Westinghouse 32" LCD TV found in Goodwill Salvage Bin

[jr_tech]

Originally Posted by Captainclock

considering you can sell one of these sets for as much as $100 there's still plenty of room to make money on this TV yet.

Couple of things to consider here:
1. The power supply board might not fix the problem or other serious problems might be discovered, such as a bad screen.
2. A brand new 32 inch Westinghouse sells for about $130 on Amazon...possibly cheaper in discount stores...Why would anybody spend $100 for an old one with no warranty?

jr

[pac.attack76]

This is why I pass these up when I see them.

[Jeffhs]

There was a large-screen Westinghouse flat panel TV last year beside the trash barrels behind my apartment. I have no clue as to why it was being discarded, but I'm glad I left it where it was. I have read about the power supply problems these sets are prone to, and figured I would be better off without it.

I haven't seen another Westinghouse FP since then. Who makes these sets? I very seriously doubt it was any reputable manufacturer, which would explain why the PS boards go bad so often.

If I were to guess, however, I'd say the Westinghouse branded FPs were then and are to this day made offshore, like all other flat screens. The only American TV manufacturer left is Motorola, unless they too left our shores (as I am almost certain they did) and are now turning out short-lived FPs. Motorola was a great brand of television (I had a Motorola 21-23" b&w console, a trash find in my home town, in the '70s that worked very well) when they were making b&w and color NTSC TVs; it is a darn shame their sets' quality went downhill, not unlike Zenith when that company left Chicago.

If anyone here knows if Motorola is still making flat screens (or if they ever did), please let me know. Many Chinese and/or Japanese no-name electronics firms make the chassis for these TVs, which are subsequently rebranded using the names of former American TV giants like Zenith, Magnavox, RCA, et al.

Nice try, but this junk does not deserve to bear the name of any former great TV manufacturer; in fact, I believe it gives these companies, especially Zenith and RCA, a very, very bad name. This is exactly why, when my flat screen finally quits, I will bring out my 19" Zenith Sentry 2 to replace it. I am not that impressed with high definition TV, so going back to a 19" CRT set will not bother me in the least. This is the same thing, IIRC, that VK member Kamakiri has said he will do when his flat screen quits, and it wouldn't surprise me if a lot of other folks will do the same when their FPs do the same; that is, unless they made the mistake of throwing away their CRT TV when they got the flat screen. I will have no sympathy whatsoever for these people when (not if) they are left without TV (if they cannot afford a new FP) after the flat set quits. They were asking for it.

Update (5-12-16 8:28 PM EDST): I just looked up Westinghouse TV on Google, and found that they are (at least they say they are) the leading LCD TV manufacturer in the world. Perhaps they have gotten most if not all the bugs out of their flat screens, and the sets now being sold are much more reliable than the early ones. I have no idea how old the Westinghouse FP I mentioned earlier in this post (the one behind my apartment) was, but I would guess it was an earlier model; that or else it was used a lot, failing due to the usual reasons FPs bite the dust (exploded capacitors, et al.). The owner put it out with the trash and didn't look back.

[Captainclock]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

There was a large-screen Westinghouse flat panel TV last year beside the trash barrels behind my apartment. I have no clue as to why it was being discarded, but I'm glad I left it where it was. I have read about the power supply problems these sets are prone to, and figured I would be better off without it.

I haven't seen another Westinghouse FP since then. Who makes these sets? I very seriously doubt it was any reputable manufacturer, which would explain why the PS boards go bad so often.

If I were to guess, however, I'd say the Westinghouse branded FPs were then and are to this day made offshore, like all other flat screens. The only American TV manufacturer left is Motorola, unless they too left our shores (as I am almost certain they did) and are now turning out short-lived FPs. Motorola was a great brand of television (I had a Motorola 21-23" b&w console, a trash find in my home town, in the '70s that worked very well) when they were making b&w and color NTSC TVs; it is a darn shame their sets' quality went downhill, not unlike Zenith when that company left Chicago.

If anyone here knows if Motorola is still making flat screens (or if they ever did), please let me know. Many Chinese and/or Japanese no-name electronics firms make the chassis for these TVs, which are subsequently rebranded using the names of former American TV giants like Zenith, Magnavox, RCA, et al.

Nice try, but this junk does not deserve to bear the name of any former great TV manufacturer; in fact, I believe it gives these companies, especially Zenith and RCA, a very, very bad name. This is exactly why, when my flat screen finally quits, I will bring out my 19" Zenith Sentry 2 to replace it. I am not that impressed with high definition TV, so going back to a 19" CRT set will not bother me in the least. This is the same thing, IIRC, that VK member Kamakiri has said he will do when his flat screen quits, and it wouldn't surprise me if a lot of other folks will do the same when their FPs do the same; that is, unless they made the mistake of throwing away their CRT TV when they got the flat screen. I will have no sympathy whatsoever for these people when (not if) they are left without TV (if they cannot afford a new FP) after the flat set quits. They were asking for it.

Update (5-12-16 8:28 PM EDST): I just looked up Westinghouse TV on Google, and found that they are (at least they say they are) the leading LCD TV manufacturer in the world. Perhaps they have gotten most if not all the bugs out of their flat screens, and the sets now being sold are much more reliable than the early ones. I have no idea how old the Westinghouse FP I mentioned earlier in this post (the one behind my apartment) was, but I would guess it was an earlier model; that or else it was used a lot, failing due to the usual reasons FPs bite the dust (exploded capacitors, et al.). The owner put it out with the trash and didn't look back.

As far as I know Motorola got out of the Consumer electronics business back in the early 1970s selling their consumer electronics arm off to Matsushita Electronics Co. Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan aka the parent company of Panasonic and Quasar (which the Quasar brand name came about because Matsushita bought the Quasar name from Motorola) so I'm sorry to say that Motorola does not make TVs or radios anymore and haven't made them for over 40 years. Mostly Motorola just makes 2-way radios, Pagers and Cell Phones now.

I never said that flat-panels were good TVs I was just saying that basically the only thing you can do now if you want to stay in the TV/consumer electronics repair business is basically just repair failed Flat Panel TVs for people or for yourself, even if the profit margin isn't as big as it was with the CRT TVs. Anyways I agree with you I think that ATSC was the worst thing to happen to Television. I realize that a lot of people love the new dtv but in reality it just doesn't stack up agaisnt a good NTSC signal because unlike NTSC, ATSC leaves you with only 2 options either you have signal or you don't whereas with NTSC you at least had a picture and sound even if you didn't have the greatest signal. Also the audio quality leaves little to be desired ATSC TVs have the worst audio quality in the world I believe because since TVs are no thicker than a wall clock you are stuck with using horrible quality speakers that make the audio sound tinny and malformed.

Thankfully I have was able to get a hold of a few old Analog TVs (CRT units) that were just going to be junked and so I'm set for when my Flat Panels finally die. I have a nice 2000 vintage 27" Sony Trinitron TV, a 2004 vintage 27" Toshiba CRT TV, a 1986 vintage Zenith 9" Portable Color TV that can run off of 12 Volt car adaptor or 120v AC Adaptor (its one of the famous Zenith "Cube" TVs), a 1968 Sony 9" B & W TV, and a 1981 Vintage 9" Montgomery Wards Portable Color TV.

Anyways All I was trying to do was see if I could get this TV going and see if I could sell it to someone who might need a TV, that's all and yes I realize the "Westinghouse" name on this TV is not the same Westinghouse that made TVs 50 years ago here in America, that's not why I bought this TV from the salvage bin at work, I bought it because I figured that it would be something that if it wasn't working right I could see about fixing it up and then reselling it even if I don't make much of a profit off of it.

[Captainclock]

Originally Posted by pac.attack76

This is why I pass these up when I see them.

Yeah, well you're missing out on a great opportunity, because most of these Flat Pamel TVs only have a few capacitors that are bad in the power supplies that is why they quit working and once you replace the crappy poor quality caps with high quality Nichicon caps these TVs will last quite a while.

[rca2000]

Originally Posted by Captainclock

Yeah, well you're missing out on a great opportunity, because most of these Flat Pamel TVs only have a few capacitors that are bad in the power supplies that is why they quit working and once you replace the crappy poor quality caps with high quality Nichicon caps these TVs will last quite a while.

SOMETIMES it is that way...but OTHER times--there is a bad signal board, bad tab bond on the panel, bad ccfl tubes/Led's in the BL, or cracked panel you CANNOT see--till the BL is on..


I should know...I still work on them regularly. I see a WHOLE Lot more serious problems in only a short time--than I EVER did with CRT type sets.

Recently...I had a mitsubishi 40 inch LCD set. It had a MINOR burn on the right side...barely visible.
Pretty sure I could have sold it that way..few people would notice and the "Mitsubishi name" alone would help it to sell. Had it sold for 150...UNTIL the SECOND problem made itself known. It would suddenly go to ALL BARS..one one side of the panel. If you twisted it JUST a bit...it would clear up. Bad tab bond....there was NOTHING I could do to fix it reliably...and I TRIED...believe me I tried !! But I just could not make it stable....so I ended up scrapping it and saved all boards and parts.

Today....I worked on a not real old LG 50" set. No raster--but run volts are ok. There is a quick "flash then nothing". tests proved at least one LED strip is bad. I just repaired a 47" LG set with the same exact problem.

Another set i recently fixed...a 32" 014 model Emerson (Funai) The SMPS was blown up. I was able to fix that...and THEN I had a good BL and menu...but nO signal would pass--nor could I get into the service menu. I had tog et another signal board--by the time i was done...I had over 50 in it..and can only get 100 MAX for it--even with a remote.

Another Proscan set has no BL. not getting any BL supply volts from SMPS.

Yet another 55' VIzio will not boot. Tried reset. No good. Will ned the signal board rebuilt...minimum of near 100 to get that done..

So...not NEARLY all of them are "just something simple like caps or connections. a FEW of them...but a LOT need parts--that often cost between 15 and 100..

[Captainclock]

Originally Posted by rca2000

SOMETIMES it is that way...but OTHER times--there is a bad signal board, bad tab bond on the panel, bad ccfl tubes/Led's in the BL, or cracked panel you CANNOT see--till the BL is on..


I should know...I still work on them regularly. I see a WHOLE Lot more serious problems in only a short time--than I EVER did with CRT type sets.

Recently...I had a mitsubishi 40 inch LCD set. It had a MINOR burn on the right side...barely visible.
Pretty sure I could have sold it that way..few people would notice and the "Mitsubishi name" alone would help it to sell. Had it sold for 150...UNTIL the SECOND problem made itself known. It would suddenly go to ALL BARS..one one side of the panel. If you twisted it JUST a bit...it would clear up. Bad tab bond....there was NOTHING I could do to fix it reliably...and I TRIED...believe me I tried !! But I just could not make it stable....so I ended up scrapping it and saved all boards and parts.

Today....I worked on a not real old LG 50" set. No raster--but run volts are ok. There is a quick "flash then nothing". tests proved at least one LED strip is bad. I just repaired a 47" LG set with the same exact problem.

Another set i recently fixed...a 32" 014 model Emerson (Funai) The SMPS was blown up. I was able to fix that...and THEN I had a good BL and menu...but nO signal would pass--nor could I get into the service menu. I had tog et another signal board--by the time i was done...I had over 50 in it..and can only get 100 MAX for it--even with a remote.

Another Proscan set has no BL. not getting any BL supply volts from SMPS.

Yet another 55' VIzio will not boot. Tried reset. No good. Will ned the signal board rebuilt...minimum of near 100 to get that done..

So...not NEARLY all of them are "just something simple like caps or connections. a FEW of them...but a LOT need parts--that often cost between 15 and 100..

I wasn't saying that all of them are an easy repair but most of the ones I've dealt with were just simply a bad set of capacitors in the power supply. but anyways I'm sorry if my comment seemed a little ignorant, that wasn't my intention.

[centralradio]

Originally Posted by pac.attack76

This is why I pass these up when I see them.

That probably will happen here if theres no cheap fix for them.Now I got two to my name sitting here.The good thing about them is they dont take up room and some are light to carry around.Not like those boat anchor 32 inch CRT sets.

[Captainclock]

Originally Posted by centralradio

That probably will happen here if theres no cheap fix for them.Now I got two to my name sitting here.The good thing about them is they dont take up room and some are light to carry around.Not like those boat anchor 32 inch CRT sets.

Well when I picked it up, I was taking a chance on it because sometimes they work just fine and sometimes they need a little work and sometimes they may not be worth my time to fix. I just thought that since it was an older unit that it would of more than likely had the bad power supply capacitor issue than a newer one would of (since it has the power supply that uses the 3-prong computer style power cord setup as opposed to a brick like your newer LCD TVs have which aren't as easy to fix or diagnose.) And anyways I haven't given up on this TV yet because you can find a used power supply/inverter board for this TV for around $20 with free shipping on eBay. So I'm going to take a chance with that and see what happens, if that doesn't fix the issue then I might just give up on the TV and just recycle it.

[centralradio]

Originally Posted by jr_tech

Couple of things to consider here:
1. The power supply board might not fix the problem or other serious problems might be discovered, such as a bad screen.
2. A brand new 32 inch Westinghouse sells for about $130 on Amazon...possibly cheaper in discount stores...Why would anybody spend $100 for an old one with no warranty?

jr

You got a point there.I just looked up a Delta power board for a Vizio and almost died after looking at the price for it.A couple to few hundred bucks more you can buy a new set.