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Success Stories If you have successfully repaired or restored a piece of equipment, why not write up what you did and post details here. Particularly if it was interesting, unusual or challenging. PLEASE DO NOT POST REQUESTS FOR HELP HERE! |
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21st Dec 2012, 9:30 pm | #21 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Worthing, West Sussex, UK
Posts: 5,185
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Re: My Daughter's TV and a bit of a rant!
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I can understand why people just buy another TV, they are so cheap now, and the cost of the repair (if you can find a repairer) seals the deal. In reality, with a little know how, these discarded sets can be bought back to life quite cheaply, sometimes it's a couple of quids worth of caps, or if more serious, like the inverter or power boards, these can usually sourced from online auction sites for around £25 inc delivery. The Bush set I picked up today was indeed a PSU fault, there are a few domed caps to replace, subject to having the correct caps, I will hopefully fix it tomorrow. Mark |
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21st Dec 2012, 9:50 pm | #22 |
Retired Dormant Member
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Maidstone, Kent, UK.
Posts: 109
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Re: My Daughter's TV and a bit of a rant!
earlier this year I had a lovely white 40" siemens lcd set in, the no picture fault was the surface mount fuse on the timing control board. Anyway, fixed the set in about 20 mintes, 15 of which to get the thing apart, called the guy and I said I wouldn't charge him as I was being paid for that day by his employer. He said to keep the set as it had no freeview or hdmi (although dvi) so it's on my bench connected to a freeview box and I use it myself. This tv cost him nearly £2000 when new and he just threw it away when it failed 3 years later.
The problem is what to do with unwanted sets, I end up keeping them for a bit until something better comes along. I fear this siemens thing will be with me for a long time. |
21st Dec 2012, 11:28 pm | #23 | |
Octode
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Manchester, UK.
Posts: 1,872
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Re: My Daughter's TV and a bit of a rant!
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I guess my neighbours' penchant for all things new is good in a way, as it saves me from the 'paradox of thrift' which Keynes implies would follow if everyone was as tight as me... |
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22nd Dec 2012, 12:08 am | #24 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Warnham, West Sussex. 10 miles south of DORKING.
Posts: 9,145
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Re: My Daughter's TV and a bit of a rant!
The other problem is that you may spend a lot of time and care repairing modern equipment, setting it up correctly and checking everything just to discover that it inexplicably breaks down again a few weeks later.
What do you do? Your customer is not happy and will not pay any further repair bills. [understandably] Just too much hassle, no manufacturers back up, no circuit, unwieldy monster pile of junk and a customer that does not really want it repaired in the first place. Life is too short! John. |
22nd Dec 2012, 3:50 am | #25 |
Dekatron
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Derby, UK.
Posts: 7,735
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Re: My Daughter's TV and a bit of a rant!
The era of cheap stuff is going to come to an abrupt end sooner or later. Fuel costs are going up, and cheap labour isn't going to last forever as workers begin to demand better wages and conditions. Field-maintainability will become an increasingly important consideration when a new set carries a 4-digit price tag.
Of course, it will be the poorest who will be hit the hardest, as appliances designed to be field-maintainable will inevitably have a higher initial purchase cost.
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If I have seen further than others, it is because I was standing on a pile of failed experiments. |
22nd Dec 2012, 3:59 am | #26 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Worksop, Nottinghamshire, UK.
Posts: 5,549
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Re: My Daughter's TV and a bit of a rant!
Prices from the far east are climbing now.
Even washing machines are starting to be board level repairable. Other stuff will go the same way once disposal becomes an issue and also the energy used in production will add to this. DVD players are a joke and most cheap ones make good CD/MP3 players too. |
22nd Dec 2012, 9:50 am | #27 | |
Hexode
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: London, UK.
Posts: 318
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Re: My Daughter's TV and a bit of a rant!
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My £15 toaster provided good service for several years before it finally failed and went to landfill. Last edited by Brased; 22nd Dec 2012 at 9:58 am. |
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22nd Dec 2012, 10:59 am | #28 | ||
Octode
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Worcestershire, UK.
Posts: 1,880
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Re: My Daughter's TV and a bit of a rant!
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Ironically I bought a new Bodum about 4 years ago and it became faulty within 6 months ! Just a leak from the bottom of the water gauge but I can't find a tool to remove the special screws that hold the base on, which would almost certainly allow it to be repaired. Fortunately I had kept the first one as a standby so it was put back into service ! One thing that really narks me is the pricing of modern tech products. Take the iphone 5, and other smart phones, £400 to £500 to buy off contract, and yet a 42" lcd tv, or even a well spec'd laptop can be bought for much less !! And iphone victims will Q for days when a new version is released, just to be 1st or amongst the first to own one ! |
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22nd Dec 2012, 11:13 am | #29 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Worksop, Nottinghamshire, UK.
Posts: 5,549
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Re: My Daughter's TV and a bit of a rant!
I remember a non cordless Molinix kettle they had at work. It leaked from the level window.
Some years later I was given a cordless version FOC and it started leaking and went bang at 4am. When I looked it it there was a little cover with a hole for the water to get out onto the base. I wonder how they got away with selling this junk. They had clearly bodged it with the little hole. When I buy one now I check to make sure there is no hole or trim to stop me checking. I know this means I have to go to a store that displays them to see the shapes and so on but this allows me to get one with a different badge from a discount store. |
22nd Dec 2012, 11:22 am | #30 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Worthing, West Sussex, UK
Posts: 5,185
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Re: My Daughter's TV and a bit of a rant!
The saddest thing for me, is the waste created by these cheap & nasty appliances.
My parents always bought Bush products, our T57 405 line console TV lasted 17 years without ever going wrong, we also had a TV85, inherited when my gran died in 1963, this also ran trouble free, and was still working well when given to my fathers mother in 1975. Other appliances I remember were the Fridgadaire bought in 1955, this was finally killed by me in the early 80's while defrosting with a sharp knife The same longevity also applied to our Hoover Junior, Kenwood food mixer and Hotpoint twin tub. I think that is one of the attractions of vintage equipment, it was built to last, is usually easy to repair, and still very usable today. It is such a shame that all these quality names are now put on cheap Chinese tat. Mark |
22nd Dec 2012, 11:36 am | #31 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Worksop, Nottinghamshire, UK.
Posts: 5,549
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Re: My Daughter's TV and a bit of a rant!
Oh the Kenwood 701A.
We had one that had been round the world with the army. The gearbox had so much wear where the mincer fits in that it needed something done about it. There was only one gearbox on auction and many old battered machines with expensive postage. Then out of nowhere one stood out. It was collect only with about 8 miles round trip. It was a little more pricy but had been a wedding present from new and looked like it had only been displayed when the relative that bought it visited. It came our way and was in mint condition. The old one still has a good motor and is being converted into a transformer winder. |
22nd Dec 2012, 12:58 pm | #32 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Seaford, East Sussex, UK.
Posts: 5,997
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Re: My Daughter's TV and a bit of a rant!
The switch mode PSU is often the culprit and its all too easy to blame the electrolytic capacitor quality but I suspect they are often operating beyond their design limits. The very simple designs using schottky rectified secondaries must deliver sizeable peak currents. I wonder if they bother doing the calculations?
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22nd Dec 2012, 2:48 pm | #33 | |
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Re: My Daughter's TV and a bit of a rant!
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22nd Dec 2012, 3:04 pm | #34 | |
Nonode
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Warsaw, Poland and Cambridge, UK
Posts: 2,669
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Re: My Daughter's TV and a bit of a rant!
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Chris |
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22nd Dec 2012, 3:13 pm | #35 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Warnham, West Sussex. 10 miles south of DORKING.
Posts: 9,145
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Re: My Daughter's TV and a bit of a rant!
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The same could be said for round Ekco radios, Philco Peoples sets, Dansette record players and TV22 television receivers. All over priced but plenty of willing customers. John. |
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22nd Dec 2012, 7:52 pm | #36 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Fakenham, Norfolk, UK.
Posts: 4,246
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Re: My Daughter's TV and a bit of a rant!
The kettle problem was solved for me by forsaking the domestic market - all seemed to be (mostly dubious) style over substance and cheapness over true economy - for the commercial: http://www.shop-equip.com/burco-7700...ng-kettle.html is a joy to use, doesn't make a racket unlike every plastic jug I've met, and I see no reason why it shouldn't last as long as my Russell Hobbs K2, which didn't fail but looked very sorry for itself (copper plating much the worse for wear) and is staying around as a standby.
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22nd Dec 2012, 10:11 pm | #37 |
Retired Dormant Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Westbury, Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 2,451
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Re: My Daughter's TV and a bit of a rant!
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23rd Dec 2012, 12:21 am | #38 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Oxfordshire, UK.
Posts: 4,310
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Re: My Daughter's TV and a bit of a rant!
Moving the thread back towards where it started my Quad CDP2 is a joy to use and to listen to too and it was made entirely in China. As were my Quad II Classic amps, and they're very nice as well .
Cheers, GJ |
23rd Dec 2012, 9:22 am | #39 |
Octode
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Newbury, Berkshire, UK.
Posts: 1,770
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Re: My Daughter's TV and a bit of a rant!
Chinese made equipment is extremely variable. The better organisations out there are capable of producing excellent quality equipment, but there is also some shocking (and dangerous) rubbish made there as well. You are on a safe bet when buying from a reliable company, as they will be using the better facilities out there and take the effort to ensure that QA is maintained to protect their good name.
There is definitely a change beginning to occur thought. The better operators in China are no longer as cheap as they were and some Western companies are shifting production back out of China. At the other end of the spectrum the cheap and dire unknown / unbranded rubbish is still polluting eBay and the likes and best avoided if they require inserting into a mains socket!
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Chris |
23rd Dec 2012, 1:00 pm | #40 | |
Pentode
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Dorset, UK.
Posts: 240
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Re: My Daughter's TV and a bit of a rant!
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