Broken Television

[feebal]

I have a portable Hitachi TV and I think the tube has blown as the TV works perfectly apart from a completely black screen, no picture whatsoever though perfect sound. Is there anyway I could replace the tube myself or is it going to be cheaper to just buy a new TV? Thanks

[Potatoman]

Miles cheaper to get a new TV as replacement tubes are just not worth it.

[Mattk]

i like the 'works perfectly apart from a completely black screen' bit !!!!!

[LeMarchand]

If it is just the tube, cheaper to get a new TV. I'd check your RF/Scart connections before going down that route though - you may just have a loose connection or bent pin. If you can find someone who will do you a free quote on repair, it may be worth getting a quote, as it may not be the tube.

[thecooler]

In a number of years in the tv trade, it is almost never the tube. It could be a number of other things such as a dry joint on the tube heaters, which is not hard to put right, but it's difficult to say without seeing it. The trouble is, portable tvs are relatively cheap these days and the cost of repairs can be quite high.

[romko]

firstly, this is not the symptom of a faulty tube. It is either bad soldering to the heaters, a broken pcb trace on the heater feed from the line transformer, lack of High voltage, (is there static on the screen and the typical "whistle" when on?), a  video blanking problem....could be one of various things.

Take the set to a tech for a proper estimate so you'll be able to make an informed repair decision based on actual facts and not based on internet guesses and speculation. Don't spend on repairs more than about 1/3 of the cost of a new set of similar quality or features. good luck!

[romko]

oh yeah, did you check the setting of the brightness and contrast, maybe some one turned it right down! ;-)