RCA 42PA30RQ-- sound AND picture! No ability to change settings though

[laurabrandom04]

Hi-- first of all, I am not electronic savy. Fixing electronics is more of a hobby-- I enjoy taking things apart, troubleshooting, putting them together again, and I find the "puzzle" to be fun. I have no education or training so I don't speak the lingo. All the same, I have failed at fixing my RCA plasma 42PA30RQ after 10 days of work.

First of all, the television was playing a DVD on A/V input at sound volume 38 last week when I was leaving my home. I touched the side panel buttons on the side of the TV to turn off the power manually. I felt like I gave/got a big static electricity zap (we have dry Wisconsin air) and the TV surged-- it went off and came right back on. I pushed power again and it did not go off.

I messed around with the remote and side key panel. The TV turns on and off with the remote ONLY. The TV does not respond to any functions pushed on the side key panel or any functions from the remote control.

I opened up the television and opted to replace the two obvious culprits. There is a control board that is actually attached to the back panel of the television (a keypad panel circuit board with a cable that comes off and joins into the main control board of the TV) and there was a remote control sensor circuit board that also has a cable that comes off of it (are these what we're calling "Y cables"? and joins the main circuit board.

That cable could best be described as a Y cable. One end comes into the main circuit board from the side key panel. One end comes in from the remote control key panel. They join together as ONE that plugs into the main circuit board for the television.

I replaced both panels with new parts. I also broke one of the wires for that Y cable and I had to take it to a radio store for them to solder the wire I broke. They removed the broken wire pieces, re-crimped the wire in a new pin, and inserted the new pin.

I reassembled the television and we're right where we left off. The TV turns on and off with the remote only but is non-responsive to functions on the keypad panel.

I hate to trash a TV that doesn't seem to have a major error and I am able to continue watching DVD's on it with sound level 38. Any ideas on what step for repair I might have missed? I really hate to throw it away.

Reminder: I don't "speak" electronic so talk to me like I am dumb because I am

Admin: I could not find any posts on this topic so I did start a new thread. Hope that's okay.

[tom66]

Re: RCA 42PA30RQ-- sound AND picture! No ability to change settings though

Odd fault.
First have you tried taking the batteries out of the remote and trying buttons on the TV itself - just to rule out conflicting code from the remote?
You might have to replace the main A/V board which is what the keypad should control, perhaps its EEPROM is corrupted.

[laurabrandom04]

Re: RCA 42PA30RQ-- sound AND picture! No ability to change settings though

The AT&T remote also turns it on and off and I did swap out the batteries on the RCA remote. I also programmed a universal remote today and the universal remote turns the tv... on and off. But none of the 3 remotes that turn it on or off respond to other functions.

[laurabrandom04]

Re: RCA 42PA30RQ-- sound AND picture! No ability to change settings though

Am I allowed to post on here a link? I hope so. I'm going to try to follow the rules but so long as I am not spamming or being rude, I bet it's okay.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...L._SL1500_.jpg

That's a link to the board BOTH the remote circuit board and the keypad circuit board join into. In the upper left, you see a white plug. The two cables come together and join together and plug in right there.

Would it be advised to attempt to also switch out this board?

[tw2005]

Re: RCA 42PA30RQ-- sound AND picture! No ability to change settings though

I think that's your only option now. Since both inputs do not work and you've replaced the keypad and IR boards that leaves the mainboard.

Looking at the board, Looks like a couple of transistors, diode and some SMD caps. Any one of those could have been damaged by high voltage discharge or even further into the cct?

Mainboards seem fairly cheap, what's on the sticker on the bottom of the board?

Quite a few revisions listed.

http://www.paylesscomponents.com/cat...lt/?q=42PA30RQ

http://www.shopjimmy.com/catalogsear...RQ+&restrictBy[master+part+type]=Main+Board

[laurabrandom04]

Re: RCA 42PA30RQ-- sound AND picture! No ability to change settings though



I'm not sure what the part says, as the TV was totally reassembled for me to turn it on. I was sure replacing the IR and keyboards were going to solve my troubles.

One of the photos is the entire back of the TV and obviously the keyboard isn't in proper location, as it belongs attached to the back panel of the television. The other one is the close up of the board where the IR and Key join up by cable.

I'll check around and see if I can't find a replacement if you think that could be all that's missing. I'm out of shoulder surgery and can't move the television on my own so someone has to move it for me, creating quite a hassle.