Search found 13 matches

by Geoff
Fri Apr 27, 2007 5:59 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Magnavox tv problem,
Replies: 39
Views: 19376

idea

I am not sure if the Philips chassis I'm thinking of is the one you have, but a common problem is when that 100 uf/ 200V capacitor fails. The B+ goes up, and the horizontal output transistor shorts. This blows a 2 (or 2.5?) amp pico fuse on the board. Also, on these sets a shorted horizontal output ...
by Geoff
Fri Apr 27, 2007 5:46 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: "Mini-UPS" for wall wart
Replies: 12
Views: 6840

a thought...

Does your cable company stay online when the drop-outs happen? I did something similar (Gel battery and 50watt inverter to run the cable modem and router), and could access the computers on my network until the UPSs ran out of juice, but the cable modem didn't have anyone to talk to because the cabl...
by Geoff
Fri Oct 20, 2006 7:53 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Hard drive pcb troubleshooting
Replies: 17
Views: 8679

I had a Maxtor 40gb dirve that failed (partiallly) at 53 weeks old. Warranty is 1 year. I was getting bad sector errors on about 16 gb of the drive. I got 2 more years out of it, using it as read-only storage for stuff I had full backups of, that was already on it (Video, MP3, stuff like that.). It ...
by Geoff
Sun Oct 15, 2006 6:14 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Radio Shack fires person with experience in Electronics
Replies: 23
Views: 13617

Nothing new

I worked at Radio Shack 25 years ago. When I was interviewed, I was told that my experience and training in electronics was not wanted. They explained that they DID NOT WANT triained electronics people, because they tend to make the customers feel dumb. The only thing they wanted was sales experienc...
by Geoff
Thu Oct 05, 2006 7:04 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Capacitor powered car to give 500 miles on 5 min charge
Replies: 40
Views: 17152

What happens when all of the energy we've been getting from gasoline has to come from the power grid instead? In the summer, places like California are already at 90%+ capacity. Remember the rolling blackouts of a few years ago? The power grid in the United States would need massive upgrades, and we...
by Geoff
Sat Jul 22, 2006 4:20 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: question about CRT televisions
Replies: 9
Views: 6087

Simple answer

Almost has to be a loose connection somewhere. This is very common on many TVs and is usually at the vertical output IC. If you give us the brand and model number it'll be easier to give you the most likely cause.
by Geoff
Tue Mar 28, 2006 7:54 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Is the US going to be lead free??
Replies: 20
Views: 10168

Re: Is the US going to be lead free??

A couple comments.... Philba: That 700 degree tip temp sounds about right. About 10 years ago, RCA was telling us not to exceed 700 degrees EVER and suggested 600-650 as a maximum to prevent board damage. I've lifted a few traces on their boards at 700 degrees. I hope the new boards can tolerate a l...
by Geoff
Fri Mar 24, 2006 9:43 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: DVD disk question
Replies: 12
Views: 6059

Re: DVD disk question

I don't know what the difference is between the two types, but I did a test, burning several movies to DVD using both +R and -R discs. I tried all of them in all of my DVD players. (They are starting to collect like old magazines around here) Half of the players would not play the +R discs. All of t...
by Geoff
Fri Mar 24, 2006 9:23 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Is the US going to be lead free??
Replies: 20
Views: 10168

Re: Is the US going to be lead free??

I've serviced a few products that said "lead free" right on the PC board. Just a couple days ago I saw it screened on a board in a 34 inch Panasonic TV built 1 year ago. I suspect Sony has been using it for a year or two also. I usually use 60/40, but I have used 95/5 (lead free). I needs ...
by Geoff
Sun Jan 01, 2006 4:43 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: EDD ! i need you again..or someone {:>P
Replies: 10
Views: 5846

Re: EDD ! i need you again..or someone {:>P

P.S.

I LOVE those CTC175+ sets with the tuner-on-board. I quit counting at 600 sets, but I've fixed a ton of them; easy fix, very few callbacks, and profitable.

But the problem shouldn't ever have been there to start with.
by Geoff
Sun Jan 01, 2006 4:36 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: EDD ! i need you again..or someone {:>P
Replies: 10
Views: 5846

Re: EDD ! i need you again..or someone {:>P

I worked on one that acted just like this about a year ago (27r510 I think), and it drove me nuts. I finally tried removing the AVIO board, and it started properly every time (no video, of course). Techline told me the set will not start that way because the micro doesn't get a response from the AVI...
by Geoff
Sat May 15, 2004 11:05 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: electronics repair for a living
Replies: 14
Views: 5653

Re: electronics repair for a living

My 2 cents worth:<p>I've made a living for the last 20 years repairing home electronic equipment in a small town. My place of business is built on the same 1.5 acre lot as my home. I figure this saves me about $7500 a year in rent alone, as well as providing other, harder to define advantages. Even ...