If you want anything done right...
November 3 2010
(Adapted from my latest TribLocal.com/Highland Park column)
Around my hometown, let's just say that "do it yourself" is not a common mantra. The service industry thrives. There are dog walkers and dog waste removal services, career coaches, college placement coaches, and "organizing services." Childproof your house for your newborn? No need, just hire an expert! Hang your own Christmas lights? Seriously, I recently received an advertisement for a holiday decorating service -- including burnt out bulb replacement within 24 hours!
Given the available options, it's not clear why I stubbornly insist on frequently going the do-it-yourself route. I'm not just talking lightbulbs and touch-up paint. I'll install light fixtures and timers for fun, hang shelves or window treatments, and paint, hammer, or sand my way through home improvement projects. Perhaps part of the reason for my can-do attitude is that today, through the magic of the Interwebs, anyone can summon the self-confidence to try anything.
DIY articles on the web or DIY videos on YouTube cover every conceivable topic. The good news is, sometimes a do-it-yourselfer will provide just enough encouragement through their web tutorials to encourage other would-be mister fix-its to join in the fun...or share in the pain.
A few weeks ago, I happened across just such a route to fixing my own problem, and saving money in the process. My HDTV, five years old, had started to sound like a jet engine on takeoff. The buzz was so loud that it was no longer comfortable to watch TV in the same room. After some Google searches on the subject, I learned that many Samsung HDTVs of similar vintage had problems with a defective color wheel. Samsung had even settled a class-action lawsuit on the matter, though apparently I missed out on the notification. Still, several DIY webpages existed as testimonial that replacing the color wheel was a DIY project -- no need to pay $400 for a service technician, just buy the replacement for $100 and follow the steps.
Despite a background in IT (including hardware in my early years) and a ham radio license that meant taking electronics apart and putting them together back in the day, I would never have attempted TV repair if not for the hundreds of comments on Jangro.com from other Samsung owners who replaced their own color wheels. After reading the instructions, and all the excited comments, I figured swapping out a single part would be easy enough. Well, in the end, it was -- I could replace a Samsung color wheel in about ten minutes now.
It wasn't a simple journey, though. Jangro's instructions covered a somewhat different model, and in his approach, you end up disconnecting and removing far more of the componentry than was necessary on my TV. His pictures aren't real helpful, either, since they show different parts and aren't really macro-close-up shots. Nonetheless, I figured deductive reasoning would get me there. When the $100 color wheel part arrived, I jumped in with both feet.
For a change, I documented everything I was doing, as Jangro.com suggested. Still, when I was done, something wasn't right. The ballast would fire but no picture. I tried undoing and redoing. I watched YouTube videos that were much more helpful than the written Jangro instructions. Still no success. Frustrated and about to leave town for a week, I reluctantly put the old jet-engine color wheel back in. That's when things went south. First, as I removed the new color wheel, a connector cracked and broke. So much for that replacement. Then, as I reinstalled the original part, I learned what I had done wrong with the replacement -- a ribbon cable inserted upside-down. Dang it.
Now I had to buy a replacement for the replacement. This time, I knew I didn't need Jangro's instructions, or the videos. It would all be smooth sailing. It took me about 15 minutes start to finish, and I had successfully installed the replacement color wheel. Unfortunately, the TV looked pretty odd, as if the colors were reversed. All that work and still, #fail. Worse yet I was going out of town again, so no time to dig into it. It turns out the last step was back on Jangro.com...many Samsungs have needed a small jumper removed in order for the replacement wheel to work. I got the needle-nose pliers and dug deep into the electronics, pulled the connector, and voila! Now the TV worked and was whisper-quiet again. Success!
Friends following my HDTV odyssey on Facebook pointed out that there are times when it is most appropriate to pay a professional to repair expensive equipment. Forgive me for being tenacious, but sometimes if you want it done right, you have to do it yourself.
Post a Comment
- 2
Vincent Yeung | 11/3/2010 8:17:58 AM
Good blog Ed. The feeling of "I-can-do-it-too" give you the level of satisfactions that you can not achieve when you pay someone else to do it for you. Yes, not all the things in daily life fits into "do-it-yourself" category. But the amount of information you can dig in the web these days can give you a better perspective to make the informed decision.
I felt exactly the same when I replace my own car audio instead of paying bestbuy installation service for $200+. I have never changed anything in my car by myself. By after digging enough info, I bought the parts and put everything together and wired a microphone as well. It was a really good experience.
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Ben Rose http://www.jaffacake.net | 11/3/2010 9:54:34 AM
Good work, but was I the only one that saw the title of this post and thought it was going to be about Darren Adams' new website?
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John | 11/3/2010 10:45:20 AM
Yes - DIY is rewarding and saves you loads of money.....
Drawbacks - Cupboard full of once used specialist tools waiting for the next time they might come in useful.
- Friends and family thinking you are a DIY genius...full of stories how you fixed your own TV...now they ask you to fix theirs...do I really want to risk breaking connectors and accidentally breaking parts while trying to figure out how they go into their housing.....leaving your once friend with an upside down and back to front TV set.....ahhhhh
- 6
Lyn http://www.cardiff.ac.uk | 11/3/2010 11:35:55 AM
Screw the cloud... run your own server 8)
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Craig Brassington | 11/3/2010 12:41:39 PM
I have to laugh a little here. I did exactly the same thing less than a week ago. Watched the same videos, looked at the same instructions and made the same mistake with the ribbon cable. My only saving grace was that I googled around enough to relize the ribbon cable needed to be with the metal connectors pointing inwards prior to taking it all apart again and was able to reverse it without removing/redoing everything. I thought I was going to break something trying to remove the jumper lead. But 4 hours later around 2.30am my TV was back together again and quiet too!
Anyway..well done! Glad you got it working!
- 8
Bill Brown | 11/3/2010 2:11:39 PM
If the guy at the big box home improvement store tries telling you that it's easy to replace your front door, run away. Quickly. Very Quickly.
Ten hours x 2 guys and all I can say is the house must have shifted after the old door was removed.
I'll stick to building Domino servers.
- 9
Norman Cox | 11/3/2010 3:03:48 PM
Last night, I actually replaced my garbage disposal with my almost 17 year old son with zero inappropiate words. I even upgraded to a whisper quiet disposal. We can now shove vegetables down the drain at all hours without worrying about waking the whole house up. I am so proud.
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Timothy Briley | 11/3/2010 4:01:14 PM
@9 - "I actually replaced my garbage disposal with my almost 17 year old son"
That's not surprising since impersonating a garbage disposal is what teenage boys are best at.
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Scott Jangro http://www.jangro.com | 11/4/2010 6:06:21 AM
I'm glad it worked out for you Ed. Even with two color wheels, I think you still came out ahead.
I agree, the videos are much more helpful. Back when I wrote that, Youtube and online video was much less common. Heck, Youtube wasn't even owned by Google yet. Even so, I wish I had the foresight to have video-taped the process. Though it would have certainly been rated R due to language.
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Lars Olufsen http://www.olufsphere.com | 11/4/2010 7:04:10 AM
Congratulations, Ed. You still have the Y-chromosome! :-)
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George Williams http://www.houseworkheroes.com.au/ | 11/15/2010 7:28:56 AM
This post cracked me up because I can totally relate. I just spent the last two weeks putting together a DIY basketball system, without instructions, and as it turns out with some missing parts! My lounge room floor has only just been liberated of the parts and tools that were strewn across the carpet. The good news is that the pole is up (after a trip to the hardware store), and my jump shot is already getting better. However I still haven't quite decided if I get more satisfaction out of basking in the vision of my completed construction, or more residual frustration about how long it took me. One thing is for sure, I am never, ever, going to tackle a TV repair. You're a brave man!
Like! DIY Videos are one of THE killer apps of the interwebs. Last week I replaced the transmission coupler in my 20 Y.O. washer with help from generous contributors to YouTube. The cost: $17 and two hours of labor (and tenacity was a key ingredient.)
DIY videos also give you enough information to know what NOT to try in some cases, saving you the aggravation and money you might otherwise spend. (e.g. Re-winding the spring in your lawnmower starter is not for the faint of heart.)