Chips And Smoke

Through the use of a point and shoot and patience, I was able to fetch reasonably cool looking pictures of high voltage. Most of these images are of a fly back making a few tens of kilo volts taken from a CRT. Because I only had a point and shoot, I was unable to control the shutter, resulting in a cool fade effect of the arc, hence it looking so smooth. After a while the fly back driver died because I was essentially shorting it the entire time, leaving me with just a few pictures. Someday I aim to add in more pictures and make a fly back driver myself, as I have amassed a large collection of fly back transformers for this very reason.

Last update: 9/27/2008

One day I got to work with two TV's I got second hand. One was not able actually turning on, so I got around to attempting fixing it, which is a good thing compared to a cracked screen. If the actual LCD is cracked you can pretty much use it only for parts, after all, buying an LCD panel costs more than the entire tv new, and you can't really fix a cracked LCD. With some help carrying the massive 52 inch lcd back to my place, I tore it apart and found what went wrong. The model is a Dell W300.

Last update: 1/15/2012

The second tv was unfortunetly not such an easy fix. It is a Syntax Olevia LT42HVi, admitingly a lesser known brand than Dell, Samsung, or LG, but it should not be a horrible TV. Sadely, this LCD had a bigger problem than the previous screen; the power suppply was dead. A blown resistor on the main power board resulted in damage to the main switching fets, and I am not sure if the high side driver is still functional, so the current target is to design a power supply from scratch. The supply has been already designed, I just need to actually get the board etched at probably a batch PCB service like Itead's or Seeedstudio's, but money is tight right now and I can't really afford it yet. The cost of a single board and components would be roughly 30.00 USD, non isolated, and capable of providing up to 1kW at variable voltages.

Last update: 3/11/2012

I found this old Sony Bravia in the garbage a block from my house on the way to school one morning, so of course, me being me, I decided to be late for my Spanish class by 10 minutes to drag this monster back to my house. It was out in the rain for a few hours, and the power cord was cut but there did not seem to be damaged in any way, but when I attached a power cable to it, the LCD itself was cracked in two spots, making me imagine someone throwing two wii motes at the thin at the same time. Unfortunately I did not take a picture of the unit in its entirety, nor do I still have the parts, so I do not know the part number, other than it being over fifty inches and very heavy.

Last update: 4/11/2011