TV would shut off by itself and then several minutes later be able to be turned back on. A day later it shut off by itself, turned itself back on, shut its self off then a huge pop sound as purple and blue sparks flew out. What was it? Unplugged the tv and now am looking to see if I can fix her before the kids fix me.

SOURCE: RCA HDTV Monitor D52W20 turns on and off by itself

I believe the high pictched noise you're refering to is the high voltage when your tv attempts to power on. When you say your tv turns on, is there anything on the screen? What I have experienced with several RCA itc222 is blown capacitors. When I attempted to turn the tv on it would try 3 times and then make me wait 45 seconds to try again. I don't know what to tell you about the blue light as I have never experienced that. But here is my solution if you'd like to try and fix it yourself. Be careful, but it is very doable.

I almost garantee that you need to replace a capacitor. You can check to make sure that's what you need by unplugging the tv, taking off the back cover and feeling the top of 3 capacitors. On my d52w20, CP150 (rated at 2200uf 16V) was blown and the top was bulged out. You should also check CP120 and CP114 to see if either are blown. I don't have a clear picture of where it's located, but I have a picture of what you should see after you take off the back cover.

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii209/fillmore85welder/KodakMoment003-1.jpg

In the middle of the picture you see an aluminum heatsink in the shape of a 'C' with the opening facing away from you. That is where CP150 is located. CP120 and CP114 should be located nearby, but if you can feel a bulge on any of the tops of those 3 capacitors replacing them should fix your problem. Replace the existing capacitors with a higher voltage rating of either 25v or 35v.

"4 capacitors on the power/deflection board. CP110 220uf 200v. CP120 220uf 35 Volts. CP114 220uf 35 volts. CP150 2200 16 volt. also check entire delfection board for cold solder especially around flyback. bad connections here can cause problems like some of the fp fuses blowing and cutting off convergence supply"

SOURCE: My TV turns off then turns it self back on 3-5 minutes later. We are told it is the small signal board?

rca? d61w130 itc222 ..does the unit flash green led.
itc222 shut down if the processor detects a problem. can be many different things. horizontal output is first thing to check. any sounds, chirps, smell... did it ever work

SOURCE: D52W20 problem

if that's a dlp unit they are garbage ive had two and both died in same manner in less than a year one the bulb blew on in three months after purchase then went blank and started making a high pitched squealing sound had to argue with rca cust support after repair shop said they could not fix it rca finally sent me a new one but with less features after i argued with them for another three that one did the same thing after three months now rca wont even talk to me and ive got a 100lbs paperweight that does nothing i was told it was the light engine at a cost of around a grand for part so don't waste your money on a repair shop mine is still sitting there blank and i understand this is a common problem from checking the web just roll it in the back yard spend you money on one that will work im going lcd this time and i do houseld appliances not tvs so dont worry about rating me i like to pass this info on every chance i get just to help my friends at rca

SOURCE: No picture, no sound, turns on, but turns itself off immediately.

unplug 2 ribon cables they are white then plug them back in  should fix it 

SOURCE: turns off by itself after i've turned it on

I have this same TV and had a similar problem. This may or may not be the same case with yours. The button panel on the front of your TV may be having connection problems. Mine would come on and off by itself. I took the front panel off and cleaned the connection on the button board with a q-tip and a little dab of alcohol. This cleared up the problem of it turning itself on and off.