Author Topic: Humorous, but real, conversation (Read 3012 times)

Ash...Housewares · « **on:** December 03, 2005, 03:46:44 pm »

I just thought I'd share a funny conversation I just had with a TV repair shop I found in the phonebook:

Me: "I need to degauss a TV"
Guy: "You need to what?"
Me: "Degauss."
Guy: "Uh... What model is it?"
Me: a bit confused "It's an RCA"
Guy: "What year?"
Me: "1990"
Guy: "What's the problem with it?"
Me: "I need to degauss it."
Guy: "What do you mean?"
Me: "I need to clear the magnetic fields... Like, I got a magnet too close to it and now the colors are all messed up..."
Guy: "That doesn't happen!!"
Me: "Yes it does!"
Guy: "No, it doesn't." *click*

Maybe my reaction wasn't terribly polite, but I was really shocked!

-Ash

mahuti · « **Reply #1 on:** December 03, 2005, 04:04:46 pm »

They probably aren't too used to dealing with customers that are modding and decasing tvs.

In his world that probably DOESN'T happen

Ash...Housewares · « **Reply #2 on:** December 03, 2005, 04:56:43 pm »

Haha... You have a very good point there. But it's not that strange of a request! Rare, maybe.

Jabba · « **Reply #3 on:** December 03, 2005, 05:20:04 pm »

A poor mans degauser is a corded drill. Plug it in and float the "coil" part over the spot(s) that are washed/faded while the drill is running. Not as good as a degause wand, but did the trick for me.

Food for thought...

markrvp · « **Reply #4 on:** December 03, 2005, 08:30:03 pm »

Quote from: Ash...Housewares on December 03, 2005, 03:46:44 pm

I just thought I'd share a funny conversation I just had with a TV repair shop I found in the phonebook:

Me: "I need to degauss a TV"
Guy: "You need to what?"
Me: "Degauss."
Guy: "Uh... What model is it?"
Me: a bit confused "It's an RCA"
Guy: "What year?"
Me: "1990"
Guy:

Ash...Housewares · « **Reply #5 on:** December 04, 2005, 01:33:42 am »

Yeah! Now you're speakin' my language!

Maybe I just didn't say the words to him right, "Klaatu... Barada...necktie..."

A drill, eh? I never thought of that. But it makes sense. Now that's good info!

-Ash

ChadTower · « **Reply #6 on:** December 05, 2005, 09:38:37 am »

You could also use an unshielded speaker, preferably unenclosed like a car speaker. A good enough one will do the job.

Sounds like the person got mad that they don't know what degauss means. I bet not many people who call in would use a term like that.

Lilwolf · « **Reply #7 on:** December 05, 2005, 09:44:36 am »

btw, where are you located? I have one in the Cinci - Ohio area you can borrow.

Very useful to have... I've used it on my systems and a few friends... And I bought might for 10-15 on ebay (took a few weeks to see one go for less then 30).

And finding a TV repair place thats been in business for more then a few years probably helps... Otherwise they might just reply to you "You probably need to replace the tube"

J-Rod · « **Reply #8 on:** December 05, 2005, 09:55:21 am »

I thought most TVs degauss themselves right when you turn on the power?

I've used an extra hard drive I had laying around to do the trick once.

mahuti · « **Reply #9 on:** December 05, 2005, 10:18:06 am »

mine does. makes a huge racket when I turn it on... especially noticeable since it has been decased.

Barkuti · « **Reply #10 on:** December 05, 2005, 10:19:53 am »

As stated, a corded drill will do the job, but also a hairdryer or any other AC tool powering a coil inside.

Cheers

ChadTower · « **Reply #11 on:** December 05, 2005, 10:34:23 am »

My brother in law had a 27" Vega... hired a guy to work on his fireplace. The guy used the top of the TV as a place to keep his power tools while he worked. Totally fragged the magnetization of the tube and then said it was like that when he got there.

Kremmit · « **Reply #12 on:** December 05, 2005, 04:13:39 pm »

Quote from: ChadTower on December 05, 2005, 10:34:23 am

My brother in law had a 27" Vega...

A 27 inch Chevy Vega?

Oh, you mean one of these:

ChadTower · « **Reply #13 on:** December 05, 2005, 04:14:59 pm »

Doh... WEGA, I guess.

CthulhuLuke · « **Reply #14 on:** December 05, 2005, 04:25:30 pm »

you want to know how to degauss a tv this old? I did this w/ my ex-gf's tv (unfortunately it had been burnt for so long the color was lost in that spot, but its not green anymore!)

First, unplug the tv, let it sit for 3-4 minutes.
Next, turn the TV on its side and plug it back in.
Turn on the tv, maybe play something for 5-6 minutes.
Turn off the tv, and unplug it. Let it sit for another 3-4 minutes.
Turn the tv back to its original state and plug it back in.

Viola, instant degauss, well sorta.
This is a trick my bro got off a forum of shmups players (vertical shmups to be exact.) Works great, and fixes every problem I've seen so far.

Ed_McCarron · « **Reply #15 on:** December 05, 2005, 04:29:18 pm »

I'm sure if I was patient, someone else would ask...

Whats a shmups?

ChadTower · « **Reply #16 on:** December 05, 2005, 04:40:30 pm »

markrvp · « **Reply #17 on:** December 05, 2005, 05:18:29 pm »

Quote from: Ed_McCarron on December 05, 2005, 04:29:18 pm

I'm sure if I was patient, someone else would ask...

Whats a shmups?

Shoot-em-ups

SirPoonga · « **Reply #18 on:** December 05, 2005, 05:29:36 pm »

Quote from: CthulhuLuke on December 05, 2005, 04:25:30 pm

you want to know how to degauss a tv this old? I did this w/ my ex-gf's tv (unfortunately it had been burnt for so long the color was lost in that spot, but its not green anymore!)

First, unplug the tv, let it sit for 3-4 minutes.
Next, turn the TV on its side and plug it back in.
Turn on the tv, maybe play something for 5-6 minutes.
Turn off the tv, and unplug it. Let it sit for another 3-4 minutes.
Turn the tv back to its original state and plug it back in.

Viola, instant degauss, well sorta.
This is a trick my bro got off a forum of shmups players (vertical shmups to be exact.) Works great, and fixes every problem I've seen so far.

Unfortunately that is difficult in most situations with users of this forum. The TV will be in a cabinet. Just moving the Tv in and out can cause issues after degauss. you really need to degauss in place.

J-Rod · « **Reply #19 on:** December 05, 2005, 06:41:47 pm »

I would think you could just make a coil. Find yourself some sort of ferrous ring, and an unused plug and cord for 110. Wire it up, attach a switch, and wrap the whole chebang in electrical tape. Voila.

Ash...Housewares · « **Reply #20 on:** December 12, 2005, 02:26:26 pm »

What actually ended up happening was that I turned it off and let it sit for a while an turned it back on and it was back to normal. I had to replace my speakers later, though and I used the drill trick to degauss it a little. It worked really well!

As a side note, I'm the luckiest engineer alive because I got to build an arcade for my senior design project.

ChadTower · « **Reply #21 on:** December 12, 2005, 02:29:50 pm »

Quote from: J-Rod on December 05, 2005, 06:41:47 pm

I would think you could just make a coil. Find yourself some sort of ferrous ring, and an unused plug and cord for 110. Wire it up, attach a switch, and wrap the whole chebang in electrical tape. Voila.

Voila! Instant Darwin Award!

Ed_McCarron · « **Reply #22 on:** December 12, 2005, 02:39:33 pm »

Sometimes, a little chlorine in the gene pool is a good thing.

nostrebor · « **Reply #23 on:** December 12, 2005, 03:44:13 pm »

Quote from: J-Rod on December 05, 2005, 06:41:47 pm

I would think you could just make a coil. Find yourself some sort of ferrous ring, and an unused plug and cord for 110. Wire it up, attach a switch, and wrap the whole chebang in electrical tape. Voila.

Please pay special attention to the picture at the left of this post. Thank You.

ChadTower · « **Reply #24 on:** December 12, 2005, 03:45:32 pm »

Heh... nice sig.

nostrebor · « **Reply #25 on:** December 12, 2005, 03:53:55 pm »

Type Cheese Doodles into Google images for some disturbing images

gw71mgb · « **Reply #26 on:** December 12, 2005, 04:53:15 pm »

Radio Shack once upon a time sold a "Bulk Tape Eraser" that we still use here at work to degauss one of our products.


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