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Old 18th Jul 2017, 4:29 pm   #121
Welsh Anorak
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Default Re: Why did folk always unplug the telly at night?

Yes - there was an announcement that virtually all Sony CRT sets were a fire hazard! The other problem was that it became very difficult to get an on-off switch for any Sony TV, regardless of model, so of course any old switch was persuaded to fit by less qualified 'engineers'.
There was a sub-panel to replace those resistors. We needed to get the Weller gun out to replace them - anything less resulted in a dry joint and we were back to square one. I still have a small white box with HMP solder in it.
Glyn
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Old 18th Jul 2017, 4:34 pm   #122
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Default Re: Why did folk always unplug the telly at night?

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Are those sockets with USB ports on them supposed to go "pop" and carry on working like a normal outlet once they fail?

I fitted one last year, tried it the other day and the switch mode psu in it is dead, not sure for how long. Socket still works. I've heard this happening a lot with these, though mine was a screwfix cheap one
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Old 18th Jul 2017, 6:08 pm   #123
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Default Re: Why did folk always unplug the telly at night?

Graham,
i always thought, that the reason switche's were introduced, on outlet sockets was beacuse should the cover of the plug beacome ditached, during removal, the socket could be isolated for the safe removal of the remaining half of the plug.

And yes those USB outlet sockets arn't all that safe, and the output from the USB in some of them is a bit eratic.

paul.
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Old 18th Jul 2017, 6:19 pm   #124
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Default Re: Why did folk always unplug the telly at night?

Perhaps it went pop when you were not listening?
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Old 18th Jul 2017, 6:46 pm   #125
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Default Re: Why did folk always unplug the telly at night?

I'm really queasy about those USB outlet plates- sorry, but a race to the bottom is inevitable in sections of this market and the idea of a cheap'n'nasty, hemmed-in SMPSU providing as much 5V power as possible in as small a space as possible and a low-impedance direct connection to no less than a 32A breaker... Possibly also installed in a light-weight fibre-board-and studding wall, or merely an inner masonry leaf where nasty after-market expanding plastic foam cavity-wall insulation has oozed and crept into the box...

No thanks.

An MK, etc socket type may be respectably safe- but the extra cost would probably be more than a respectable OEM wall-wart charger anyway!
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Old 18th Jul 2017, 9:41 pm   #126
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Default Re: Why did folk always unplug the telly at night?

At the risk of drifting OT, I've just received the latest MK wall socket brochure. Their USB equipped sockets have intelligent load/charge handshaking. A common complaint with cheap USB sockets is that they don't charge the phone as fast as the 'proper' charger, leading to the bizarre situation of a USB 13A charger plugged into a socket that already has USB outlets.

Does anyone unplug those at night..?
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Old 2nd Oct 2017, 7:51 pm   #127
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Default Re: Why did folk always unplug the telly at night?

Dad always expects us to unplug everything at night, my housemate does this and it does get irritating. I managed to get her to leave the microwave on so I can use the clock!

However odd thing about modern TV's, my 22" Toshiba Flat Screen with built in DVD player does not have a power switch. It stays on in standby as long as the plug is kept in.

It went pop last week when I was watching Dr Foster (very frustrating as it was a intense moment!) The fault was common and a repair kit/PSU board swop is available on ebay and Amazon....

Maybe I should have unplugged it when I'm not using it.
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Old 2nd Oct 2017, 8:33 pm   #128
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Default Re: Why did folk always unplug the telly at night?

Our parents' generation (and the one before that) grew up with TV's that seemed almost magical devices and should be treated with great care. The mysterious 'tube' (which would cost a fortune to replace) was also a risk. And there were stories of tellies that caught fire in the night etc, so it seemed sensible to whip the plug out just in case.
This type of thing gets unconsciously handed-down the family so you may get youngsters doing it without thinking.
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Old 2nd Oct 2017, 8:38 pm   #129
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Default Re: Why did folk always unplug the telly at night?

Didn't some sets keep the valves heated while turned off but plugged in.

Some early colour TVs had a habit of catching fire if overheated.
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Old 2nd Oct 2017, 9:05 pm   #130
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Default Re: Why did folk always unplug the telly at night?

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Didn't some sets keep the valves heated while turned off but plugged in.
Red Arrow Services, a forerunner of GTVR, made a selling-point of this.

Thorn 900 chassis with a three position mains switch. Not clever really, it probably cathode poisoned a lot of valves.
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Old 2nd Oct 2017, 9:56 pm   #131
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Default Re: Why did folk always unplug the telly at night?

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Originally Posted by Welsh Anorak View Post
Yes - there was an announcement that virtually all Sony CRT sets were a fire hazard! The other problem was that it became very difficult to get an on-off switch for any Sony TV, regardless of model, so of course any old switch was persuaded to fit by less qualified 'engineers'.
There was a sub-panel to replace those resistors. We needed to get the Weller gun out to replace them - anything less resulted in a dry joint and we were back to square one. I still have a small white box with HMP solder in it.
Glyn
An old works colleague who was a manager at one of the Sony repair establishments told me a story that one of the tlo's walked in with a charred and burnt Sony TV, dumped it on the bench and swore everyone to secrecy about what they'd seen when these sets caught fire, fair play to Sony though, they recalled every set they could and others in for unrelated repairs were upgraded FOC.

Greg.
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Old 2nd Oct 2017, 11:26 pm   #132
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Default Re: Why did folk always unplug the telly at night?

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Red Arrow Services, a forerunner of GTVR, made a selling-point of this.

Thorn 900 chassis with a three position mains switch. Not clever really, it probably cathode poisoned a lot of valves.
Oh, I'd say it was pretty clever, if you made a living selling replacement valves .....
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Old 3rd Oct 2017, 11:23 pm   #133
Graham G3ZVT
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Default Re: Why did folk always unplug the telly at night?

What definitely caused cathode poisoning was the system switch in Thorn and other receivers.

When the customer finally got a "BBC2" aerial, and you switched over to UHF, the PC86 and PC88, which had never been used in anger, were invariably shot.

With TV rental of course, as long as the customer paid each month they could call us out as often as they liked, so the incentive for us was to reduce repeat calls, the most important statistic in the branch was to have a low CSA - average Calls/Subscriber/Annum.
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Old 4th Oct 2017, 6:54 am   #134
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Default Re: Why did folk always unplug the telly at night?

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What definitely caused cathode poisoning was the system switch in Thorn and other receivers.

When the customer finally got a "BBC2" aerial, and you switched over to UHF, the PC86 and PC88, which had never been used in anger, were invariably shot.
Interesting, never heard that one before. It may have been that up in Lincolnshire where I was as a kid UHF was a bit later so there weren't that many dual standard sets around.
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Old 4th Oct 2017, 8:29 am   #135
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Default Re: Why did folk always unplug the telly at night?

I'm sure there was some outfit that used a diode for heaters when in standby mode.

Lawrence.
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Old 4th Oct 2017, 8:57 am   #136
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Default Re: Why did folk always unplug the telly at night?

Certainly by the 1970s "Instant-on" was a popular sales-feature (the CRT heater being powered continually, sometimes through a dropper). By then though most TVs were transistor (apart from the CRT and maybe the EHT rectifier).

Of course you need to keep *some* parts of the telly powered-up if it's got a remote-control, or how can the telly hear the 'switch-on' command?
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Old 4th Oct 2017, 9:59 am   #137
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Default Re: Why did folk always unplug the telly at night?

I remember one of my relatives rented a (colour) TV set where the remote control could turn it off but not on. Pressing the off button caused the power button on the set to pop out to the 'off' position with a loud click. Although (obviously) I never took the back off, I suspect there was a solenoid on the on/off switch that released the normal latching mechanism.
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Old 4th Oct 2017, 6:53 pm   #138
Graham G3ZVT
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Default Re: Why did folk always unplug the telly at night?

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I'm sure there was some outfit that used a diode for heaters when in standby mode.
Yes, precisely that. Diode in series with the heater chain, BY100 probably, and switch off the feed to the HT rectifier, if I remember correctly.
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Old 4th Oct 2017, 8:33 pm   #139
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Default Re: Why did folk always unplug the telly at night?

Well I have to unplug my TV in order to switch it off. It's one of the new style flat screen models (Sony) & there is no hard power switch, just a membrane switch on the cabinet top which puts it into a 'deep standby' mode (for want of a better description). Poor design in my opinion. So we always unplug it (it's plugged into a dis board).
Of course, many people with the same model probably just click it into standby with the remote & leave it at that.
BTW, a few years ago, we owned the same style of TV Tony mentions above, an ex-rental Radio Rentals set ISTR with a 'Fisher-Price' remote with brightly coloured buttons. It did have a solenoid to release the power switch, the switch had a fairly strong return spring & the button was a bit loose so on switching off remotely, 1 time in 3 the button would be fired across the room. Happy days.
Mark
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Old 4th Oct 2017, 8:48 pm   #140
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Default Re: Why did folk always unplug the telly at night?

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Originally Posted by TonyDuell View Post
I remember one of my relatives rented a (colour) TV set where the remote control could turn it off but not on. Pressing the off button caused the power button on the set to pop out to the 'off' position with a loud click. Although (obviously) I never took the back off, I suspect there was a solenoid on the on/off switch that released the normal latching mechanism.
This was exactly the arrangement on the Rediffusion (Doric) MkIV chassis from the early 1980s. If the button was not attached to the switch actuator properly, it often flew across the room.

Very safe, very green, if a tad inconvenient when the set needed to be switched on again.

Nick.
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