max716•15d agoTop Commenter

Remember when you could fix a TV by just tapping the side of the cabinet?

I was fixing an old CRT for a guy last year, a big Sony from the late 90s. The picture kept rolling and he was about to junk it. I remembered my old boss saying sometimes the vertical hold pot just needed a clean, but the whole board had to come out to get to it. I was feeling lazy, so I tried something dumb first. I took a can of contact cleaner, stuck the little straw through a vent hole in the back, and gave the area around the vertical IC a good spray while the set was on. I kid you not, the picture snapped right into place and held. It was a total fluke that saved me an hour of disassembly. You can't do that with a flat screen. Makes you miss the days when a fix could be that simple and cheap. Anyone else ever get away with a weird shortcut like that on an old set?

3 comments

3 Comments

ruby_bell4715d ago

My buddy fixed a VCR with a pencil eraser once.

uma65915d ago

That pencil eraser trick is classic! My friend revived an old cassette deck by cleaning the tape head with a cotton swab and some rubbing alcohol. Those old machines just need a little love sometimes.

adams.river15d ago

Ever hear about the guy who fixed a flickering monitor by just reseating the cable? My friend did that after seeing @uma659 talk about simple fixes, and it actually worked for his old setup. It's wild how those older connections just get loose over time.