If I use an x10 wall module to turn my tv on and off (tv that has no discrete on off codes, no work arounds to no discrete on off codes, and this tv has latching power) can this due serious damage to the tv's power supply. or any other part of the tv? Thanks for the help.

Steve Kovacs

Ok I have heard enough. I am going to make a suggestion based on your recent threads. This suggestion, although it will cost a bit of $$, will cost you much less in terms of headaches, temper tantrums, domestic unrest, etc. :)

1. Buy new TV
2. Buy new AV receiver
3. Buy HDMI cables
4. Spend 30 minutes (generous) setting it up
5. Enjoy!

To answer your question, yes, banging a TV on and off via yanking th eplug is horrible for the set.

If I were in your shoes, I would probably do it anyway. at least it will give ya an excuse to buy a better tv when it blows up.

Don't dim it. A true switch (relay) in a jbox on the wall is nearly identical to a physical latching switch in the tv. If that's what this tv has in it, a real switch should be nearly identical in effect. If it's not a true switch, or not a true latching power switch on the display, it's probably a bad idea.

I switched an old Hitachi RPTV on & off using a relay controlled outlet for years at my own place without issue (can't even remember why now) but it worked without issue.

Jeez, I see what you mean:
[Link: remotecentral.com]
[Link: remotecentral.com]
[Link: remotecentral.com]
[Link: remotecentral.com]
[Link: remotecentral.com]
[Link: remotecentral.com]
If we were charging you for the consulting, you would have spent more than the price of a new TV!

American recorder

Yeah, maybe. My mom's TV had a switch that truly turned it off, so no problem there. (1967.)

TVs nowadays have a power supply that's ON all the time to be ready to receive a remote control signal. Sets with internet connections keep that part on all the time, too, but your set sounds like it's too old for that


And perhaps even hasten the day.
However, every penny you spend following this dream will lower the amount of money you have when you eventually do get a new TV.

I think Impaqt's thinking is flawed. The TV must have an existing mechanical switch, otherwise it would power up into an "off" state. Therefore removing power is not different than flipping the AC power at the wall.

The only time I think this might result in damage, would be if the TV were fan cooled, and the fan continues to normally run for a time period after being turned "off". In other words, don't do this with a projector... or it will very likely get hot enough to damage some components.

Since most TVs have a power supply that is always on so the remote control can turn the TV on, I assume this is what you mean by "power up into an 'off' state."

So, regarding what you wrote, that's not true. Most TVs today have no mechanical power switches but "power up into the OFF state." The occasional rare TV has the option, much more rare now than ten years ago, of being set to turn on when power is applied to the power cord. That is called Power Restore.


I think you meant to write something different. Removing power is unplugging, and flipping the AC power at the wall means turning off a switch that kills power to an outlet etc etc which is identical to pulling the plug. I don't see how this moves the conversation forward.


Very very true.

The picture tube's heater is always on, normally. The TV's power switch turns off the rest of the circuitry, but the tube is always heated, so it "turns on" faster than if the receptacle is switched. It won't really hurt much- if it has a rectifier tube, nothing gets B+ voltage until that warms up, anyway.

Wow, highfigh, you REALLY think this is an OLD OLD TV!

TVs I've seen with CRTs did not keep the CRTs on, nor any filament voltage on them, when the TV was off. Those TVs with actual mechanical power switches had to, by necessity, remove all filament power when the TV was off because off equalled no power into it at all.

Are there CRT units that keep voltage on the filaments when the set is off? I guess, maybe, but it seems like a bad idea since the life of the tube is related to the amount of time the filament (or cathode if separate from the filament) is heated and able to release electrons.

If it has a rectifier tube... then it must be at least thirty years old, I'd guess, so probably doesn't have ANY video inputs. I can remember working with TVs with solid state rectifiers in the early 80s, so that was... yup, thirty years ago. Despite the apparent antiquity of Steve's stuff, it's probably not that old.

+1.

You are wasting money and time backdating new and better quality equipment to work with older antiquated equipment. You will only spend more money and waste more time as technology moves even farther beyond your aging. Understandably it may not be in the cards to do it all at once but you have to start somewhere. Perhaps since you lead with your TV today, that's the place to start.

This weekend I'm moving a client who has a Yamaha RX-V2095, my favorite of the late 90s receivers. She's got a two year old TV, a Vudu, DirecTV receiver, and Blu-ray player. HDMI goes directly to the TV from each of those sources. Analog audio goes to the main zone and a second zone (three other rooms with local volume controls). She has two 300-disc Sony CD changers cascaded, too!

This is terribly clumsy, but the TV and its HDMI inputs rescued a system that had an RPTV. And the clumsiness is completely cured by the use of an integrated remote that selects the proper receiver remote and the proper Sony TV input.

But all we replaced two years ago was the TV. And I reprogrammed the remote, a Marantz RC5200 using IR only, which is completely out of date too.

See? For the price of a new TV and a bit of reprogramming, plus the initial choice of a good programmable remote, the system is pretty modern in terms of performance, if not wiring.

Get a TV. Get a remote you can program. Since you're not an installer, a Harmony will probably be tolerable.

There's something in the Bible to the effect that you can't put new wine into old wineskins, as the new wine apparently expands as it ages, bursting the old skins which and already expanded when first used. The parallel for you is probably the bursting of your wallet and your time from trying to make something old work with something new in an unwise way.

Best of luck.

He didn't specify the TV's age, but his X10 could be 30 years old, so.....

Another saying that applies here- you can't polish a turd, although they tried it on Mythbusters.

I remember owning a TV back in early 80s that had a mechanical power on/off pull/push switch that doubled as volume controller if memory serves right.
Get one of those TVs and you won't have any issues using your X10 module.