Pioneer Kuro - worth repairing?

[morebeanz]

I have a 50" Pioneer Kuro that has gone on the blink, in that it doesn't seem to be able to fire up the screen (blue flashing light).

I have had it repaired once before, but am wondering whether it is worth going a second time, or whether to call it quits and buy new?

Are parts still available?

[belleair302]

I believe some parts are available as they were not unique to Pioneer, but no more screens. The latest VT and WT Panasonics are a match but these are very scarce now as the last delivery was in December. A tough call. Would you be prepared to spend £600 on a repair?

[Mr E]

morebeanz said:

I have a 50" Pioneer Kuro that has gone on the blink, in that it doesn't seem to be able to fire up the screen (blue flashing light).

Mine did that. Wanted a new mainboard and was thus beyond economical repair. A mate took it, stripped his 428XD and swapped the boards. Voilà, 50" Kuro goodness.

[shocks]

morebeanz said:

I have a 50" Pioneer Kuro that has gone on the blink, in that it doesn't seem to be able to fire up the screen (blue flashing light).

I have had it repaired once before, but am wondering whether it is worth going a second time, or whether to call it quits and buy new?

Are parts still available?

Had this with mine, depending on the actual model, mine has the separate media unit. I stripped it down and found the main fan "sticking" so quick blast with air can and clean up it fired back up fine. Sometimes it's the simple things.

[inabox]

Whatever you do, don't throw it away, I'd take it lol. It's a shame new TV's with such quality are hard to get hold of now

[morebeanz]

I guess I could try buying one with a smashed screen and using the components, but even broken they seem to be hundreds of pounds!

I may take the back off and see if a good clean will do it. Given that it's one of the "all-in-ones", overheating due to dust may be the problem...

Thanks for the feedback chaps!

[FarmyardPants]

Hi Ian, have a look at the Panny gt60, it's a brilliant TV IMO at a very reasonable price. Bought a 50" a few weeks ago. Worth getting one now before stocks dry up and the oled and 4k markets settle down. Got mine from TLC direct, drove over there to pick it up. You can park 50m up the road on a meter for a couple of quid and then when the deal is done park right outside the shop while they put it in the car (not the cerb lol). Cost £1099, maybe even cheaper now. They have some nice TVs to drool over on demo too.

[morebeanz]

Hey Rodg, hope life is treating you well!

I saw that Panny's seem to be the weapon of choice for Plasmas now, and I was considering doing just as you said. Your point about plasma being on the peak of development versus the incoming newbies is well taken too. I'm just not sure I want to blow a grand on this right now, but it's clear that I won't have long to decide.

As to whether a 60" is sensible...

[FarmyardPants]

Life's ok cheers

Actually it was prc direct, doh! And 50"

http://www.prcdirect.co.uk/products/TV/televisions...

[morebeanz]

Well, the guys who fixed it before have convinced me they can still fix it and that spares are no problem. Apparently Pioneer are still providing most of the parts, and they have a stock from when they were main service agents.

I guess the question now is how much it will cost me!!! Place your bets..

[belleair302]

Am thinking inc labour and VAT just above £450.

[gizlaroc]

How many times does the blue light flash, this tells you what has failed?

[morebeanz]

8 flashes, but the guys who came to look at it have taken it away to check further. It's a 5090 and I don't think that the light says anything but that there's a fault - I couldn't find any interweb info on the codes so you may know better...

[gizlaroc]

morebeanz said:

8 flashes, but the guys who came to look at it have taken it away to check further. It's a 5090 and I don't think that the light says anything but that there's a fault - I couldn't find any interweb info on the codes so you may know better...

8 flashes and then stops, or 8 flashes and then pauses before flashing 8 times again?

I would guess it is the former which means overheating.
2 main causes, dried caps on the PSU board or the fans clogged up.

Both easily repairable and loads of boards on ebay so don't go paying silly prices for a new one.

[morebeanz]

Ooh, you know what you're talking about, don't you!

Actually it's the latter - 8 blinks and then tries again...

[morebeanz]

Well, it was worth not replacing it, as it only cost me the call out charge - they needed to replace a chip in one of the boards...

[gizlaroc]

morebeanz said:

Well, it was worth not replacing it, as it only cost me the call out charge - they needed to replace a chip in one of the boards...

I think they will have replaced one of the main caps on the board, these over heat and fail, then when it can't see the right current it goes into protection mode.
Good that they replaced the cap and didn't insist on buying a new board at silly money.

[morebeanz]

Yes, I was impressed that they took the "harder" option of actually fixing the board too.

ICTV in Farnborough for those who might be looking for help...

[belleair302]

And the cost was what £70 or more?

[morebeanz]

They have a fixed call out fee that's a bit more than that, but then they collected it, fixed and tested it and then re-delivered and installed it just for the fee.