Chosen Solution
Can turn on power for Panasonic plasma tv (TC-P46G10) with remote, but nothing is displayed on screen (screen lightens a little so light source seems to come on). Cannot get to any menus or change source input. We recently had an electrical storm that seemed to fry an HDMI port on another TV, but I was able to work around by switching cable input to another (previously vacant) HDMI. The problem with the plasma tv feels a little different because I cannot get to any menus (which would not use any external inputs), so my guess is that the storm may have knocked out the software or the chips/board that hold the software. Because the screen does lighten a little when I turn on the power, it seems that the screen would work, but that software needs to be reloaded or a board/chip needs to be replaced. Given age of tv (over 10 yrs?), may not be worth it. Any thoughts?
This set may have been on the verge of failure before the storm and the storm just hastened the process. I would first suspect bad caps in the power supply. This is the most common cause of failure. Since these usually provide the 5V and 12V for the logic board, the panel is not being told to display anything which is why it is dark. The menu etc. are generated on the logic board as well. If you feel you can change components look for bulged capacitors on the main power board. A word of caution however, there are high voltages present in these sets that can deliver quite a jolt. Use caution when handling anything inside the set. I just repaired an older Vizio with similar symptoms that only required the replacement of 8 capacitors in the power supply. TV works great now. You may have a similar result.
@bigguyb this does not sound like a firmware issue. You did not tell us if the power LED is blinking at all or what it shows. For Panasonic TV’s this is a great troubleshooting tool. It does sound like your A board has a problem (the menu etc. gets generated from that as well). You do want to disconnect all inputs and then check each input source separate. It is possible that the storm caused failure of those on the board. If that does not show anything different , remove the back of your TV and take a look at the individual boards. Check for obvious damage like charred components and traces, bulging or leaking capacitors etc. Post some images of your boards with your question so that we can see what you see. Use this guide Adding images to an existing question for that. To remove the back
This is how the boards are arranged and what they do on this model
This is the way to properly troubleshoot your TV’s issue
Let us know what you find.
