# TV Randomly turns off



## Haldur (Apr 28, 2012)

I bought my mom a Zenith LCD Television just about 3 and a half years ago. She's had random problems with it before, but my mom is elderly, so it's not always clear if she accidentally pressed the wrong button for it on the remote, screwed up a setting, and so on. She always denies it but I don't know.

Anyway, this time I was able to see the odd behavior for myself. What happens is she'll be watching a program and fast forwarding the TiVo (it's one of the newer DirectTV TiVos) or sometimes doing nothing, and the TV just turns off. Note that the TiVo cannot control the TV since the remotes are not compatible, so it's not a problem with the TiVo (wish I could blame it because have had other headaches with DirecTV).

Anyway, what's odd is that when it turns off, there's a popping sound (there's no popping sound if it gets turned off normally). Also, the power light doesn't go off, even though the screen is black. And if I try to turn it back on, it takes a while before the TV responds to either the remote or even using the power button on the TV itself.

Any ideas, or is it time to replace it?


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## Drabdr (Nov 26, 2007)

Haldur said:


> I bought my mom a Zenith LCD Television just about 3 and a half years ago. She's had random problems with it before, but my mom is elderly, so it's not always clear if she accidentally pressed the wrong button for it on the remote, screwed up a setting, and so on. She always denies it but I don't know.
> 
> Anyway, this time I was able to see the odd behavior for myself. What happens is she'll be watching a program and fast forwarding the TiVo (it's one of the newer DirectTV TiVos) or sometimes doing nothing, and the TV just turns off. Note that the TiVo cannot control the TV since the remotes are not compatible, so it's not a problem with the TiVo (wish I could blame it because have had other headaches with DirecTV).
> 
> ...


Is anything else plugged into the receptacle with the television? Does it act "erratic"? Are there any other issues with appliances plugged into that circuit?

If everything is OK with the supply voltage, then I would assume the television is awry (maybe the power supply).

Do you happen to know if the television is covered under warranty?


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

What about "Sleep" mode?

Have old 27" Zenith tube and everything that you can do with the remote you can do from the tv also.
But the remote does one other thing and that is sleep. Now I can't use it because the remote stopped working. 

So look for a sleep button or another that brings up the sleep or timer to turn off the TV.


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## Haldur (Apr 28, 2012)

Auto-Sleep (is what it's called on this model) is off. One other symptom is that, as I said, the power light stays on even when the screen goes dark. While it is on, I cannot do anything on the TV at all, including turning it off or on via the remote or power button the TV. It takes sometimes a couple of minutes before the power light finally goes off, and when that happens, I can control the TV again. In other words, when it goes off, it cannot be used at all for a couple of minutes.

The TV is no longer under warrantee (I did check that). It only had a 1 year warrantee. Nothing else is acting erratically. It is on a surge protector with the DirecTV TiVo, an alarm clock and a lamp, and all those seem to be just fine. I did think of that and I saw that no matter what happens to the TV, if the TiVo is recording, it keeps on recording. There's no interruption there. So I think that means that the power is just fine.


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## Drabdr (Nov 26, 2007)

Oh... I think my TV does the same thing. It's a cool down mode. On mine, the power button is blinking. During that time, the TV is on an autopilot; and I cannot do anything until it stops.


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## Haldur (Apr 28, 2012)

The TV was useless in its current state as it would only play for a minute at most before going into what you describe as a 'cool-down' mode. Do you mean that it was overheating?

What we decided to do was to give it away to someone who has helped us out a lot, who's done work for us, etc. He said he will see if he can repair it. I ordered her an LG which got really good reviews at Consumer Reports. But unfortunately, the LG we ordered came minus a necessary part to stand it on her dresser. So she's still without a working television until we get that part. The way LG talks about it, it may take a while if it's not in stock (But they will not actually tell us if it is in stock or not). Every time I talk to them they say "it will take 7 to 10 days to ship".

I set her up though with my IPad to listen to music at night. She's one of those people who can't fall asleep at night without the TV on, and does almost everything with the TV on, so this is a really big thing for her.


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## Drabdr (Nov 26, 2007)

Haldur said:


> The TV was useless in its current state as it would only play for a minute at most before going into what you describe as a 'cool-down' mode. Do you mean that it was overheating?


That's my understanding, yes. It allows the bulb to cool down properly.

Any luck in getting the base? Are you sure there wasn't one in the TV box?


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## Haldur (Apr 28, 2012)

So for some reason, the bulb may be getting hot far too quickly. I'll let the new owner know about that.

I'm absolutely certain the part wasn't there. Everything that came in the box, other than the main base and the TV itself, was in a single plastic-wrapped package, including the instructions. I also did double-check the box (which is still sitting in my garage) afterwards. When I first realized that the piece was missing, I turned the box upside down, and did go through styrofoam packing material, etc. I doubt it would have been loose, but I did check and double-checked and triple-checked, checked under the bed, even went through the bubble-wrap that was between the main box and the shipping box, in case for some reason someone had stuck it in while wrapping it for shipment. If I missed it, I must be blind (though that is certainly a possibility, I think I would have noticed by now).

I promise you, I hate waiting on the phone for customer service people as much or more than anyone else. I did not call LG until I felt I had exhausted all other possibilities.


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