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Thread: Is it worth repairing Plasma TV's anymore?

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    Default Is it worth repairing Plasma TV's anymore?

    Suppose this goes to Oscar, Mickestv and ICW mainly.

    Thanks to you guys i managed to repair a few Plasma's a while back.

    I have always kept my eye open on Ebay for the LG, poor LG or other brand with LG stuff inside, going cheap and of course local for pickup.

    But it seems that the sellers are aware that faulty plasmas can still attract prices from $50 to $200 with warnings of "SOLD AS IS", "SUITABLE ONLY FOR PARTS". Yet they sell them!!

    I've seen 50" Soniqs brand new going for $780...

    So how the hell are you guys coping to make something out of trying to convince the customer that it's worth repairing their 2 year old 42" plasma for $400...?



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    Hi GT250, Long time. No I'm qouting all the time on plasmas. I'm finding now that if I have say 10 in for the week I might only fix 2-3 of them and thats if the repairs are under about $300.



    Mickstv
    Last edited by mickstv; 10-10-10 at 04:53 PM.

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    Just a question on the topic, what lifespan does a Plasma TV have out of the box ? I mate just bought an LG 60 inch and I was wondering what they are like ( as a unit , LG as warranty ) etc

    TIA

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sanity View Post
    Just a question on the topic, what lifespan does a Plasma TV have out of the box ? I mate just bought an LG 60 inch and I was wondering what they are like ( as a unit , LG as warranty ) etc

    TIA


    Hi Sanity, I remember reading somewhere 20000-30000 hours some manufactures claim upto 100000 hours but with newer screen technology it might be more. The brightness will slowely deteriorate over time.

    Pretty sure LG only have 12 months on Plasmas. Used to get plenty of LG's in under WRTY but it's slowed down at the moment. The quality is pretty good and parts are cheap.




    Stolen from another site.

    Manufacturer figures for longevity are closely guarded but I have added some here for your review:

    Panasonic: States in new specifications that new plasma TVs and monitors are good to 100,000 to half life.

    Sony: Now out of the plasma market. Does not list a figure for LCD lineup.

    Samsung: Lists 100,000 hours for plasma lineup.

    LG: States 100,000 hours for both plasma and LCD.

    Sharp LCD panels: States 100,000 hour life.







    Mickstv
    Last edited by mickstv; 10-10-10 at 05:17 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by mickstv View Post
    Hi Sanity, I remember reading somewhere 20000-30000 hours some manufactures claim upto 100000 hours but with newer screen technology it might be more. The brightness will slowely deteriorate over time.

    Pretty sure LG only have 12 months on Plasmas. Used to get plenty of LG's in under WRTY but it's slowed down at the moment. The quality is pretty good and parts are cheap.





    Mickstv
    Thanks mick, he only got a 12 month warranty so it should be interesting.

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    I have had to repair 3x 60 inch LG's in the last couple of months with screen brightness fault top half of screen normal brightness but bottom half darker. They have been minor faults with poor connectors between the Ysus and buffer boards but it's and easy fix If it occurs.



    Mickstv

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sanity View Post
    Just a question on the topic, what lifespan does a Plasma TV have out of the box ? I mate just bought an LG 60 inch and I was wondering what they are like ( as a unit , LG as warranty ) etc

    TIA
    Hey! Aren't you hijacking the thread Sanity?

    What does lifespan of a plasma got to do with my original post of how the repairers out there are coping with the cost of repairs against the cost of new plasmas?
    I don't personally see a 'on the topic' context in your post.

    You'd be better off posting a new thread under a heading of "Are LG 60" Plasmas ok".

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    Quote Originally Posted by GT250 View Post
    Hey! Aren't you hijacking the thread Sanity?

    What does lifespan of a plasma got to do with my original post of how the repairers out there are coping with the cost of repairs against the cost of new plasmas?
    I don't personally see a 'on the topic' context in your post.

    You'd be better off posting a new thread under a heading of "Are LG 60" Plasmas ok".
    I dont really care what you personally see.

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    Hi Sanity Pretty much agree with what Mick said.
    We do lg and the new models are definitely more reliable within the warranty period.
    The older high def panels seemed less reliable than the SD type.
    As to the future who knows.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Oscar View Post
    As to the future who knows.
    Yes Oscar, who knows what the future holds.
    After many years of fruitful self employment I have lamentedly closed doors and gone to work for a major manufacturer. Impossible to compete with big ASCs, even though my knowledge base and expierience is far greater than the board jockeys they send out to attempt repairs. It was fun while it lasted.
    "The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom." - Issac Asimov

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    I have a few mates that just got let go from some big warranty repair centers
    It's getting quieter all the time in the repair game IMO
    When you do things right, people won't be sure that you have done anything at all

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    Might be time for all of us to head over to the mines for a few years.

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    I've been out of the TV servicing game since 2002, when a certain retailer started bringing cheap china crap into the country and killed the industry overnight.

    I look at the new plasma and LCD sets and wonder if this is a case of history repeating itself.

    The cost of a replacement panel (after little Johnny has thrown a marble at it and cracked the glass) exceeds the cost of a replacement set.
    It seems that repairs to these TVs can also be over and above the cost that people are prepared to pay.

    When a new TV is only $800 or less, no one is going to want to pay $500 for their 4 year old set to be fixed - and most of this is usually parts value.

    I don't know if it's the same in Oz, but here in NZ, people generally buy on price alone. Quality rarely comes into it.
    The Red Shed sells china junk like Transonic, Sanyo and other nasty brands - and people buy them! They're cheap, they're big, and if they break down, they're just not worth repairing.

    I have often wondered, just what the actual cost of producing a large panel TV is these days.

    Take this as an example:

    A SONY KDL46EX500 46" full HD LCD. Current retail here is $1999

    What would that set actually cost to produce?

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    Hi Studio1, It's funny like you would know yourself from working on this sh*t most of the cheaper brand sets use the same screens that come out of name brand manufactures and just adding the cheap and nasty electronics to them. Then sell the product for half the price of the name brand product. So these dodgy companies must be making money. ie $800 plasma for all we know they could be making $200-400 on each set. So I could just imagine how much money the name brand manufactures are making.


    Then if we try to fix anything out of warranty they shaft us in the parts costs as well. So it's a no win situation.




    Mickstv

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    True.
    While a lot of cheap plasmas tend to use LG or samsung panels, they seem to make just enough subtle changes to the boards so that you still need the correct board to suit that brand and model.

    It would be good if the y-sus for example was generic across various makes and models, but the major panel suppliers seem to have made sure that it is not the case
    Reality is an invention of my imagination.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fernbay View Post
    True.
    While a lot of cheap plasmas tend to use LG or samsung panels, they seem to make just enough subtle changes to the boards so that you still need the correct board to suit that brand and model.



    I know things change all the time. But I do remember a few nec's and conwa's etv coming in they all had LG panels and your right the boards were slightly different the part numbers slightly different. But I got to a stage especially with Nec(Telefix) they would try to charge you 300-400 dollars just for a ysus board. So I tried the old board swap with LG version's that looked exactly the same (nothing to loose) and the LG version boards seemed to work ok. I always made sure the panel models were the same.



    Mickstv

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    I wonder if, with the recent price decline for new and working second-hand sets, the component level repair will re-gain its place in this business, at least to some extend.

    It looks pretty much proven to me that the board level repair is (or soon will be) no longer profitable for the repairer to make enough for living. And the main reason for this is the replacement boards cost.

    Well... maybe the natural selection will keep in business only the skillful and experienced ones who can find the $5 blown-up part on the PCB quickly enough to maintain the reasonable profit.

    It's all about math: Say, the working second-hand 42" Plasma costs roughly $300-400 on ebay. This is your absolute top limit for charging the customer.
    Generally (from my experience) the average blown-up components cost is between $30 and $80. Service Manual will cost another $20 to $50. That leaves about $150-200 worth in labour charge, which equates to just a few hours that you can afford spending on the set (even less for smaller size sets, like 32" and below)

    Is this possible? I personally doubt it, considering that no manufacturers give away any component-level repair information, and 95% of their Service Manuals don't even include the full schematics.

    So, my "Nostradamus" take on the subj will be that the repair business will die on the big scale, with some "nerds" left here and there, who will be doing the repair (for their friends) as a hobby that by itself never pays enough for living.

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    Well I'm no longer repairing Televisions , so I guess that makes me an EX-THIEF.
    But I figure if peoples are rich enough to buy an expensive Unit , then they are rich enough to be ripped off by the thieving repair Technicians.

    Its a shame many poorer people cop the same deal.

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    Quote Originally Posted by moeee View Post
    Well I'm no longer repairing Televisions , so I guess that makes me an EX-THIEF.
    But I figure if peoples are rich enough to buy an expensive Unit , then they are rich enough to be ripped off by the thieving repair Technicians.

    Its a shame many poorer people cop the same deal.

    Ripping people off. Hmmmm No I make everyone pay the same. But what shits me is the rich tossers come in and whinge when you charge them. But the poorer people always pay up and are happy the job is done.






    Mickstv

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