Paul FenwickSep 27

Today I fixed a television out of spite.

One of the most common faults with modern TVs is a backlight failing. These are cheap to replace, and the tools to test them are cheap to obtain.

But the effort to get to the backlights? Oh my!

A TV that was made to be repaired would have a separate pane for backlights you could slide out, or some other access mechanism.

But today's consumer TVs require you to disassemble practically everything to get to the backlights. That means getting to them is a huge investment in time (for self-repair) or money (if you go to a repair shop and pay for labour). TV companies know that most people will just buy a whole new TV.

So today I fixed the TV out of spite. Not because it was rewarding, or for environmental or financial concerns (although all of these are valid). I fixed it because the company that made it did not want it to be easily fixed.

Show threadMidgePhoto

@pjf
Good work.
I'd think if backlights are expected to fail multiple times in one TV then designing them like room lights to easily replace the bulb would be obvious.
If most TVs reach their end of life without a single backlight failure then perhaps we would spend most effort on getting a very uniform blending of light from multiple "bulbs" inside them, and on mak8ng panels durable.

I've observed over decades car bonnet spaces going from difficult to work on to much more organised ...

Sep 27 at 11:14amMastodon for Android
Show threadMidgePhotoSep 27

@pjf ...as the likelihood of a catastrophic major component failure being the engines terminal event has come down.
Now we are abandoning things that burn and go bang and reciprocate, and I have some electronics in there and nicely made containers for fluids, and space and clips and clever covers.

I don't think TVs have quite got there, but it may not be long.
Or they might become walls. Change the light from the next room.

Show threadRichard 🔶UK #RejoinEUSep 27
@Photo55 @pjf so you’re saying that they are becoming so reliable that there’s less need to make them easy to fix. I suppose we could add that the technology moves on so far and so fast that you would want a newer model anyway… I’m sure there must be evidence to make a rational decision whether to be bitter or not
Show thread@stevewfoldsSep 27
@rpin42 @Photo55 @pjf
New silicone chips & software make my consumer hardware obsolete about every 7 years. Apple.
Show threadMidgePhotoSep 27

@rpin42 @pjf
Lightbulbs are easy to change because the fitting and switch last 20-50 years and the Tungsten filament lasted 1 year.

I've not seen a count, but I suspect most TV sets go out of service not because a backlight failed, and the backlights are expected to last, I don't know, 10 years gradually becoming dimmer but with headspace in the original brilliance to make up for that.

Ours still sits in a space in the room that was defined by a big CRT.

Move to a wall and a projector ...

Show threadMidgePhotoSep 27

@rpin42 @pjf
... and again we find the single point light source is expected to burn out before the rest of the kit is obsolete, so open a panel and gently screw in a replacement.

Or some other approach. Swings back and forth.

Show threadprokyonidSep 27

@Photo55 @pjf about the car thing: For the US market at least, the peaks for reliable underhood components / easy to access underhood components have come and gone, circa the late 00s.

Nowadays, we have alternators that fail before 3 years of age and require 8 labor hours to change, plus draining the coolant system and recovering the refrigerant to access them.

Show threadMidgePhotoSep 27

@prokyonid @pjf
Alternators are severely obsolete!
The replacement subassembly probably does need to be where changing it is quite a job, and needs cooling if there's combustion nearby.

(The F1 cars nowadays can do a restart after stopping near the track, and move off quite smoothly, because they lead the move to brake/re/generator/starter that has reached other hybrid ICE vehicles.)

Show threadprokyonidSep 27
@Photo55 @pjf It's engineering oversight at best, although I suspect the true reason has more to do with cutting costs, both in production and in design. Everything on the belt drive should be easily accessible without having to remove a bumper or lower a subframe.
Show threadMidgePhotoSep 28
@prokyonid @pjf
That's awful. We know how to do that.
But having an alternator as a device sapping power off the engine is an old idea.
Show threadprokyonidSep 28
@Photo55 @pjf only if you're building a hybrid
Show threadMidgePhotoSep 28

@prokyonid @pjf

If not, it is an even older idea!