Tuning knob problem with Panasonic 19" TV
 

Hi! I have a 1981 Panasonic CT-9010 that shows a grainy picture on channel 3, but when you twist the channel knob slightly to the right or left, picture becomes perfectly clear. Unfortunately, when you let go of the knob, it springs back to original position and picture goes noisy again. I've had quite a few TVs in the past that did this. Is there an easy fix for this problem, like some sort of calibration adjustment I can make inside?

You need to clean the tuner contacts. Take the shield off the tuner, spray the contacts liberally with contact cleaner spray, and rotate it a lot to let the spray do its job.

Thanks! I did try that, but I probably wasn't thorough enough. I'll give it another try now that I know it might actually fix the problem.

If it's a drum type tuner where the moving contacts are on a large drum you can improve the cleaning significantly by pressing a rubber pencil eraser against the contacts and rotating the drum...if you do that with contact cleaner on the eraser you can get them to look as clean and shiny as new. ��