Can Toshiba tube TV be repaired now days?

[me]

OK ..... question for the group

Would anyone even 'consider" buying a new TUBE TV now days?

Or would YOU strictly buy flat panels only if buying new?

[Ron]

Junk it, yeah right.

They would replace the 50 cent part and then sell it in their "show room".

[AZ Nomad]

Back up a little. Google for "sci.electronics.repair faq" and read everything you can. Also search for some other clever search strings like "tv repair symptoms"

What you have is a problem with the vertical deflection. You already knew that. It can be a problem anywhere starting to where the signal is generated (on some chip), amplified, and wired to the yoke around the neck of the CRT. Usually the problem is the driver transister (vertical output). Or a bad solder joint. Or wiring. Or the yoke. In my experience, at least half of all faulty electronics are due to something physical: a bad solder joint, short in a multilayer circuit board, connector, cable, switch, etc.

Probably not. If your time is worth minimum wage then it isn't worth fixing yourself either unless you already have the requried electronics skills and can handle troubleshooting complex electronics. If it is going to take you two hundred hours to diagnose and repair, then you might consider your time better spent elsewhere.

A TV repairman, if you can actually find one, probably won't bother looking at it. Nowadays, anything under $400 to replace simply isn't worth being repaired. Consider that you're going to have to buy a digital tv adapter in february. Add that to the cost of the repair ($150-250) and you're well on your way to replacing it.

What part? You have to diagnose it down to the component, connection, or circuit board first. You'll probably need an osciloscope to trace the signal.

Most tv repairman nowadays only diagnose down to the board level. They have a stock of replacement boards so they can try swapping them out fairly risk free. If you try that, you'll be lucky if you fix it for less than twice the cost of a new TV.

Unless you live in your TV, this really isn't a home repair question. Try sci.electronics.repair. But, please, read the the FAQ and get a clue first. They're not going to teach you how to solder or procure basic troubleshooting skills that are already detailed in the FAQ. They will, however, be able to tell you if the particular tv model has a history of problems.

[larry moe 'n curly]

This should be a cheap fix if you do it yourself. Look at the vertical sweep circuitry. The problem could be a bad solder joint or electrolytic capacitor around the vertical oscillator chip, a high voltage electrolytic capacitor (probably at least 180 volts) in series with the vertical yoke (those coils of wires around the rear area of the CRT) , or the vertical output transistors. There are two of those transistors, and when one goes bad, so does the other one. In a lot of TVs the transistors are built into a chip, and that chip may also contain the rest of the vertical circuitry.

You may be able to find a schematic on the web, especially from Russian websites (a friend of mine bought a schematic from one for $5, maybe from

or Radio Locman), or your library may have Sams (not Sam's) Photofacts, either on paper or online. It's even possible that Sears.com has the repair manual online (they do for major appliances).

If you don't know how to solder and desolder, practice on a junk circuit board. The TV is probably made with one-sided circuit boards, which are by far the easiest to solder and desolder. Desoldering can be done with a suction bulb from Radio Shack, but copper desoldering braid is probably safer because it lessens the chance of overheating the copper traces and making them come unglued. A 30W iron is good for soldering single-sided boards, but 40W is better, especially for desoldering.

If you work on the TV, unplug it first! And don't set it upright on a soft surface, like a sofa or mattress, because it can easily tip foward (center of gravity is just 2" behind the front of the screen). So either place a pillow to catch it, or work on it face-down. Be careful not to bump or scratch the glass CRT.

Parts prices can vary a lot. Some good sources are MCM Electronics, MAT Electronics, Dalbani, Premium Parts, and Tritronics, but don't overlook Sears or even the manufacturer. Generic parts, like capacitors, can be bought from any electronics supply, but be sure they're rated for roughly the same capacitance (it may have to be fairly close for vertical timing capacitors -- I once replaced a 1uF with a 10uF, and the picture was only 2" tall) and at least as much voltage as the original. BTW capacitors can't be tested reliably with just a meter, even a capacitance meter, and bad caps can look perfectly good. If you're replacing electrolytic caps around the vertical chip, consider replacing all of them. And don't install any of them backward!

Even though analog TV is scheduled to go away in Feb. 2009, converter boxes are only $10-20 if you get a free $40 discount card (limit is two per person) from DTV2009.gov. I'm using one with a vintage 1976 TV that used to belong to my parents and still works fine (was made in Japan).

[Mark Lloyd]

I spent the night with these people last December. A couple of teenage girls were up all night watching old "Time Tunnel" shows.

[aemeijers]

Other than the small-screen mainland China junk at Wally World, I don't even see glass TVs in the stores around here any more. Haven't seen new glass computer monitors anywhere, in a couple of years.

-- aem sends...

[tnom]

Wow. I must be old. After reading the header I thought a this tube TV was a pre- solid state TV.

Times have changed. I guess a CRT TV is now considered a tube TV.

[me]

Yes I was talking abt small glass tube TV's such as the

20" units form RCA at Walmart

Would you even buy one of those or just add another $200 and go LCD?

[gfretwell]

Hmmm $50 vs $250 for a TV with the same picture size. I think I will take the $50 one.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Anything is repairable if economy is not considered. LCD TV uses less energy for one reason. What is symptom any way? No picture or sound or both?

[me]

A 20" crt based sdtv at Walmart with built in dvd player costs $200

A good 22" LCD HDTV without built in DVD player runs $360

[gfretwell]

I paid $49 for the last Wal-Mart CRT TV I bought. No DVD player tho, just a TV. We have it out in the Tiki bar tuned to the weather radar most of the time.

[me]

what size CRT TV is it?

[gfretwell]

14" or so

[Mark Lloyd]

I seem to remember seeing some like that (actually $49.95 is much closer to $50, so I'll call it $50) before they were required to put in ATSC tuners.

[pheeh.zero]

Jodie Foster probably sees Carl Sagan as her savior...but he is dead and God is not. (to those who actually use all of their senses)

[Ron]

It's always easier to spend other peoples money, isn't it? lol

[Arthur Spooner]

Only crt's for me.. But they are getting harder to find. When you walk by a flat panel in the store you feel alot of heat. No heat problem with my crt's..