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NotTaR of Television Sets : General erratic behavior                
 Copyright © 1994-2007, Samuel M. Goldwasser. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of this document in whole or in part is permitted if both of the following conditions are satisfied: 1. This notice is included in its entirety at the beginning. 2. There is no charge except to cover the costs of copying. I may be contacted via the Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ (www.repairfaq.org) Email Links Page.

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Miscellaneous Problems

General erratic behavior

You press VOLUME UP and the channel changes or a setup menu appears all by itself just at the climax of your mystery story.

Before you break out the screwdriver (or 12 pound hammer), cover up the IR remote sensor. Some types of electronic ballasted fluorescent lights may confuse the remote control receiver. Someone or something may be sitting on the remote hand unit or it may be defective and continuously issuing a bad command. Or, the kids across the street may have nothing better to do than to drive your TV (and you) nuts with their remote!

There is also a slight chance power line interference (from a light dimmer or external sources) may result in similar symptoms. See the section: Wiring transmitted interference.

Assuming this is not the source of the problem:

Check for bad connections - see if gently whacking the TV makes any difference or triggers the errant behavior. Bad connections in the power supply, system controller, or tuner, may result in this sort of behavior. See the section: TV and monitor manufacturing quality and cold solder joints. See the sections and separate documents on problems with RCA/GE/Proscan and Sony TVs if yours is made by one of these companies.

A microcontroller or other electronic problem is also possible. If the symptoms only develop after the set warms up, it may be heat related (though simple bad connections are more likely). Use 'circuit chiller' or a heat gun to identify the bad part.