Faulty 25in Sony TV - How much should I expect to pay for repairs?

Sarfaraz

Hi

I don't know if anyone can answer this question, but here goes:

I have a Sony 25in standard TV which is playing up at the moment. When I switch it on, there is sound but no picture for 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes, a picture will come on intermittently and then go to black and back and forth. Presumably it is a fault with the tube.

Just wondering how much I should expect to pay for a repair of this TV and ensure that I don't get ripped off with an extoronate quote.

Many, many thanks in advance!

Saf

Rex_Mundi

lol.......How long's a bit of string?

Until an engineer looks at it finds out what is wrong, and what may need replacing. It's pretty difficult to even guess at how much it will cost. If someone on here says about £50 and the guy says £200 because you need X new bit. You are automatically going to think he's ripping you off.

No one in their right mind would price a job like this before even seeing it.

criminal_smile

Sarfaraz, you don't say how long you've had this TV. Can I suggest that you click on the link in my sig, and if there's not enough info there, contact your local Trading Standards Service HERE. Take the free advice while it's going. Could mean a free repair.
HTH

Sarfaraz

I've had the TV since 1997. Sorry, I should have realised that it would be difficult for anyone to guesstimate any costs.. That's the effect of watching programmes like Watchdog and House of Horrors - it just makes you wonder about traders charging over the odds for something which should be x times cheaper.

Thanks for all your help though guys! :-)

criminal_smile

np.....consumer laws don't apply after 6 years unfortunately. You'll have to stump up for the repairs yourself. Try the local moneysaving boards for help in your area.

Rex_Mundi

The best you can do before you get a quote is to ask around friends or family if they know of a reliable TV engineer. Maybe they can recommend someone.

quoia

OK, to some degree you are asking the length of a piece of string.
HOWEVER!

Given that when it has been on for a while it seems to work ok, even if it is for a relatively short time, then it is quite unlikely that any specific component has actually failed. This is especially true of the tube in this instance.
I have repaired my own TVs on several occasions and 9 out of 10 faults have always been caused by a DRY JOINT.

If you are unfamiliar with this term I'll explain.
All the individual components, resistors, capacitors, transistors, transformers, coils and many of the interconnecting wires will be soldered into the circuit board(s).
Over time joints can become "dry". This is due in some part to expansion and contraction because a TV gets hot when on and then cools when turned off, also things like resistors get hot themselves. If they get too hot then the solder joints holding them in can get to the point of melting or almost melting.
They then become a bad joint, a very poor conductor of electricity, and become high resistance (the joint is a "resistor") which generates it own heat!

This then means that part of the circuit is unlikely to function correctly and how it functions varies with temperature. Either a joint makes a "good" contact when cold but "fails" when hot, or possibly it is the reverse.
This sounds very much what your TV is suffering from.

Unfortunately here is where the "length of string" is unknown.

Sometimes finding a dry joint is a doddle. It is fairly obvious becasue you can easily see where the circuit board has got hot (and specific areas - like the power supply - are more likely to suffer this failure because of the larger components that handle higher currents and get "naturally" hotter) and you can see scorching marks.
On occasions it is not so obvious. There are a few techniques used to find dry joints but it can be a bit hit and miss. Often just looking through a very good magnifying glass with a bright light will find one (or several)

The fix is just to resolder the joint, sometimes cleaning the area first if it looks "burnt".

If you know anyone that is competant with electronics and/or a soldering iron, it is possible that this is a repair that does not actually need a TV engineer.

Obviously the TV needs to be unplugged before any repairs are attempted, and ideally left for 24hours or more so that the circuitry can lose any stored electric charge that might give you a bit of a nip when you're least expecting it. (A bit like the static when you get out of the car and it "bites you" when you go to close the door)