The TV Saga

It’s a Saga!!!   I thought we were just getting a new TV!

 

Question: how long does it take to replace a TV?

Answer:  years of thought and a couple more months of action and weeks of troubleshooting

 

Hey let’s get a new TV!  Who know this simple task were develop into a 8 months saga!

 

Our boys, both proud owners of large LED televisions with HD have been urging us for years to join the 21^st century and upgrade out TV system.  We thought and thought about it. Then thought some more. We looked and looked in stores and thought some more. Living in an RV means more than just purchasing a TV and bringing it home when upgrading to HD technology. 
 
During the fall of 2013 we began in earnest. We took several occasions to hang out in the Wal-mart and Best Buy TV departments.  We talked to lots of people and gathered facts and opinions. Derrille took measurements and discussed possibilities.

 In our old RV, a new HD TV required an entire new satellite system! The system includes the TV, the DVR, the satellite and the satellite control box. We contacted our San Diego satellite guy. He told us that unfortunately the company who made our old satellite was no longer in business.  However a group from that company had started a new company and fortunately sold a new HD satellite system. Our research indicated that new company and their satellite was our best choice.

 So with most of the research completed, the process began.

THE TV:

On Jan. 16, 2014 we took the plunge!

 Step 1:   We walked out of Best Buy with a Samsung 39 inch smart TV, thin line.  The TV rode around in the car a few days…maybe a week. 
 

 Step 2: How many bodies are needed to remove the old HEAVY Sony TV out of the cabinet from above the dashboard? Who knows?  The three Bellingham firemen from next few sites came over to help Derrille contemplate the best option. Two men removed the TV and three men guided it in the car for us to recycle at Best Buy. 

 

 

 

 

The resulting hole was quite ugly.  Instead of a TV up front, we now viewed an open-ended metal box gaping out to the living room. Fiberglass insulation and a multitude of cords hung from the interior.  Most of the cords belong to things, other than the TV.

When Derrille match all the cords with the TV sockets and the TV didn’t come on.  He called the help line.  To the engineer in Derrille, the cord alignments he was told to follow, didn’t make sense, but he followed directions and……. the TV came on.

 

WOW what a picture!  Of course we hadn’t worked out the “how-to” reinstall the TV in the box!  So we watched the new toy as it lay on the arms of the driver’s chair while we considered our options.  The view from the front seat was OK, except when a cat decided to get on the climbing tower and stretch like the St. Louis Arch. At those times most of my TV view disappeared.

 

 

 

Our San Diego satellite man gave us the name of another satellite man, Don who was working an RV show in Quartsite, AZ.   That Don was heading to Florida.  He planned to come to us on Feb. 9^th.  Installation before the Superbowl would have been nice, but just having the better picture quality and the Hawks winning turned out to be OK too.

 

 In the meantime we are looking at a variety of ways to mount the TV to the metal box.  For this we visit Best Buy again and some RV stores.  The TV must be secure enough to handle all the earthquake-like vibration that the front of the RV experiences as it travels down the road.  AND it must be mounted secure enough so it doesn’t fall out while we are driving.

 A PROBLEM:

On February 1^st, the remote would not change the TV settings.  Derrille called Samsung tech.  The tech asked Derrille to hold his smart phone as if taking a selfie…. (I was going to explain a “selfie when I originally wrote this in Feb. 2014, but by August 2014, “selfie” is a well-used term. Derrille then positioned the TV remote behind the camera/phone and was to press any button. Derrille saw a red light appear on his phone screen.  The results:  the remote was just fine.  The new TV sensor was not.  So we packed everything back up and returned to Best Buy.

Surprise!!!! We are one day past the return deadline!

However customer service was very nice and gave us new TV.  Because the newer TV was on sale, we got some money back.  You’re looking at some pleased customers.  We had bought an insurance policy on the TV, but we discovered that means they will take the TV in for repair and you get it back in two weeks.  We didn’t have two weeks!  Don the satellite guy had a sudden change in schedule and would be here on Feb. 5^th. We left, thankfully, with the new TV.

 

This is Zach.

 

Zach the DISH rep said he would come between 8-noon on Feb. 5th.  So we got up, didn’t exercise and waited.  Zach arrived at 11:30 am and did his job as much as he could without the HD satellite.

THE RECEIVER:

The new HD satellite also needs an HD DVR to get the picture from the satellite to the TV….I think that is correct.  Anyway the DISH people required a service rep to deliver the new DVR, set it up, get signatures on a 2 year contract, and take the old one away.   A time limit exists between the time the new DVR is activated and when the old DVR  gets returned or you are charged for it. Some logistic planning was necessary to get everything here within the required time frame. 

 

 

 

 

THE SATELLITE:

Don the satellite man arrived about noon just as Zach pulled away from the RV. 

 




 

 

 

 

 

 

The old TV’s used a nearly square screen design resulting in the square box hole.  The new TV resembles a rectangle.

 

 Derrille and Don talked about placement of the new gear. The old electronics set in the middle of the coach in a cabinet. The newer shape allows room for the DVR and the satellite control box to sit inside the metal box and below the TV. 

 

 

 

The new RF Mogel Eagle satellite comes in black.  It’s bigger than the old Motosat we’ve had for years. It’s bigger but not very heavy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don set to work.

 

 Don just hoisted it on his shoulder and climbed the ladder to the roof. Apparently the new model is considerably lighter weight than the old ones.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Don hooked everything up in two hours. We paid him for his work. He sent us a receipt from his phone to our computer, and he headed for Tuscan. His wife had taken their rig to a casino in Tuscan to wait for him. 

 

Don and his wife have been full time RVers for 14 years. They travel from Florida to California installing satellite systems.  His work space is a crew cab, full bed pickup weighing in at about 10,000. He tows the pickup behind his Dutch Star RV. 

 

Everything was hooked up electronically, but we were still watching TV on the driver’s chair.

 

THE INSTALLATION into the TV cabinet:

 

Derrille had enough knowledge and skills to mount the TV into the cabinet, but we decided to let the local RV dealer to it.  They have the tools, the know-how and the experience.  We drove it over at 8:45 am.  The service rep wasn’t as friendly as others we had dealt with before. The rep apparently didn’t like us showing up early….our appointment was 9 AM.

 

 A time estimate of four hours was quoted for installation time.  We packed the cats up in their crates….they let us know how thrilled they were!  The howling ceased as we drove from errand to errand and when they realized no vets were involved.  After nearly five hours we returned to dealership. The installation was not finished!  We waited another 2 hours!!  Their workmanship was OK, but not up to the quality we expected.  They also didn’t clean up well. We obviously won’t use them again or recommend their services to others. But…the TV sat in the cabinet ready to go!

The boys were right!  The HD picture quality creates a most enjoyable viewing experience, especially with the sporting events.   Chalk up one more major project completed.  Now all I have to do is learn how sync my phone and tablet with the TV.   I’d also like to install a trim piece between the DVR/control box and the bottom of the TV screen itself, but that isn’t necessary to enjoy this awesome technology.   :) 

PROBLEMS:

 

 The TV saga apparently wasn’t complete with the installation. The TV worked beautifully from April to June.  Then about mid-July the TV took on a mind of its own. The remote light was functional by the TV would not respond to the signal. This means you cannot change channels, engage the mute button or adjust the sound.  When the AC is turning on and off use of the Volume control button is required. After a few minutes the controls returned to normal.

 Then the TV went a bit farther. Just as suspense was building in the program we were watching the TV would shut itself off. The screen went black. After only 6-7 seconds the startup symbols began the reboot.  This happened often at the final Jeopardy question part of the quiz show or at the climax of the mystery shows.

 

Step 1:

After another call to Samsung tech department it was determined we needed a real life technician. We were assured that someone could come out to the coach to fix the problem. The phone tech said repair places were located in Gig Harbor and Kent Washington. He would make the call. We mentioned that we were currently on the tip of Marrowstone Island, and Gig Harbor would be the closest.

Then we get a call from……the repair shop in Kent. The young lady said they had received the work order.  After discussing our problem she discovered the TV was only 32 inches. The rule is:

Only TVs 35 inches and bigger get house calls. We were to bring it in. We said no thank you, Kent is too far away.  Now we sat and looked at the TV, wondering just how it was put in and could Derrille even get it out?

 

 

Step 2:

At the end of July we were back in Bremerton for our four days out of the state park. By squeezing his arm up through the lower opening of the cabinet, and positioning the screwdriver back toward him, Derrille began the laborious task of releasing the TV from the cabinet. Of course the first three screws came out fairly easily. Number four took lots of time and torque to remove. His hands and arms hurt for a couple of days.

 

The Visits to Best Buy:

Step 3:

We decided to take the TV back to Best Buy. I mentioned needing an appointment, but Derrille figured we could just go in.  Well, there is a line for with appointment and another without appointment. Young man #1 had us sign-in. Then we sat.   Young man #2 asked about our problem and filled out paper work.  Although we explained the problem, policy says he must try to replicate the problem. We explained the problem was intermittent. The problem usually occurred a couple of hours after being on, and unless you were watching, you’d miss the 6-7 seconds its shuts off. Like talking to a brick wall!  Then he asked if we had brought the remote. That hadn’t occurred to us. So now we need to go home and get that, AND we need an appointment to bring it in!!!  The only open appointment was in about four hours.  #2 plugged in the TV and we left.

 

We dutifully returned with the remote for our 2PM appointment and took a seat in the waiting area.

Young man #3 needed more information to complete more paperwork.  We made another appointment for the next day.

 

Geek guy George was supposed to look at the TV. Surprise!  Surprise!  The problem could not be replicated!  Young man #3 wasn’t sure what was done, but he thought George had reset it. After some discussion with young man #2 rejoining us, it was decided that the Geek Squad needed to see the wiring set up in the RV to be sure that wasn’t the problem.  More paperwork to secure that James would be out to see us. Today is Friday. We leave on Sunday.  So James was promised to come to the rig on Saturday.

 

Step 4:

James came in, looked at the TV and connections.  He asked Derrille a couple of questions. He made a phone call and knew just what the problem could be.  Apparently this model of TV made in 2013 and 2014 had a harnessing problem that requires the installation of a jumper harness. The part had to be ordered. Then we made another appointment for the part’s installation in two weeks when we returned for our next 4 days out of Flagler.  James whole visit took about 15 minutes.

 

Our question is: if you know this is a problem, why doesn’t the repair desk have a list that says these TVs have this problem and this is the fix???   We were not pleased with the time and service we got at Best Buy for this.

 

Step 5:

Derrille put the TV back in for our 10 days at Flagler.  On our return to Bremerton James and his helper came at 8:30 in the morning with the new harness. Watching repairmen pull the back off our new TV was a bit daunting.  Fortunately Derrille was watching too, and when the techs tried to yank out the only wiring, Derrille mentioned the release clips on the connections. James said, “Oh right” and then easily removed and replaced the harnesses. We bid them adieu. 

 

Derrille then reinstalled the TV with new screws making it hang more securely than before.

So far the TV continues to work as it should.  The TV replacement project only took 7 months!

 

I hope this is the end of the TV Saga!