I am looking for some information so I have a better understanding to
argue my claim against the power company for damage to my tv during a
brownout.
Recently I woke at 5.30 am to a brownout (lights dim, no fluoro's etc)
I phoned the power company who advised they would have a crew out to
fix it. 1/2 hr later I heard a bang and smelt some very mild burning
coming from the area of my TV, Video, DVD etc area. I called the
electrical company back and they advised me to turn all the power off
at the mains until the problem was rectified. They also sent me a claim
form for repair as I requested. When the power came back on I checked
all the appliances and discovered it was my TV which was no longer
working. The repair quote stated the "unit requires repair to the
vertical output stage and replacement of faulty components" The
repairer stated it was in no way caused by the brownout so the
electrical company have refused to pay the repair. The letter stated
the damage to my tv are not consistent or related with any power supply
problem. The repairer has been overly helpful from the beginning so I
am finding it difficult to understand why my TV blew up at 5.30 am
during a brownout and the brownout had nothing to do with it. I would
really appreciate some feedback from some knowledgable people so I know
weather to argue my case or drop it. Thanking you in anticipation

Can we assume you were not trying to operate the tv set when it
supposedly failed?
The tv would had to have been turned on for a vertical circuit failure
as the voltages to it would normally be off when the tv is off.

Assuming that the vertical deflection is the only failure in the set,
it is way too far removed from the power supply to have failed from a
brown out.

Ac line - Main tv power supply regulator - Deflection/HV circuit -
Flyback derived secodary voltages - vertical circuit.

You should be able to see why if there was zero damage along the way
that the vertical circuit could not have been caused from a simple
brown out condition. If the tv has a typical SMPS power supply, then
it would have been able to operate normally with the ac line voltage
all the way down to 90 volts ac with no damage.

I agree with David, it's too far removed from the AC line to have been
caused by a brownout. I have customers try to get me to write failures
due to outside influences, and I won't unless it's even remotely
possible, and then I write it up as a potential power related issue.
Items that are clearly damaged are written up that way.

Understand that if the power company or insurance company audits the
repairer's claim and finds fraud, this will be a very serious problem
for him and he might lose his license.

John

the TV set was off but it would have been on what I beleive is standby
as we turn our TV off with the remote.
So why would the TV have gone bang during the brownout. Working the
evening before then not working when I turned it on after the power was
corrected?

Electronics fail. You might want to post the make, model, and age of
the tv set.
If the tv was more than a couple of years old, it was probably just a
coincidental failure when the tv was turned on.

Most electronics fail at turn on when it is a random semiconductor
failure.

Other things like weak capacitors in the vertical circuit that were
neglected to be repaired when the image first started to change will
generally cause a run time failure. Happens in the middle of the set
running. Other components like coils, transformers, etc also can fail
in this way.

The TV was a Digitor brand 18 months old. I know its a cheaper brand
but am amazed at the coincidence of this happening when the TV was off
and during a brownout.

Since the shop probably has the service manual and everything they
need, have them map out where the parts are that failed and needed
replaced.

Has the tv been repaired yet? If it has why not post exactly what
components were replaced and ask the shop to let you know where those
components land in regards to potential ac line power problems.

cazzxf7 wrote:
the TV set was off but it would have been on what I beleive is standby
as we turn our TV off with the remote.
So why would the TV have gone bang during the brownout. Working the
evening before then not working when I turned it on after the power was
corrected?



Equipment very often fails when turned on, that's just the way it goes.
It likely had a problem developing and that last thermal cycle exposed
it, would have failed soon anyway.

cazzxf7 wrote:
The TV was a Digitor brand 18 months old. I know its a cheaper brand
but am amazed at the coincidence of this happening when the TV was off
and during a brownout.



I'm not sure why it's amazing that a cheap crappy TV failed, if it was
off then the vertical chip was not recieving power anyway so it doesn't
matter if there's a brownout.

It seems what you are saying is that this problem has occured not
during the brownout but when I turned the TV on. I accept this as you
guys are the experts and I appreciate all your help so far to help me
understand what happened. So why would the TV have gone bang and smell
of a burning smell whilst it was switched off.

cazzxf7 wrote:
It seems what you are saying is that this problem has occured not
during the brownout but when I turned the TV on. I accept this as you
guys are the experts and I appreciate all your help so far to help me
understand what happened. So why would the TV have gone bang and smell
of a burning smell whilst it was switched off.



I didn't catch that part, what parts went bang? Was that the vertical chip??

cazzxf7 wrote:
The TV was a Digitor brand 18 months old. I know its a cheaper brand
but am amazed at the coincidence of this happening when the TV was off
and during a brownout.

Don't take this the wrong way, but these TVs are built to last the
warranty period. Anything more is considered "bonus time". During the
warranty period on most brands like this, the distributor will replace
the TV (and consign it to recycling or a landfill). Once out of
warranty, they are considered to be a disposable product with no
service or parts available.

John

You're assuming it went bad during the brownout. Most likely it
happened after you turned it on.

cazzxf7 wrote:
the TV set was off but it would have been on what I beleive is standby
as we turn our TV off with the remote.
So why would the TV have gone bang during the brownout. Working the
evening before then not working when I turned it on after the power was
corrected?

"cazzxf7" wrote in message
ups.com...
It seems what you are saying is that this problem has occured not
during the brownout but when I turned the TV on. I accept this as you
guys are the experts and I appreciate all your help so far to help me
understand what happened. So why would the TV have gone bang and smell
of a burning smell whilst it was switched off.

Most likely something in the standby power supply. It is on all
the time (whenever the TV is connected to the AC line)
Otherwise you couldn't use the remote control.

wrote:
Can we assume you were not trying to operate the tv set when it
supposedly failed?
The tv would had to have been turned on for a vertical circuit failure
as the voltages to it would normally be off when the tv is off.

Assuming that the vertical deflection is the only failure in the set,
it is way too far removed from the power supply to have failed from a
brown out.

Ac line - Main tv power supply regulator - Deflection/HV circuit -
Flyback derived secodary voltages - vertical circuit.

I've seen one model (forgot which) a year or so ago, that took the
vertical voltage from the power supply instead of the flyback.

I would still have the servicer that has the tv set right now complete
the repair and provide you with the bad parts and give you a map
similar to what I posted so you can see exactly where the parts were
that failed.

Once you find out where the parts that failed were in relation to the
ac mains power source, then you can make an intelligent decision as to
whether it could have been related to the brown out.

The servicer might not have found all the bad parts, but only the
obvious ones so far and needs to complete the repair at hand to
determine if there is another problem.