What to do with a spare 42 inch lcd?

[Howard_Casto]

So this Xmas someone gave me their busted 42 inch vizio.  I'm almost positive it's the power supply so I've got one on order (this one looked like a pain in the butt to recap). 

So what could I do with the thing?  Aside from the obvious pinmame cabinet I'm open to suggestions. 

Keep in mind it's an older model, circa 2007, so it's crazy heavy. 

[Zrooney]

Make a pedastool out of it is the first thing that comes to mind, but there are plenty of other options.

[BadMouth]

Got a screen for your driving setup yet?

There's always the option of converting it to cash.

[Howard_Casto]

Well I thought of that, but the thing is so heavy if I mounted it to the front of my rig it'd probably tip over. 

I'm not sure how much money I could get out of a 7 year old tv that's been repaired. 



I was actually thinking of maybe a light gun rig.  I could mount a sensor bar directly in the TV's case.  I'm wondering if a mini "home theatre like" pc would be powerful enough for a simple gun cab.  Most gun games will run on just about anything, even the emulated variety.  Mount the tv on the wall, put a little marquee above it and hide a mini pc in there... put holsters and wiimotes on the side. 

I dunno though, like I said, just spit-balling ideas. 

[spoot]

Lift above head and run down the street screaming "FEAR ME!" at top of your lungs.  Pants are optional.

[knave]

Mount it on the ceiling above your bed. (camera optional: in case you want to watch yourself...sleep.)

[DeLuSioNal29]

My first question would be:  what do you have now arcade-wise?

For me:  I don't have a widescreen cab, so I'd probably make it a dedicated Steam pedestal cab for the widescreen games. Probably in Big picture mode.

[Howard_Casto]

I've got my original cab retro-fitted with a 16:10 lcd, a gorf, and a  scratch built pacman.

I'm not sure if it matters at this point though. 

The new power pcb came in and thus far it's still dead.  I've already spent 60, I sure hope I don't end up putting 100+ in a dead tv.   

[pbj]

Maybe the seller will take a return on the power supply?  I tried to repair an iSymphony but the purchase was made with the understanding that the power supply could go back to the seller if it didn't fix my TV.  So back it went and the TV was thrown in the attic to excite the pulse of a future renter.

42" is an excellent pedestal size.  When mine still worked, it made a very immersive DDR single player set up.

[Howard_Casto]

Eh I got it off eBay so I doubt it.  I'm going to mess with it some more tomorrow.  I didn't screw the pcb on, so maybe it's a grounding issue?  If not the only other board on the thing is the tuner assembly.  If I can find a cheap one....

[Xiaou2]

If you can test the power supply, using a multimeter on the output voltages.. that would help to know.

 A lot of these parts places dont even test their 'working'  equipment.  You probably can have them send you another one.. or get a refund, fairly easily.   Ebay has shifted towards helping the user, rather than the seller these days.  Ive have some jerk send me a playfield that had ridiculously raised inserts.. that were not visible from the shot angles he took..  and Ebay made him refund me.   Not that Im advising cheating the system.. but if its really their fault.. or fault of shipping damages... then you should not have to eat it.

 I think some of these companies expect you to do the testing that they dont have time to do.  As well as expect that someone will just eat the cost rather than have the part returned.

 Another thing to know.. is that the reason why a lot of these devices fail.. is due to the non-lead soldier.  Unlike lead soldier, the new stuff doesnt seem to be very reliable at making strong connections.  Often, its on the verge of not making contact... and with a little use.. eventually is breaks contact.

 There are guys all over the place making little side-businesses of repairing these devices.. reflowing the 'soldier'.

 You will have to search and research the topic.  I believe some are sticking devices into toaster ovens.

 Edit:

 Double check by searching the model #  for issues people have reported.  If one issue appears the most, it may have a know bad component that needs swapping.  Such as a defective cap.   Sometimes as said, its the soldier issue.. that may effect an entire model.. or at minimal, a certain number of units that were from a certain lot #.

[Howard_Casto]

Yeah I've got the infamous vizio orange light.  So it's a 50% chance it's the power supply and a 50% chance it's the main board. 

Normally I just recap the things and I'm done with it, but this particular model has a massive heat sink soldered over top of the caps.  I'm going to report the voltages to badcaps.net tomorrow and see.  The original power supply looked fine BUT so did the main board, no busted caps on either so I thought I would try the cheapest board first.

[pbj]

I did get my iSymphony going another 6 months by using an embossing gun to heat up all the solder.  You're in a no lose situation, might as well try it.

TAKE THE BOARDS OUT FIRST.   

[ChadTower]

Another thing to know.. is that the reason why a lot of these devices fail.. is due to the non-lead soldier.  Unlike lead soldier, the new stuff doesnt seem to be very reliable at making strong connections.  Often, its on the verge of not making contact... and with a little use.. eventually is breaks contact.

It's not the lead soldier.  It's the winter soldier.

[knave]

Another thing to know.. is that the reason why a lot of these devices fail.. is due to the non-lead Soldier.  Unlike lead Soldier, the new stuff doesnt seem to be very reliable at making strong connections.  Often, its on the verge of not making contact... and with a little use.. eventually is breaks contact.

It's not the lead Soldier.  It's the winter Soldier.

(Fixed)

[Howard_Casto]

Well the power supply isn't the problem obviously (or the one they sent me was also junk).  I've contacted the seller and I'm awaiting instructions for a refund.  I'd rather eat the shipping cost than the 60 bucks for a power supply I don't need.