RCA D52W17 repair question

[connect42]

Hi. I just picked my in-laws Tv up from the repair shop.The repair needed is the Blue CRT and the CRT board. That is what the repair ticket says. The cost will be $528. I am thinking about trying to make the repair a project that I tackle.
Does anybody here have any clue as to what parts are needed for this model. I found a blue CRT on ebay, but the model numbers don't match perfectly.

I guess what I am asking is: if you were going to do this job yourself, what would you do next?

and yes ... I know the obvious answer is to trash it and bug a new TV. If it was for myself that would be move #1.

[crackinhedz]

Originally Posted by connect42

and yes ... I know the obvious answer is to trash it and bug a new TV. If it was for myself that would be move #1.

my answer may not help your cause...

but, as a former RCA D52W23 owner I would do whatever it takes to convince the in-laws that a new tv is in their best interest. I mean, $528 to fix it?? Thats already two-thirds the price of a new tv. And who is to say the TV wont crap out again?

After two repairs on my own RCA, I can tell you the "qualified" repair tech didn't know jack squat. He kept telling me there was something wrong with the lamp despite me telling him it was a defect in the screen frame...so i waited 3 months for a replacement lamp (gotta love warranty battles between Bestbuy and RCA deciding who should cover it!)...when he replaced the lamp, the problem was still there. So another 6 weeks waiting on a new "screen", when I clearly told the guy it was the frame, not the screen. Oh well what did I know right?

So moral of the story, I ended up selling the "brand new" tv, that had been taken apart twice, for $500 on craigslist.

I ended up buying a new 50" 720p Panasonic Plasma.

Best choice I ever made (of course I would have loved a new Pioneer ). Not to mention now I don't have a huge bulky tv anymore.

[connect42]

I agree .. they should go buy a new Tv right now, but they will not, because of his work situation. I am hoping I can piece it together for under $150 or so.
I found a Blue RCA CRT on ebay, but I am not sure if the model numbers match up. I am not sure where to even look for the CRT board. I am sure I can repair it myself for way under the $528. If they had that $ right now they would be watching a 42 inch Vizio.

I understand the TV is crap, but for a few months it is all they are going to have.

[TVguy86]

Well first you would have to take out the old tube. Then hopefully you would be able to match numbers off of that tube. It can be tough because the numbers on the tube do not always match the part number you would order directly from rca.

Lol i fixed a bunch of those tvs and they are a pain.

You need to take off the lower portion of the front of the tv. Not the screen but the speaker grille. Then you have to take off covers and more brackets underneath the speaker grille covers. Then you should be able to see the tubes. Taking the screens off would make it much easier but its your choice. You just need to pretty much remove every screw from the back and the screen and bezel comes off.

The tubes are all together in a metal housing that will slide out a little ways. THIS IS WHERE YOU NEED TO BE CAREFUL. There are many little wires and connectors that you will need to remove before you can pull it out. It would be in your best interest to actually take off the screens but its your choice.

Then you need to remove the kin socket (attached to the bottom of the tube). Then take off the yoke. YOU WILL NEED TO MARK THIS PARTS POSITION. This is the convergence pre-adjustment that will need to be close to auto converge. Then you need to pull the ground pins and the red high voltage lead. The high voltage lead will be tricky and can break and then it wont hold properly and your screwed.

Then pretty much the reverse of what you just did. Just need to re-align the picture when you put have the tube in with the yoke and kin socket.

Lol let me just suggest. If you have never worked on a tv before i would not do this with no experience... EVER. It will be a pain and its easy to open a different can of worms when you break a connector that you didnt see. Plus you are going to buy a used tube that will probably just go bad again soon. So all that work will last like 6 months.

Let me suggest a new tv and an extended warranty.

Those RCA RPTVs were NOTORIOUS for bad tubes. We at one time had 7 of them in our shop and one was there 4 months waiting for RCA to get more tubes to send out for warranty.

[connect42]

Originally Posted by TVguy86

Well first you would have to take out the old tube. Then hopefully you would be able to match numbers off of that tube. It can be tough because the numbers on the tube do not always match the part number you would order directly from rca.

Lol i fixed a bunch of those tvs and they are a pain.

You need to take off the lower portion of the front of the tv. Not the screen but the speaker grille. Then you have to take off covers and more brackets underneath the speaker grille covers. Then you should be able to see the tubes. Taking the screens off would make it much easier but its your choice. You just need to pretty much remove every screw from the back and the screen and bezel comes off.

The tubes are all together in a metal housing that will slide out a little ways. THIS IS WHERE YOU NEED TO BE CAREFUL. There are many little wires and connectors that you will need to remove before you can pull it out. It would be in your best interest to actually take off the screens but its your choice.

Then you need to remove the kin socket (attached to the bottom of the tube). Then take off the yoke. YOU WILL NEED TO MARK THIS PARTS POSITION. This is the convergence pre-adjustment that will need to be close to auto converge. Then you need to pull the ground pins and the red high voltage lead. The high voltage lead will be tricky and can break and then it wont hold properly and your screwed.

Then pretty much the reverse of what you just did. Just need to re-align the picture when you put have the tube in with the yoke and kin socket.

Lol let me just suggest. If you have never worked on a tv before i would not do this with no experience... EVER. It will be a pain and its easy to open a different can of worms when you break a connector that you didnt see. Plus you are going to buy a used tube that will probably just go bad again soon. So all that work will last like 6 months.

Let me suggest a new tv and an extended warranty.

Those RCA RPTVs were NOTORIOUS for bad tubes. We at one time had 7 of them in our shop and one was there 4 months waiting for RCA to get more tubes to send out for warranty.

Thanks for the pointers. I agree with your suggestion that they should just buy a new TV. Right now they just don't have the money. They are back to watching their old Sony (non-HD) TV. If I attempt to repair this RCA and blow it completely it won't be the end of the world.

Let me ask you this: I may be able to find a replacement BLUE CRT.
However, the repair ticket says "Bad Blue CRT and Bad Board". What is the "bad board" they are referring to? Is that different from the Blue CRT?

Thanks in advance.

[crackinhedz]

Originally Posted by connect42

What is the "bad board" they are referring to?

...think of it like the 'motherboard' for a PC. The brains of the operation.

The bulb is basically just a specific color output. Red, Blue and Green.

[TVguy86]

Lol ahh the tools of us electronics technicians to make it so people wont fix stuff.

So theres like 7 boards in the back of that tv. Basically that way you wont try it yourself because you dont know which board is bad.

I would guess either the kin socket board for the blue crt or yes like hedz suggested the main board. I believe it is referred to as the signal board.

So here is the catch. If you replaced the small signal board yourself the convergence will be WAAAAYYYY OFF. The only way to fix it would be to spend HOURS, in the service mode of the tv, to fix it. That is because the convergence information is stored in IC chips on the small signal board. So unless you have access to RCA's special tools to store the information and transfer it to the new board your screwed again.

So not only do you need to spend a half a day changing a tube and a board.... Now you have to know how to get that tv to go into service mode and then know how to adjust the convergence once in there.