# TV repair, any clues? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 10, 2003, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-repair-any-clues/180974 "2003-06-10T22:19:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MaryEFoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MaryEFoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaryEFoo)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-repair-any-clues/180974/1 "2003-06-10T22:19:29Z")
A thoroughly broke ☹ friend of mine has an old TV with a shaking image. It’s a Mitsubishi, marked CS 2724 R The picture jiggles vertically but doesn’t flip or roll. The PIP moves right along with the rest. History in sequence: TV was normal; TV began to get creaks or loud crack on the audio just on occasion, ie once/hour or less; picture began to shake until TV warmed up; noises went away at some point; jiggle now occurs immediately on turning on the TV and keeps it up. It also occurs during playing a video. Is there one item that could be changed out to fix this? Where would you start? ---
**Author:** ![TBone2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@TBone2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBone2)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-repair-any-clues/180974/2 "2003-06-11T00:38:06Z")
IANATVR, but I’d be willing to bet the cost of fixing what’s wrong with the Mitsu would far outweight the cost of a new idiot box. Several years ago, I had a VCR that one of my ex’s rugrats damaged by jamming a tape in backwards. (They may be naturally able to program 'em, but don’t trust a kid to know the physical side of inserting a tape into a VCR.) I promptly put on my hero suit and retired to the basement workbench, and sure enough, within a couple hours, I held in my hand the tiny broken pieces of a little black plastic … something. Thingamajig, whatchamacallit, doodad? I contacted the manufacturer (JVC), who promptly offered to sell me a factory manual for that model – for $50. I then contacted the local TV/VCR handy fixit guy, who offered to do his best, if I was willing to buy him a factory manual for that model – for $50. Finally, I went to the gee-whiz super-duper electronic magna-repair joint down by the mall, and they said, “Sure! We can fix it! But first, you have to front us the $50 for the factory manual for that model.” Are you beginning to catch on? ---
**Author:** ![MaryEFoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MaryEFoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaryEFoo)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-repair-any-clues/180974/3 "2003-06-11T05:30:35Z")
Ummm, unfortunately you could have a point there. I was kinda hoping someone would say, Oh it’ll be the second biggest capacitor in the TV, or Find a little board full of transistors between the power supply and the picture tube and pull it out and get a replacement. It would beat buying a whole new TV. PS, is your sig really a quote from the preliminary to the prelude to the introduction to the preface… ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-repair-any-clues/180974/4 "2003-06-11T05:54:25Z")
DO NOT open up a TV and try to fix it yourself unless you are professionally trained. The capacitors in a TV can hold enough charge to kill you or at the least hurt a lot even if the TV is unplugged. In general **TBone2** is correct. It is hardly ever cost effective to repair most consumer elecronics these days. If the TV is a high-end, expensive model it might be worth having a repair tech take a look. ---
**Author:** ![MaryEFoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MaryEFoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaryEFoo)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-repair-any-clues/180974/5 "2003-06-11T06:49:09Z")
What if you discharge all points through a load first? ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-repair-any-clues/180974/6 "2003-06-11T07:58:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MaryEFoo \* > \*\*What if you discharge all points through a load first? \*\* **ZZT!** Woah, that was cool. See how my screwdriver is welded in there now? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-repair-any-clues/180974/7 "2003-06-11T18:15:57Z")
You might take a peek at the [Repair FAQ](http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/tvfaq.htm) web site. But working on TVs is really dangerous. Likely causes are bad capacitors, poor solder joints, or loose circuit board on the CRT. A safe outside thing to consider: interference. Is there a computer, speakers, etc. nearby? ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-repair-any-clues/180974/8 "2003-06-11T22:13:17Z")
MaryEFoo, try Circuit city in San Jose & get yourself a new tv. You can shop online too, free shipping, at [circuitcity.com](http://circuitcity.com) I had something like that once caused from too much moisture causing the grounding post(?) to rust, it was a big wire on the top of the tube, on the outside & I just wriggled it. But that’s when I got stupid & tried to fix things myself, these days they are cheap enough to buy. Ask them if they can dispose of the old one for ya. ---
**Author:** ![labboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@labboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/labboy)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-repair-any-clues/180974/9 "2003-06-12T00:22:21Z")
A better solution is to put the word out that your friend needs a tv. People usually have one or 2 in a closet somewhere. I have 2 extra tv’s right now, and I’m not a rich dude or anything. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-repair-any-clues/180974/10 "2003-06-12T02:39:42Z")
From the symptom, it sounds like a problem with the degaussing circuit, particularly the fact that the problem used to fade as the set warmed up. Does the problem get better when the room and/or the set are really warm? My WAG is that the degauss thermistor is bad. I really don’t recommend trying to change it yourself, but it might be worth getting it checked at a shop. 27" Mitsubishis are fairly expensive sets. If my WAG is correct, I’d estimate a fair repair price at around $65-$70. It might be a little higher in San Jose, but if it’s over $90, I’d suspect them of trying to gouge. **labboy** has a good point. A lot of people have spare sets (usually smaller ones, but functional). Also, some shops have relatively cheap reconditioned sets for sale.