TV

[laurierobey]

The TV that we received as a wedding present from hantamouse and his Mom 10 years ago seems to be on the fritz. At least we think so. We originally thought it was the cable service, because, you know, Comcast is soooooooo reliable. But after scheduling a service appointment last night, we were watching a tape of the week before last's Duck Dodgers. The screen was suddenly showing snow with nothing but "Pppppphhhhhhhhtttttt" for the sound. This is what it had been doing off and on for about 24 hours.

Okay, so it's *not* the cable since it happened when we were watching a tape. Turn the VCR on and off. No difference. Turn the DVD player on and off. No difference. Fiddle around with the connections to test the cables. Okay, so it looks like it's the very short cable that goes from the cable box to the VCR. Go out to Best Buy and get a 6-foot coaxial cable to replace the 3-foot, too-short cable. Works fine, for a couple of minutes. Then more snow. Unhook the PlayStation adapter (the TV has no jack besides a coax cable jack in back), and hook the cable from the DVD player directly into the TV. Works fine. Okay, so it's probably the PlayStation adapter.

This morning, go downstairs and turn it on to check the traffic. Works fine, then snow. If it was any other component, it seems like it would react when we turn the various other components on and off because they interrupt whatever signal is going to the TV. So, we're trying to figure out now if this is something that's fixable or if we need a new TV.

Comments

[camstone.livejournal.com]

More than likely, there is a capacitor that is on the weak side within the TV set. After ten years, they start to "dry out" and that causes the signal converters to not work very reliably, if at all. You can probably take it to a repair shop and have the suspect capacitor replaced (now) vice having to get a new set for about $20, but they may not be able to find it easily. With the price of TVs so very low now, it's almost better to get a new TV every ten years or so.

If it's something important or expensive, then fix it, otherwise, it's best today to just replace it. Welcome to 21st century consumerisms.

[laurie-robey.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know TVs don't last as long as they used to. I was telling thegneech this morning that my aunt had a Zenith black & white console TV (wood exterior with colonial legs) that she bought back in the 50s that was still working until sometime in the 70s when they got a color set to replace it. I remember watching the coverage of the 1971 total solar eclipse on it!

[hantamouse.livejournal.com]

Its too early for TVs to break. HDTV is still too expensive.

[laurie-robey.livejournal.com]

I doubt we'll be getting an HDTV for another few years yet. Probably not until whichever one replaces this one is ready to kick the bucket!