TV Won't fire up unless I Unplug it for a while

[kerfuffle1]

Hi Group:

I've got a strange TV problem. My 5-7 year old Sylvania 19-inch Color TV works fine, except that sometimes I need to unplug it for a period of time before it will turn On. Once it's on, it will work for hours, and I've never had it shut off by itself once it's on. But if I power it off, sometimes (but not always) it will not power back On, sometimes still won't hours later. If I then unplug it for a period of time and then plug it back in, I am able to power it up and the TV works normally.

Any ideas? Thanks!

[Dr. Hardcrab]

I hate to say it, but throw it away and buy a new one. I had two 25 inch ones that did the same thing. They wre older than 7 years, but if you see what they charge to fix older TVs, you're better off just buying a new one....

[Larry Bud]

Post your message in sci.electronics.repair

Is this the case when trying to turn it on right from the TV as well? When you unplug it plug it back in and try it, has it cooled down? Could be heat is expanding a bad connection that is in the circuitry to turn the TV on. Once it cools, the bad connection makes contact again

Or it's the power supply.

[Bob M.]

....especially considering the conversion to digital TV in February of 2009. The OP's TV isn't digital.

[Sam E]

TRY to remember this applies ONLY to terrestrial OTA, not cable, satellite, DVD, DVR, etc...

[salty]

Try to remember that you won't be able to find any cable or satellite service that are not digital either. The only difference is that they are more than happy to charge you a monthly fee for a converter that works with their system.

As far as the OP's TV symptom, I'd say there is an extremely good chance that one or more solder connections to the flyback transformer have a ring crack. If he knows enough about electronics to resolder the pins of the flyback without hurting himself, That's likely all that is needed. It's by far the most common reason for dead, or intermittant power problems.

[S. Barker]

Idea? Yeah, go to walmart and buy a new one. They're almost free now a days.

s

[jJim McLaughlin]

Try this question over in the Usenet newsgroup:

sci.electronics.repair

and you'll probably get a better set of solutions. Post the model number from the back of the TV with your inquiry over there.

[e-mail] wrote:

[Sam E]

AND they aren't affected by the law, as I was saying.

Anyway, many cable systems should still have analog through 2012 or so.

[salty]

Highly doubtful. Cable companies are currently in the midst of forcing customers to upgrade to digital service. It's not just because of the upcoming switchover. Cable companies now offer broadband internet and telephone service in addition to cable TV. Analog cable uses too much bandwidth that is now needed for these other parts of thier business. To avoid being faced with a massive infrastructure overhaul, they are bailing out of analog as fast as possible. Some of the pressure tactics they are using are not very friendly, but that doesn;t seem to bother them. Comcast, for example recently changed a few channels that a lot of people enjoy to digital only. They offer a special deal for a "digital starter package", which will be more expensive than what they are paying now once the deal wears off. ustomers who resist will find themselves getting fewer and fewer channels (but their bill stays the same) until they surrender and sign up.

[Mark Lloyd]

[snip]

Notice that I never said they weren't. Only that this is not because of that law that takes effect next year.

If it wasn't for the internet, I wouldn't know how bad Comcast is. Good thing Comcast isn't everywhere.

The last (analog related) change here was several years ago, when they moved the premium channels to digital and got rid of the analog boxes. There has been no change in what you can get without a box at all.

The cable company here does do that (advertise low prices for a limited time only, as in $7 a month for the first 3 months).

[snip]

[salty]

I wasn't replying to you, Mark.

[Mark Lloyd]

Sorry for the mixup. I do see many cases of people who seem to think that law applies to more than terrestrial OTA broadcast.

BTW, older satellite systems are analog too.