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Thread: Television repair help

  1. #1
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    Television repair help

    I have a rear projection , older Hitachi 51" that has this convergence problem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPgfyflgQfk However, mine also has wavy lines at the top so I can't just line up the colors. I suspect I need a convergence kit to repair this tv. My questions are:
    1. Is it worth trying to fix?
    2. Is it reasonable that I can do it myself?

    anyone have any experience?

  2. #2
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    I had a Hitachi rear projection TV that may have been the exact same model and it had what sounds like the same problem. I considered repairing it but those old TVs are so grossly inferior in picture quality to modern flat screen TVs that I just decided to junk it. That was several years ago. I doubt if you could even obtain repair parts for it now because it is really, really obsolete. It probably isn't even capable of 720p resolution and it doesn't have a digital tuner.

  3. #3
    I had an RCA projection tv,didn't want to move it to my new house, ended up giving it away while still worked,someone wanted it for his "man cave".
    In my opinion your projection tv is not worth the cost of repair ,get rid of it ,you won't miss it.

  4. #4
    That's a really old technology and it gives an inferior picture. It was decent in it's day but I junked mine quite a few years ago.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  5. #5
    I had an old Hitachi 52" that eventually did the same thing. It isn't worth fixing. Just go get a better TV.

  6. #6
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    Funny, I decided to order the required repair kit this afternoon then got back on here to see all these responses about not worth fixing.
    Art, it is 1080 and also we have HD digital cable hooked to it so the picture quality is similar to a new TV I just got in January for our office/den area.
    We shall see if my $80 was wasted, but I'd rather chance it for $80 than have to spend $800-$1500 to replace it. Thanks for trying to spend my money, though.

  7. #7
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    You can get a 50" LED Smart TV for $700, or less.
    Never, under any circumstances, consume a laxative and sleeping pill, on the same night

  8. #8
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    The last TV that came my way that was worth fixing still had a CRT. The rest of the set was solid state. It was just the power diode that smoked. Before that, my TV repairs date back to the days of vacuum tubes.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Myk Rian View Post
    You can get a 50" LED Smart TV for $700, or less.
    I've seen them for less than $500 on sale.

  10. #10
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    Best Buy used to give you ten bucks for a trade in. They still might.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom M King View Post
    Best Buy used to give you ten bucks for a trade in. They still might.
    Best Buy was charging $10 to take TVs and then giving you a gift card for $10. They stopped doing that and now take TVs at no cost. Obviously, fixing the TV is better than junking it.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Elfert View Post
    Best Buy was charging $10 to take TVs and then giving you a gift card for $10. They stopped doing that and now take TVs at no cost. Obviously, fixing the TV is better than junking it.
    I have to say I am surprised there has only been one response like this. I did ask for opinions, but I didn't think the overwhelming majority would be "junk it". I wonder if I said I had an older tool (table saw, bandsaw, etc.) that needed 10% of cost repair, would the responses be similar or would most recommend repairing. I'd guess woodworkers would say fix the tool, junk the electronics, whereas the electronics folks would say fix the tv, junk the tool.

    Doesn't really matter. I was just looking for some experience if anyone had had this problem and chose to repair. Since no one has I'll be the guinea pig. As stated earlier, I have ordered a repair kit and will post back with my results. Maybe I made the wrong decision, we'll see this week.

  13. #13
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    Well, Rick. I'll be the differing opinion. Worth fixing most of the time. Relatively simple repair, if you are comfortable with unsoldering and soldering electronic components. Just need to replace the 2 convergence IC's and possibly several resistors that commonly fry at the same time. If no burned resistors can be seen burned on the convergence board, you may get by with just the IC's. Sometimes it is just cold solder joints, and just resoldering the IC pins will fix.

    I would repair it in a heartbeat. Of course I did it for a living for years!

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Myk Rian View Post
    You can get a 50" LED Smart TV for $700, or less.
    You an even get a 50" UHD 4k for under 700.00

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rick Moyer View Post
    I have to say I am surprised there has only been one response like this. I did ask for opinions, but I didn't think the overwhelming majority would be "junk it". I wonder if I said I had an older tool (table saw, bandsaw, etc.) that needed 10% of cost repair, would the responses be similar or would most recommend repairing. I'd guess woodworkers would say fix the tool, junk the electronics, whereas the electronics folks would say fix the tv, junk the tool.

    Doesn't really matter. I was just looking for some experience if anyone had had this problem and chose to repair. Since no one has I'll be the guinea pig. As stated earlier, I have ordered a repair kit and will post back with my results. Maybe I made the wrong decision, we'll see this week.
    Here is the thing. A 50 year old Unisaw in good condition works just as well as a new one and possibly better. What's more, you can make a profit by doing a good refurb job and selling it. A premium brand projection TV that is even 5 or 10 years old is dreadfully obsolete compared to even an off brand new flat screen. You may not be able to tell the difference in picture quality but a lot of other people can. I am loosely associated with a big thrift store in my home town. They don't accept donations of rear projection or tube TV sets in perfect working order any more because nobody wants to haul one home even for free.

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