Tvtechdata User Manual
Welcome to tvtechdata.net! We are pleased to have you as a new member and hope you will read through this user guide to gain an understanding of how the website works and how you can obtain the most effective use of the information found here. Let's start at the beginning, this guide will assume that you have no experience with technical forums and that you have at least the basic skills to effectively use your computer.
We do have some rules that are strictly enforced. No posting on political topics or religion, those topics create hard feelings among members and I do not tolerate them. Everybody has an opinion on those subjects and there are many other places to discuss them, this is NOT one of them. Do not post anything that could be seen as an attack or flaming of another member, I do not tolerate that well either. The Lounge is a great place to hang out and discuss about anything you desire other that what has already been mentioned, we have none of the hard feelings I see on other tech sites.
When you click the 'Members' button on the front page a log in box will open where you must enter your assigned user name and password to enter the website as shown in the picture.
Login info is case sensitive and must be entered exactly as shown in the Welcome message you received when your user information was entered into the system.. It is possible to change your password in the forum member list, but I advise against it. The website is protected against password sharing by a backend program that monitors logins and IP addresses, no changes will be made there by anything you do on the front end, so you would then have to remember 2 passwords. You can change your display name to anything you desire, that will have no effect on the login info.
When the 'OK' button is clicked you will be taken to the members page where you can navigate to any part of the website you desire. The main parts of tvtechdata are the tech library, the databases and The Lounge. The tech library is where you will go to find service information, the databases are where you can find complete information by brand and model number for the set you are working on with the least amount of effort plus tech tips linked to each chassis version. Always try the databases first when looking for service information, they may contain special manuals that we have compiled that include service manuals, training manuals, bulletins and other information in a single download and will shorten your search time dramatically. They are a work in progress and it will be some time before complete databases of all brands are available. At this time they are only for television, in the future they will be expanded to include audio and perhaps appliances. The Lounge is our forum, where you can request a manual not found, ask for help with a dog set, give help and advice to others or just pass the time BSing with other techs. We hope that you WILL come into forum and spend time there helping and being helped, techs helping techs is our focus and the way we survive in today's difficult service environment. Members who actively help other members and post tips when they fix a dog are given consideration when it is time to pay the yearly dues, please participate as much as you can and help us help each other. Other buttons on the member page will take you to files needed to open service manuals, unzip files and get support when you are having trouble with the website.
The Lounge
When you come into the lounge you will be taken to the 'Home' page where all of various forum boards are found. From here you will be able to browse unread topics, post a new repair or search for information concerning a model you are working on. At the top of the page, below the satellite picture is a row of buttons to navigate to other parts of the website such as the databases or tech library. All of the main pages have navigation buttons to move around the site easily, you should spend some time clicking through them to learn how the site works. The more time you spend learning to navigate the site, the more effective and helpful it will be for you. Many members join the site and never bother to come into the forum, they only use the tech library to download service information. THAT IS A MISTAKE, you are not getting the complete benefit of your membership when you do that. Techdata has a lot of useful information, repairs and 'how to do it' posts that can be found with a simple search of the model number. Participation in the forum is helpful to both you and us, please come in and browse the topics to see if you can offer any help to another member, post a new fix or ask for help when you are struggling with a dog. Some of the best techs in North America are in our forum, they are willing to help you and we want you to help them when they need it. We have ASC members for every brand who will help you track down service information and share their experience with any problems you may have. Tvtechdata.net is not limited to just providing you with an occasional service manual. The more members who participate and contribute to the forum database, the more useful the website becomes for all members, please come in and post. Did you just fix a dog? Post the repair and document what you found so the next guy that sees that problem can complete his repair and make a profit on it. Did you find the repair already posted? Post it again or add a comment on the thread you found. Multiple posts on the same repair only reinforces the validity of the information found and the guy going on a long distance service call will appreciate you!
How to make a new post to ask for help, request a manual or post a tip.
Click on the underlined title of the forum board where you want make a post to enter the board. In this example we will use the 'Ask For Help' board to show you how to make a new post.
Click the 'New Topic' button to start.
A new window opens for you to fill in the details of your post as shown below. I have used an existing post to demonstrate. In the subject line include the make and model of the set and a brief description of the problem, then copy and paste the subject line into the body of the post! This aids in finding relevant search results when other members are searching the site to find a solution to a problem. Please do this on any post concerning a technical issue, especially when posting a tip. Include ALL relevant information in your post, especially make and model and any version numbers required to help. Troubleshoot the set first unless you are going on an outside call and are looking for helpful information before going. Include detailed descriptions of all troubleshooting you have done before posting, voltages you found on the connectors and so on. The more info you include the better the responses you will get. Do not use funny names like Samdung or Panny because it will adversely affect search results.
The Tech Library
Service information is stored in the Tech Library and sorted by manufacturer name. Scroll down the list and click the folder name to find service info. At the top of the page are navigation buttons to move to other areas of tvtechdata. The 'Index' button will return you to first page of the tech library.
The Techdata Databases
This is where you will be able to most easily find all information related to the model number. Many of the manuals here are compiled into a single download containing all service info such as the service manual, training, and technical bulletins. Tech tips by members of 3 major tech forums are compiled and linked the model number. A separate user guide is downloadable from the Databases page, please download and read that manual before you to use a database! Information regarding board repair services and parts replacement for shops without adequate hot air equipment are also available here. I have databases for all of the major brands and am converting them to work on the website. If it is not active yet no button will be shown. Converting the databases involves rewriting links for up to 10,000 hyperlinks in each one, be patient, they are coming but will take a while. Find and click the 'Databases' button near the top of any forum webpage, the Members page or the Tech Library to open the databases.
The buttons on the left side are hyperlinks and will open a new page or an actual database. Download and read a tutorial on effective use, find available service information or contact us for information regarding board repair services offered by tvtechdata from this page. Some of the databases have not yet been converted to be web friendly, some of those can be downloaded from the website and stored on your hard drive by clicking the buttons, as I update and convert them they will no longer be available for downloading. Most databases are in Excel format, the Excel file can be saved to your hard drive and used off site. Your login information will still be required to access the service information, but you will be able to find the tips in the file without logging in.
Databases are stored off site, you will use your existing log in info to access both sites. The Excel files can be stored on a hard drive and opened without a password for tip searching, but downloading any documents will require you to log in before it will download.
When the database file opens up hold down the 'ctrl' key and tap the 'F' key to bring up the Excel Find function. Type in the model number in the new dialogue box. When searching for the model 42PG20-UA I recommend that you type just the characters before the hyphen until you become comfortable with using the database. Click 'Find Next' (or press the 'Enter' button on the keyboard) and Excel will find and highlight the cell that contains that number. It is not necessary to type the complete model number, you can enter a partial number and click 'Find Next' until you get to the number you need. All cells that contain blue text are hyperlinks to the files referenced. Clicking a cell labeled 'Training' will open the associated training manual, the cell with the model number will open the service manual and so on.
At the top of the page are several lines that are locked in place and are always visible no matter where you are on the models page. They contain links to files that are useful for multiple
models, for instance the link 'Programs' opens a folder containing files that must be installed to view the recorded training seminars & manuals that are formatted in the .djvu format. All of my databases contain links to ASC websites, if you do not have log-in information they will be of no use. Anybody with a storefront can signup for the LG Tech Assist website and access new information when it becomes available. All information that was available on that website at the time I completed this database is contained within it.
By clicking on the model number I have opened the service manual. All of the hyperlinks work in this manner. If the box has blue text you will open a new file or document by clicking it.
At the far left side of the file you can see a number next to the model entry. Click that number and the row will be highlighted. I find that useful for keeping on the right line in the database
to select the right files for the model I am interested in. In this case we have entries for the service manual, training, bulletins, interconnect diagram, a Sam's Photofact for the power supply and other files.
On the far right side the chassis family for that model is listed, in this case the chassis is a PU84A chassis. If there are any repair tips for that chassis it will have blue text, click the box and a
new page will open where you can see the tips.
In this picture I have clicked the PU84A box in the previous page and opened the repair files. The correct box is highlighted and all of the repair tips on that line are for that chassis family. If
there are so many tips that they run off the edge of the page, click the scroll bar at the bottom right to scroll to the right and see them. It is again useful to click the number at the left of the