This could be the end of consumer electronic repair

[jhalphen]

Hi Merrylander,

you wrote: "When you say you get obsolete ICs from China do they actually work? I am desperate for an OKI MSM58141RS and can't find one anywhere".

Well, a mixed reply. i've used the search services provided by http://digchip.com/ and gotten satisfactory service.

They forward your request to companies having the wanted part in inventory and you receive quotes. Problems occur when the seller has a minimum order often in the range of US $125.00 to US $250.00 and you only want 1-2-3 chips.

Some sellers will call you and often you can get sympathy & work out a deal.

Recent experience: i needed a Sony CX22011 IC (Power management) to repair an Indextron. I got a very good response and excellent English communication with company http://www.allnewsemi.com BUT i am not sure the 5 ICs purchased work.

The SOP chips have long, uncut leads and i don't know if they have been tested, untested, factory rejects, or just plain phony. (see pix)

I also used this site http://www.ic2ic.com to locate obsolete parts, here is a screen capture of typical results.

BTW, i am still searching for 1-3 genuine, working CX22011 ICs (data & pinout below).

Hope this helps, wishing you success on the search for the OKI chip,

Best Regards

J.Halphen

[merrylander]

Tried all three but no result, thanks anyway.

[eberts]

When I assembled some Heathkit digital meters, they also came with those IC's with straight pins just like in your photo, in 1976.
The kit came with a little metal clamp thingy to "position" the pins to fit into the board.

[rcaman]

i have been doing tv repair for 30 years and yes our days are very nunbered. there will be sort of a hobby for us fixing some sets and that will be far and few in between we need a huge warehouse and throw nothing away. my shop gets most of the business within a 40 mile radius and it is getting slower and slower. a new walmart supercenter opened 20 miles from us in a college town where is was born and it is not a big town. i counted 46 different plasma and lcd sets that were on display not including crt sets. they has a vizio 32" plasma with a hell of a picture on it for a little over $500.00 sanyo is the only set i would buy from walmart. we are a asc for sanyo and they are the absolute best out there now. they will take care of the customer and send us parts at no cost under warranty. steve

[Bill R]

I don't know anybody that will repair a Vizio tv. We have to send all our returned sets back to California for repair. We have only had the Vizio 32 and 42 inch plasma sets for about 5 months now and their reliability is terriable. The only sets worse than them are the Polaroid sets we sell. The Vizio LCD sets seem only margianally better.
I try to steer people to the Sanyo, Sony, Samsung, and Sharp sets.

Bill R

[radiotvnut]

A friend of mine who owns a TV shop claims he can't get parts for the Vizio and Polaroid sets. He says they do have a good picture when they work; but, you might as well throw them out when they die.

I know someone who recently bought a Vizio, against my advice. I'm anxious to see how long it last before it kicks the bucket.

I too think Sanyo is a good TV for the money. I can actually repair most of the Sanyo CRT sets and I have yet to see a broken Sanyo FP set. I don't think any have made their way into my friend's TV shop, either. I can't say that for the other brands.

[Elfasto]

I have a 3 year old APEX 32" flat screen CRT TV. The picture is not too shabby with S-Video for DVD or Composite from my Laserdisc, but the tuner is absolute crap. All the channels are grainier than hell, interference lines all over the place. Only the strongest stations on Cable come thru clearly. Also it's kinda bogus to hook up to my stereo, since it's a non-remote control reciever, and the TV has no variable outputs and no way to shut off the speakers.

I also have a 1989 RCA Colortrac-2000 26" TV. It generally outperforms the newer TV in all the inputs (S-Video and composite), but it has a killer tuner in it. Very sharp picture on all channels. It also has the bonus of having a variable output for audio line out, and the ability to turn off the speakers, so hooking it up to my old rig is great. Volume is just one button away with the TV.

My point? Just because it's old, doesn't mean it's crap. Unfortunately, if the old unit needs parts, I'm SOL, and if the new TV goes kafluey, I'm also SOL.

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by Elfasto

My point? Just because it's old, doesn't mean it's crap. Unfortunately, if the old unit needs parts, I'm SOL, and if the new TV goes kafluey, I'm also SOL.

You might have better luck finding parts for the old RCA than the Apex. Even if the parts are discontinued for your RCA, someone on here may be able to help you. I had a very early '90's 27" RCA Colortrak 2000 that was a donation from the TV shop. It worked very well after I replaced the flyback and the HOT. That set had a wide array of input/output jacks.

I agree that just because it's old doesn't mean it's crap. All of my "in use" TV's were made between '69 and '93. The '69 is a 23" tube-type Zenith B&W console. Most of my stereo equipment was made in the '70's or earlier. I also have many record players, radios, and fans that are decades old and still serve me well.

[rcaman]

Originally Posted by Bill R

I don't know anybody that will repair a Vizio tv. We have to send all our returned sets back to California for repair. We have only had the Vizio 32 and 42 inch plasma sets for about 5 months now and their reliability is terriable. The only sets worse than them are the Polaroid sets we sell. The Vizio LCD sets seem only margianally better.
I try to steer people to the Sanyo, Sony, Samsung, and Sharp sets.

Bill R

i am using 2 vizio sets now that were returned. both had bad backlight inverters i fixed one inverter in the 30 inch and ordered a new inverter for the 20" the pix quality on the vizio,s is not great. steve

[Blackknight]

Modern electronics are not made to be repaired, unfortunately. Today's society is a throw-away society, if something breaks you toss it and buy a new one. This may change with so many people becoming more concerned about the environment however.

[zenith2134]

Thats a great idea about the warehouse...Maybe we can get a few members together and choose an ideal location for it. Realizing that not everything could possibly be saved, we can be rational and save only the rarest / best vintage TVs. Someone's gotta do it...This isn't like vintage cars...we are a rare bunch ourselves, and one day all of these sets will be landfill.

[Blackknight]

Originally Posted by zenith2134

Thats a great idea about the warehouse...Maybe we can get a few members together and choose an ideal location for it. Realizing that not everything could possibly be saved, we can be rational and save only the rarest / best vintage TVs. Someone's gotta do it...This isn't like vintage cars...we are a rare bunch ourselves, and one day all of these sets will be landfill.

It's not just audio stuff, I have throwing away ANYTHING that's fixable. Freecycle is great for some stuff but not everybody uses it. It would be nice if every town had a warehouse where you could just drop stuff off, kind of like Goodwill I guess, but free.