32" Sony Flat Screen TV Troubles

[Babette]

Been vacationing in our 2010 Itasca Reyo since late December 2012.  As you recall, we had all kinds of problems with this coach for the first year and a half. The last year everything went well until about a week ago when the  Sony TV startet giving us problems. Half the picture is fine and the other half is fuzzy, everything is double and mainly purple color. Another problem, it is intermittend, except for a thin horizontel blue line about 4 " from the top that is always there.
Could the not even 3 year old Sony TV already be going on the blink? 
Where could we take it to have it checked out?
Any suggestions/ comments would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Babette

 

[docj]

Having owned an electronics store for several years, I hate to tell you that the best thing to do is to start looking at replacement TVs.  Unless you happened to buy an extended warranty, which IMHO is a waste for a set of this size, the cost of replacement parts, even if you can find someone competent to do the repair, is not worth the effort, particularly on one that is several years old.  The price of TVs has continued to come down and you will find that the new sets are thinner and have narrower frames.

 

[BobNSam]

If all inputs are acting the same way, yes the TV could have failed.
Suggest looking on line for authorized Sony repair centers.
Have you checked using an HDMI or RF source? Does it only happen on antenna RF? Does it happen from DVD player?
Good luck but I think you are in for a new TV...don't shy away from Sony they make a good box
Bob

 

[SeilerBird]

docj gives good advice. The TV has failed and you should replace it rather than attempt to fix it. A new 32" is around $200 and I doubt you could get the current TV fixed that cheaply. The new edge lit LED TVs are much more energy efficient and use a lot less power. And they put off a lot less heat so your A/C won't have to work as hard.

 

[BobNSam]

...if you do replace your Sony for a newer more efficient one look for one with same characteristics.
You probably need front spacing speakers.
Also if integrated with coach sound system you may need selectable speaker volume control
Suggest finding specs online for your model and comparing with any replacement
The more efficient and lighter LED versions are all pluses
Oh, if new unit is physically near the same size, it will make replacement easier.
Bob

 

[odie1234]

I agree that the television is probably going to need replaced and, frankly they are so inexpensive I would not spend much time fretting about fixing it. However, before you do there are a couple of things to check. Our same size Sony will flash the power on light when the set is turned on if there is a problem, the number of flashes tells what the problem area is. Troubleshooting manuals are available online and are thorough. A couple of years ago, the tech service folks were quite helpful by phone. We have intermittent problems with one of our Sony's (a 32 inch) where it shows a horizontal line. Turning the electric line circuit breaker off and leaving for two minutes before turning back on stops the issue.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The key to making a replacement decision is to try different inputs to the tv, e.g. DVD, OTA antenna, park cable, etc. If all sources show the same problem, replace the tv as the others have explained. If even one of the other sources works ok, the tv is probably fine and you have some other problem. Try to use an alternate input source that uses a different input jack on the tv, e.g. HDMI or RGB vs the antenna coax. The DVD (or VCR) player probably uses different cabling and input jacks than the antenna or park cable.

 

[Kim (skyking4ar2) Bertram]

I have a 40" Sony Bravia that exhibits some of your issues when connected via the composite video cables furnished in the coach, but not when connected HDMI. The coach was built around the TV so I cannot get in the back of it to change the cables on the TV but I can change what is connected to them.

Try Gary's plan first and try all the input sources. Thor has acknowledged it takes six hours of labor to unmount our TV and has agreed to re-engineer the cabinet under warranty but that was not any help hundreds of miles from the nearest warranty center.

You don't want to buy a new TV and find out it was your cabling.