TV screen turns dark
 

My 24" Sharp TV periodically turns dark. The way I get it to come back to a
normal screen is to smack it real hard on the side of the cabinet. It will
then be all right for a week or two then it happens again and then I smack
it again. What is your opinion of this problem, is it on its way out, and
is it worth repairing.
Thank you all for your help.

Pay to fix a 24 inch TV? If it's out of warranty, it's unlikely to be
worth trying to fix it. Even finding out what's wrong will cost a good
portion of what you can get a new one for.

I'd also check for a cracked solder joint on the picture tube socket
(filament pins).

"GTO69RA4" wrote in message
...
My 24" Sharp TV periodically turns dark. The way I get it to come back to
a
normal screen is to smack it real hard on the side of the cabinet. It will
then be all right for a week or two then it happens again and then I smack
it again. What is your opinion of this problem, is it on its way out, and
is it worth repairing.
Thank you all for your help.

99% of the time it's a loose connection, probably a bad solder joint on
the
flyback where it's connected to the board. Not a time-consuming thing to
fix.
I've do all my own, but I think the last person I talked to who had this
done
said it was $40.

I would, however, recommend that a tech fix this if didn't have the
experience
to diagnose it in the first place. Not safe. It's very easy to get killed
with
the electricity stored in the tube and power caps.

GTO(John)

On 12/23/2004 3:08 PM US(ET), GTO69RA4 took fingers to keys, and typed
the following:

My 24" Sharp TV periodically turns dark. The way I get it to come back to a
normal screen is to smack it real hard on the side of the cabinet. It will
then be all right for a week or two then it happens again and then I smack
it again. What is your opinion of this problem, is it on its way out, and
is it worth repairing.
Thank you all for your help.



99% of the time it's a loose connection, probably a bad solder joint on the
flyback where it's connected to the board. Not a time-consuming thing to fix.
I've do all my own, but I think the last person I talked to who had this done
said it was $40.

I would, however, recommend that a tech fix this if didn't have the experience
to diagnose it in the first place. Not safe. It's very easy to get killed with
the electricity stored in the tube and power caps.

GTO(John)



We have had 2 RCA TVs at one time. All the same 19" model. They both
have had to go to the repair shop to fix a board where the antenna cable
attaches. One had even been back for replacement twice.
I have the last of them here by my computer. It is starting to act up
again on channels 2 and 3 (the rest are OK). Channel 2 is unviewable and
makes a loud electrical noise. Channel 3 is viewable but has the wavy
lines running across the screen. Channel 2 is CBS (The Communist
Broadcasting System), so I don't care about that one so much. Channel 3
is HBO. Whenever they act up, I just slam my open hand onto the screen
and it clears up for a while.


--
Bill

Bob wrote:
My 24" Sharp TV periodically turns dark. The way I get it to come
back to a normal screen is to smack it real hard on the side of the
cabinet.


Your temporary fix is called "percussive maintenance" ;)

Probably a very simple repair, but in reality also likely not worth fixing.
TVs are pretty much a disposable item nowadays.

Bob wrote:

My 24" Sharp TV periodically turns dark. The way I get it to come back to a
normal screen is to smack it real hard on the side of the cabinet. It will
then be all right for a week or two then it happens again and then I smack
it again. What is your opinion of this problem, is it on its way out, and
is it worth repairing.
Thank you all for your help.



It is my belief that your television set has developed masochistic
tendencies. It has come to enjoy being smacked by you. Thus it will
continue to act up so that you will smack it some more. Throw it out
NOW. No good can possibly come of this situation.

Bob wrote:

My 24" Sharp TV periodically turns dark. The way I get it to come back to
a
normal screen is to smack it real hard on the side of the cabinet. It
will
then be all right for a week or two then it happens again and then I
smack
it again. What is your opinion of this problem, is it on its way out,
and
is it worth repairing.
Thank you all for your help.

Most any repair is going to be $50 to $150. How old is the set? How much
is a new one with better features?

If the TV is fairly new would cost $500 to replace, get if fixed. If it is
five years old and can be replaced by a WalMart $129 model, bang it until it
dies and buy a new one.

The price of the LCD models is coming down. Nice pictures on them!

Bob wrote:
My 24" Sharp TV periodically turns dark. The way I get it to come
back to a
normal screen is to smack it real hard on the side of the cabinet. It
will
then be all right for a week or two then it happens again and then I
smack
it again. What is your opinion of this problem, is it on its way
out, and
is it worth repairing.
Thank you all for your help.GTO is almost certainly correct.



I have been collecting "discarded" TV sets
for 30 years to use for spare parts, and , in almost every case, found
that if I re-soldered connections on the PC board, they would start
working fine again.

If you can do this, it is worth the half hour investment to have a TV
that will work another 20 years or so...

If you don't know what I am talking about,... then just toss it into
a dumpster. It ain't worth your trouble when youcan buy another
one new from Walmart for $69.....
Party on,

Andy

Bob wrote:
My 24" Sharp TV periodically turns dark. The way I get it to come back to a
normal screen is to smack it real hard on the side of the cabinet. It will
then be all right for a week or two then it happens again and then I smack
it again. What is your opinion of this problem, is it on its way out, and
is it worth repairing.
Thank you all for your help.



"Periodically" -- like once an hour? Or do you mean "sporadically" as
in random and unpredictable?

Does the sound go off at the same time?

If you normally hear a high pitched squeal up close to the set when it's
functioning normally, does this change when it goes off? If the
horizontal oscillator stops, the high voltage will stop as a result.

Do you hear a sharp snap when the set comes on or goes off?

Does the set "bloom" (get bigger, dimmer, fuzzier) as it is failing?
What's it look like just after you wrap it up the side? How long does
it take to recover?

And, ahem, is the wall plug solid?




If you look in at the neck of the pix tube, can you see the filament
glowing?

From: "Bob" b

My 24" Sharp TV periodically turns dark. The way I get it to come back to a
normal screen is to smack it real hard on the side of the cabinet. It will
then be all right for a week or two then it happens again and then I smack
it again. What is your opinion of this problem, is it on its way out, and
is it worth repairing.
Thank you all for your help.

If its older then 6 yrs id buy a new one.

On Thu, 23 Dec 2004 16:21:51 GMT, "Bob" wrote:

My 24" Sharp TV periodically turns dark. The way I get it to come back to a
normal screen is to smack it real hard on the side of the cabinet. It will
then be all right for a week or two then it happens again and then I smack
it again. What is your opinion of this problem, is it on its way out, and
is it worth repairing.
Thank you all for your help.




My TV screen turned black a month or so ago. Surprisingly, I haven't
really missed it and now enjoy listening to radio and Internet radio.