Friday, July 24, 2009
Top 5 Television Repair Myths
This is an ongoing work, and I'm sure more will be added. This is just based on our experience, we'd love to hear yours:
(As we work out the list, we'll get it ordered and numbered)
*) Replacing the fuse usually fixes a "dead" TV. -- Actually, the fuse is almost never the solution to a television problem. Fuses blow when too much power goes through them, and the most common reason for that to happen is another part within the TV's circuitry passing along the wrong amount of juice. Replacing the fuse will normally just result in more bad fuses.
TIP: If you really must try the fuse, just make sure you get the EXACT fuse replacement. Getting the wrong one can do much, much, much more damage to your TV than doing nothing at all. Whatever you do, DON'T BYPASS THE FUSE. Don't try a trick to get past a bad fuse. You might end up burning your house down and endangering your life and the lives of your family. DON'T!
*) If the TV has no power, it must have a defective power button. -- This one is possible, but very unlikely. Any single part in the power circuit of the television that is bad can cause the TV to have "no power" or appear "dead". Since most people operate the TV with a remote, the chances of a switch going bad are slim to none.
TIP: If the remote AND the power button won't turn on the TV, check the batteries in the remote... but it's the TV, trust me.
*) My picture won't come on, it must need a new panel (i.e. plasma or lcd tv) -- Good news! This is usually not true... and good thing! Plasma and LCD panel replacement is cost prohibitive, and I mean expensive as heck. Fortunately, it's not usually the panel.
TIP: If you see a rainbow colored or white spatter effected series of cracks when the TV is on, it's a busted panel.
*) "It's a lemon" -- It could be, but I doubt it. Just because your television has a failure, doesn't really impune the good name of the manufacturer, that model, or your specific television. It's all about percentages. If a manufacturer makes a million TVs and only half a percent fails, that's 5,000 bad TVs. Seems like a lot when it's your TV, but truthfully that manufacturer is doing pretty darn good. Most likely, your television can be repaired successfully by a qualified, experienced television servicer.
TIP: If you have to repair it more than 3 times within the warranty period, you might be right. The manufacturer will make that decision based on the high cost of repair that they're investing in your TV. Be nice, patient, and they'll take care of you.
*) TV repair companies know which TV's breakdown the most/least -- I've got bad news for you. A servicer can tell you which televisions they don't like working on (due to difficult chassis, schematics, parts availability, etc), but they can't really give you a good idea which TVs break the most or the least. All they see are bad TVs, from every brand imaginable. No manufacturer is perfect. Unfortunately, the numbers are skewed (mostly) by the number of televisions sold by that brand. You sell a lot, you'll (percentage-wise) have more repairs. Does that make the brand inferior? No, it means they sold more.
TIP: Try to stick to brand names you know, get referals from friends. If you've never heard of them making TVs before, be cautious.
(As we work out the list, we'll get it ordered and numbered)
*) Replacing the fuse usually fixes a "dead" TV. -- Actually, the fuse is almost never the solution to a television problem. Fuses blow when too much power goes through them, and the most common reason for that to happen is another part within the TV's circuitry passing along the wrong amount of juice. Replacing the fuse will normally just result in more bad fuses.
TIP: If you really must try the fuse, just make sure you get the EXACT fuse replacement. Getting the wrong one can do much, much, much more damage to your TV than doing nothing at all. Whatever you do, DON'T BYPASS THE FUSE. Don't try a trick to get past a bad fuse. You might end up burning your house down and endangering your life and the lives of your family. DON'T!
*) If the TV has no power, it must have a defective power button. -- This one is possible, but very unlikely. Any single part in the power circuit of the television that is bad can cause the TV to have "no power" or appear "dead". Since most people operate the TV with a remote, the chances of a switch going bad are slim to none.
TIP: If the remote AND the power button won't turn on the TV, check the batteries in the remote... but it's the TV, trust me.
*) My picture won't come on, it must need a new panel (i.e. plasma or lcd tv) -- Good news! This is usually not true... and good thing! Plasma and LCD panel replacement is cost prohibitive, and I mean expensive as heck. Fortunately, it's not usually the panel.
TIP: If you see a rainbow colored or white spatter effected series of cracks when the TV is on, it's a busted panel.
*) "It's a lemon" -- It could be, but I doubt it. Just because your television has a failure, doesn't really impune the good name of the manufacturer, that model, or your specific television. It's all about percentages. If a manufacturer makes a million TVs and only half a percent fails, that's 5,000 bad TVs. Seems like a lot when it's your TV, but truthfully that manufacturer is doing pretty darn good. Most likely, your television can be repaired successfully by a qualified, experienced television servicer.
TIP: If you have to repair it more than 3 times within the warranty period, you might be right. The manufacturer will make that decision based on the high cost of repair that they're investing in your TV. Be nice, patient, and they'll take care of you.
*) TV repair companies know which TV's breakdown the most/least -- I've got bad news for you. A servicer can tell you which televisions they don't like working on (due to difficult chassis, schematics, parts availability, etc), but they can't really give you a good idea which TVs break the most or the least. All they see are bad TVs, from every brand imaginable. No manufacturer is perfect. Unfortunately, the numbers are skewed (mostly) by the number of televisions sold by that brand. You sell a lot, you'll (percentage-wise) have more repairs. Does that make the brand inferior? No, it means they sold more.
TIP: Try to stick to brand names you know, get referals from friends. If you've never heard of them making TVs before, be cautious.
Labels: repairs, servicer, televisions, TV
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
