TV Just Turned Off Twice on it's Own?

[Jack 1000]

I was just browsing through the channels and the TV (twice) just turned off on its own. (The box stayed on.)  A reboot of the box seemed to solve the problem, and the set has always worked great.  What would cause this type of behavior?

Jack

[ArgMeMatey]

I had a similar problem once.  If the TV was on at midday, it would turn itself off for no apparent reason.  I wasn't watching often at that time but came to realize it was always turning off at 12:00 noon.  And from there it was not too hard to turn off the auto-turn-off feature, whatever it was called.

One other thing to check is HDMI devices.  For example under certain settings if I have the TV off and turn on the DVD recorder, which is connected via HDMI, the TV will turn itself on.  I don't know if it would also turn itself off; I found the feature annoying and disabled it.

Another thing I have seen at the in-laws is a stuck button on a remote.  They had two remotes (IR) and there was a problem with only one of them.  So, if that remote was visible to the TV, it would mess with it.

[kevbeck122]

Do you have the TV plugged into the power outlet on the back of the box?

[Jack 1000]

Do you have the TV plugged into the power outlet on the back of the box?

No, it's plugged into a Monster Cable Surge protector.  It's been fine for the last two days and has only happened this particular time.  TV is only 2.5 years old and works great.  We also turned off that AC power through the settings on the box.  It saves wear and tear, especially if you aren't using that rear jack.

Jack

[Jack 1000]

Happened again tonight,

This time I turned off the surge protector for several minutes and everything else.  Did a cold reboot and put the plug to the TV in a different outlet in the SP.  I wonder if it is something in the line?  The Surge Protector is very good.  A Monster Power Cable model that we paid $60 for from Flanners.  It is several years old, but the instructions said that Monster gives a lifetime guarantee for the life of the product that it will not damage your equipment.  In today's economy, I really don't want to pay another $80 (probably the price now.) for a surge protector.  (And I would never by a cheap one)  What else could it be?

Jack

[ArgMeMatey]

What else could it be?

Intermittents take patience and trial and error.  If you suspect an  external cause, remove that variable until it happens again.  

Could be an overheating component in the TV.  Could be lots of things.  Have you searched avforum etc. for issues with your specific model?

Good luck.

[Jack 1000]

Intermittents take patience and trial and error.  If you suspect an  external cause, remove that variable until it happens again.  

Could be an overheating component in the TV.  Could be lots of things.  Have you searched avforum etc. for issues with your specific model?

Good luck.

I researched this issue at //www.fixya.com and there were some other people having similar issues with this same set model.  No major solutions yet.  I will keep evaluating, thanks!  Have not mentioned on AVS.  As you said, issue would need to happen much more often for further study, possible cause, and solutions to problem.

Jack

[Jack 1000]

After 5 instances with it happening over the course of 1 week, I unplugged the TV from the surge protector and plugged it directly into the wall.)  The problem is solved.  But the strange thing is, the other things plugged into the surge protector have not been affected by unexplained power off.  (These include a cable box DVR and DVD/VCR Player combo. ) Something about the connection or relationship between this TV and the surge protector that it doesn't like.  The power light on the surge protector flickers, but it has been like that for the last 3 years.  Other techs told me this was a bulb issue and not to worry.

This is not an elaborate electronic set-up in the $1000+ range that needs high protection.  This is just a little under $500 TV and $150 DVD player so I am not too concerned.  We have had TV's for over a decade without surge protection at all and they worked great.  While I certainly would advocate the use of surge protection for electronic equipment over not using it, this issue that I had with the TV was very strange.  The surge protector is about 8 years old.  Maybe it is going bad, but the question that comes to mind is, why aren't the other products that I have plugged into it affected.  (Although I am certainly watching them carefully.)

Jack

PS. I wonder if maybe something with the DVR/TV along with the power that both generate may be generating more "juice" than what an older protector can handle?  Can amperage drop over time as these SP's get old?  I also read somewhere that a guy's CPU at work was turning off unexpectedly, and one of the respondents thought it was due to an old surge protector not doing its job.

[ArgMeMatey]

I am not sure how this might affect your problem, but I read something on a different forum some time ago about some undesirable characteristics of the power supplies in many TVs.  As I recall the power supplies worked OK but they appeared to be "bleeding" a lot of power to the coax connection.  Have you tried measuring the voltage between the coax connector and ground or neutral?

[Jack 1000]

I am not sure how this might affect your problem, but I read something on a different forum some time ago about some undesirable characteristics of the power supplies in many TVs.  As I recall the power supplies worked OK but they appeared to be "bleeding" a lot of power to the coax connection.  Have you tried measuring the voltage between the coax connector and ground or neutral?

Good idea.  I will keep this in mind and mention this to any techs who may research this in the future.  Thank you.

Jack

[Jack 1000]

The issue seems to occur only when the set has been off for 5 hours or more.  We watch a lot of TV, both day and night, so the set doesn't get a lot of off time.  As the set was less than $500, and given today's economy, we really don't want to schedule a service call until it gets worse.  If this was a $1500 set, it would be different.  To put a $150-$200 service call in the way it is now, not worth the expense.  Internet searching shows that some other people are having the same issues with this exact model, and their sets are also about the same age as mine. (3 years.)

Really disgusted that you can't buy anything anymore and get good use out of it.  I grew up in the 70's and my parents had a Toshiba with no need for service calls or adjustments for 17 years!  Those days are long gone.  But that I can't get even 5 years out of a product is really b.s!  (And we take very good care of our stuff.)

I got a stereo from 1990 that only had one service take in when I first got it.  It just seems nowadays, you get 3 years out of anything and that's it.

Jack

[Jack 1000]

Feelings about the above issue remain:

Problem is now isolated to the TV only turning off during a 2 minute time frame of being turned on.  If the set stays on for 1-2 minutes after being turned on, it is fine.  It is almost like there is not enough heat being generated where the set can stay on during those first two minutes.

An issue that may or may not be related is my TWC remote control.  It's a DVR Synergy V.  I have been using the Power button, preset by them to turn the TV on/off.  It seems (needs further testing) that if I turn the TV on for about a minute by pressing the TV button and after waiting 30 seconds, pressing the CBL button that the TV does NOT shut off during that 1-2 minute time.

Sometimes, the issue can go for 3-4 days without incident.  This may be a temperature threshold issue.  If it is, this might be interesting to see what happens when the weather warms up.

Jack