My Sony tv just started acting like it has a mind of its own. When I turn it on, the volume begins rising to maximum levels. If I use the set controls or the remote controls to decrease the volume, the levels go down, but the moment I take my fingers off, the volume increases again to max.
Similarly, the channels will sometimes not stay in one place, but cycle through, without prompts from me.
What is going on with this thing? Is it possessed? A poltergeist?
Anyone have ideas for fixing this?
Thanks.
Pablito
A few possibilities:
*Check the batteries on the remote.
*Check the keys on the remote, make sure they aren’t stuck.
*Check the keys on the TV, make sure they aren’t stuck either.
The ‘volume up’ key may be stuck, as the channel select key if it isn’t the case of rundown batteries doing odd things to the remote. (Does it always scroll through the channels the same way, as in 1 --> 2 --> 3 or 5 --> 4 --> 3?)
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I’d look for other remotes that you may be sitting on. Maybe put a piece of duct tape over the infrared receptor in the TV for the remote and see if it still has the same problem.
Excellent suggestions!
Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s going to do it. There’s no ‘consistentcy’ to the auto-channel-surfing it’s doing–sometimes up, sometimes down.
I checked the buttons on the tv and on the remote and none of them were visibly stuck down and all seemed to have the right ‘feel’ to them when pushed, too.
I suppose it is possible that a remote is wedged under a sofa cushion or something–it’s actually my girlfriend’s tv and not mine and so there may be some remote history I’m not aware of–but the tv behavior just doesn’t seem quite like a sofa-ed remote.
Is it economically feasible (and possible) to buy just the circuit board that is under the buttons? does that kind of repair require anything beyond the very basic know-how?
At this point, I’m really leaning more toward the poltergeist possibility. She does live directly across the street from a cemetary.
Well, speaking of poltergeist, in the movie of the same title the neighbor’s tv remote was switching the owner’s tv. Maybe try and move the TV to a different residence and see if it’s doing it?
Oops, and by “it” I meant a neighbor’s remote and not a poltergeist…
I’m going to ask a seemingly odd question here, but I assure you there’s a good reason: How does she clean the screen?
You see, it sounds like you may have a case of Windex syndrome on your hands. If you spray glass cleaner on the screen, then start wiping it off, some of the cleaner occasionally runs down behind the bezel and onto the control module. The cleaner and its residue corrode the contacts on the module and cause spurious signals on the keylines, resulting in weird, random behavior. You usually can’t detect Windex syndrome from the feel of the keys unless it’s gotten really bad.
If this is indeed what happened, the module needs to be replaced. That’s not really a difficult task, but it’s unlikely that you will be able to get the replacement component yourself. You’ll probably have to take it to a shop (and many shops have difficulty getting Sony components, too–their parts department is no fun to deal with, IME). And, of course, it can be risky for an amateur to meddle around inside a piece of electronics, though I assume you’d remember basic precautions like unplugging the thing before working on it.
General advice: When you clean a TV or monitor screen, spray your cleaner on a soft paper towel/cloth, then use it to wipe the screen clean.
Actually, Balance’s suggestion can be checked simply by removing the batteries from the remote: if the problems persist, it’s the TV. If they go away, then either the remote needs new batteries or it’s time to buy a new remote.
Another thing it could be, although it isn’t very high on the list of possibilities: there could be something relatively nearby transmitting at a frequency close enough to the remote’s to trigger the TV to do stuff. (I have no clue what frequency TV remotes generally use.)
Well, poltergeists are clasically connected with a living person (usually girls just going through puberty), not ghosts from souls that have passed on. A cemetery would have nothing to do with your typical poltergeist. Not that I believe in any of this crap, but I just wanted to rule out the possibility for ya.