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A month ago, my parent's 3 year old 55" flat screen television quit working abruptly. I wasn't sure what was wrong, but decided to troubleshoot it. The parts are not available from the manufacturer, but I found that two LEDs in the backlight had burned out.

It turns out that the LEDs in most flat screen televisions are wired in series and if just one burns out in a way that breaks the circuit, the television no longer has a picture that can be seen.

My parents TV had 9 LED strips all wired together in series. Since the individual LEDs are "surface mounted" to the strips it takes special equipment and skills to replace them, so first I checked into replacing one of the 9 strips. None were available, and in fact the strips were glued into the TV in a way that made them difficult to remove.

So I purchased a 100 replacement LEDs for $10, a "soldering work station" with tiny hot air nozzles, and some special paste solder that is helpful when trying to use a "work station". I replaced the two LEDs and the set started working again.

Unfortunately, I chipped a piece of the screen when trying to reinstall the bezzles that hold the screen in place; the screen was destroyed by a tiny chip. No economical repair to it could be made or replacement part found. At that point I harvested the parts that might be useful to others, and I now have a 55" lit white screen that looks like a TV that might make a good picture frame or something to things on. I am fairly certain my wife will insist I take it to the dump if she sees it.

These things could be made easy to take apart and put back together. The parts and manuals could be made available to the public and repair shops, but they are not. It is more profitable to produce products that either cannot be fixed, or must be returned to the manufacturer for repair. It is called "planned obsolescence". I have a black and white Zenith Super R Chassis television from 1955. It still works, and when something goes wrong with it, I can still figure it out fairly easily. Replacement tubes and parts are getting to be nearly impossible to find and what is available are often not working anymore from sitting for nearly 70 years. But obviously this is not something that I blame the manufacturer for.

But we now have things like big screen televisions that are designed to fail within a few years and be nearly impossible to repair. Computers and phone are even worse. Many have software built into them that detect if you have installed a replacement part and will not work even if you make a good repair.

1 posted on 09/04/2024 11:06:50 AM PDT by fireman15
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To: fireman15
Here is a very good and entertaining video that explains the current planned obsolescence situation better than the article or me:

https://youtu.be/6IZe7KjIJg4

2 posted on 09/04/2024 11:10:48 AM PDT by fireman15 (Irritating people are the grit from which we fashion our pearl. I provide the grit. You're Welcome.)
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To: fireman15
Most things that companies do to make manufacturing a product less expensive, tend to make the product harder to repair.

Right now the car industry is moving toward the Tesla model of molding much of the car as a single piece of material. This lowers the cost of manufacture (fewer parts), but if any part of the car gets damaged then there is the possibility that the car will be unrepairable if the damage is significant, rather than just replacing the panel that was damaged.

3 posted on 09/04/2024 11:14:13 AM PDT by who_would_fardels_bear (Kafka was an optimist.)
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To: fireman15

I recommend antique stores. You can get things that can be repaired.

My current computer is a 2003 Gateway notebook. All of the more recent machines I have bought have died. Only this old machine works and it has fluorescent backlighting.

The good news is that round-a-bouts are now very popular in my area. We are ready for the return of the horse-and-buggy.


6 posted on 09/04/2024 11:28:16 AM PDT by Empire_of_Liberty
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To: fireman15
“It would be like your car manufacturer saying, ‘We’re the only ones that can change your tires,’ and at a certain point, they can no longer change your tires. I mean, come on,” said Vanderlip.

Car manufacturers do their level best, staying within the letter of the law, to make it work that way. Cars that require special manufacturer tools to correctly complete an oil change, for example.

14 posted on 09/04/2024 1:04:26 PM PDT by Campion (Everything is a grace, everything is the direct effect of our Father's love - Little Flower)
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