Holy crap, TV repair is such a rippoff!
07-20-2006, 03:39 PM
#1
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Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Tallahassee, FL
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Anyone else ever had a TV problem?
Our Hitachi 43" projection went out of wack, the red convergence is all skewed. After doing some research, it looks like the red convergence amplifier needs to be replaced. Should be a simple job for someone who knows how to solder on a circuit board (which I don't feel confident enough to do). The chip can run between $5 and $30, depending on the brand.
I called around different TV repair shops just to see what they would say.
#1
$50 parts
$190 labor
$75 if they come to my house
#2
$125 for an estimate
if I can't bring it, they can pick it up to do the estimate,
$125 for pickup and delivery
So if I chose these guys, I'd pretty much have to pay them to repair it, since they already have the TV before they even know what's wrong with it. He goes on and on about how they load it into the truck, and protecting hardwood floors, and how I couldn't repair it myself because there's a "technical adjustment" you have to do, aside from the convergence adjustment that I can access from the TV menu. right.
#3
$60 to have someone come out and look at it, and tell me what I already know. Then go from there.
I think I'll just buy the parts, pull the circuit board out, take it to a shop that builds circuit crap, and pay some guy $50 or less to repair it for me.
It's either that, or have a very large paperweight in my living room for probably 6 months until I can afford to have some TV repair shop fix it.
Our Hitachi 43" projection went out of wack, the red convergence is all skewed. After doing some research, it looks like the red convergence amplifier needs to be replaced. Should be a simple job for someone who knows how to solder on a circuit board (which I don't feel confident enough to do). The chip can run between $5 and $30, depending on the brand.
I called around different TV repair shops just to see what they would say.
#1
$50 parts
$190 labor
$75 if they come to my house
#2
$125 for an estimate
if I can't bring it, they can pick it up to do the estimate,
$125 for pickup and delivery
So if I chose these guys, I'd pretty much have to pay them to repair it, since they already have the TV before they even know what's wrong with it. He goes on and on about how they load it into the truck, and protecting hardwood floors, and how I couldn't repair it myself because there's a "technical adjustment" you have to do, aside from the convergence adjustment that I can access from the TV menu. right.
#3
$60 to have someone come out and look at it, and tell me what I already know. Then go from there.
I think I'll just buy the parts, pull the circuit board out, take it to a shop that builds circuit crap, and pay some guy $50 or less to repair it for me.
It's either that, or have a very large paperweight in my living room for probably 6 months until I can afford to have some TV repair shop fix it.
07-20-2006, 09:06 PM
#3
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 911
I got a 46" rca that's been sitting in my bacement for the past 1.5 years with a bad bulb/circuit board. I have a feeling the next thing that TV is going to do is be hauled to the scrap heap.
One day I was watching it and it started to make a buzzzzzz so I shut it off and turned it back on and the buzz was still there. ~ a week later it finally got real loud so I decided to pull the front panel off and try to find where it was comming from. While I was turning the TV on and off all the sudden it let out a big bolt of lightning and a ZAP and that's all she wrote
One day I was watching it and it started to make a buzzzzzz so I shut it off and turned it back on and the buzz was still there. ~ a week later it finally got real loud so I decided to pull the front panel off and try to find where it was comming from. While I was turning the TV on and off all the sudden it let out a big bolt of lightning and a ZAP and that's all she wrote
07-20-2006, 11:47 PM
#4
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Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 3,108
Pretty much all new consumer electronics are considered disposable. Parts are cheap yes. But labour is expensive. Gone are the days of the RCA wood cabinent TVs designed with labour was cheap and parts were uber expensive.
For a new plasma display, say a nice 3000 dollar 50" one, the plasma display itself, the stuff minus the circuit board and fancy sony case costs 90% of the 3000 bucks. Better pray that the manufacturers have gotten their **** together compared to the 1st generation plasmas that had a life of 3 years. Now they claim 10 years. Only time will tell.
For a new plasma display, say a nice 3000 dollar 50" one, the plasma display itself, the stuff minus the circuit board and fancy sony case costs 90% of the 3000 bucks. Better pray that the manufacturers have gotten their **** together compared to the 1st generation plasmas that had a life of 3 years. Now they claim 10 years. Only time will tell.
07-21-2006, 07:36 AM
#5
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Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: VA
Posts: 2,532
Yup. That's pretty much the reason I won't bother to own a set that isn't cheap enough to throw away when it breaks, because that's what the manufacturers have in mind when they build a TV. This is one case where the extended warranty may be worthwhile.
If you can pull the board and find the part, it shouldn't be too hard to find someone to fix it. Maybe try an electronics class at your local community college? Sometimes the instructors are very knowledgeable and will take on work at a very reasonable rate.
If you can pull the board and find the part, it shouldn't be too hard to find someone to fix it. Maybe try an electronics class at your local community college? Sometimes the instructors are very knowledgeable and will take on work at a very reasonable rate.
07-21-2006, 09:44 AM
#6
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Originally Posted by j9fd3s' post='829348' date='Jul 20 2006, 06:25 PM
ID PULL THE BOARD, AND HAVE SOMEONE FIX THAT....
Right now I'm waiting for a response on a forum as to the recommended parts I should buy.
07-21-2006, 02:44 PM
#8
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Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: VA
Posts: 2,532
Ah, it's too bad Heathkit isn't still around. You could build your own plasma TV with a soldering iron, and if anything ever broke you could run down to Radio Shack, buy a superheterodyne whatchamahoozit and perform the repair yourself.