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TV keeps switching itself off.

My lounge TV is continually turning itself off.

When I turn it back on using the remote I get a message (briefly) "the antenna cable is short-circuited".

I have two TVs, the bedroom one does not do this.

Both TVs are connected to a Humax PVR.

If I bypass the Humax and select antenna input I can't get anything, by selecting AVR then I'm OK again for a while before it switches off.

The aerial has a splitter box and there is a power booster in the lounge. This set-up has worked perfectly for 5 years, and it seems this "short circuit" must be confined to the lounge area as the TV/Humax in the bedroom are fine.

Can anybody suggest how I identify which bit is causing the problem - before calling out the aerial people please?

Comments

  • googler
    googler Posts: 16,103 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Work back from TV, substituting good lengths of cable and splitter boxes, as you reach them, until you determine if any are at fault. If none, then the TV must be faulty.

    Alternatively, try the TV in the bedroom first. It's just process of elimination/substitution.
  • bsod
    bsod Posts: 1,225 Forumite
    Don't you dare criticise what you cannot understand
  • Norman_Castle
    Norman_Castle Posts: 11,871 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    LadyDee wrote: »
    If I bypass the Humax and select antenna input I can't get anything, by selecting AVR then I'm OK again for a while before it switches off.
    Is the tv old and only has an analogue tuner? If so you won't receive any channels.
    If you remove all connections does the tv still switch off?
  • LadyDee
    LadyDee Posts: 4,293 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    googler wrote: »
    Work back from TV, substituting good lengths of cable and splitter boxes, as you reach them, until you determine if any are at fault. If none, then the TV must be faulty.

    Alternatively, try the TV in the bedroom first. It's just process of elimination/substitution.

    Thank you. I've swapped the mains lead which did seem to be a very poor fit into the TV - so far, so good.
  • LadyDee
    LadyDee Posts: 4,293 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Is the tv old and only has an analogue tuner? If so you won't receive any channels.
    If you remove all connections does the tv still switch off?
    .

    I've replaced the mains lead and all seems well for the moment so I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but I can usually watch it without going through the PVR.
  • LadyDee
    LadyDee Posts: 4,293 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Hmmm.... think Black Friday has just come at the right time for me.

    I swapped the Humax boxes over, tried new aerial leads and the black (RF?) lead, tried disconnecting the Humax and just using the antenna to view the TV - still keeps switching off.

    I don't think it can be the splitter box (although I can't actually get to it to check).

    The bedroom TV seems to be working perfectly both through the antenna and the AV - the only time it won't work is when I turn off the booster box (Wosley WPS100/1).

    I've had the TV for just five years, perhaps I've been lucky with the bedroom one (7 years).

    I really didn't want to have to buy another TV as I'm planning on moving abroad next year where my TV is unlikely to work, so if anybody has any more ideas? Googling suggests it's unlikely to be an economic proposition to think of a repair.
  • Norman_Castle
    Norman_Castle Posts: 11,871 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Try it with nothing plugged in.

    I've connected three tvs to the living room aerial. A few months ago I was fitting a better aerial splitter in the living room which feeds the three tvs. While holding an aerial cable I touched the radiator pipe and got a shock. I finally figured out the old tv in the bedroom was putting a current through the aerial cable. There are electronics inside the tv to prevent this but they can fail over time. All my tvs were working fine so if I hadn't touched the pipe I wouldn't have known. Its possible your main tv is detecting a fault from elsewhere.

    If the tv stays on with nothing connected do you have a portable aerial you could try?
  • LadyDee
    LadyDee Posts: 4,293 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Try it with nothing plugged in.

    I've connected three tvs to the living room aerial. A few months ago I was fitting a better aerial splitter in the living room which feeds the three tvs. While holding an aerial cable I touched the radiator pipe and got a shock. I finally figured out the old tv in the bedroom was putting a current through the aerial cable. There are electronics inside the tv to prevent this but they can fail over time. All my tvs were working fine so if I hadn't touched the pipe I wouldn't have known. Its possible your main tv is detecting a fault from elsewhere.

    If the tv stays on with nothing connected do you have a portable aerial you could try?

    I'd made a final desperate attempt to save my TV after doing a little more googling - I did a factory reset. It's now been OK for a couple of hours. If I get through the rest of the evening I can only hope it'll be OK for a while, but I'm at a loss to know where the problem lies.

    I've had the bedroom TV switched on at the same time since I read your post to see if that affected the main TV but all's well still.

    This might remain a mystery!
  • LadyDee
    LadyDee Posts: 4,293 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Well - my TV might just have been saved from the tip! The TV has been on now for many hours, and (says it very quietly) not a sign of yesterday's problem. Who would have thought? I'm wondering now if the power problems might have been something to do with the storms. Hope this situation continues.

    Many thanks to those who offered help and advice.
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