Sony Wega wiggling out...
 

So after acquiring a piece of mid-90's dream TV in the form of a Sony KV-32FQ86u (65Kgs of 32" wide-screen CRT goodness) in "working" condition and getting it home I set about trying to see if the service menus would help with the colours' alignment, nothing too unusual just blue not aligned to the red, not aligned to the green so a nice halo effect on text.

Anyways, whilst adjusting the geometry I got a very blueish screen then darkness followed by 8 flashing lights. Joy... Turn it off and back on again? Nope still 8 red flashes.

Reading the service manual states it's a horizontal protection issue but doesn't give anything on how to resolve this.

So my question is, can it be saved? How do I go about saving it or is it likely to be internal components going funky? (I'm not afraid to change capacitors/resistors and the like but some advice on if I need to go that far would be good).

And yes I'm new to the forum because I'm hoping someone, somewhere might have an idea on how to get it going again.

(FYI I do have the original remote with it so can enter the service menus et al, along with playing with other options when I can see them, I'm also aware that a Sony TRACE kit might be of assistance but odds of finding one in the UK anywhere near Leeds is... Optimistic? I know eBay has one for sale but it's 200 freedom dollars + shipping so not exactly an impulse purchase for the only time I'd need it).

Re: Sony Wega wiggling out...
 

I am not that familiar with this particular model, others members on here will be, but it may be worth checking the L/O Transistor has not gone short, before getting too involved.
That out line of red, blue and green may be just the H-Stat needing adjustment or even a poor connection, has it arced over ?. (i am assuming its got a H Stat) :dunce:, as I say not that familiar with this model.
Ken G6HZG.

Re: Sony Wega wiggling out...
 

Thanks for that. I'll have a look when I've got the chance to crack it open. Hopefully it could be obvious or it might be more of a software issue (since they've got an in-built OS from what I can tell).

Re: Sony Wega wiggling out...
 

Not sure about this, but when you got this on earlier models you could still go into the service mode (thiough you couldn't see anything on the sceen) and it would then come out of protect enabling you to reset the system.
However I'm worried about the peak blue screen. Hopefully a dry jointed blue output transistor; unhopefully the CRT....

Re: Sony Wega wiggling out...
 

Sorry, misinterpreted the fault description, I understood it went dead and was tripping:dunce:
Ken.

Re: Sony Wega wiggling out...
 

When you get the set working, download a service manual for this model.

The dynamic convergence is not adjusted through the service menu but via the multipole magnets on the CRT neck, positioning the yoke and associated controls. Horizontal static convergence is via R7330 mounted on the CRT base.

These sets are capable of an excellent 576i picture via RGB input which from memory disables the Vertical Modulation which even though adjustable wasn't to my taste.

Good luck

Chris

Re: Sony Wega wiggling out...
 

As an update, I've finally got into the back of it and it visually it all looks reasonable. There's no obvious dry joints but there is a lot of black dust that sort of looks like carbon build up. All the capacitors look reasonable too so I'm currently assuming they're good for the time being.

I have found some trim pots that look promising on the beam convergence once I get it to display an image but still trying to figure out how to recover from the horizontal protection. Welsh Anorak, that's some interesting advice so I might give that a try to see if it'll at least get the image back to recover from.

I'll update once I've given it a further try.

Re: Sony Wega wiggling out...
 

That black dust could be soot from an open coal fire. If it is then I would vacuum it out, you might need to use a small paint brush to help free the dust. Remember to wear a dust mask as you don't want to breathe in the dust.

The dust if carbon based can conduct and could also cause some odd faults within the set.

Dave

Re: Sony Wega wiggling out...
 

Not sure it's coal dust, it's not too heavy a coating and even where it appears to be lots doesn't leave much of a mark on the fingers. Good point on hovering it up though. Might give that a go and see if it helps, really though I suspect I need to clear the nvm back to a default state but so far I've not been able to.

Re: Sony Wega wiggling out...
 

After further digging around trying to figure out what's gone wrong, I've come across a technical bulletin mentioning horizontal linearity issues which sounds promising. Following on from the fixes mentioned (the first is also a video amplifier failure) they both look to be straight forward repairs with the right parts and looks worth a punt.

It's also got me wondering if anyone knows of there's an archive somewhere of such bulletins to further look into what are known issues? Might be a damn useful resource for those of us mad enough to try and keep this sort of kit alive.

Re: Sony Wega wiggling out...
 

Finally started peeling boards off and it looks like all of the technical bulletin fixes have already been done. So much to that idea.

Further digging on the schematics hinted that maybe I could force it past the protection error by just pulling the HV protectionn line since there's some AND logic to trigger the line so thought I'd give that a go, but nothing. Also found a Varistor that tweaks the horizontal alignment like I was initially looking for but that's not done it either.

Very frustrating circumstance as whilst I'm half decent with a soldering iron and fault finding, I'm not too sure where next to look or even if fixing the underlying fault will resolve things if it's still locked into a protected state.

At the very least does anyone know if I figure the issue that it'll come back around or does the NVM need clearing?

Re: Sony Wega wiggling out...
 

Have you adjusted the A1/G2 at all? because on this AE6B chassis the beam limiter (ABL) monitors this amongst other things and will activate the X-ray protect line on this chassis if it it is incorrectly set too high giving the error code 8 symptom.

Don't mess with the eeprom here unless you have the means to back it up first or can clone it first otherwise you will end up in a real mess!

Re: Sony Wega wiggling out...
 

By A1/G2 do you mean the screen dial on the flyback transformer? Can't say that I have so far (it's in the AE6BA chassis but the main difference seems to be around the A board, everything else seems to be the same from what i can tell - even to the point of some boards being interchangeable). It's worth a shot though - I'll give it a go tomorrow and failing that looks like I might have to strip the boards down to replace capacitors, IC's Ect. On the D/D2 boards.

Re: Sony Wega wiggling out...
 

I know which chassis it is, if you have not adjusted the A1 screen pot then leave it be, don't make it any worse than it it is, maybe you have set the width incorrectly but either way it is the X-ray protect line that has activated and giving error code 8.

I may be able to give/send you some technical info. on this chassis, but be warned the way it does EW correction is far from conventional, it uses two line output transistors for a start, it varies the EW by altering the phase of the drive to one of them against the fixed phase of the other it thus alters the width dynamically on a line by line basis using pulse width techniques, these complicated sets are very tricky to work on!

Re: Sony Wega wiggling out...
 

The A6EBA chassis has another major difference to the standard AE6 chassis, namely it has the double-decker D2 board, this is a separate EHT transformer that is driven differently from the line output stage which is on the D1 board underneath.

The D2 board deals with the focus, screen or A1/G2 and the EHT on this chassis which adds to the complication wrt beam limiting etc., Sony implemented various versions of this scheme across the different sub chassis versions here, some were IC driven in similar fashion to the line stages and the main psu indeed, others used more discrete component versions of the same set-up.

Re: Sony Wega wiggling out...
 

I now have a minor confession... I got curious over the G2 setting and checked to see where it was positioned (after first marking it's existing position) and it only turns 180 degrees as it turns out. Of which it was set in the middle.

Turning it on when dialed right down at least allowed the set to start, display a very white, rather round image and even get to menu settings.... Then restart before settling on the 8 blinks again. I've set it back for now but it does give hope that it's not lost. I even suspect that I could pull back the scan from the service menu if only I could prevent it cycling back to protection mode. I've set it back to its original setting on the dial though as I'm not going to push my luck right now.

I'll wait on advice from Red to Black before I start tinkering further (feels like I might need to check capacitors on D2 board or find a way of holding off the protection circuit from triggering.) At any rate its good to see signs of life on this tank of a set, just hope I can get the convergence sorted once it lives again (serves me right not wanting to open her up from the start and seeing I could resolve it through the service menu rather than opening it up in the first place).

Re: Sony Wega wiggling out...
 

If you really do suspect a service mode mis adjustment error you could replace the eeprom with a new blank one, the u proccessor will detect this and attempt to program the blank eeprom with default data as a starting point, but I would need to look up first to see if you need a specific TTmode, service mode 2 and then see how to set it to uk standard first as well.

At least this gives you the opportunity to keep the orginal software safe, I thought I had a copy of this sets default UK software already saved but I couldn't find it on this PC.

I repaired loads of this series of sets about 15 years ago, a lot of the 36" versions too, but have no spares and very little left now from this timeframe.

I may PM you tomorrow RE: tech info

Edit: please don't attempt to factory reset the existing eeprom in the TT modes as you will lose all of the existing options and data settings, use a new blank eeprom of the same capacity in the set if you go down this route

Re: Sony Wega wiggling out...
 

In my experience in servicing Sony TV sets I would first check the H driver transformer for cracked solder pads, and replace the either .1 or 1mfd 'lytic off that transformer. Those were the 2 most common problems that would cause the TV not to properly work.

If you must replace any semis' use Sony parts only and not universal semis. Sony was very fussy about their parts bets and specs, and I saw many a set have damaged by the so called universal replacements.

Re: Sony Wega wiggling out...
 

That is absolutely true! I once had to repair a Sony portable where the G2 diode had failed. I tried various subs with partial success but none worked properly and some were instantly destroyed. The only part that worked was the genuine Sony part......

Re: Sony Wega wiggling out...
 

I'll have to pull out the D/D2 boards again to double check the pads but from what I remember when I was last in there, they still looked good.

I haven't had much chance to dig around in it the last few weeks as school half-term holiday, the wife breaking her foot and now I'm back at work multiple projects are piling up, all trying to get out of the door all at the same time.... Fun*

My current line of thinking is to look at replacing the caps on those two boards (since the rest seem to be alright), and if that doesn't work, then hail mary it and see if I can track down the diode.. or diodes that are triggering the H-protect so I can get back to the service menu long enough to bring it back round.

On a related note, I did find out what firmware it's fitted with namely V9.46 (according to the photo I took of the 'B' board).

I did also come across a Sony Training manual for a different high-spec set (but previous generation by the look of things) which does make me wonder if there's a training manual archive somewhere out-there but I haven't found one yet.


* Sorry, not fun.. the opposite of fun, so far removed from fun that it's bizarre I've not lost it yet.. whatever 'IT' was.