My second-hand but as-new TV went black a while ago simultaneously with my computer and other electric appliances in my living room. Apparently the old house’s wiring couldn’t handle the load of two major appliances on at the same time.
My modem didn’t recover and I had to get a new one, but a bigger loss was the TV. After the outage the TV hasn’t shown any signs of life. When plugged in and turned on, nothing happens. Not even the little red light on the front panel lights up.
Is the TV completely busted? Is there something I could do to revive it short of hauling it to a repairman (I’m seriously short of cash at the moment)? What exactly in a power outage kills appliances? Can I prevent this from happening again in the same living room?
P.S. Sorry for my tortured English and complete lack of “electric knack” - I hope someone can shed some light here.
Before we spend all day troubleshooting this. Try plugging something else into that outlet to verify that the outlet works. While you’re at it, plug the TV into a known good outlet to make sure it’s the TV and not the outlet.
A power outage shouldn’t harm a TV (or any other electronic device). A power surge might have damaged it. There’s probably a fuse inside that TV that’s blown. Most fuses are not considered “user replaceable”, but if you know someone who is handy, they can open the TV and check the fuse.
We had a power surge a few months ago (from a nearby lightning strike) that fried both our TVs, our disposal, the garage door opener, answering machine, DVD player, heating unit, and router.
Luckily our main TV was still under warranty and we were able to get a replacement, and insurance paid for most of the rest.
So it does sound like you had a surge that either blew a fuse or fried the circuitry. A qualified repair person could tell you if it’s an easy fix or if you have a very large doorstop now.
This. But be aware: capacitors can shock you for quite a while after unplugging the TV. The fuse you want to look for is usually right next to where the power cord is attached.
Power surge is the right word and diagnosis for what happened, not power outage. I wonder how crappy the fixtures must be to not handle an ordinary TV and computer at the same time???
It’s not the outlet. Everything else works plugged into it, and changing the outlet doesn’t do squat for the TV.
I strongly suspect that a fuse blown in the TV would be really easy to fix. However, as masterofone noted, there’s the risk of electric shock I’m not too keen about. The stern warnings to not open up a TV are there for a reason. I’m also pretty sure a qualified repair person would charge an obscene amount of money (which I don’t have) for basically very small work, or for just making an autopsy.
I know from working with heavy woodworking machinery that those machines have a set of easily accessable fuses which one can activate by simply pressing a button after a power surge. I sure wish TV’s had those, too.
If this was a power surge it’s not because of the fixtures or wiring. Power surges come in from the power lines. TV’s and computers are prone to damage because of the sensitive electronics. You really should not connect them directly to an outlet or power strip. I’d highly reccomend a surge protector. They look like a power strip, but cost much more (though much less than a new TV).
[Rant mode on]
The fact that consumer electronics almost all have fuses and never have user servicable fuses pisses me off. The damn things are designed to fail to protect the rest of the components. It would cost them all of .50 each to make the fuses accessible from the outside. But no - that would allow people to buy a .50 fuse instead of spending several hundred dollars on a new TV every time a power surge takes one out.
[/Rant mode off]