Slow start up for CRT TV

[ZP3]

As a person less than 20 years old, I do not have a lot of experience with CRT TVs. However, I have recently been getting into these TVs, as they look fantastic for retro gaming. On Friday, a 32 inch Sony Trinitron fell into my hands for free, and since it was kept in a unheated, cold garage for a month, I have let it acclimate to room temperature until Sunday night. However, when I turned it on, the TV takes a good 30 seconds to get started. Is this normal? I ask simply because I have another tube (20") that shows picture almost immediately. Thanks!

[Leo_A]

Never timed it, but I bet my Trinitron takes perhaps 15 seconds at the most for something to appear. Then, it's briefly greenish looking and the colors gradually correct and brighten for another 5 seconds or so.

[Gameguy]

How cold was it in the garage? If it was below freezing it's possible that the capacitors froze and aren't working properly anymore. But if it eventually does start up and look fine, maybe it's just how that model acts.

In the really old days TV sets had to warm up because they used vacuum tubes. Modern solid state TVs shouldn't have that issue.

[ZP3]

I would say it got below freezing. I mean, it does turn on and run fine, but it's just a wee slow getting there. Is it worth moving to my new place? Or should I pursue a different TV?

[buzz_n64]

My guess is that it is normal. I've had several CRT tvs throughout the years and I say that on average they usually took around 10-15 seconds to turn on. Maybe that model just takes a little longer.

[kai123]

My PVM takes 10-15 seconds to start but my CRT samsung takes about 5.

[Tanooki]

The last CRT I had was a Sony Wega/Trinitron and I can't clock it now, but I know it took a little bit (doubt 30sec though) to come up. I think due to the electronics and various things it did over your normal CRT it would turn on, cycle powering up various things inside, and then it would display the image. It wasn't like an older TV where you turn the knob and it slowly glows on over a couple of seconds or so.

[Genesaturn]

This sounds normal, I used to sell these when I worked at Sears back in the day and we have plenty of CRT's that took much longer than others to turn on. Some of the Sony models we had were notorious. Not quite 30 seconds, but as these sat on everyday from 9am to 9pm they eventually did slow down. It could be because the cold, but also it could of been from excessive use. Just my 2 cents. As long as it works and looks good though, who cares right? :)

[RP2A03]

Your protracted startup time could be caused by being unplugged for an extended period of time.



How cold was it in the garage? If it was below freezing it's possible that the capacitors froze and aren't working properly anymore.

If I'm not mistaken, caps are good to -40°C.

[celerystalker]

Like everyone said, it's good still. The capacitors and monitor maintain an electrical charge in order to start everything up quickly without a slow build. If it was unplugged for an extended period, coupled with low temps that facilitate loss of charge, the caps and frame may have slowly lost charge and will rebuild over time. If the capacitors were completely dead, it wouldn't turn on at all, so you'll be ok. Also, the larger the CRT, they generally take a little longer to warm up all the way for the tube. If the tube was going bad, though, you'd be having completely different issues.

[Gentlegamer]

We need to start preserving CRT knowledge for younger generations for use with classic systems.

Here's one: keep magnets, such as stereo speakers, away from CRTs.

[ZP3]

Like everyone said, it's good still. The capacitors and monitor maintain an electrical charge in order to start everything up quickly without a slow build. If it was unplugged for an extended period, coupled with low temps that facilitate loss of charge, the caps and frame may have slowly lost charge and will rebuild over time. If the capacitors were completely dead, it wouldn't turn on at all, so you'll be ok. Also, the larger the CRT, they generally take a little longer to warm up all the way for the tube. If the tube was going bad, though, you'd be having completely different issues.

What sort of issues does one get with a dying tube?

[ZP3]

Also, as I'm at college, I will be leaving this TV unplugged at my parents house for quite some time. Will this make the slow start up any worse?

[celerystalker]

If the tube is going bad, you'll usually first have the color start to fade out, followed by either distorted or more likely warped and static filled picture. Brightness will dim as well. Leaving it unplugged for months won't hurt anything in particular as long as it's stored at a reasonable temperature and in a dry place.

[Rickstilwell1]

I got a woodgrain tube TV shipped to me and at first the screen seemed pretty dim and fuzzy when I plugged in game systems directly via RF switch. After adding a VCR with very good cords, turning off the auto fine tuning and tweaking channel 3's tuning ever so slightly, I was able to brighten things up and get them looking good again. It turned out that dimness and visual noise on the screen was from the analog RF tuning being a tad bit off. I should see if I could commission any repair serviceman to come out and clean/ re-lubricate all the potentiometers on this TV someday without me having to have it taken in. While they're at it the could put the one for the volume knob back on the right way so turning it left turns it down instead of up and makes it so you can actually turn the sound all the way down instead of being stuck at halfway at the lowest. They must have screwed something up with that when they replaced the original picture tube 15 years ago. I bypass the problem by hooking up 2 VCRs and running the first one thru an audio receiver and back into the TV via the second one.

[AdamAnt316]

Modern color TVs are quite robust compared to the early models, which used CRTs which were round (http://antiquetvguy.com/Web%20Pages/The%20Restorations/1956%20RCA%20CTC5%20Wingate/Images/WingateOpenDoors800x600.jpg) rather than rectangular as with modern tubes. In those days, the internal circuitry was based around vacuum tubes (http://antiquetvguy.com/Web%20Pages/The%20Restorations/1956%20RCA%20CTC5%20Wingate/Images/WingateInside800x600.jpg) (the CRT itself *is* a vacuum tube, of course, but it's only a display device rather than an active part of the TV's circuitry), which run at high temperatures and high voltages, eventually causing the failure of not only themselves, but the various components around them (other things can cause them to fail, such as internal degradation, but the heat from those tubes probably doesn't help). Also, if you moved an early color TV from one location to another, the color alignment of the CRT often would be thrown off-kilter, requiring that internal adjustments be made (known as 'purity' and 'convergence', among other things). During the '70s, the advent of sets using solid-state circuitry (and the eventual elimination of vacuum tubes from the internal circuits), an improvement in the designs and materials of the various types of components involved within, and the perfection of cathode ray tube technology meant that color sets were much more stable, and didn't need repairs nearly as often.

As for the OP's question, I agree with what others have said about Sony using start-up circuitry. We have a 27" Sony Trinitron set (circa 2006) in our living room, and when it's first turned on, you hear the high voltage kick on, and a red LED next to the power button starts flashing for several seconds. Once it's done with various start-up tests, the LED goes out, and the screen image comes up fairly quickly. If the set somehow fails these start-up checks, the screen will refuse to come up, and the LED will flash a code identifying what part of the circuitry failed to pass its test. Hope this helps.
-Adam

[ZP3]

Modern color TVs are quite robust compared to the early models, which used CRTs which were round (http://antiquetvguy.com/Web%20Pages/The%20Restorations/1956%20RCA%20CTC5%20Wingate/Images/WingateOpenDoors800x600.jpg) rather than rectangular as with modern tubes. In those days, the internal circuitry was based around vacuum tubes (http://antiquetvguy.com/Web%20Pages/The%20Restorations/1956%20RCA%20CTC5%20Wingate/Images/WingateInside800x600.jpg) (the CRT itself *is* a vacuum tube, of course, but it's only a display device rather than an active part of the TV's circuitry), which run at high temperatures and high voltages, eventually causing the failure of not only themselves, but the various components around them (other things can cause them to fail, such as internal degradation, but the heat from those tubes probably doesn't help). Also, if you moved an early color TV from one location to another, the color alignment of the CRT often would be thrown off-kilter, requiring that internal adjustments be made (known as 'purity' and 'convergence', among other things). During the '70s, the advent of sets using solid-state circuitry (and the eventual elimination of vacuum tubes from the internal circuits), an improvement in the designs and materials of the various types of components involved within, and the perfection of cathode ray tube technology meant that color sets were much more stable, and didn't need repairs nearly as often.

As for the OP's question, I agree with what others have said about Sony using start-up circuitry. We have a 27" Sony Trinitron set (circa 2006) in our living room, and when it's first turned on, you hear the high voltage kick on, and a red LED next to the power button starts flashing for several seconds. Once it's done with various start-up tests, the LED goes out, and the screen image comes up fairly quickly. If the set somehow fails these start-up checks, the screen will refuse to come up, and the LED will flash a code identifying what part of the circuitry failed to pass its test. Hope this helps.
-Adam

That is almost exactly what my tube Trinitron does. The red led light flashes, and then the screen comes on.

[AdamAnt316]

That is almost exactly what my tube Trinitron does. The red led light flashes, and then the screen comes on.

That sounds normal to me. The Trinitron set we have has been acting like that since we got it new.
-Adam

[ZP3]

That sounds normal to me. The Trinitron set we have has been acting like that since we got it new.
-Adam

That is good to hear. Thanks for your input, Adam!

[BlastProcessing402]

In the really old days TV sets had to warm up because they used vacuum tubes. Modern solid state TVs shouldn't have that issue.

Nah, the warm up issue was still really common long after the vacuum tube day. The kid across the street from me back in the 80's had a set his Nintendo was hooked up to that could take several minutes to turn on. Finally he was able to convince his dad to replace the set when it started taking something like 10 mins to come on. Granted, it was an old set, but not vacuum tube old. I don't think I've EVER seen a set with vacuum tubes, but the "warm up" problem was pretty universal, though not all to the degree that this kid's TV had, until the late 80's, early 90's.

30 seconds doesn't really sound so bad. Probably not that much longer than my 2011 LCD takes to do the effin HDCP handshake over HDMI with my cable box, though I've never timed it.

[AdamAnt316]

Nah, the warm up issue was still really common long after the vacuum tube day. The kid across the street from me back in the 80's had a set his Nintendo was hooked up to that could take several minutes to turn on. Finally he was able to convince his dad to replace the set when it started taking something like 10 mins to come on. Granted, it was an old set, but not vacuum tube old. I don't think I've EVER seen a set with vacuum tubes, but the "warm up" problem was pretty universal, though not all to the degree that this kid's TV had, until the late 80's, early 90's.

30 seconds doesn't really sound so bad. Probably not that much longer than my 2011 LCD takes to do the effin HDCP handshake over HDMI with my cable box, though I've never timed it.

You'd be surprised at how long vacuum tubes were used in the circuitry of television sets. Throughout the 1970s, most manufacturers continued to produce sets which used at least some vacuum tubes in the main circuitry (usually the lower-end models), with more and more sections being converted to use solid-state components as the years went on. Tube-based TVs were still being sold as the '80s dawned, though mostly small sets with older designs (like GE Portacolor (http://www.rwhirled.com/portacolor/)). Generally, sets which weren't fully solid-state didn't look all that different from the sets which were; probably the biggest difference being the lack of "SOLID-STATE" badging prominently displayed somewhere on the front panel.

As far as warm-up times go, I'm not sure what would cause a TV set of either tube, hybrid or solid-state circuitry to take 10 minutes to warm up. Vacuum tube filaments, whether within the circuit tubes or the CRT, typically get hot enough to allow operation within a minute or two. Most of the circuitry in a solid-state TV set comes up to operation instantly, with the only delay being the CRT filament. Some sets did employ some manner of time-delay circuitry to prevent damage by sensitive parts of the set getting 'slammed' with voltage at turn-on, though I don't know of any specific examples off-hand, and I don't think it was at all common.
-Adam

[Gentlegamer]

That reminds me of my childhood and the concept of "portable" TVs. They weren't some handheld, they just meant supposedly lighter or with a handle or hand grips. My childhood TV was a "portable" 20" that had handle on top... and probably weighed 50 pounds. I think it was a Panasonic.

Over the years, it ended up in my dad's work shed, I think my mom still has it.