Hi.I've been told that our RCA Mdl.# G25043TN T.V. has a bad vertical amplifier that causes the picture to be squeezed down to a horizontal line across the middle. Where can I purchase such a part and how do I locate the old one to replace? The repairman wants "$ 80-90" to fix it and the thing is 17 years old,so I'm thinking that it may be worth fixing if I do it myself.I've done some electrical soldering successfully and am pretty handy in general,and I am aware of the potential high voltage sources in an unplugged TV. Much thanks-Brian
It's probably not a single part. If you can find the vertical yoke connections, you can probably trace back from there. But $80-90 might be a bargain, because you can easily spend that on replacement parts while chasing false leads. And you'll likely also need some instruments.
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It's entirely possible that it's just a cracked solder joint, it's a common problem on older TV sets. You may do well to find someone to help you on this, a TV is not really a project for the beginner though when it comes to TV problems, this is an easy one.
Being 17 years old, and analog technologies, it may be wise to consider replacment with a newer tele. Or fix the set and start putting monies aside for the digital to analog convertor.
Bear in mind that, as commercial analog broadcasting will be replaced by digital broadcasting in about two years, the set will soon be obsolete (other than for cable reception, which will continue to offer analog signals).
If you can live without the TV for a while, I would recommend putting the repair cost toward a widescreen, flat-panel TV that can receive digital signals. You can get a decent Vizio for $600 at Costco.
whilst concurring about the cable signals , the tv will not be 'obsolete'. you can buy readily available, cheap set top digiboxes which simply convert the digital signal into RF or composite video which ANY - and I repeat - ANY tv can accept.
all this talk about how you need to go out and spend $$$ on a new set is just marketing crap - big business interests keen to get your money, whilst people end up sending perfectly usable equipment to the landfill. and let's not even compare CRT pictures to flat panel sets....
Anyway, to get back to the problem. look for an IC mounted on a heatsink. they usually have at least 7 pins. You may want to look for the schematic on eserviceinfo.com. After checking the soldering, look for open/burnt resistors nearby which suggest the IC is dead shorted. sometimes the resistors are Ok. You could just go ahead and replace the ic. (Here in Europe they tend to cost from 4=80 up to 20=80). At the same time, be sure to change also the capactors in that circuit which may have caused the ic to fail!!
In view of the age of the set and your lack of experience i would not spend too much on it. treat this as a learning exercise. You can get perfectly good used CRT sets as people 'upgrade (sic) to plasma or lcd
- check local press small ads, yard/car boot sales, yahoo groups: 'freecycle' in your area or even ebay!
I haven't watched broadcast TV in years so I'm a bit out of the loop but supposedly they'll run about 40 bucks. Vouchers can be had to obtain the boxes for free, at least that's the plan. It's hard to get much cheaper than that.
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