A LITTLE ELBOW GREASE.
As I was cleaning and preparing for the bonfire that I hosted on Friday, I found a bag of old computer parts in my closet. I didn't want to throw them away, so I figured I'd find a place that would recycle them. After locating such a place, I called my dad to ask if he had any old stuff that I could recycle on the same trip. He said he didn't have anything, but reminded me that my brother had a broken 37" Polaroid 720p HDTV sitting in his garage. I said I didn't feel comfortable giving that up just yet, and ended up asking my brother if I could just have it. He certainly had no use for a broken TV, and it had already been replaced with a 47" Philips 1080i. Ryan agreed to give me the "piece of junk."
After about an hour of research, I came across someone who was having the exact same problem with their Polaroid FLM-323B. When plugged in, the TV displayed the red standby light. When the power button was pressed the light turned blue as it was supposed to, but the TV never actually turned on. The fellow had managed to fix this problem by replacing two blown capacitors on the TV's control board. I deemed this solution worthy of an attempt.
Due to time constraints, I wasn't able to purchase the replacement caps until earlier today. I found them at Radio Shack for a total of $5.09 (tax included). I came home, removed the old caps (it was clear they were blown due to some very visible bulging), and soldered in the new ones. After returning the control board to its rightful place, I plugged the TV in, pressed the power button, and held my breath.
Nothing happened for the first couple of seconds, and I said something along the lines of, "well shit." Shortly thereafter, however, the Polaroid logo popped up and the TV powered on as it should.
Everything still seems to be working normally. I have my laptop plugged into the TV via a VGA port and I'm using it as a monitor. It's looking like I just got a 37" HDTV (originally purchased at a price of around $800) for $5.09. My brother is gonna be sooooo pissed. :3
After about an hour of research, I came across someone who was having the exact same problem with their Polaroid FLM-323B. When plugged in, the TV displayed the red standby light. When the power button was pressed the light turned blue as it was supposed to, but the TV never actually turned on. The fellow had managed to fix this problem by replacing two blown capacitors on the TV's control board. I deemed this solution worthy of an attempt.
Due to time constraints, I wasn't able to purchase the replacement caps until earlier today. I found them at Radio Shack for a total of $5.09 (tax included). I came home, removed the old caps (it was clear they were blown due to some very visible bulging), and soldered in the new ones. After returning the control board to its rightful place, I plugged the TV in, pressed the power button, and held my breath.
Nothing happened for the first couple of seconds, and I said something along the lines of, "well shit." Shortly thereafter, however, the Polaroid logo popped up and the TV powered on as it should.
Everything still seems to be working normally. I have my laptop plugged into the TV via a VGA port and I'm using it as a monitor. It's looking like I just got a 37" HDTV (originally purchased at a price of around $800) for $5.09. My brother is gonna be sooooo pissed. :3