Televisions contain enough juice to provide a one-way ticket to the cemetery, but I was undeterred. Being a graduate of what passes for Boy Scouts in North Carolina, I’ve seen folks eat poison, chop limbs and burn down medium-sized sections of a National Park (true story). I take this as evidence that the natural consequences of risk-taking behavior happen to other people.
I cracked it open and low and behold, was able to find a spot on the main circuit board that had corroded. This section was responsible for the volume subsystem, so I was feeling pretty confident in my ace deductive reasoning. I had hoped that the problem was caused by the corrosion creating a short circuit. If this was the case, there was a chance it could be fixed by simply cleaning it. Unfortunately, no dice.
My sister-in-law gave me a swanky portable microscope for Christmas, so I whipped that out for a closer look. Some of the wiring had been completely eaten through and simply wasn’t there anymore. Electricity had been flowing through a mixture of oxidant and a steadily decreasing amount of wire. Poor little TV, it tried so hard.
Anyway, it’s dead and I’m alive so that’s the end of the story.
5 comments:
Dad asked me who I knew who could walk 50 miles (his latest effort to make me feel better for pulling out of the race) I replied "Certainly not a boy scout!"
Dad: "true".
Good work on the TV- I am much the same- why pay someone to tell me it can't be fixed or plug somethign in for me?
I tinkered with a CRT one time and got the shock of my life.
I'm glad that microscope saw some use. Good for you for giving the fix-it-yourself a try. Consumer electronics are becoming way too expendable.
It took me a second to figure out how you had a sister-in-law. I'm not the smartest of the bunch.
You're a brave man. I would have just hit the side of the damn thing.
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