TV died--gone for good?

[Bill V]

Hi everyone--



Our 35" Sony television that's about 8 years old stopped working over the weekend. I'm not sure what happened, I wasn't in the room at the time, but now, there is absolutely no response whatsoever--no power light, no hum or other sound, nothing. I suspect it's gone and I'll have to get a new one--but I thought I'd check here to see if there's anything I should be checking on it first, that might be less costly than replacement. Would there be a fuse, or something else, in this that might have died that can be replaced?



And since I know someone is going to suggest the following--the batteries in the remote are not dead, it controls other components just fine. And I've tried the buttons directly on the set, no luck. And I've confirmed that there is power to the outlet, and the plug is plugged in.



Thanks.



--Bill

 

[Keith McElroy]

Televisions have fuses in the power supply section. It is possible that one was blown, but if it is anything else, the parts are modular and would cost more than the television to replace. You usually have to take the back off of the set to look at them.



I picked up a 60" pioneer television from a guy for $100.00 because the colors were off and the tech told him it would be $600-$700 to replace the module. The actual chip to fix it cost $12 (incl. shipping).

 

[Richard L]

Bill,

You may have a short in the set and it has tripped a fuse or some other protective circuit. It may be worth having a qualified tech look at it and see what the problem is and what it would cost to fix.



My Sony TV went out about one month after I bought it. It would power up but then shut off just as the picture was starting to come on. A component that fires the Blue color gun was bad and the self-diagnostics shut the TV down. The repair tech said Sony and other brands of TV's have some self-protection diagnostics that will shut down the TV whenever it detected something wrong. This is designed to protect the more expensive components form getting fried because a 10 cent resistor failed. The days of fixing your own TV are long gone now. I got the TV at Sears and it was still under warranty, so I don't know what it cost for the repairs, but it's been working fine for the past year and a half since then.



...Rich

 

[Keith McElroy]

The days of fixing your own TV are long gone now.

Depends if you want to work again.



The basics you can check, but replacing a board on an eight-year-old set (by a tech) will cost more than the television is worth.



Board to fix television = $$

Tech labor to install new board = $$$$

Avoiding electrocution = priceless

 

[Nelson Atwell]

Sounds like a good reason to upgrade to HDTV.

 

[Bill V]

Nelson and Truc Trac, I really appreciate the sentiments (more than you realize!), but right now really isn't a good time to be incurring an expense such as a new 32"+ TV, be it HD or not, so I wanted to see if it was practical to repair.



Thanks anyway!

 

[Keith McElroy]

If you have no light, hum, crackle, etc., you are not getting power. Check the fuses on the power board (where the cord comes in). Just be careful when you take the back off of the set because the HV lines carry about 40kV. Some televisions come with trips like circuit breakers in them, but most use fuses so techs can look productive (taking apart your set) before they bill you.



I guess I should note that I am one of those techs.

 

[Gerald Pierce]

And I've tried the buttons directly on the set, no luck.

there are buttons on the front of the set?? Heck, I didn't watch TV for a week when DW was out of town and I couldn't find the remote



There may be a fuse inside, but unlessyou know what you are doing, be very carefull. There is enough voltage in there stored in some of those big filter caps and also the crt to knock you silly. Granted, you have to work at getting zapped by the crt, but it happens.

 

[Kelly Traylor]

Before you open the set, please put me in the WILL to recieve the Trac!!!



PS - Remember to use only un-insulated metal tools when working on the set. And be sure to ground them often on various components inside the set. Since you will be setting down while you work, it would be a good time to soak those tired feet in some nice warm water.



I AM JUST KIDDING



as eledhel stated 40+kV inside the set, and it will retain that for many months after being unplugged... also - Avoiding electrocution = priceless



KatManT

 

[Gavin Allan]

Do you have a Career Education (Vocational Education) school near you? Take it to their Electronics or Computer Repair teacher. Maybe they would fix it for cost of parts and use it as a learning experience.



I have a friend who is an Electronics Teacher. He says that 95% of all computer monitors and TVs that are discarded can be fixed for less than $3.00 worth of parts. But, as others have pointed out, finding someone who will work on it for less than the cost of a new one is very difficult.



I'm guessing you have a bad solder joint in the power supply or blown fuse, etc.



Good luck. Let us know how you make out.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

I have a 36" Sony Trinitron circa 1998 and it is one bad, heavy mo-fo. I hope it never goes belly up because it was mucho expensive and I wouldn't want to pay to replace it, even with the prices having gone down the way they have. Oh, and I already have the 55" HDTV in the home theater. Bill V let me know how it goes...I suspect I will be in your boat soon.

 

[Gavin Allan]

My main TV is a 1985 model RCA 26". It has a great picture and SUPER sound quality for a TV. I guess this was one of the last decent RCA tvs.

 

[Gary DiPietroSr]

I use to have a poster on the wall of my TV shop that read: The only color set you should play with is this, a box of crayola crayons! :lol:

Get a tech to look at it.

 

[Deleted deleted]

Sony's are not the premium brand they used to be. I have a 27" Sony WEGA and a 27" Sharp, and the Sharp blows away the Sony on picture quality.



The Sharp cost HALF what I paid for the Sony, too.



That Sony will be the last of that brand I'll ever own again.

 

[Frank Marano]

go with a plasma, I did!



42" Samsung HD plasma screen tv, lol



only weights 74 lbs and is 3 inches thick

 

[Gavin Allan]

That sounds NICE Fmarano!



I want one....

 

[Frank Marano]

[Broken External Image]:

 

[Gavin Allan]

<drool mode: ON>

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Boo, hiss, a stretch SD signal on an HD capable box. My #1 AV Pet-Peeve. Or does Fox broadcast the Simpsons in "true HD"?



TJR

 

[Frank Marano]

that isnt in HD.......i have HD dedicated channels.....or if the broadcast is in HD it will crop and go into 16:9