Just taking a pole on whether its work saving parts from tube type big screen TV's. I have one i am about to junk or give away. Put new CRT and one drive board in it, and it had other issues. sat for years.
I am clearing space now, and debating if to save anything at all or dump it. It seems on the resale market they are virtually worthless with the advent of Plasma and LCD big screens. The same with CRT based computer monitors. I have a nice 19" high end NEC that is working that i cannot sell for $20.
It really does not matter how much the parts are worth, if you never use them why save them?
Hard though it is for 'serial saver engineers' junk 'em whilst you still can. Nobody is ever going to want them or parts from them, ever again. Leave it much longer, and the eco bollox laws coming in everywhere, will have you paying them to take them off your hands for 'recycling' ...
Locally there are some people who still advertise (via Craigslist, usually) their ability to repair 'Big Screen' TVs, this is certainly a last gasp attempt to feel relevant in the age of digital TVs. True, it may seem less expensive to repair an aging 40" RP dinosaur, the fact that an equivalent 40" LCD is available for less than $500 with vastly better picture should deter anyone from authorizing anything but the most trivial repairs.
As far as demand for the dead ones, they are listed daily as Craiglist freebies, usually with the qualifications 'Should be a cheap fix', 'probably only needs a switch', or '3-D effect. The parts cost less than $100.'
As far as CRT monitors, you might get a nibble on the 19" if you cut your price in half. 21" and larger are in demand by 'Serious Gamers' (an oxymoron if I ever heard one) and go for as high as $25.
I don't see the point, I'm pretty confident "they arent going to make a comeback".
Here in Chicago you can still toss them in the alley and the city will take them as part of the regular trash pickup. They "suggest" bringing them to a recycle center, but isn't mandatory as with other major cities.
I hate doing that because the truck guys (can collectors, scrap dudes) will smash off the back, usually breaking the tube, just to grab the copper off the defection coil. Then you have a pile of broken glass to deal with.
I had both a 35" Zenith System 3 tv and 21" Mits Diamond Scan monitor and couldn't give either of them away. Both worked as well as you expected for their age, needed zero repairs and probably were considered "good condition". No interest at all.
So why bother parting them out, if no one wants it free, whole and working, who is going to get one fixed where the parts would of use?
Heh, I still have 3 or 4 console tv's and one Grundig console radio down in the basement for the same reason, 20 years ago I figured they would be parted out and worth something.
Now it looks like I have pay 1-800-junk to get rid of them.
I've been trying to clean the office for the last month, with no luck. I tend to keep parts and boards so I can cannibalize parts to fix other machines. The amount of space this takes is far larger than I'm willing to allow. Just calculating the cost per vertical square foot component of my office rent is enough to convince me that saving old parts is more expensive than just buying new parts. It's a habit of a lifetime, and very difficult to break. However, when I find that I have to move boxes of junk in order to just make room on the bench for new repairs, it's time to clean house. I may regret having tossed some handy part or board, but that will come later. Right now, I need the space.
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Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
I have had great success using 'Freecycle' to dispose of old electronics. It's been a win-win for me - I get rid of something I don't want, and the person picking it up is usually delighted to have it.
I've also donated similar items to Goodwill. In Southern California at least, they will take just about any electronic device, working or not.
I don't usually do so, but then again, I don't make a habit of working on that stuff and I won't touch rear projection TVs.
I usually do pull parts like speakers, power cords and "other stuff" that might be useful in other projects. My 1997 vintage Magnavox 19" table TV got a speaker from a Zenith 27" console when the original speaker was damaged.
When people have asked me about repairing their old RPTV, I have usually always suggested that they look at something newer. Many times the existing set has just been worn out from lots of watching or troublesome all of its life.
On the other hand, I do favor these, for one big reason: If you have to run at less than native resolution, a CRT monitor is really the *only* way to go and still have a clear, sharp display. LCDs do better at this than they used to, but you can still see the clear signs of scaling the image up to fit.
I still have many CRTs, lots of 17" ones, a few SVGA/VGA 14 and 15 inchers, a monochrome VGA display or two and two 19" units. There's also one 25" NEC behemoth that works but has a well used picture tube. I don't see myself getting rid of these because they work, there's really nothing wrong with them and they are most definitely paid for. The monochrome displays are used on devices where a text console is only occasionally needed.
When my one NEC MultiSync 95 died from bad filter caps, I did opt to fix it.
That would annoy me, but then again, I'm a big-time trashpicker. Sometimes I have to work quite hard to say "no" to something that I see. It doesn't matter what. Some things I fix up and sell cheap.
I wouldn't have needed the TV, but I would have taken you up on the monitor. Someone gave me a 27" Sanyo TV from 1999 in like new condition. Works like new as well...and was very well kept by a person who kept all the pieces: book, remote, box and other goodies. I'll probably have it for a long time, I can't recall the last time I've watched TV.
in
My grandfather has what must be one of the last console TVs made, a 2008 Zenith model with a 27" CRT. I think they finally threw in the towel on those at last. Too bad, I'm one of those rare folks who liked them and would have bought one new. (And I'm only 27!)
That console radio probably *does* have some value to the right person. Tried asking in rec.antiques.radio+phono or a swap meet in your area?
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