One of the Chinese sets that landed up on my bench to repair today...

[tvtech]

Hi All.

This thing was basically released from a factory somewhere in China. Cabinet and looks are great. 21 Inch flat screen tube as well. TV picture is so..so but will pass if compared to similar sets. Nothing to brag about. Ain't an LG or a Samsung though.

So with interest, I open the thing to see what is inside this beautiful casing. You never know these days anymore with the Chinese dumping all their crap in South Africa with total support from our Guvment. (That's how the masses who buy this stuff both say and spell words).

Anyways, here are a few photo's I took of this abortion earlier this afternoon. I will explain after the photo's.

OK. They loaded.

The first one is of the Tube Base board (factory mod).
The second one is also the Tube Base board (factory mod)
The third is the actual TV. Telefunken. Chinese rip off.
And the fourth photo is a mod to drive the Vertical Scan coils for this absolute abortion of a chassis (factory mod).

Note the cable ties.

To the untrained eye, all looks OK.To the trained eye something is wrong.

All I am saying by posting these pic's is this is the kind of crap (the dregs or very last of bits and pieces) China is pushing down South Africa's throat right now. I fixed the set. In spite of all the "factory" mods.

Maybe many people reading this post would not comprehend. FFS it is sooo difficult to explain sometimes.

If this abortion breaks within our warranty....we have a pile of poo on our hands.

I am up for the task though....I will just modify it further

Make it better than the original factory mess.....

Cheers

 

[Mike_2545]

You forgot to attach the photos

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Ah quality!

Presumably there's no quality or safety standards in SA?.

 

[tvtech]

Ah quality!

Presumably there's no quality or safety standards in SA?.

All quality control and safety standards went to pieces after 1994. Simply non existent now. Evident everywhere.

Even RDP houses that are built now fall apart within Months of the happy owners moving in.....

I will leave it there

Cheers

 

[HiTech]

Don't it tick you off dirtying your hands on crap like that?

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Don't it tick you off dirtying your hands on crap like that?

If it makes you a living, that's all that matters really.

 

[ben7]

I have had SOOOO many ripoffs-its driving me nuts-the poor quality of chinese products!
Anyone up for an unprotected transformer connected to mains?!

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Are you sure it's not got an internal thermal fuse?, which will die at the first opportunity.

 

[tvtech]

Are you sure it's not got an internal thermal fuse?, which will die at the first opportunity.

Probably has one. They are normally embedded in the outermost secondary winding (if I remember correctly). We had issues here years ago with "Techs" breaking open the insulation on Black and White TV transformers and simply bridging the Thermal Fuse out. With wire.

A case of "Hey, the transformer she is not burnt. I will try it....it's working".........

Hectic days. Very luckily (as far as I know) no loss of life.

On a funnier note. We get this set in yesterday. A Tedelex 54CM. Tedelex was a well respected brand here for a long time. Unfortunately, they have ceased TV production and have closed down due to the relentless onslaught of the Ching's.

Anyways this lady brings the set in and says it has some water damage. The guy booking the set in asks what happened? He writes on the jobcard something about plants and water. Alarm bells go off in my head when the set lands on my bench and I read the jobcard...and then open the set. Flyback caps legs are rusted off and so on. I expect the tube to be necked after the extra EHT that would result. Not so. Because the line Transistor had a great big burnt/arced area around it which shut down the Power Supply. In with a knife and cut out all burnt areas and make good again. Sets working. And obviously replacing the Flyback Caps before allowing the Line Stage to run.

Frigging brilliant picture too. BTW, there was also evidence of rust etc. on the final anode or as we call it the "Anode Cap". 27KV floating around there.

Now I want to warn this customer about the dangers of water and electricity........let me tell you...how she is still alive is a mystery to me.

She REGULARYwaters her potplants that hang beautifully arranged above her TV's. This is the first of many we will see.

Cause she owns a Guest House......aw crap . So I educated her and saved her potential lawsuit(s).

Gotta keep customers alive and work coming in

Cheers

 

[ben7]

Are you sure it's not got an internal thermal fuse?, which will die at the first opportunity.

If there is a thermal fuse in there, it must be teensy tiny!

Most house fires are started by electrical problems
My neighbor's house had a vintage fuse panel (no circuit breakers, fuses only) that actually melted down. What a scary moment! Luckily, her house suffered only minor smoke damage to a wall.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

If there is a thermal fuse in there, it must be teensy tiny!

They are commonly either on the outside of the windings (where you can see it) or on the inside of the windings where you can't - I was presuming it was an inside one.

Most house fires are started by electrical problems
My neighbor's house had a vintage fuse panel (no circuit breakers, fuses only) that actually melted down. What a scary moment! Luckily, her house suffered only minor smoke damage to a wall.

From what you see on 'This Old House' it's not surprising

 

[tvtech]

Thread was going slightly off topic as it was about TV stuff and all

So I think I will bring it back on track. Hope nobody minds.

If you are busy preparing food, or have just eaten, or are thinking of eating... better not to view the photo's posted far below. Especially if you have just eaten in someone else's house.....mind you, even visiting them and sitting in their lounge could be a problem. You could start itching for some unknown reason. It's like there are things moving. You can't really see them. But you swear you felt something moving on your arm or leg or even face.

The most common place for a family to gather around when a guest visits is probably the lounge. TV is there. When conversation hits a lull...turn the TV on and all is good.

So, anyway, this set came in today. Please remember people 99% of our repair business comes from Non Whites. This TV also came from a Non White household.

I am going to stop there and explain a few things

Whites can be dirty.
Blacks can be dirty.
Humans can be filthy.

In all my years of doing Service Calls for a major service company in South Africa I never once encountered such a nest...ever. Our customers were almost all white.

And yes, I know the drill. Roaches don't really worry me. As a TV tech they are a part of filthy peoples lifestyles. We do all colors here.....

I swear to God above, I have yet to find a Roach in a White persons TV. No matter how poorly they live.

White people like cleanliness. And the stupid blecks running the country now simply don't care.

Here are the pics at last

 

[tvtech]

Can't upload the last one. Oh well. You have probably seen enough.

The photo's don't do justice. Most of the cockroaches had already fled out of the Chassis by the time I grabbed my camera.

And they fled because I sprayed them. With poison. Roaches don't die easily. Disgusting things.

Cheers

 

[HiTech]

Good Lord that's disgusting! The public doesn't realize how many service shops have to undergo periodic pest control because of the propensity of insects to take residence in consumer electronics. Years back when I was in that business, if an item looking suspect entered the shop, it immediately got insect sprayed, placed in a plastic garbage bag and in the cold garage for a couple of days. It was disassembled out there and cleaned up before coming into the shop. That wasn't foolproof but it really reduced the chances of infestation and I never brought home a bug either!

BTW, infested electronic items were brought in by caucasions as well.

 

[tvtech]

I am going to update this thread Monthly. All I want is to keep it alive and make people aware....

I deal with so much crap here. FFS. That's life I guess.

Cheers

 

[tvtech]

Here is another I found in my archive...

This set came in way back. Clean outside....but a Rocket Scientist found a use for a peg..inside the set. No washing here, just 220VAC.

LOL

Cheers

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Interesting your mains leads use the UK colouring - brown and blue.

 

[tvtech]

Yip Nigel

Brown is supposed to be Live. Blue is supposed to be Neutral.

And you get a a two prong plug from the factory which can fit anyway around....
So everything can change.....

SMPS are not fussy though.

Cheers

 

[JimB]

South Africa uses old UK 15amp round pin plugs.

India uses old UK 5amp round pin plugs.

Singapore uses the current UK 13amp plugs.

The sun never sets on the British Empire!
And nostalgia is not what it used to be.

JimB

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

South Africa uses old UK 15amp round pin plugs.

India uses old UK 5amp round pin plugs.

Singapore uses the current UK 13amp plugs.

The sun never sets on the British Empire!
And nostalgia is not what it used to be.

I didn't know about India or Singapore, but I knew SA used the old UK 15A plugs.

When did the UK change to 13A?, must be 50 years ago or so?.