what is happening to my TV?

Tube problem? Even someone who knows nothing about how TVs work should be able to figure out how impossible this would be.

It's probably a bad connection or marginal component.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Mirror:

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Sounds like maybe dry joints ,bad tuner or lacking voltages to tuner.

You should give the model number as well as the name of the set when asking questions.

This may be a failure in the tuner, or there is a problem with the AGC.

Bring the set in for an estimate if you want to have it properly serviced.

Considering the age of the set, I would think more so it is time for a new one!

--

JANA _____

my TV is prone to turning into snow a few minutes after I turn it on. turning it off and on again solves it.

what gives? is this a tube problem or is it something else? thanks.

Sam: I am certain that you realize that most customers in most shops always think that the picture tube is bad WHENEVER there is any kind of fault symptoms with their television. electrocitym

Yes, they also think that there is a film projector inside. :)

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Mirror:

Note: These links are hopefully temporary until we can sort out the excessive traffic on Repairfaq.org.

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is ignored unless my full name is included in the subject line. Or, you can contact me via the Feedback Form in the FAQs.

asking

AGC.

serviced.

a new

thanks.

does your tv have video and audio inputs you can use instead to connect to the vcr?

sounds like an intermitant problem in the tuner in the tv.

Mark

Sounds like a possibly thermal intermittent IC somewhere in your tuner section, either RF or IF. "Snow" usually indicates no TV signal at the antenna, or in your case, some part of the circuitry that tunes and amplifies the TV signal is intermittently failing. No failure of the picture tube itself can directly produce snow, at least that I've ever heard of.

I got a phone call at the shop once from an old lady: "There is no red on my TV. My husband says that its out of red paint. What do you charge to refill the red paint can?"

Except for when the tube *is* bad, then they think it just needs an adjustment.

Probably an intermittent problem - dry joint or something - in the tuner 'can'. It may also be a problem around the aerial socket. Feeding the TV signal in via a scart socket will eliminate all the RF circuitry.

what's a scart socket?

will using the audio and video jacks instead of the single coax jack bypass this problem too? thanks.

A Scart connector (also called a Euroconnector, so you may not have them in the US) is a 21 pin audio and video connector for connecting signals - via a suitable lead - between various AV equipment. Yes, using the audio and video should also work and bypass the problem as well.

in

video

No US TV's have SCART connectors so it's understandable that someone from here or Canada has never heard of them.

via

Has anybody considered a fluctuation in voltage to the tuner or video amp bringing signal level sporadically low (say by a component fluctuating erratically such as a capacitor being drawn by a bad diode)? Not that I'm an engineer, but humor me, as nobody else has addressed the question well yet IMO.