I recently purchased a Pioneer pdp5080hd. I am very happy with the set picture-wise. However, I have noticed that sometimes the tv will just turn off on its own (even when the sleep timer and all options that would automatically turn it off are off). Other times the picture will flicker, i.e. the picture will go blank for a split second them come back on. I have had the tv do this with both my dvd player and ps3, so I am sure that it is the tv since the dvd player is hooked up via component cables and the ps3 is hooked up via an hdmi cable.

I found this online:

"What happens if the voltage in my house drops below 100 volts? Will my plasma turn off or not work? I was told this at a local electronic store.

If the voltage in your home drops below 100V then the unit will most likely shut off or flicker pending how long itremains below 100V. If the power in your home has been stable in the past, I would not worry about power fluctuations. If it is a concern for you, plug your plasma into a UPS to stabilize the power and use a good surge protector for any spikes."

This sounds like it is exactly my problem. Last night it started flickering like crazy from 8:30pm until 11pm and from 11pm until about 1am not quite as bad. I have had the tv act up between 4am and 7am on a Sunday morning when nothing else in the house was on except the tv and a dvd player. So I don't think that even a dedicated line would fix this problem. It seems that I might have to have a UPS to fix it.

The problem is...these things are expensive. I checked over at the audioholics store and the cheapest one they had was $500! Is this how much I should spend on a ups just for my tv?

Has anyone else had this problem and found a cheaper way to fix it?

- Nick

When it starts doing it you should take a voltmeter and take a reading of the voltage the TV is getting then you will know for sure if it is a voltage issue and need to buy a UPS.

Maybe Randy can give you the contact info of his exorcist

A decent UPS should be less than $200. Then again, I don't really know the power draw on a plasma.

kcarlile,

I found that the power draw for the tv is 330 Watts on cnet. I don't think that Pioneer publishes this so it took a little digging.

- Nick

330 watts isn't bad, but obviously you're going to want more headroom in your ups than that. I'd try a 750 first.

..."recently purchased..." tells me you can have the Pioneer repair guy out to take alook.

Of course, if your house voltage is dropping below 100V, you need an electrician out there. I'd double check with a voltmeter before doing that.

Well, I just ran a dedicated 15 amp breaker just for my home theater setup. This is something that I have wanted to do for a while anyways, I guess this just gave me a reason to do so. I spent a little extra and ran 12 gauge wire just in case. If this doesn't take care of the problem then I am going to return the tv. From what I have read it is only plasmas that have this problem, so I would have to go with a lcd. I really don't want to go with an lcd because of the motion blur, black levels, contrast ratio and higher price in the 50 inch size. I still have a week left that I am within the 30 days since when the tv was delivered from Best Buy. So if there is still a problem I hope that it acts up within this next week.

- Nick

Have you checked the voltage with a meter yet?

Yes, I checked after I hooked it up and it was reading 120 volts. The plug that I was having problems with also read that. But, yesterday the tv wasn't flickering. I'll just have to wait until it acts up again (which I hope it doesn't) to check.

- Nick

That's what I meant, kinda hard to find the problem when the problem isn't occurring.

Intermittent issues like that drive me crazy as a mechanic.