I bought an MGA TV in Aug of 1989, twenty years almost to the day. It’s had some minor problems over the last year (turning off unexpectedly, color losing blue) but all intermittent and rare.
Suddenly, I turned it on and it makes a gastly, loud noise, unchanged by the volume control. It did it once before, several months ago, but turning it off for 5 minutes fixed it.
Is it unsalvageable? Could it just be dirty? It had an incredible amount of dust on it. (it was hung from the ceiling, so I couldn’t reach it) I told hubby to turn it upsidedown and shake it a bit, but he declined.
I would throw it away at an appropriate recycling center or event, and if you’re on a tight budget then look for people giving away CRT TV’s on Craigslist. People are giving them away (cheap or free) like mad as they switch to flatscreen and HDTV.
I’m quite a big fan of keeping stuff going as long it’s doing its job for you.
But … fixing a TV can be quite dangerous.
I am a little a curious: Is the sound coming from the speakers or from the case itself? I.e., is it an audio problem or something else like a transformer issue.
Externally, have you done something like changed connectors or anything like that?
The dust issue is a concern. It leads to heat buildup among other things and after this long a period of time, what’s damaged is damaged. Don’t let it happen again with any appliance.
Loud pop sounds could be dust arcing on the ancient board…U might want to have someone dust it on the inside, and look for blown resistors considering you have a visual prob.
Might want to take care of that before you have a flaming box of, “Oh Shit”.
WARNING: ELECTRICAL SHOCK HAZARD FROM CAPACITOR…don’t touch anything inside unless you know what your doing, even when it’s unplugged.
We have an even older TV that works. We changed it out last night.
ftg, It’s hard to tell where the noise is from. It’s very loud.
astro, How can you call my old friend stupid, you don’t even know him. I suppose, you’d recommend divorcing my husband because he got fat and lazy, too.
I know you’re right, but I’ve dragged that poor thing all over the country. It’s sad to see it go.
Do not take the cover off a CRT based TV. There are extremely dangerous voltages inside even after its been unplugged. This is not something for a DIYer. If you don’t know exactly what parts are dangerous and how to avoid getting killed then don’t mess with it.
Places like 7-11 have vacuum tube testers. You just remove all the tubes and test them one by one until you figure out which one is bad. Sometimes you can get TV’s and radios to work again if you hit it in the right combination in the right place. Try a Whap, Whap, sideslap at first and keep experimenting until you get it right. If none of that works, your local TV repair shop can probably help. My information might be a little out of date because I haven’t done this in a while.
Does your calendar have “1972” printed on it? The last time I saw a tube tester anywhere, it was at a Radio Shack, and over 20 years ago. Also, what’s a TV repair shop? Last time I saw one of those was in 1986.
“20-year-old TV, have you ever heard of Jesus? I have some tracts I can leave with you, and we meet in the Starbucks on Wednesday nights for Bible study.”
There’s a TV repair shop just down the street from us. It’s name is Rapid Rudy’s. It’s been there forever, I think. They also sell refurbished TVs, VCRs and such.
I’m sure Harmonious Discord is right. It’s likely cheaper to buy a new one.
LCD tv’s have gotten a lot cheaper lately, and screen inch for screen inch use less energy than tube systems. It is probably worth it to upgrade at this point. What you have now is half tv half space heater.
