My in-laws’ TV died. It was older, so I wasn’t terribly surprised. Unfortunately, TV is pretty much their main source of entertainment, so they needed a replacement.
We offered the one in our bedroom until they could take advantage of Black Friday sales. We don’t use it much, but it’s in good working order.
So when Tim couldn’t get it to work over in the guest house, he knew something was fishy. Turns out, the input/output cables on the old TV had gone bad.
The biggest clue was that the sound still worked, but there was no picture. If his dad had mentioned that, we might have suggested they troubleshoot it first.
Tim came back into the house, pulled some cables out of a box — where they seem to congregate and breed — and voila! Their TV works again.
Look, electronics are big and confusing and, in some cases, dangerous to toy with. But if you’re going to throw it away anyway… I just like to think that I would have checked the Internet before giving up on it.
Then again, I have fallen down on that in the past. Our old vacuum cleaner stopped picking up much of anything. I cleaned out the roller area, which managed to get matted with hair and, for some reason, floss.
I tried a couple of similar things, but nothing helped. I was tired and stressed (I know, shocking) and Tim was lobbying to just get a new one. I relented.
A couple of weeks later, we mentioned the issue to a friend. He pointed out it probably just needed a new filter. D’oh! (In my defense, I grew up with an actual bag vacuum. I’d really never dealt with filters before. Still… D’oh!)
Anyway, the moral of this story is: Check before you chuck.
My mom gave our toaster an extra 7-10 years of life by just replacing a power cord. She also kept our old VCR going: If it started acting up, she opened it up, cleaned it and it would behave for another couple of months.
One caveat: Know the obvious dangers. For example, never, ever, ever, ever mess with anything near a TV’s cathode ray tube. If it gets damaged, you are going to be hurt. Badly.
So, be careful, but be prudent. As long as you exercise some caution, you might as well try, right? If you’re going to throw it away, it doesn’t really matter if you break it more. And, as with my in-laws, you may just save yourself $150-200 with a $5 set of cables.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
it is always a great idea to get a knowledgeable friend or family member to troubleshoot these things. in the end, it could save time and hundreds of dollars. it typically ends up being a simple and inexpensive fix. i will say, the new flat panel TVs do not last nearly as long as the older cathode ray tube TVs.
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Abigail Reply:
October 17th, 2012 at 3:25 pm
It would be nice to have some friends with expertise. Unfortunately, we don't know a plumber, which is where we've needed to spend this year. I'm sure our electrician friend will come in handy, though.
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Abigail Reply:
October 17th, 2012 at 3:25 pm
It would be nice to have some friends with expertise. Unfortunately, we don't know a plumber, which is where we've needed to spend this year. I'm sure our electrician friend will come in handy, though.
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I totally support the sentiment of this post. Without the help of professionals, we've fixed the wiring on our doorbell system, a broken lid switch on our washing machine (that made the entire thing stop working), a clogged garbage disposal, and the ice maker on our refrigerator. That's just this year. I never really thought of it as frugal, just necessary. Luckily, we live in the age where you can find pretty much any repair instructions after just a quick google search.
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Abigail Reply:
October 17th, 2012 at 3:24 pm
Christina: The Internet really does enable a whole lot more home repairs, to be sure!
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Abigail Reply:
October 17th, 2012 at 3:24 pm
Christina: The Internet really does enable a whole lot more home repairs, to be sure!
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Thank you very much for this article. It inspired me to go across downtown to the bus system Lost and Found to look for my jacket that I left on the bus last week. Sure enough, they actually had it! My favorite fleece is now back in my possession, and, more importantly, I don't have to pay for a replacement!
This article was exactly what I needed to push me into wandering outside of my comfort zone.
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