Worth repairing a broken TV?

October 9, 2006 6:13 AM

Is it worth repairing a broken Philips TV?

I'm not going to attempt to fix it myself, I'd just like to know if it's salvageable.

I bought it second-hand maybe 4 years ago. The other day I turned it on and the tube was dead. No picture, no static, no teletext, absolutely nothing. Everything else works fine: audio, in-built video seemed to be recording, etc.

Should I get a professional to look at it? Or is it bound for the dump? Suggestions to bin it regardless are duly noted, but not really what I'm after.

TV model number: 20PV164/05.

posted by ajp to technology (8 comments total)

Cost as much to fix it as to buy a new one.

Of course if you have a friend who has some electronics knowledge, it can't hurt to have it looked at.
posted by DieHipsterDie at 6:26 AM on October 9, 2006

It's not going to be worth repairing. A new similar TV/video combi, should you wish to replace like for like, would cost around £120.00.
posted by oh pollo! at 6:30 AM on October 9, 2006

It really depends on what's broken. Most shops will give you an estimate before performing the repairs, so you could go and decide that way if it's worth it or not.
posted by antifuse at 7:01 AM on October 9, 2006

If you can get it to a TV repair shop yourself, then definitely check out a free estimate of the cost to repair it. If they come to you, they will charge you a fee to give the free estimate. If you go that route, be sure to identify what that fee is. That fee could go a long way towards replacing your TV.
posted by mmascolino at 7:16 AM on October 9, 2006

These sorts of repairs are always marginal: we're waiting for our $250 set to come back from the repair shop with a $120 bill to replace the flyback transformer. If something similar has bust on yours, then it's salvageable, but you're likely to be paying £10-20 for the inspection and estimate.

One issue right now in the US is that it's actually getting harder to find new, cheapish standard-def CRT sets of a certain size, with the wholesale move up to flatscreen and/or HDTV. Not as tricky in the UK, though: take a trip to Argos, or look for used or ex-rental standard-def widescreen models if you fancy the upgrade.

In short, unless it's as trivial as a blown fuse and you find a repair shop with cheap estimate and labour costs, there are definitely going to be new or lightly used models that are cheaper than a repair. Lastly, do recycle your dead set.
posted by holgate at 7:19 AM on October 9, 2006

Symptoms are no pix, working audio, working internal recorder. Further, you indicate "no static".

This almost certainly rules out blown fuses. Usually, these things have one fuse. It is obviously intact. Nothing would work if it were blown.

Audio present indicates that low voltage power supply is good.

"No static" really means "no high voltage". This is one of the few high stress areas in a modern set. The most highly stressed component in this is usually the horizontal sweep output transistor, from which high voltage is eventually derived. Odds are, it is this part that died. If you know your way around the innards of a set, it isn't too hard to find.

I fix my own broken hardware, and if I had this problem, I would attempt it, but my rule is 1/2 hour and it works or it is discarded.

Normal folks do not usually attempt this type of repair, and you are probably looking at $100 -150 at a repair shop. Sad, but I suspect it's time for a new new one.
posted by FauxScot at 8:55 AM on October 9, 2006 [1 favorite]

I was on the Philips Outlet Web site last week (buying a refurbed 42" plasma HDTV set for $999) and saw a 27" flat face tube TV for $199. If you can get a refurbed name-brand set for that price, then you should be able to get a brand new off-brand set for that price as well. So, yeah, just get a new one.
posted by kindall at 10:51 AM on October 9, 2006

Thanks everyone. Looks like it's off to the repair-shop.

Personally I'd let the thing rest in peace, but a terrible replacement set has appeared in its place, so if I have to watch TV it may as well be at a decent quality.

holgate, thanks for pointing out I should be recycling my dead TV.
posted by ajp at 2:26 PM on October 9, 2006