens?Tim
pretty much the same as the top one, only the white bars were at the top, and only flashed for a sec.
Are the bars going left to right or to to bottom?Tim
no, they appeared to be a colum in the middle 1/3, never moved, went away, now black
OK can you get me a picture of these boards where you said the gray looked like it had been hot? (if you can post a picture, please click the icon above, where you are typing, of the paper clip. This will allow you to upload a picture)Tim
pics
the back of the board looks fine
In the top left of the chip on the right, what is that black spot in the top left of the black part?Tim
it is a perfect round circle, looks factory, every one of them have it
OK put both those boards back in. Do you know how to use a meter?Tim
yes
OK I need you to unplug that connector labeled 3 on the X sus.
it didnt say 3, but looking at the diagram, it's the only one there, says CN26 on the board
Yes, sorry I should have been clear..it wont say 3 on the board...its CN26Tim
done
OK look at the screen and the light on the front, what is it doing?Tim
A bunch of verticle color bars came up for a brief second then the black screen came on. We are back to the blue light blinking 3 times.
OK check these caps for me.Tim
i can use a meter, but these are a bit smaller than i'm used to. what am i looking for here? Ohms? what numbers? check them on the back? take them back off?
Yes, ohms, if they read 0 ohms they are bad.You can check them while they are in the tv.Tim
had it set to audible continuity, some do, some don't, is that ok? or do i need a numeracial setting
I need the numerical on the ones that do.Tim
So 8 "squares, per board, 2 caps on each = 16 caps? 1st board, 4 had 22, 22, 23, 24, the rest were open.
check board 2?
Yes, check the other board.Tim
looks the same, 4 have 22-25
None read 0?Tim
they either read 22-25, or are "OL" or, open load, no reading
What do your leads read when you touch them together?Tim
1
What does it read when you do not touch them together?Tim
0001
When you do not touch them to gether it says 00001? Is there a M or a OL behind that?Tim
typically my meters for work, read "OL" or open load when you hold them apart, read 0001 when you touch leads, and anything in between are variations of Ohms.
OK in that picture I sent you where you unplugged the connector that was labeled 3? Do you see the yellow highlighed boards at top and bottom of the picture...does your tv have boards at top and bottom or just bottom?Tim
both
Ok plug everything else back in and then unhook the connector going to the top..any change?Tim
when turned on, got the same flash just before it goes out, and starts blinkin. best i can see, it was a bunch of narrow verticle colums, and a buch of colored horizonal lines
ok you have never seen those lines until now though?Tim
no, this TV worked perfect untill last night, then went black
No I mean as far as you have not seen those lines durring the troubleshooting process until now.Tim
sorry, as we trouble shot, unplugging different boards, got different looks, every time something different, that was the frist time i had seen that specific screen
Ok somethings wrong, we should have got the tv to stay on with one of these tests.Ok take both the upper and lower boards with the black chips on the side out of the tv, with both out, turn the tv on, what happens?Tim
still black, but blue light stays on
Light stays on!? No more 3 blink?
no blink, i dont think you ever had me leave both out before, it was 1 at a time
Nope, this is the first time I asked you to do it...its not a normal test because it gives a very abnormal result...I have only seen this once or twice before.But both those boards and or the plasma panel is bad.Its really bad news here, it looks like you had a failure somewhere and it killed both boards. Now that failure could have been on one of the boards and it just killed the other board. OR it could have a been a failure in the plasma panel and that killed both boards. Unfortuantely there is no way to know without ordering new boards and putting them in to test.The part numbers for these boars are:Upper JP60796 Lower JP60806They run about $100 a piece. I recommend www.shopjimmy.com or www.encompassparts.com if you want to order them.Sorry to take so long troubleshooting, you had a very odd problem. Unfortuantely we still cannot be 100% sure these will fix it until you get the new boards.Tim
Experience: Factory trained TV repair technician. U.S. NAVY trained.