Good news and strange news:
On Friday the box from Encompass arrived. I ordered 3 genuine Sony chips and 2 of the cheap equivalents. The box contained
7(!) genuine sony chips, 1 knockoff, and a plastic button for god knows what in a bag labeled with the correct chip part number.
Strange, not exactly what I ordered but you won't hear me complain over getting $100 extra worth of quality parts for free.
DSCN9659 by
Tom Carlson, on Flickr
The one knockoff chip I received appears to be a blatant fake according to this video so I don't plan to use it (I have 6 genuine spares to fall back on after all).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euDQVrgde4Y That video also shows an interesting way to test these chips...If I still had my spare 30" High-Scan (gave it to a friend when I got the Super-fine-pitch) I'd be tempted to make that into a chip test rig.
This site gives a good walkthrough of the procedure to change the chips with some good tips.
http://k0lee.com/2011/05/fixing-a-so...-7-blink-code/ A couple more tips not in link I think are worthwhile: You can do some diagnostic work to tell which chip*, and adding a DIP heatsink to give the replacement(s) a chance to run cooler.
*Looking at the schematic IC6501 provides a number of power supply rail voltages (well the transformer whose driver FETs the IC drives provides the voltages but you get the idea) and IC8002 drives (the FETs that drive) the flyback/HV system. My set had some life: relays clicked ~3 times on power up and the blinking front LEDs (power and Memory Stick port), so those supply rails probably worked, but there was no HV start-up crackle so IC8002 was probably dead. If you have an HV probe that can measure at least 35KV (my set clocks in at ~32KV) you can confirm no HV by measuring the HV as I did.
I replaced IC8002 with a socket that I then filled with a new IC with a heat sink attached. That restored operation, and seems to have improved brightness and edge convergence some.
For now, I'm only replacing IC8002. I don't want to waste a good part by removing the other MCZ from the board, and I want to see how long it lasts.
Also I had been leaving well enough alone till the chip failure to the point that I never tried to reduce the noticeable overscan...Now that I've had to mess with it I'm going to have to fix that too.
Some interesting things I've noted looking at this set: It has a September 2004 build date, and the soldering on the board suggested the chips were original to the board. The dust on the board looked to match the rest of the set so it could be the original sweep board. If that is the case this set lasted 14 years on its original chips (not bad at all from what I've heard). The CRT ID sticker says made in the USA so it would seem Sony had a Trinitron plant here in the USA. The replacement chip had a lower date(?) code than the original (~....200 vs ~....600), which makes me wonder if the replacement parts are older than my set (both were MCZ3001DB). The Memory Stick reader connects to the chassis with a USB cable...That makes me wonder if I could plug a thumb drive in to play video, or connect an SD card reader to the chassis.
Next time I replace a horizontal oscillator I hope the part number is 6SN7 and not MCZ3001DB!
