TV Problem

[hellmutt]

My two year old standard tube TV has been losing the picture and displaying only a thin horizonal line across the screen. It has done it for a little while and usually went back to the picture; now it is going to the line mode more often and for longer. If I shut it off and turn it back on it will display the picture again, however it does not last long........Any Ideas from someone who knows what makes a TV work?

[RonStewart]

May be bad solder joints. A good repair shop will resolder them all. Unusual with such a new set.

[rkd]

Sounds like the vertical drive power transistor / IC is overheating, or it's connection to the display tube is intermittent - if so it's a relatively easy thing to fix, provided you can find someone who will perform the repair for less that the TV's current value. It's not something you should try repairing yourself if you're not familiar with electronics repair, ESPECIALLY if it's a color set.

[Ken H.]

what makes a TV work?

Short version - there are two coils (inter-wound) on the neck (rear) part of the picture tube that move the election beam that 'draws' the picture on the front inside of the picture tube screen up and down and back and forth. If you only have a horizontal line, the vertical (move it up and down) part of that coil's circuit is not (intermittently) working.

 

As mentioned, it's not all that complicated of a problem, if you can find anyone to work on a conventional TV anymore. Still, there's got to be some old timers still around doing it.

[hellmutt]

Thanks guys, I was worried I would have to buy a new set. I will start the search for someone to fix it.

[BFG]

I had the same flat-line problem. Giving it a "Fonzie" whack on the side fixed it for a while. After that I had to lift the side of the set a bit and drop it. I finally took the thing apart to find out what was loose. Inside the cabinet was a rough schematic showing where the components were located. I went to the vertical output section and started tapping/wiggling everything. It turned out to be a cold solder joint on a transistor on the circuit board. Re-soldered it and all is well.

[smiller]

Loss of vertical sweep, a common problem. The good news is that it's likely something simple, bad transistor or IC or maybe just a leaky cap. The bad news is that it can be tough to find someone local to fix it these days. Shouldn't be much more than $100 or so (most of that labor) to get it fixed so if the set is worth considerably more than that I'd seek out a repair shop... they should be able to bring it back to total health.