After rescuing a large Sony Trinitron CRT television that had been left by the roadside in Italy for at least six years, Happychoice got the device largely working in the second part of the repair. In the first part, dirt, plants and animals had been removed, but although the interior looked surprisingly intact, the unit could not be turned on because of a power supply issue. After six years of exposure to the elements, most of the capacitors on the power supply board, the CRT’s neck board and two MOSFETs that tested as open circuits were replaced. The television powered on with the new parts and ran games such as Persona 4 when a Wii was connected. Image alignment and other settings were corrected through the service menu accessed with the remote control, without having to adjust the potentiometer at the rear with a screwdriver. Although the PCBs and dirty speaker require further maintenance, the intact tube showed that the repair attempt was worthwhile.
Why it matters
This repair shows that a CRT left outdoors for a long time may not be a total loss if its tube, the core imaging component, remains intact. The fact that the faults were concentrated in replaceable components such as the power supply board, capacitors, MOSFETs and neck board demonstrates that component-level diagnostics can offer an alternative to replacing old electronics entirely. The ability to align the image through the service menu also demonstrates the role of built-in maintenance options that simplify the restoration process by reducing the need for mechanical intervention. However, the continuing need for maintenance on the PCBs and speaker shows that turning on the television does not mean the restoration is complete and that the condition of the remaining parts still needs to be clarified.
Background
Sony is not a new name in the FikirPilot archive: over the past 90 days, we have published 11 news stories mentioning the company, the latest dated September 15, 2026.