Haunted TV
So, I go to sleep last night/this morning at about 5:30 or so. I don't know how long I was asleep, but it was long enough to go into a REM cycle as I do remember having a dream. Anyway, I wake up to my TV being on when I had quite clearly turned it off. So I grab the remote, shut ift off, and go back to sleep. At least one more REM cycle later, I wake up to my TV on again. This time, to my utter and abject horror, it's on Dora the Explorer. I frantically grab the remote and attempt to shut it off, but to no avail. I am successful at changing the channel (on the VCR - it's one of those universal remotes), but the TV will not shut off. I get up and push the button, and still nothing. So I attempt to see if any of the other buttons work, and lo and behold the Channel buttons work. Not as intended, though. The TV shuts off.
Confused, I lay back down and attempt once again to get back to sleep. I don't even get that far. *CLICK* My TV turns itself back on. I'm starting to feel like the little girl from Poltergeist. To my horror, the TV then shuts itself off. And back on. And off. On. Off. On. Off. On. Off. Etc. I get up, slowly so as not to disturb the poltergeist, and unplug the TV. I plug it back in, and it turns back on. This time, I'm able to shut it off myself, and it stays off.
This is not the end, though. Later in the day, I'm watching TV and have to leave the room for whatever reason. I come back, and the TV is off. I turn it back on and say something to my aunt in the other room. I come back and the TV is off. I'm no longer freaked out, I'm now thoroughly annoyed by these roguish revenants haunted my television. It proceeds to turn itself off while I'm watching a show a subseqent four times, and once while I was typing this up. Is there a technical reason why it would be doing this, or is my television truly haunted?
"I'm absolutely retarded. Not 100% sure why." - atom
"Dhelor + intarwebs = Great ideas." - wordsmythe
"Do I what I do: hate everyone." - Quintin_Stone
Put masking tape over that third eye that shoots IR beams from your forehead, that ought to fix the problem.
That or get a new TV, sounds like a circuits going on the blink in the old one.
"Also, I have four legs and am covered in wool. Baa!" *Legion* reveals his inner furry.
Try changing batteries in your remotes.
Exorcism.
Fedaykin98 wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:
ProTip: Find out which one of your neighbors has a universal remote and kick his smug ass.
WoW Blackhand Alliance
70s: Nukanatrix (M), Braun (P), Boreali (War), Heckfire (Lock), Jergen (Pal), Erissar (D)
Grumbar - 65 Hunter
Are you in an apartment or do you have close neighbors? Someone nearby may have a TV from the same manufacturer. And going by the Dora bit and spastic nature of the on-off cycles, they have kids too.
Either that or your Aunt is messin' with ya...
I once had my computer turn itself on in the middle of the night... but i soon beat that our of it.
A blog: by me!
Maybe one of those jackasses from Gizmodo lives nearby.
But on the more serious side, does the button on the TV seem to stick at all? It could be stuck in a mostly pressed-in state causing enough intermittent contact to flip it on and off. The other suggestion would be to remove the batteries from the remote (or put it in a drawer somewhere) and use the TV the old fasioned way (or use the TVs original remote) for a period and see if it still happens since it could be the universal remote firing off the random signals.
Mr T broke the speed of light in the A-Team van because he wanted to prove that quantum physics was a bunch of Jibba Jabba.
Just tried this and it was still doing it. Even moreso, actually. I ended up unplugging the damned thing. I'll see if I can have my dad take a look inside while I'm gone tomorrow.
"I'm absolutely retarded. Not 100% sure why." - atom
"Dhelor + intarwebs = Great ideas." - wordsmythe
"Do I what I do: hate everyone." - Quintin_Stone
Unless your dad is an electrician or you don't like him very much I wouldn't recommend this. Openning most CRT style TVs= bad idea (not sure if the plasmas and LCDs carry huge caps that the standard style do or not, but better safe than sorry)
"Also, I have four legs and am covered in wool. Baa!" *Legion* reveals his inner furry.
Yep 30,000 Volts does not feel good... especially when it tosses you through the dry wall into another room. One of the kids in the tech school I went to had that happen. He has a scar on his hand from entry and a scar on foot from the exit. Doctors told him it missed his heart by a few inches.
WOW: Bounce
He's not an electrician, but he knows what to/not to do when it comes to electronics. My dad has opened up our other TVs before with no probems, usually just to dust them out (which might be all this thing needs, who knows).
EDIT: Okay, so he didn't get a chance to take a look, but I did discover something on my own. Every single button on the front of the TV (that is, both Channel buttons, both Volume buttons, the Menu button, and of course the Power button) have all taken it upon themselves to double as Power buttons.
"I'm absolutely retarded. Not 100% sure why." - atom
"Dhelor + intarwebs = Great ideas." - wordsmythe
"Do I what I do: hate everyone." - Quintin_Stone
Time for a new flatscreen, amiright?
Quote:
- Legion, taking "keeping it in the family" to a whole new level.
Xbox Live: Fedaykin98
I would start with a good dusting. Dust is insulating (i.e. extra heat = bad) and can be conductive (i.e. short circuits = bad).
That sounds like a short circuit. Hopefully nothing is fried. Typically, replacement boards are hard to find, and replacement TV's are cheap.
We've got experienced engineers around here who can fix pretty much anything television wise, and we still end up throwing at least half of them out, because they're not worth fixing.
Grenn wrote:
Probably, yeah. Guess that'll be my first purchase once I can get a job. I was hoping to get a 360 first, but without a TV to plug it into... ahh well.
"I'm absolutely retarded. Not 100% sure why." - atom
"Dhelor + intarwebs = Great ideas." - wordsmythe
"Do I what I do: hate everyone." - Quintin_Stone
In Ultima Online I used to poison hams and leave them on the ground in cities for people to pick up and eat. I can't believe how many people thought street ham was a good thing to eat. -Elliottx
If it helps any... He was a douche bag who knew better and still did it due to a god complex. On of the first things they tell you in class is about CRTs... the tube of death
WOW: Bounce
You didn't really want to plug a 360 into standard def. anyway.
Elysium: The democratization of the web ... has installed an illusion of a digital first amendment that protects speech no matter how poorly spelled or stupid.
XBL: E Munnie
elementsofmeaning.blogspot.com
Have you tried hitting it real hard with a hammer?
That allways works for me.
lancejt wrote:
Flying bicycle kick.
McChuck wrote:
I don't have a bicycle.
"I'm absolutely retarded. Not 100% sure why." - atom
"Dhelor + intarwebs = Great ideas." - wordsmythe
"Do I what I do: hate everyone." - Quintin_Stone
This might suffice
lancejt wrote: