Iboats, dont let me down....lol TV question

heyttown

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I have a friend, who's tv went out on her.. I will just copy and paste what she sent me... Anybody have any idea what it could be or a cost involved? She is a single mom of 2 youngins and cant really afford to take the tv into a repair shop only to be told its something out fo her price range to fix... Thanks in advance.


its a mitsubishi model ws-55807 serial 120121, says manufacutred dec 2000. it was working great then all of a sudden the pic went out, but just the tv or video pic, had sound, but if i hit menu the blue screen and full menu would come up, a few days later i tried to turn it on and no pic at all and no sound, i love it and dont want to get rid of it, but if its gonna be expensive i know its not worth fixing, thank you again for trying to figure it out... She says its a big floor model so im guessing a rear projector type.
 

Beefer

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Re: Iboats, dont let me down....lol TV question

I think you'd be hard-pressed to justifying repair of a 10 year old non-digital tube TV. I have no idea what a repair would cost, but it seems to me that TV's have fallen into the category of disposable goods since the mid 80's. Considering you could get an HD LCD flatscreen from Best Buy right now for $199, I say toss the electronic anchor, and time for a new one. Just my $0.02
 

JB

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Re: Iboats, dont let me down....lol TV question

Most modern TVs are disposable. Cheaper to replace than to repair.

Great big flat screen digital HDTVs may be an exception, but analog TVs are simply without value.

If she is truly without funds get a few friends together and get her a nice flat screen digital.
 

Tig

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Re: Iboats, dont let me down....lol TV question

If you are not up to repairing this yourself it's probably not worth your while. If I were to give it a shot I would start with a visual inspection of the power supply.
 

Beefer

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Re: Iboats, dont let me down....lol TV question

Just thought of something. If finances are that bad, you can pick up a working TV at your local thrift store. Most are under $100 (that's the max I'd think), and they work. May not be the fanciest, but it'll keep the kid occupied.
 

BuzzStPoint

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Re: Iboats, dont let me down....lol TV question

I'd pull it apart.

I work at a hotel. For years we'd have a tvs that would "burn up". Meaning they would stink horribly. This would leave the tv bad..

We'd spend about 125 at a repair shop per tv to get fixed. One day I dropped off 2 tvs. We booked up. I called the repair shop and asked if he could look at one of the tv's.

20 minutes later he called me back and said both tvs are ready.
During a little down time we had another tv burn up. So I go curious. I pulled the tv apart. Seen a small disc capacitor burnt up. I pulled the repaired tv apart and seen the same cap replaced.


Since then when we have one of these tv's burn up. (about 2 a month) I fix them myself. Cost of the cap? about 2 cents each. I spend about 3 dollars total buying the caps.

There is no warrenty, so I'd pull the tv apart and look at the board and see if you can see a cap or resistor burnt up. If you dont, then you need to be handy with electronics to test the components.
 

Isaacm1986

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Re: Iboats, dont let me down....lol TV question

These tv's are scattered on craigslist for free everywhere. Perfect working ones. The TV we have is from the 80's. but it still works so we still use it.
 

ezmobee

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Re: Iboats, dont let me down....lol TV question

Yeah, any tube TV's, even some really nice ones are CHEAP on craigslist. That's what I'd do. Heck if she were close I have a 23" I'd give her. I'll probably get all of $20 for it on CL.
 

kellmike626

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Re: Iboats, dont let me down....lol TV question

HDTVs are getting so cheap nowadays even at brand new, cause LED and 3D TVs are coming out, making the CRT televisions worth almost nothing, even the ones that are working perfectly.
Like others suggested, if you aren't in the market for spending a lot on a new TV or a good used one, than go on craigslist (or even kijiji) and try to get one for free or dirt cheap. Make sure to test everything, even if it's free ;)

On a rear projection, I assume you mean those big huge models that weigh 300 lbs and up, that have 42 inch + screens that are pretty much square. On those models, the lamps are never cheap to replace. Replacing the lamp with another one is the easy part, just good luck trying to find the parts. Might be worth trying to scrap it for 50-100 dollars and let someone else worry about it ;), and use that money to invest in an HDTV.
 

Splat

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Re: Iboats, dont let me down....lol TV question

To me it sounds like a solder joint opened up on the tuning board.

Open her up(the tv, although if the woman is good looking.........) and have a look. If you have some decent soldering skills grab a flashlight and a magnifying glass and start looking for cracked, or crummy soldering joints. If you find one in question hit it with the iron and a bit of new solder.

What's the worse that could happen, its allready broken.

A word of caution, assuming this is a crt(has a picture tube) there are capacitors inside that can hold a good amount of voltage. They will usually look like a C cell battery in shape and size with two leads. I would unplug the tv from the wall and allow it to sit overnight before openingit up. Also grounding these to the wire around the crt tube with a jumper isn't a bad idea, thats how my dad used to do it. All you need is a quick touch to dissipate the energy and make it safe.

Good luck
Bill
 

JimJam

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Re: Iboats, dont let me down....lol TV question

Wheresyourfriend located? Maybe someone could help the single-mom out with a spare ;)
 

jlinder

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Re: Iboats, dont let me down....lol TV question

I was going to agree with the no brainer dump it advise but looked up this model of set. It is listed as a 56" rear projection 16x9 set. Puts a different spin on what to do.

Multiple thoughts.
It's 10 years old - what else is going to go bad even if you fix this.
Do you really want the 56". Would a new, smaller set work?
The rear projection set is really big (cabinet) Takes up a lot of room
If you are on cable the tuner is not a big deal. If you want to receive off air that old set does not have a tuner you can use
I just don't like rear projection for the most part for picture quality.
I would think a smaller, new set with better quality would be the way to go.

Realize money is a big factor but suspect you would come out cheaper with a set off Craig's list then paying for repairs.

Worth a check
 

Lion hunter

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Re: Iboats, dont let me down....lol TV question

Posted this on another thread but I got a friend that repairs TVs and I asked him about the old sets that seem to go forever (my Curtis Mathis finally died 5 years ago) and I get a new one and it goes out in a few years. He told me that 90% of new tv problems are caused by solder joints. Since they have taken the lead out the solder is not very stable and gets spider cracks that act like high resistance or short out. BTW, he still gets by repairing tvs. He gathers them up from CL or free adds and does a couple checks to see if it can be repaired cheap and if so he does and resells them.

But I agree with a previous poster, let us know where your at and I bet a tv could be had for her.
 

JustJason

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Re: Iboats, dont let me down....lol TV question

A WS-55807 was about a 4500 dollar tv when it was new. I should know, I have a WS-55907 Mitso Diamond line sitting in my living room right now, and that was a $5500 tv. It amazing to see how much tv's have gone up in picture quality, and down in price and external size over 10 years. I love my panny 42 plasma, but my mitsu still looks awesome when you can controll the light.

That being said. A 4500$ tv is still a 4500$ tv. Parts for it don't magically become cheaper because cheaper tv's have come out since. Kinda like owning a 10 year old Mercedes... parts don't become cheaper just because it's 10 years old.

Those tv's use modular video boards. You can try pulling off the back panel. Ground out the caps, then pulling and cleaning the contacts reseating the boards and see if that fixes it, other than that it's off to the dump with it.
 

heyttown

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Re: Iboats, dont let me down....lol TV question

Thanks everyone, I passed the information on to her and we will see what she decides to do...BTW we are located in NW ohio.
 

heyttown

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Re: Iboats, dont let me down....lol TV question

Well she has finally gotten back with me, and it seems somehow(not sure how) that she has found out its part # 935d524001 control 2 circuit board... and naturally she is having a hard time finding the part.. I found a place that offers to rebuild the circuit board and told her to check it out... was just wondering if anyone else has a website they use to find parts such as this.. I know the web is a huge place of knowledge if you know the correct areas to look.. So can anybody help?

Again this has been all her decision on wanting to try and fix this old set, she can be a stubborn one sometimes...lol so all I can do is try and help her out. Kind of like the old saying of you can lead a horse to water but cant make them drink type thing...
 

BuzzStPoint

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Re: Iboats, dont let me down....lol TV question

with my short list of resources.. Nada.

I couldn't find this board. Nobody makes it. Called a few Electronic buddies of mine and they sent the the service manual of the TV.

Said if you really "love" the TV. You'll have to pull the board out and starting testing the board.

1st thing you would do is, visual inspection. See id you can see any capacitors bulging, leaking or burnt up. Next would be to start with your multimeter and test the diodes and transistors. You may find one that is shorted.

The parts on the board are cheap.
 

JB

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Re: Iboats, dont let me down....lol TV question

Semiconductor devices that fail often fail because of heat. I can't tell you how many bad transistors and IC chips I have found simply by spraying a chiller on them to make them work temporarily.

My brother holds a patent on a infra-red scanner that reads the temperature pattern on a heavily populated circuit board and compares it to a standard for that board. Hot or cold chips or transistors are immediately obvious.

That was leading edge troubleshooting 40 years ago. Might give someone an idea to help this lady out.
 

BuzzStPoint

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Re: Iboats, dont let me down....lol TV question

But all the google hits you get, are Out of stock and unavailable.
You would try to call those companies, but usually they will tell you it's discontinued and no longer available. But it's worth a try I guess.
 
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