Panasonic TH-50PX60U Plasma Shorted Panel Drivers

[canadaboy25]

Hey guys, I have a Panasonic plasma here with two black rectangles in the display. As you can see from the picture, they affect the menus as well. Both black rectangles extend to exactly the center of the screen.

I started with the bottom right black bar as it was closest to me on the desk. I found that the two 6.8 ohm resistors pictured were open circuit. I removed them to verify and they were blown. According to the schematic, these are for the 75V VDA rail.

I then did a diode mode test on the load side of the resistor and sure enough there was a short. I disconnected the panel driver ribbon cables and compared the results to the cable beside it. The two sets of 3 power lines closest to the edge of the display are shorted. The other half of the cable is fine as is the cable beside it.

Since the driver chip on the ribbon cable is shorted, is there anything else that can be done? I removed the two screws on the bottom of the flex cable but the plate does not want to come off easily.

I'm pretty sure this is the end of the panel but I figured I would check to see if anyone else had any other suggestions.

Thanks

[canadaboy25]

Re: Panasonic TH-50PX60U Plasma Shorted Panel Drivers

I guess no one wants to give me the bad news that it's dead?

[Biruslapio]

Re: Panasonic TH-50PX60U Plasma Shorted Panel Drivers

Probably shorted, measuring the panel driver, if there's a short from VDA to ground it is beyond repair, and if disconnecting the driver from C-Board the short at the PCB is gone, it's a strong hint.

The two screws that connect the driver and heatsink are ground, and probably connected to the traces too, it's glued to the metal so if you try to pry it off you will damage it.

[canadaboy25]

Re: Panasonic TH-50PX60U Plasma Shorted Panel Drivers

Probably shorted, measuring the panel driver, if there's a short from VDA to ground it is beyond repair, and if disconnecting the driver from C-Board the short at the PCB is gone, it's a strong hint.

The two screws that connect the driver and heatsink are ground, and probably connected to the traces too, it's glued to the metal so if you try to pry it off you will damage it.

Yes, I have verified that the short only exists on the ribbon cable of the panel. Clearly it is in the circuitry under the heatsink. Was just curious if there were any tricks to replacing the chips on the ribbon cables.