
A short history of television faults, and why they happen.
Inside information on why cheap new televisions often fail within 18 months.
When televisions first came out they were not that reliable. That is because they were largely still experimental. Depending on when you were born you might not remember that after turning on the television you had to wait around two minutes for it to warm up. In around 1975 colour televisions were launched and these also were not that reliable. They had many circuit boards.
By 1990 televisions were starting to become very reliable.
This was down to the fact that solid state electronics had got to the stage where the TV was built well. It had few moving parts, and one main circuit board did all the work. These televisions would last around 15 to 20 years and many are still out there working even today.
They used a TV Tube and were bulky due to the picture tube.
The advantage they had over modern televisions was that the front screen was made from very thick, tough, glass. It was designed to take tough impacts and not implode . So if your three year old child threw a wooden block at the tv screen, it would bounce back and hit your child back on the nose. Unlike modern flimsy flat screens that just shatter. Fun fact!
The average glass screen in a modern television is about the thickness of a business card. By the early nineties though televisions were on the move again.
Manufactures forgot the early lessons and introduced multiple circuit boards, and remote controls were introduced. This now meant that your household television was never actually turned off as the power supply was always working supplying power for the remote part of the circuit. This was to save you getting out your chair to change the TV station. However this now meant that your TV was working over 8,500 hours a year!
Inevitably this started big problems. When owners went on holidays they would often unplug the television. This meant that the power supply would cool down. On start up when the owners returned from holidays they found that the television would not start. Often this was caused by expansion and contraction of solder joints and it caused major problems.
With all this heat that was constantly lurking in the back of your TV it soon caused a secondary problem. Often the television set contained many electrolytic capacitors. These are like a small battery that contain a fluid. The heat trapped in the television would often dry out the liquid and cause the capacitor to fail. This might cause many symptoms depending on your brand of TV but common faults would be not starting. Noisy sounds, flashing standby lights, buzzing and much more, and occasionally the odd bang.
Then we have the big one. Dry solder joints. Modern televisions now have many hundreds of tiny parts. Each one soldered in a factory. During the nineties someone thought it would be a great idea to remove lead from solder. For the TV industry it was a disaster waiting to happen. Lead free solder is terrible to use. It does not flow well. and it is prone to dry joints. A dry joint is a solder connection where the lead looks to be connected but the solder has not taken to the joint. Heat, vibration, cold, temperature variation can all affect these solder joints.
If just one solder joint fails the television can stop working. Now given that there is around 300 parts in the average modern TV and around 500 solder joints with poor solder used in the factory it is only a matter of time before your modern TV fails. They simply have more parts than older televisions, they use lead free solder, and given the fact that if your television is 5 years old it has been working non stop from when you first plugged it in. So in effect your television has been working for one thousand eight hundred and twenty five days non stop by the five year mark. With the TV constantly connected to electricity in standby mode your TV is vulnerable to lightning strikes up to 5 miles away. Further damage can be caused by welders and other devices that create electrical noise or spikes on the electrical grid your TV is connected to.
When you turn off your TV with the remote control only the sound and vision are turned off. The power supply is still working day and night in the standby mode. When we fix your television we re solder solder joints using a special solder that is 60 percent tin, and 40 percent lead. This ensures that solder joints will last for years to come. We also check all the components in the power supply and will change suspect components that could cause a future failure. Once fixed your TV should last many more years. Ask us about our optional extended warranty.
Why purchasing a new TV is a false economic saving.
We are often asked if it is cheaper to buy a new TV. Well you might want to consider this. Modern televisions are not well built. Televisions used to be built to a standard that the Japanese engineers set. Now they are not built by Japanese engineers and are no longer built to a standard. They are now built to a price and a projected life span of 18 months.
Modern televisions are very flimsy, especially the screen. Should you need a new screen the manufacturers charge a similar price for the replacement screen than what they sell the whole TV for. The screen has been booby trapped by the manufacturer on completion, they often use anti tamper glue that the screen sits in. So when we attempt to remove the screen it will self destruct. This is to prevent you having it fixed and reconditioned. While we take every care, with every repair we can not guarantee that this sneaky trap will not damage your TV.
The chassis of your new TV is very brittle unlike older televisions. All the solder joints are soldered using lead free solder. The manufacturer's have fine tuned the life of your new TV to last just long enough to outlive the warranty. If you have read the above summary then you will understand why a new TV is not really the best option. Next the hidden time bomb that will destroy your TV in 18 months from now.
Back Lighting. The Ticking time bomb, hidden in most televisions that will destroy your TV in 15 months from now.
If you have recently purchased a LED television you need to check this important hidden problem. While we can not mention which brands have this in built problem that will destroy your TV, we can say you need to check your settings urgently.
In order to import televisions into Europe, manufactures have to meet strict power usage levels, to get the approval sticker, to import televisions into Europe, or build them in Europe.
This is in order to appear green, and use less electricity while the television is being used during its life. Once the approval has been given, via the firm wear, some brands will have the power settings turned all the way back up.
Your modern television produces light on the screen using a system called back lighting. This is an array of electronic LED lights, that creates the light, that illuminates the screen. The average TV has around 50 LEDS wired in series. If just one of them burns out it can make the others fail. Just like old fashioned Xmas tree lights. If one bulb blew all the lights went out.
Many manufactures have been setting the back lighting level on 100 percent. This is around twice as much current as the TV needs to produce light.
Simply put its like driving on high beam day and night, in your car. Your back lighting array will soon self destruct if left on 100 percent level.
It will destroy your television in around 18 months if not corrected. You should check your TV now, and via the settings check that your back lighting is set to around 50 percent. Feel free to call us and we will explain how to do this.
This is more than enough power to give a comfortable viewing in the average home. If your back lighting is left at 100 percent your TV will self destruct in around 3 months past its warranty period. Check your back lighting setting now before it destroys your TV. Once damaged the symptom often shows as your TV refusing to start, or sound with no picture. Sometimes it will show as a quick flash before the screen goes black.
Yes we can fix it, but an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure. Here is a big money tip number 1! Heads up!
Never, ever, put your TV on a screen setting called dynamic as it will destroy your TV quickly.
Big money tip number 2. Never, ever use a game station on your TV, even if the manufacturers say its OK. The game station will switch the TV to Dynamic setting and destroy the TV quickly.
We hope you enjoyed this short history of the television and our inside tips. Now you might understand why modern televisions seem to fail a month out of warranty.
Terms and conditions.
* We reserve the rights to send your goods to auction to recover costs after 3 months if you fail to pay for your goods after notification has been given of completion of the repair or you fail to communicate with us.
* In the unlikely event you do not proceed with the repair a minimum labour fee will be payable.
* Myelectronicstec.com takes every care with your TV during transport, however no liability is accepted to damage to your TV during transit. Emergency braking, other drivers, pot holes can all create situations that could damage your TV. It is up to you to ensure you have insurance for your goods while being transported to and from your home.
*Warranty is 30 days from date of repair and covers the section of the TV we worked on only. IE if we fixed your picture and then your sound section fails this is not covered under our warranty.
* Legal and beneficial title to goods shall remain with the company until such time as the company has received full payment of the quoted price. *On full payment title of the goods shall pass to the customer.
* We reserve the right to change supply partners, countries of origin, and substitute products as required from time to time to evolve our products constantly, and thus enabling continuity of supply.. Our supply partners both local and internationally are vetted, and supply to our design and specifications.
* Our extended team consist of subcontractors with specialist skills.
* If you access the settings, or engineers menu during the warranty period this will automatically void your warranty. If you allow your TV to change to Dynamic mode, or use any game station that will void our warranty.
* If you lose your phone or upgrade your phone during the warranty period, we will attempt to help you with our phone support, however if you require an onsite visit (service call) to reset the app this will not fall under the warranty as it is a change that was created by you and it is not a fault condition but a change in your circumstances.
*If you request a service call then refuse to pay for a service call this will be handed to our legal team for collection enforcement and may result in court action to recover outstanding amounts. Any outstanding monies owed will result in a freeze on your warranty while an outstanding debt is due.
* Be advised we retain media lawyers who monitor online reviews, comments, and information. If you leave a malicious review with a view to damaging our business our lawyers have instructions to sue for damages and will pursue any entity, person, business for the publication of malicious information placed online.
We reserve the right to amend terms and conditions as time moves on.
* All service calls booked by a client must be paid for on completion of the call. If in doubt please call. Information valid as of 30/09/20
The energy rating sticker needed by the European union to sell televisions in Europe.
ADDRESS
Registered office
6/1 Barracks House
Hillsborough Barracks, Langsett Rd
Hillsborough. Sheffield South Yorkshire S6-2LR
Registered office
6/1 Barracks House
Hillsborough Barracks, Langsett Rd
Hillsborough. Sheffield South Yorkshire S6-2LR