21–30 of 75 posts
Whatever you do, don’t touch the capacitors, especially if it’s an old TV, even if it’s unplugged. Could kill you. Old TV caps pack a serious punch (even when unplugged)
The big risk in old TVs was the enormous voltages in the CRTs (which acted as a capacitor and stored energy even when off, and even pick up energy from background sources)
See if you can find a service manual for your TV. You'll want to get UART as soon as possible.
Just remember crashes are for chumps: https://gist.github.com/Benjamin-Dobell/bb13f6169aaa48625453...
PS. I think that may be my favourite piece of code I've ever written. Mostly because it's completely absurd but worked just fine.
Whatever you do, don’t touch the capacitors, especially if it’s an old TV, even if it’s unplugged. Could kill you. Old TV caps pack a serious punch (even when unplugged)
I think that's no longer true for modern flatscreen TVs. Older CRT TVs had caps charged to a dangerously high voltage, but all the caps on an LED/LCD TV should be a low enough voltage to be touch safe.
Its always best to work out where the mains PSU is, and either cover/isolate it so that you don't touch it by accident. Even if turned off, there is a non-insigificant risk that there is either mains power lying around or some other large charge/current ready to bite.
THe back of the inlet is also tends to be a hazard, so be really careful around there too.
Good luck. I learned an enormous amount about hardware design from a Philips plasma display I got for free some 20 years ago as it wouldn’t show an image for more than a few seconds and multiple repair people had said “buy a new one” to the business that gave it to me. £10,000 piece of kit, working. Philips were actually enormously helpful. I just called them up (well, after going to a TV repair shop, picking the guy…
Must’ve been really nice for those cold days. Plasmas are great on someone else’s power connection.
Still miss it, but probably miss the $5k I shelled out for it.
Whatever you do, don’t touch the capacitors, especially if it’s an old TV, even if it’s unplugged. Could kill you. Old TV caps pack a serious punch (even when unplugged)
[1] there are exceptions, e.g. older vacuum tube sets which used a mains-driven EHT circuit with discrete capacitors
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think that's no longer true for modern flatscreen TVs. Older CRT TVs had caps charged to a dangerously high voltage, but all the caps on an LED/LCD TV should be a low enough voltage to be touch safe.
Mains will still kill you, even if its not 3.3kv or what was needed to run a CRT. Its always best to work out where the mains PSU is, and either cover/isolate it so that you don't touch it by accident. Even if turned off, there is a non-insigificant risk that there is either mains power lying around or some other large charge/current ready to bite. THe back of the inlet is also tends to be a hazard, so be really care…
Whatever you do, don’t touch the capacitors, especially if it’s an old TV, even if it’s unplugged. Could kill you. Old TV caps pack a serious punch (even when unplugged)
Ya, i can relate.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Must’ve been really nice for those cold days. Plasmas are great on someone else’s power connection.
We had a great one that almost fully negated the need for a heater in the winter. Blackest blacks! Still miss it, but probably miss the $5k I shelled out for it.
Hacking TVs was a favourite pasttime of mine. There's nothing quite like flashing a TV with AOSP such that it thinks it's 55" smartphone. Lock screen and all. See if you can find a service manual for your TV. You'll want to get UART as soon as possible. Just remember crashes are for chumps: https://gist.github.com/Benjamin-Dobell/bb13f6169aaa48625453... PS. I think that may be my favourite piece of code I've ever wri…
I’d love to make it dumb or at least get rid of the nags to accept t&c or connect when someone accidentally hits the wrong button on the remote. Anything out there to do that?