My Dad is 92 and cannot get around much. Mom is 90, the two of them spend a lot of time in front of the TV. It is their window to the world during this lockdown as they cannot risk going out at all. So when their TV started switching on and off again, it was very upsetting. It was an older Samsung 42″ about 8 years old. To my surprise, my 46″ Samsung of the same vintage, started to do the same thing. I was spooked as one of these TV’s was in Maryland and the other in NC. A quick call to Danny Garris WD4CQ (Garris TV Repair in New Bern 252-638-4477) produced the information that the capacitors on the power supply were known to be weak and could be replaced. I bundled up both TVs and headed out to New Bern Friday after clinic. Garry told me he would guide me but that I could do the work!?! Yeah, right!
I got there and we immediately proceeded to dismantle the first TV disconnecting the boards and inspecting them. Multiple caps had blown and “vented”. He showed me how to use a solder sucker to desolder and remove the caps. He then found the matching new better rated cap from his vast collection of the highest quality parts that you can imagine. Beautiful rows of drawers all labeled in order making finding the replacement a breeze. 14 caps later, I started on the second board. One cap is a surface cap that is known to go bad and it was replaced as well. The grounding contacts to the chassis were cleaned and re-soldered to make the best contact. The interior was cleaned of all the accumulation of dust. The TV reassembled and tested in all of the modes and inputs. Here is where the “MIRACLE” happens: it all worked very well and the image looked much better!
To celebrate on a Friday night, what better thing to do with a good friend but order pizza and get on the local repeater net and check in. Danny is the President of the local New Bern Amateur Radio Club.
Once the pizza was consumed the second TV had the same procedure and success. He gave me a tour of the store and showed all the TVs he has repaired and has for sale. Some really impressive models and units he has. He does not just repair the one broken part but also takes the time to upgrade the unit so that it becomes reliable and performs at the best possible level. He has the attitude of “once I fix it I do not want it coming back frequently for repairs again.” In effect, he covers the weak spots in the engineering of the device so that it becomes more reliable as possible. I probably will never have to do the cap replacement again as all the caps we replaced and were of a much higher rating and quality. I wish that the rest of the world would adopt this attitude.
Working on the second TV 
Out with the old, in with the new… 
Like new TVs for sale 
Opening the back of the TV 
The secret tool
I drove home and set up my TV. I swear the picture looks better, sharper and brighter but I know all we did was work on the power supply area. It makes sense that if the energy coming into a system is not the best or has a ripple in the current, the rest of the components will also not work well either. Thank you Danny, now I have a better than new TV and a great respect for what you do!
73 PVH
Brightleaf Amateur Radio Club 