Expected lifetime of new TV sets

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by waltchan

Does this also apply to my 25" RCA CTC-121 chassis? The FCC-ID code shows it was designed in 1983 but my set was made on Janauary 1984.

As far as I know from Consumer Reports, in the early 80s, Sony and Mitsubishi tied #1 in reliability back then. Then Panasonic took over after 1985 and stayed #1, until 2003 when Sony, Sanyo, and Toshiba are now more reliable than Panasonic after more than 20 years of absence. I wonder what caused the Panasonic CRT reliability to drop after 2003.

I was recently asked to fix a later model 36" Panasonic CRT flat screen. All that was wrong was the AC fuse and the chassis appeared to be much better quality than the '80's and '90's Panasonics. The ones from the '80's and '90's usually had bad flybacks, a ton of bad solder connections, and weak CRT's (mainly on the 19" and larger sets). Panasonic made a chassis for GE that was to be used in 25" sets from the mid '80's. It's the one that used the TLF14423F flyback (I know some of you old TV men know what chassis I'm talking about). Every one of those I ever got had a bad flyback, weak CRT, loose connections, or a combination of the three. I finally got to the point that I would not go any further if I discovered that chassis in a set.

[NowhereMan 1966]

Here, our 1982 Zenith System 3 is still going, sometimes she shows her age a little but she is still as good as the day we got her. I also have a 1964 VT-110 Sony B&W set too. I still have a 1970 Zenith Chromacolor I'd like to get back into action. Come to think of it, one of our Olympic runners, he's a Somalian refugee from Kenya, his inspiration was running several miles to the only B&W TV Set around to watch the Sydney 2000 games. On another forum I'm on, Free Republic, I talked to someone that still uses a 1976 Zenith Chromacolor II he bought new.

[waltchan]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

I was recently asked to fix a later model 36" Panasonic CRT flat screen. All that was wrong was the AC fuse and the chassis appeared to be much better quality than the '80's and '90's Panasonics. The ones from the '80's and '90's usually had bad flybacks, a ton of bad solder connections, and weak CRT's (mainly on the 19" and larger sets). Panasonic made a chassis for GE that was to be used in 25" sets from the mid '80's. It's the one that used the TLF14423F flyback (I know some of you old TV men know what chassis I'm talking about). Every one of those I ever got had a bad flyback, weak CRT, loose connections, or a combination of the three. I finally got to the point that I would not go any further if I discovered that chassis in a set.

Were all the Panasonic/Quasar sets from the 80s and 90s you serviced were assembled in Canada or Mexico? Maybe that's why the solder connections were poor. I have a Made in Japan 1985 Panasonic CT-130V TV/VCR combo, and the TV solder connections look very solid, tight, and beautiful to me. This one was the first 13" TV/VCR combo ever made in history and weighs a ton. Do you think a Made in Japan Panasonic/Quasar set used a better flyback?

[radiotvnut]

I think most of those Matsushita chassis that I hated were assembled in Mexico. Your 13" TV/VCR combo from '85 probably is a high quality unit if it was made in Japan. I do know that Matsushita built stand alone VCR's from the mid '80's were well made and would often last for years without trouble. We had a Magnavox branded Matsushita VCR from the mid '80's and it lasted for years.

One reason flyback failures might have been so common around here is because of the high humidity. I have replaced a ton of flybacks and HV triplers that would break down and start arcing and burning.

[Phil Nelson]

In the early 1980s, I bought a Sony KV-1311CR monitor to use with my new Commodore Amiga. Basically a nice color TV with extra I/O connections.

As soon as Commodore started producing monitors, that TV became our daily watcher for years. It has remained in continuous use since then, and now sits on a corner of my office desk, where I watch it every day. Looks and works like new, although I eventually wore out the factory remote.

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

[whoaru99]

One thing I think is sometimes overlooked is communications.

Not that long ago, if there were lots of problems with things, word didn't always get around. Now, with the internet being so prevalent, we get knowledge of problems from all over the world.

So, is stuff really worse in terms of failure percentage of units produced? Or, does it just seem that way because word travels fast and far these days?

[NowhereMan 1966]

Originally Posted by Phil Nelson

In the early 1980s, I bought a Sony KV-1311CR monitor to use with my new Commodore Amiga. Basically a nice color TV with extra I/O connections.

As soon as Commodore started producing monitors, that TV became our daily watcher for years. It has remained in continuous use since then, and now sits on a corner of my office desk, where I watch it every day. Looks and works like new, although I eventually wore out the factory remote.

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

I use a Commodore 1702 monitor as a color TV in my room and it doubles as a display for the Playstation. Since it has no tuner, I use a Zenith DTT-900 ATSC tuner for TV. It has an excellent picture.

[rcaman]

Originally Posted by whoaru99

One thing I think is sometimes overlooked is communications.

Not that long ago, if there were lots of problems with things, word didn't always get around. Now, with the internet being so prevalent, we get knowledge of problems from all over the world.

So, is stuff really worse in terms of failure percentage of units produced? Or, does it just seem that way because word travels fast and far these days?

yes there is a lot of pure crap out there now. rca & philips is one of them . steve

[whoaru99]

Perhaps, but I'd still like to see some real failure rate info like R/100 et al.

[andy]

...

[Title17]

So far I am not all that impressed with new televisions, I Picked up a 42' Sony Grand Wega this week and considering that this was $2000+ brand new in 2004, I would have expected it to last longer without needing a major repair. So here it sits till I feel like paying $400 for a replacement "optical block". Maybe I expect a little too much, but considering that I have equipment from the 70s that still works flawlessly, and a old Sears 19 inch color set that still works perfect....

[wajobu]

Well, the jury is out here with an LCD TV (Sharp 19" Aquos--a little over a year old), but when a TV can last longer than my venerable Panasonic 12" color TV (vintage 1985 and dropped twice with NO DAMAGE!) that will be an LCD TV that I can believe in.

[Phil Nelson]

Originally Posted by NowhereMan 1966

I use a Commodore 1702 monitor as a color TV

My 1702 monitor is still in service, too. Our kids have logged countless hours on it with various game machines.

Phil

[waltchan]

Originally Posted by andy

If I had to choose, I would say that the late 70's to mid 80's were the peak of reliability for TVs. Solid state designs had been perfected, and they were still designed to be serviceable. It was common for an 80's TV to work for 10-20 years and never need any service.

What's your most favorite of all that peaked in reliability? Provide the brand and model number.

[MRX37]

Modern TV's aren't really expected to last five years.

I've found Toshiba TV's from the late 80's up to 1990 are easy to fix. They had red/brown caps that are almost always bad, and replacing them makes the tv work perfectly.

I also recently found a 1987 JC Penny TV with a "Chungwa" picture tube in it. This TV works fine in spite of being over 20 years old. Whoever "Chungwa" is, they made a decent CRT.