Our Magavox Television Repair Job

There are some days that I really get my knickers in a knot over shoddy workmanship.  So it was with our three year old Phillips/Magnavox television (model number 37MF331D/37).  I blogged about the power problem on this television back in September along with a fix I found online.  First let me say we will never buy a Phillips/Magnavox product again.  There is a class action lawsuit in the US regarding this very problem with their televisions failing often as soon as 90 days.  All I can say is they should be down right ashamed of themselves and their customer service is one of the worst I've ever dealt with!  We were in the position to trash the television or pay upwards of $700 to repair it so I figured doing a bit of research wouldn't hurt.  I found a website explaining how replacing the burned out capacitor with an inexpensive replacement capacitor from Radio Shack solved the problem.

Radio Shack is not in Canada but we have The Source so we stopped in and bought a package of capacitors (1).  The website had recommended a 30V capacitor but their customer service said we could go as high as 50V without a problem.  The package cost us $5.99 for 6 capacitors meaning the actual cost of the repair would be $1 plus time.  My husband took the stand and back off the television (1) revealing the port where the power supply circuit board was (2).  Opening the port (3) he disconnected the circuit board to work on.  The oval highlights the burned out capacitor (4).

Surprisingly taking the television apart to get to the circuit board was not difficult at all.  What ended up taking the time was getting the old capacitor freed from the solder but a bit of gentle persuasion did the trick.  Once the burned out capacitor was removed it took very little time to solder in the replacement capacitor then reassemble the television.

The green arrow is pointing at the tell tale signs of the burned our capacitor.  It was oozing black gunk at the website said it would.  Eventually the capacitor would have failed entirely.  At the point he replaced it the tv was taking a good 20 minutes to finally turn on.  Beside the burned out capacitor is the new one showing what the end should look like.

Now here is where I really get ticked off at Magnavox.  They know the capacitors are faulty yet they fail to resolve the problem.  They would rather lose customer loyalty rather than fix the problem.  The sad thing is the replacement capacitor cost us a whopping $1 so I'm pretty sure buying in bulk Magnavox would get the part a lot cheaper than that!

With the television put back together my husband reconnected all the extraneous equipment that goes along with televisions these days.  We waited with baited breath as he hit the power button on the remote.  The look on his face was absolutely priceless when the television powered on with no hesitation.  It was amazing!

Here I had done a bit of research to solve the problem while he had all the know-how to take the television apart and do the actual repair.  So we really worked as a team on this one.  The best part is our lemon of a Magnavox television is working perfectly at the cost of $1 and about an hour's worth of time.  It's too bad that Magnavox couldn't have put in the proper capacitor in the first place and their customer service really is horrid but in the meantime our television is working.

With that in mind I will say avoid Phillips/Magnavox products at all costs!  They use shoddy workmanship, shoddy and inferior parts destined to fail prematurely and their customer service is beyond horrid.  Perhaps customer service will change their attitude is enough people stop buying Phillips/Magnavox products to the point their jobs are on the line.  As I said we will never buy another one of their products and you can bet your bottom dollar I will give them a negative review on Epinions!  If you have a problem with your Phillips/Magnavox television with powering on this is likely the solution you need.  On a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being easiest and 10 being the most difficult I would rate this DIY project a 5. 

More Information on Magnavox Television Problem With DIY Solution

Yesterday I wrote about our Magnavox television problem.  Last night I did a bit more research and stumbled upon a site that explained how to fix the problem yourself.  Our television is a Magnavox 37MF331D/37 that was manufactured in July of 2006.  We bought it in early 2007.  The television power problem is bad enough that there are talks of a class action lawsuit against Phillips/Magnavox.  According to some sources the part costs $9 but labour to do the repair costs about $800.

What I found out was there is a 25V capacitor marked 2074 on the power supply circuit board that goes.  The capacitor is easy to identify when it goes because the top bulges and the ooze a black liquid.  Replacing these capacitors with Radio Shack part # 227 - 1020 (35V).  The problem in these televisions is when Phillips/Magnavox outsourced the assembly a 25 V capacitor was used when it should have been a 35 V capacitor.  I found a great series of photos from someone who fixed their television so we know what to look for.  He fixed his television for about $5 with the most time consuming part of the DIY project being removing all of the screws. 

My husband is going to pick up a new capacitor tomorrow then do the repair either tomorrow night or Wednesday morning.  At this point we have nothing to loose.  The television is not worth spending $800 on and now that it is refusing to power on without a great deal of effort, steadily getting worse it won't be long before it doesn't power on at all rendering the television garbage.  If all goes well with this DIY repair our television will be back to normal operating condition.  I will post how the repair goes.

Avoid Phillips/Magnavox Televisions! Our Lemon of a Television

Back in mid May of 2007 we bought a LCD Magnvox flat screen television.  It was on sale, had a great picture with high definition (HD) and was bought on a whim to replace a dead television.  As a result we did not do any research on this television, something that is rather odd for us.  What we have ended up with is a lemon!

The television is just a little over 3 years old.  A few months ago the power light started blinking rather than just turning on when pressed.  After several minutes we could finally get a picture.  My husband figured out a couple of tricks to get it going.  Over the last few weeks the situation has worsened.  A friend recommended we get the television checked but we put it off because a service call is $80.  It's a good thing we did.  A few days ago I did a Google search to find out that this is a common problem with Phillips/Magnavox televisions to the point there were complaints filed with the FTC and there is a class action lawsuit by dissatisfied customers underway.

There is no way a new television should fail within a 3 year period!  According to several sources the actual part is $8 but the costs to replace the part hover around the $800 mark.  Phillips/Magnavox is not standing behind their product essentially ripping off thousands of consumers.  I haven't called them but those who have are reporting horribly rude customer service over this issue.  Many have reported their Phillips/Magnavox television failing within a short period to a year after purchase so perhaps we were very lucky our television lasted 3 years.  We are now doing the research to replace this failed television.  I can guarantee you it will not be replaced with a Phillips/Magnavox television.  I can also guarantee that all of our friends, family and anyone else who will listen that they won't be buying a television for them either!

Dealing With a BUD (Big Ugly Dish)

Painted BUD

July 10, 2010

We installed a 10 foot satellite dish affectionately known as a BUD short form for Big Ugly Dish.  These types of dishes were all the rage for quite awhile as they allowed those in rural areas to get rather decent television service where they couldn't via any other method.  We installed it because quite frankly the service was less than half the price of cable with a lot more channels.  In fact for a few years it was actually free via free-to-air.  Our satellite dish was one of the fancier black mesh dishes so it was not as obvious as the solid beige dishes but it was still a BUB! 

It is really difficult to camouflage a BUD because anything that blocks the dish itself actually blocks your satellite signal.  So while the BUD gives a lot of great entertainment it really is an eyesore.  The next house we moved to had a BUD, one of the ugly solid beige ones.  We had brought our black mesh one with us which was a lot more work than you would think.  We sold the black mesh one, left the beige one where it was because that would have been a huge pain to take down, and installed one of the smaller satellite dishes.  Like many we simply just left the beige BUD were it was.  These huge ugly dishes continue to in many ways pollute the skyline.  There was one here when we bought the house.  We took it down.  There is one at the neighbouring house to the house we have the conditional offer on.  They are hard to get rid of so in many ways leaving them where they are seems to be the resolution.

I've seen some rather interesting uses for old BUDs.  Golf courses use them on the driving range.  Some enterprising people have sealed or the solid BUDs or used them under pond liners to make shallow garden ponds.  Others have done as this person did, paint them up to add a bit of whimsy.  If painting you will need a tall ladder as most BUDs are 10 foot diameter and raised above the ground by at least 8 feet.  The BUD should be pressure washed first then allowed to fully dry.  Use a good quality latex outdoor paint to do the design.  If the design is complicated you will likely have to mask of certain areas.  Use a good quality paint tape.  Remove the pains as soon as possible to prevent the sun from setting the adhesive.

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