Re: TV tubes repairable?

Jason Ish wrote:
> Off topic I know, but maybe someone here knows. My 9 year old 32"
> Sony TV made a pop tonight and the picture quickly turned to a spot of
> green in the center. Sounds like a tube issue to me?

No, the tube is fine. The control logic or mechanism that guides the
beam is shot. IIRC (and I haven't done this sort of repair work in over
a decade) there's an IC on your board that's burnt out that you'll never
get a replacement for unless you're a Sony warranty/repair shop (most
likely).

The only time I'd say a tube is not fine is if the phosphors are burnt
in, or it's been physically broken.

> First, are these even repairable? If not, are there people who will
> take it off my hands, for recycling, or perhaps hobby repair?

Yes. It's not worth it. That TV is worth less than $150. The billable
hours for the repair are too great a % of what it's worth.

> I have to admit that my wife and I did high five each other when it
> died as we've been eyeing 42 and 50" plasmas recently :)

You can, but a plasma is a shitty choice for a TV. Go LCD. A plasma
will be half as bright in a year or two (depending on use), due to
phosphor decay. They also burn in like mad (and wear evening is just a
euphemism for burning the other phosphors down at a rate similar so you
don't notice it, not addressing the life span of the device at all).

With an LCD, your major worries are if some of the pixels are dead, or
if the backlight for it dies. You'll never get burn in, and your
lifespan is mostly the backlight (not the life of the phosphors).

Alternatively, you could always go projection (either a projector or one
of those fancier internal-projection TVs). Those have a life span equal
to or better than plasmas, and usually end up being cheaper. Again, no
burn in, and usually designed to let you replace the bulbs (unlike LCDs).
Received on Sun Jul 15 22:27:12 2007