Is Television repair a good profession?
Many people have asked me if I think Television repair is a good profession. I think it depends on your financial needs, your tolerance level for hard detailed work, and how much you enjoy electronics repair.
When I first started in this profession things were very different than they are today. The circuits were far less complex, Schematics were easier to read and find, and most electronic components were larger. Due to miniaturization and all the other new complexities, component level troubleshooting has become far more challenging than it use to be. Nevertheless with the right test equipment and knowledge there are still a great many opportunities in the field.
Even though there is still money to be made in this business, I think it might be wise to consider other areas of electronic repair besides TV repair alone. Fortunately much of what I learned repairing TVs is transferable to other areas of electronics, so I've been able to repair a variety of other gadgets people bring in my shop.
Since most electronic devices all run on similar principles, much of what you learn from my free videos and the books I listed can help you in many other fields of electronics. On some level even the ignition system in your car operates on the same principles as a switch mode power supply in a TV.
Even though a majority of the TV's that come in my shop are repairable there is always the challenge of being able to repair them cheap enough and fast enough to make it worth the effort. This is why my skills and test equipment are so important. If making more money is a major consideration then doing warranty work for the manufacturers is probably the best way to go and perhaps the most profitable. When you work for the manufacturers you have the burden of paperwork and some delay time in getting paid, but some of the advantages are not having any out of pocket cost for parts, and they generally have their own technicians to assist you on the phone. Some may also pay extra for travel time, and hopefully bring you plenty of work.
I think one of the most important business lessons I'm often forced to re-learn is not to be overly concerned if a particular job is beyond the scope of my abilities, and not to spend to much time on a particular repair if it's to time consuming. I don't mind the occasional week long challenge if it helps me fine tune my troubleshooting skills, but not when it causes me to neglect the repairs I can easily do with far less effort.
When I first opened my shop I remember there were times I found myself working past midnight trying to prove I could fix anything and working 7 days a week. Going at that rate my mental state was deteriorating and making some pretty stupid mistakes from a loss of clarity.
Surprisingly after I started taking one day off a week I started to make more money on account of my thinking being sharper, so perhaps a sabbath day of rest each week and not being overly ambitious is more than just a good idea. As much as I like making money it means very little when I'm mentally unbalanced.
"What does it profit a man to gain the world and loose his soul." Jesus.
"Anyone with a functional brain can soon become an expert in any field if he or she would simply study the subject only fifteen minutes a day"
Albert Einstein
Click on these books to sample their contents.
When I first started in this profession things were very different than they are today. The circuits were far less complex, Schematics were easier to read and find, and most electronic components were larger. Due to miniaturization and all the other new complexities, component level troubleshooting has become far more challenging than it use to be. Nevertheless with the right test equipment and knowledge there are still a great many opportunities in the field.
Even though there is still money to be made in this business, I think it might be wise to consider other areas of electronic repair besides TV repair alone. Fortunately much of what I learned repairing TVs is transferable to other areas of electronics, so I've been able to repair a variety of other gadgets people bring in my shop.
Since most electronic devices all run on similar principles, much of what you learn from my free videos and the books I listed can help you in many other fields of electronics. On some level even the ignition system in your car operates on the same principles as a switch mode power supply in a TV.
Even though a majority of the TV's that come in my shop are repairable there is always the challenge of being able to repair them cheap enough and fast enough to make it worth the effort. This is why my skills and test equipment are so important. If making more money is a major consideration then doing warranty work for the manufacturers is probably the best way to go and perhaps the most profitable. When you work for the manufacturers you have the burden of paperwork and some delay time in getting paid, but some of the advantages are not having any out of pocket cost for parts, and they generally have their own technicians to assist you on the phone. Some may also pay extra for travel time, and hopefully bring you plenty of work.
I think one of the most important business lessons I'm often forced to re-learn is not to be overly concerned if a particular job is beyond the scope of my abilities, and not to spend to much time on a particular repair if it's to time consuming. I don't mind the occasional week long challenge if it helps me fine tune my troubleshooting skills, but not when it causes me to neglect the repairs I can easily do with far less effort.
When I first opened my shop I remember there were times I found myself working past midnight trying to prove I could fix anything and working 7 days a week. Going at that rate my mental state was deteriorating and making some pretty stupid mistakes from a loss of clarity.
Surprisingly after I started taking one day off a week I started to make more money on account of my thinking being sharper, so perhaps a sabbath day of rest each week and not being overly ambitious is more than just a good idea. As much as I like making money it means very little when I'm mentally unbalanced.
"What does it profit a man to gain the world and loose his soul." Jesus.
"Anyone with a functional brain can soon become an expert in any field if he or she would simply study the subject only fifteen minutes a day"
Albert Einstein
Click on these books to sample their contents.
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Mike's TV Repair Case Histories.
This book was put together with the help of 70 different TV repair shops who recorded their repairs and submitted them to Mike for entry in his yearly publications. This is a paperback edition.
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John's LCD TV Repair Case Histories
This book tells you the exact parts that were replaced to repair 56 LCD TVs. The information in this book helped me to better understanding some of the many symptoms and their possible causes. Click book to read more.
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