Loewe Contur 1470 TV, died... AGAIN! Options

[spanznet]

3 picture tubes later and now out of warranty - my Loewe that WAS going well for a change has now exploded and died again. So now its time for the "Fix it or chuck it" decision. Can anyone identify this problem and/or estimate cost:

Power was on at the TV, but in standby, pressed power on the remote, TV made a horrible high pitch explosion noise and switched itself straight back off. Pressing power on the remote again results in TV switching itself straight off again, but the noise isnt as loud.

[digitaladvisor]

3 picture tubes later and now out of warranty - my Loewe that WAS going well for a change has now exploded and died again.  So now its time for the "Fix it or chuck it" decision.  Can anyone identify this problem and/or estimate cost:

Power was on at the TV, but in standby, pressed power on the remote, TV made a horrible high pitch explosion noise and switched itself straight back off.  Pressing power on the remote again results in TV switching itself straight off again, but the noise isnt as loud.

The Primary guns - very high voltage are blowing the tubes. VERY EXPENSIVE to fix.

Not economic - almost entire rebuld. Sorry.

It sounds like a lemon from start to finish. I'd demand LEMON status and special consideration even though out of warranty. Check consumer rights concerning lemons and warranties.

DA

[daro]

3 picture tubes later and now out of warranty - my Loewe that WAS going well for a change has now exploded and died again.  So now its time for the "Fix it or chuck it" decision.  Can anyone identify this problem and/or estimate cost:

Power was on at the TV, but in standby, pressed power on the remote, TV made a horrible high pitch explosion noise and switched itself straight back off.  Pressing power on the remote again results in TV switching itself straight off again, but the noise isnt as loud.

The Primary guns - very high voltage are blowing the tubes. VERY EXPENSIVE to fix.

Not economic - almost entire rebuld. Sorry.

It sounds like a lemon from start to finish. I'd demand LEMON status and special consideration even though out of warranty. Check consumer rights concerning lemons and warranties.

DA

Sounds like the flyback transformer is arcing to core, This is a very common thing to happen with Loewe TV's

But 3 CRT's in one set well that's a record, Usually you'd be unlucky to replace the CRT at least once in the life of the set.

I fix lot's of Loewe's up here on the Sunshine Coast.

[ray888]

Sounds like my dead contur. Died just out of the added 5 year warranty. I never bothered to fix it. So that was the first and last Loewe for me.

[spanznet]

Sounds like the flyback transformer is arcing to core, This is a  very common thing to happen with Loewe TV's

daro, can you guesstimate the average cost you normally charge to fix this problem?

But 3 CRT's in one set well that's a record, Usually you'd be unlucky to replace the CRT at least once in the life of the set.

thats what the tech here in melbourne said too! It was over a 2 year period that they blew. When the last one went he said he was over it and ordered in an upgraded tube from germany and it has been fine until now (about 2 years or so).

i know 2 other people with Loewe sets and they have had the tubes blow upon them too - all under warranty though. This will also be my first and last loewe.

[Santa]

Sounds like the flyback transformer is arcing to core, This is a  very common thing to happen with Loewe TV's

daro, can you guesstimate the average cost you normally charge to fix this problem?

But 3 CRT's in one set well that's a record, Usually you'd be unlucky to replace the CRT at least once in the life of the set.

thats what the tech here in melbourne said too! It was over a 2 year period that they blew. When the last one went he said he was over it and ordered in an upgraded tube from germany and it has been fine until now (about 2 years or so).

i know 2 other people with Loewe sets and they have had the tubes blow upon them too - all under warranty though. This will also be my first and last loewe.

In the past I've always recommended Loewes - with one proviso ... dont get the "budget" models...
Having said that, my expensive old 4:3 is getting a little narky in its dotage! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

{Must say, though - was the best display around at the time}

[Timmy Downawell]

Like DA says, warranty or not I reckon a complete replacement would not be unreasonable. Sounds like this set was indeed a lemon.

[bytebit]

i had a similar experience with loewe.

my first tube blew up within 6 months, they replaced the unit with a new tv. that new unit then blew up just past the 3 year warenty and was again a tube failure. encel then offered me to repair the unit at cost (200$ to replace the tube), or replacement unit "at cost" . in fact this new unit was only 300$ below the on-sale price at xmass, so was more like an added discount than a real cost price imo. but choosing that option ment i got a more updated model of my tv with a newer chasis.

if i were you i would speak to consumer affairs, and if it is only just out of warenty you should get it replaced/repaired by the people you purchased it from at no cost to you. note that the "repair at cost" price they quoted me to replace the tube was only 200$, and if you purchased it from one of the better dealers they should be flexible enough to help you. if they previously repaired the unit, your warenty only counts from the original purchase date but if you had a history of similar ongoing issues over that time then they should be extra flexible. if they replaced the unit with a new one you get a brand new warenty with the new unit (sales people dont like to recognise that sometimes, but it is your right under consumer affairs legislation)

good luck (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool.gif)

[bellotv]

This repeated tube destruction is very uncommon.
Ive been a tv technician for almost 25 yrs and have seen no more than around 5 tubes that have "blown"
In all cases it was found to be due to excessive EHT voltage causing acring internally from Final anode to gun or actually punctering thin glass in neck of tube and arcing throught to yoke
4 out of these 5 was due to an open curcuit flyback tuning capacitor and the other was the powersupply putting out excessive voltage and the line stage consequiently generating high EHT
Note that generally when either of these things happen that that there is an Xray protection curcuit which is ment to shut the set off before destruction to tube happens or owners testicles start glowing in the dark.
Generally though the lineoutput transistor will fail(go short curcuit) as its brakedown voltage is usually not that much higher than operating voltage and the destructive voltage never actually gets a chance to kill the tube.
Having said all that I have had several dry joints on tuning capacitors in some Loewes ( and destroyed Line output transistor as a result) so wouldn't supprise me if thats whats going on.

Also cost price at $200 for a tube sounds very sus .Most manufacterures Weve got quotes on tubes for ,the trade price is usually almost the replacement cost of the set-add markup on tube and fitting costs and its not generally ecconomic to replace a tube ----be very careful

Bellotv

[spanznet]

Some people have asked me for an update on my Loewe problem.

Well, i described the problem to the guy who has repaired it the last 4 times and he quoted the price of the kit to repair it at about $360! Ouch. So i said not to bother with that right now, as i was on my way to see what consumer affairs can do for me.

This is the breakdown of repairs:
purchased: 18 jun 2000 encel stereo melbourne
repaired: 16 oct 2000, 4 months later (faulty crt)
repaired: 29 aug 2001, 10.5 months later (faulty crt, upgraded)
repaired: 01 mar 2002, 8 months later (arcing)
died: 19th dec 2004, 2yrs 9.5months later (arcing)

As you can see its never even made it to 3 years of continual service. I think this is good for my case as the warranty itself just so happens to be 3 years as well. But its out of that warranty now by 1 year and 8 months! argh.

I'll let you know how it goes with consumer affairs....

[bytebit]

i am fairly sure that the 3 year warenty only counts from the new purchase, if it was repaired several times during that period the warenty period does not restart from zero. it does restart only if you are given a brand new replacement during the warenty period.

with that extensive list of ongoing major faults, you have a good chance for the "lemon" clause that somebody else mentioned earlier. and the crt failure is a lethal failure, not some minor fault. after the 2x crt failure, they really should have replaced it with a new one.

btw, the loewe i had that 2x failed a crt was the same model as yours i think (they replaced it with a new tv when the first crt failed), is yours a 72 cm 50hz model ? (at the time of original purchase that was the best of the 72 cm models i think, there were no 100 hz models yet)

good luck

[bytebit]

- double post -

[spanznet]

Situation resolved!

I contacted the store and was offered 2 options: (1) they would pay the repair cost on the Contur or (2) offer a brand new widescreen Aventos at a HEAVILY reduced price! naturally i went with option 2, its already up and running and its a beauty. very very happy with the customer service at encel stereo. two thumbs up!

thanks all for your advice.

[Timmy Downawell]

Situation resolved!

I contacted the store and was offered 2 options: (1) they would pay the repair cost on the Contur or (2) offer a brand new widescreen Aventos at a HEAVILY reduced price!  naturally i went with option 2, its already  up and running and its a beauty.  very very happy with the customer service at encel stereo.  two thumbs up!

Hey, great outcome. Option 1 was not an option at all, was it? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[jamesboags]

Situation resolved!

I contacted the store and was offered 2 options: (1) they would pay the repair cost on the Contur or (2) offer a brand new widescreen Aventos at a HEAVILY reduced price!  naturally i went with option 2, its already  up and running and its a beauty.  very very happy with the customer service at encel stereo.  two thumbs up!

thanks all for your advice.

Did you get an extended warranty ?

[a1tuning]

This will also be my first and last loewe.

Yes, and mine too. My Loewe Xelos 5381 purchased form Stereo Supplies (owned by Alex Encel until it shut down) has broken down many times. Now out of warranty, it would be a waste of money to fix it when in all probability it will break down again.

[ncl_knight]

When was it last fixed? There maybe warranty on the actual job (say if the TV had 2 weeks warranty left, but the repair carried a 3 month workmanship warranty)?

Also, didn't they have a recall on TV's catching fire? Maybe this is a related model?

I'd call the distributor and ask. They should repair/replace it if it has had so many calls.

[a1tuning]

When was it last fixed? There maybe warranty on the actual job (say if the TV had 2 weeks warranty left, but the repair carried a 3 month workmanship warranty)?

Also, didn't they have a recall on TV's catching fire? Maybe this is a related model?

I'd call the distributor and ask. They should repair/replace it if it has had so many calls.

The TV/repairs are out of warranty. The TV has been a lemon from day one and should have been replaced when it broke down after only a few months. Now there is no point in spending money on something that will most likely break down again and/or catch fire. Five breakdowns over the space of seven years with very little use is not a good track record.

Yes, mine was one of the televisions affected by the recall. It was given a 5 second glance over by AV Digitech and given the "all clear". I was told by the AV Digitech technician that it was an overreaction to not be using the TV as was recommended in the recall. The TV had so many previous problems that I wasn't taking any chances! Funny that it broke down only a few months later. I actually saw on the news in July 2010 that a house burnt down in Brisbane and the cause was traced to a faulty Loewe televison.

I've contacted International Dynamics and Alex Encel but to no avail.

I wouldn't settle for anthing less than a full refund at this stage.

This post has been edited by a1tuning: Jul 29 2010, 09:33 AM