Recently, I have had a deluge of Philips 43PP9225/79 Rear Projection TVs using the A10PTV2 chassis. I don’t know whether this is down to their popularity and age (they are now around seven years old) or whether they are unreliable in a beachside environment (where I am located).

The most common fault by far is due to the Small Signal Board (SSB) or Panel (SSP).

Before I continue, I have to clear up a confusing point here as Philips have been using both "SSB" and "SSP" loosely in their service manuals and literature for years, as though the terms were interchangeable. Unfortunately, this is not really true because in this rear projection model chassis they use both terms to refer to quite different assemblies.

Items Covered This Month Philips 43PP9225/79 Rear Projection TV (A10PTV2 chassis) Philips 42FD9953/69S plasma TV (FM242 chassis) Grundig Elegance 82 Flat MFW82-31110 MV/Dolby (CUC1935 chassis)

In this case, the analog SSB is the small E1-E7 module that plugs into an 80-pin "RAM-type" socket (1026) on the SSP (sometimes also called the Small Signal Module or SSM). LSP still remains as Large Signal Panel (thank goodness) but what defines the difference between them? Presumably it’s their size but what then is the definition of a module?

Anyway, enough of that. Philips still have their many "service modes" and though "CommPair" or "Dealer Service Tools" are unfortunately unavailable, at least we still have CSM, SAM, SDM and test points (Customer Service Mode, Service Alignment Mode and Service Default Mode). So, provided you have a discernible picture, you can access the error codes (by entering 0-6-2-5-9-6-I on the remote).

Once the OSD (On Screen Display) shows the error codes, you should really clear the buffer and turn the set off with the remote. When you repeat this procedure, the set will now show only the current error codes and not the complete history.

Error codes 17, 23 & 33 can all be ignored as they are considered "normal"! Take my word on this one – a lot of clients who are eagle-eyed curiously watch this procedure and quiz me on this and afterwards say they are not satisfied as they don’t want a set with any errors. These are the same guys who buy a demonstrator set that they saw working perfectly but then reject it when they take it home because they don’t want a set that has "ghosting". Explaining about faulty aerials won’t wash – after all, "my 30-year old TV always gave perfect pictures".

Many of the error codes are also duplicated in the "Blinking Standby Red LED" so that you can deduce the error code even if there is no picture. This can be quite helpful on occasions.