3
Picture Tube Defect Symptoms
Overview
Below is an excerpt from the CTV-25 course. It shows several picture
tube defect symptoms, some of which can be repaired without changing
the tube.
Defective Picture Tube Symptoms
Symptom Suspect Check Procedure
Dark picture or
one color
missing.
Heaters
Open
Apply 6Vdc to
the heater
terminals.
Some heaters
are connected
in parallel,
others in
series but all
take 6Vdc.
Clean the CRT pins and
examine the socket for
corrosion.
Apply 6Vdc to the CRT
heater pins, looking for a
glow in all three heaters.
Then if a heater(s) does not
glow, replace the picture
tube.
Dark picture Grid 1 to
Grid 2
short.
There should
be infinite
resistance
between the
G1 and G2
pins.
1. Unplug TV and remove
C board.
2. Apply 15-20Vdc
between the G1 and G2
pins to vaporize the
short. Current limit the
power supply to 1 Amp.
Bright red,
green or blue
picture.
One color
retrace lines
may be
present.
Retrace lines
are diagonal
lines that run
from lower left
to the upper
right corner.
Heater
Cathode
short.
OR
Cathode to
Grid 1
short.
Remove the
R, G or B
video input to
the CRT for
the bright
color. If that
color is still
bright, the
tube is bad.
There should
be infinite
resistance
between any
CRT pin to
either Heater
pin. *
Replace tube.
Bright picture
with retrace
lines and/or
poor focus.
Grid 2 to
high
voltage
Grid 3
leakage.
Symptom is
that all three
colors are
bright.
Reduce G2 / screen voltage
to the lowest setting.
Vary focus control to both
limits several times.
Put on safety apparel.
Place the tube face down
and lightly tap the neck to
dislodge the particle.
RGB Rainbow.
(see rainbow
picture)
Aperture
grill was
unseated in
transit.
Rainbow of
colors can
start at the top
or bottom
(bottom
rainbow
shown).
A loose aperture grill is
dangerous and may cause
tube implosion. Use
all
safety precautions. Do not
jar set. Transport TV face
down.
Purity / Beam
landing is off.
The TV s
degaussing
circuit did
not
demagnetiz
e aperture
grill metal
support.
Same color
blotches
remain at that
area of the
screen
regardless of
picture screen
changes.
Do not manually Degauss
the picture tube with a
strong degaussing coil **.
Repair the TV s degaussing
circuit. The thermistor or
cold solder is usually at
fault.
* Only the heater pins should have resistance. All other pins have infinite (∞)
resistance to each other and to either heater pins.
Used picture tubes that have a heater-cathode leakage/short have a low
restoration success level.
** Do not manually Degauss. New 27 35 picture tubes are magnetically
conditioned for optimum beam landing. Strong manual degaussing will
destroy this conditioning. Applying disc magnets (P/N = 1-452-094-00) to the
bell of the picture tube is the only way to compensate for lost magnetic
conditioning. The Sony manual degaussing tool can be used to degauss
these tubes because of its reduced field intensity (P/N = 7-700-781-01).