Experiencing audio loss on cable tv

[Josh380]

Didn't know where to post this..figured this was the closest fit.

As the title suggests, I'm losing audio from cable tv. It's weird. I turn on the tv (nothing fancy, just a crt tv, wega style), I get audio from all of the channels no problem for a good 15-20 minutes, then it fades out. If I shut it off for the same amount of time and turn it back on, the audio is back. If I switch to video 1 or any other input, I have audio all the time..no problems at all. My picture can get a little fuzzy on some of the channels, and if I mess with the cable at the tv end, it gets a little clearer, but for the most part I've come to terms with that as the occasional fuzzy channel doesn't bother me. What good is being able to see tv if I can't hear it? I could turn on subtitles, but c'mon, I can hear.

When I installed the cable in my room, I used standard RG-6 coax with those twist-on connectors. Everything tight, outdoor feed lines and T's are covered from weather. Could the twist on connectors be the root of the problem? Cable tv works fine in the rest of the house.

 

[prcguy]

If the cable box is left on and the only thing you are turning on and off is the tv, then the tv is broken. If you've been turning the cable box on and off with the tv then leave the box on for a long period and see if the tv still has a problem after 15-20min of use. If you do the tv is broken.

Cable tv is notorious for technical problems but in this case its probably not them. Good thing is, new tvs are out there with lots of great features and they are getting dirt cheap.
prcguy

 

[Josh380]

Thanks for the input, but I figured out that the rf connecter on the inside of the tv seems to have a loose connection..no tellin if there's any pcb damage until I open it up..trace might be lifting..who knows. BTW I'm not using a cable box. There are 2 cable boxes in the house, but I do not have one of those. Using a T connector, I added the line that comes into my room from the main line.

I know with crt monitors, you're supposed to leave it unplugged for an hour before going inside, to allow for the capacitors and other high voltage stuff to discharge, like the plugs that go to the tube itself. The proper name eludes me, it's been years since I've had to go inside a monitor, but since I don't have to mess with the tube, I'll be leaving those bad boys alone.

My question is, how long should I wait for the capacitors to discharge before messing with any board level repairs, considering this tv is much larger than your typical crt monitor?

 

[krokus]

... BTW I'm not using a cable box. There are 2 cable boxes in the house, but I do not have one of those. Using a T connector, I added the line that comes into my room from the main line.

I hope you are not really using a T. Use a two-way splitter.

I know with crt monitors, you're supposed to leave it unplugged for an hour before going inside, to allow for the capacitors and other high voltage stuff to discharge, like the plugs that go to the tube itself. The proper name eludes me, it's been years since I've had to go inside a monitor, but since I don't have to mess with the tube, I'll be leaving those bad boys alone.

My question is, how long should I wait for the capacitors to discharge before messing with any board level repairs, considering this tv is much larger than your typical crt monitor?

There are not many storage caps inside the modern sets. They should be safe in seconds, excluding the high voltage section.

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[Josh380]

I hope you are not really using a T. Use a two-way splitter.

Sorry, I am using a splitter...it's actually a 3 way..again, just couldn't think of the name.

There are not many storage caps inside the modern sets. They should be safe in seconds, excluding the high voltage section.

This is still a tube tv. It's not an LCD, Plasma, or LED. It's a Sony WEGA. Not quite modern. I think I'll leave it unplugged for a few hours just to be safe.

 

[krokus]

...This is still a tube tv. It's not an LCD, Plasma, or LED. It's a Sony WEGA. Not quite modern. I think I'll leave it unplugged for a few hours just to be safe.

I am familiar with the Wega series. I was counting that as modern, as it is much newer than some I have worked on.

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[Josh380]

Oh. Ok. I wasn't trying to discredit what you were saying, just more familiar with older technology I suppose. I still run XP on my computer if that tells you anything.

I just hope the trace hasn't lifted. I'm not sure it'll be worth fixing at that point. I've had bad luck with TV's lately. Bought an LCD used and the screen itself is jacked up. No picture, at least not for long if at all. I had a 47" Projection TV. Don't know what happened with that, but it stopped working. Someone gave me an LCD TV, or so I thought...turned out the damn thing didn't even have a TV tuner. Just HDMI inputs and RGB, 47" screen, and about 100 lbs of useless (to me) weight.

 

[prcguy]

There is no safe time to wait for the CRT HV to discharge, you have to physically discharge it by shorting it to ground per mfrs recommendation to be sure.
prcguy

Thanks for the input, but I figured out that the rf connecter on the inside of the tv seems to have a loose connection..no tellin if there's any pcb damage until I open it up..trace might be lifting..who knows. BTW I'm not using a cable box. There are 2 cable boxes in the house, but I do not have one of those. Using a T connector, I added the line that comes into my room from the main line.

I know with crt monitors, you're supposed to leave it unplugged for an hour before going inside, to allow for the capacitors and other high voltage stuff to discharge, like the plugs that go to the tube itself. The proper name eludes me, it's been years since I've had to go inside a monitor, but since I don't have to mess with the tube, I'll be leaving those bad boys alone.

My question is, how long should I wait for the capacitors to discharge before messing with any board level repairs, considering this tv is much larger than your typical crt monitor?

 

[Josh380]

UPDATE

So I haven't opened this tv yet but I'm pretty damn sure the trace has lifted. I get audio now for only 2 or 3 minutes and that's it.

Is there any way at all to bypass or reroute the the coax connection to say an rca input? Obviously I still need to use the tv's tuner somehow, or replace the tuner externally and use the tv as a monitor. I think a dtv tuner might work but I need the output to be rca instead of the usual coax connector.

Basically, I want to use Video 1 for my regular TV viewing. Any ideas? And I don't want to buy a video box from my cable co.

 

[krokus]

Is there any way at all to bypass or reroute the the coax connection to say an rca input? Obviously I still need to use the tv's tuner somehow, or replace the tuner externally and use the tv as a monitor. I think a dtv tuner might work but I need the output to be rca instead of the usual coax connector.

There are external tuners available, but the inexpensive models do not have baseband connections. Some over the air DVR models have HDMI outputs.

You could use a DVD player, VCR, or a cable box, as a signal source, for testing.

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