REPAIRS

TV PICTURE / BROKEN OR CRACKED SCREEN ISSUES

Several times a week I have emails or phone calls regarding damaged screens, or just screen faults which have developed for no apparent reason.

Your TV screen might have been damaged by something that has been thrown at it by accident, a child's toy or a Wii remote?

It might also have been dropped, or fallen when moved.

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The chances are, you might be seeing a few or several thin coloured lines going down vertically or horizontally across the screen.

You could also be seeing large chunks or picture missing of 3 -4 inches wide.

If damaged by impact you might also see like a large spider effect on screen too.

Occasionally you may see just a single pencil thin line.

Sometimes the above faults can be intermittent before becoming more permanent.

Also black shadows in patches can form too.

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If any of the above  sounds like your TV or something similar, then unfortunately the screen needs to be replaced as a whole unit. It is not repairable.

The modern TV screens are very thin (under 3mm thick)  and are very delicate.

Not like the old heavy TV's of the past where the front glass was a toughened 2-3 inches thick.

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Most of the time the replacement screens are not available from the manufacturers, and even if they were the cost would be 3-4 times the value of the TV.

So I'm sorry to say it's a new TV.

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If you have home contents insurance with accidental cover, then you might be in luck. I have prepared reports for several customers for different insurance companies, and I know most have paid out. So check with yours first to see if they will.

If they do, you could get in touch with me and I will examine your TV and write a report for your Insurance company (I charge £30 for this service, and that is normally refunded to you by your Insurance company in most cases)

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If you want to talk about this problem further, then please get in touch.

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TV's IN STANDBY

This is something customers ask me about regularly - "should I switch off the TV at the mains or leave it in standby."

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Back in the 70's where the standby feature on TV's (mainly the more top spec. ones) was coming in, the power that these sets were using could be more than 25% of their normal running consumption. Power supplies were staying hot and this could cause higher electricity bills, failure of the TV's could be higher and there could be a chance of them catching fire.

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There was even a range of TV's in the late 70's which the manufacture (I won't name them here) called 'Instavision'.

Switch on the TV and the picture and sound were instantly on. Sounds good.

But to achieve this, these TV's power supplies - even when supposedly 'switched off'  - were running at about 90% power consumption!

These sets were always going wrong and were known to catch fire.

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The problem today, is that this is still remembered by some and the poor old TV  'should never be left in standby'. 

Unsurprisingly, 45 odd years later the TV's electronics have changed! Who'd have thought?

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When TV's are in standby today, they are basically off.

Nothing gets hot, there are only a small handful of low voltage components active. Power consumption in standby is normally under 1 watt (less than one Christmas tree lightbulb)

They just don't catch fire either. - Well , no more than any other electronic device. Which fortunately these days is extremetly low.  The electronics inside prevents this. The main circuit board is full of safety cut out components. The mains voltage parts of the TV are very small and insulated. There's nothing flammable inside either. We don't have big wooden cased TV's anymore!

Nearly all TV's don't even have an on/off switch now - standby, if you still want to call it that - is the only way.

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Yes, I've had TV's come in to me which have gone bang, or popped or smoked.

That all may sound bad, but it's always locally contained, doesn't upset the rest of the set and nearly always repairable.

Worst case it'll take out your ring main trip.

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Also the modern power supplies inside TV's prefer and run happier having a permanent low current running through them. They don't like this constant turning on and off from the mains. It can make them more unreliable.

Plus The Freeview / Freesat TV guides get their updates regularly, so if the TV is off - it won't get them.

It's the same for software updates. Most manufactures, if they are sending 'over the air updates', (normally during the night) the TV needs to be powered up to receive them.

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So I would say, the only time to unplug, is during a storm, or if you go away for a few weeks or more.

Power cuts / surges can sometimes cause problems.

Although they are not 100% protective, it's best to fit anti-surge / spike protection mains blocks to help.

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These following devices -

Sky box, Virgin Media box, PVR, DVD player, Hi-Fi equipment, broadband router, phone charger, laptop, PC, Aerial booster box, microwave, cooker clocks, bedside clock/ clock radio, some boiler thermostats, wireless doorbell, wifi extender, firestick, alexa, plus many more items,

they either draw more, or  the same amount of current as a TV!

So most will produce more heat than a TV in standby.

How many of those do you unplug every night?

How many of those get into trouble for being left on?

Just because TV's are large items, it doesn't mean they are heat radiating gas guzzlers!