Canal ‘Fix’ and another project

Our Perth blog readers, Ken & Elaine have returned from their European holiday and (of course) we wanted to hear about their three weeks aboard their Black Prince hire boat which they hired at Stoke Upon Trent.  From their account it appears they had a leisurely cruise to Castlefield Basin, Manchester and back with a short diversion to Worsley where it all began with the Duke of Bridgewater.  They also managed to fit in the Anderton Boat Lift and a short cruise to Northwich.  Gosh are we envious!

Three days ago we had thunder and lightning.  One of those summer storms which only brings a little rain.  However, no doubt the farmers in the wheat belt were most grateful.  The other side of the continent is suffering from a severe drought, but there should be a bumper harvest this side.

Before I forget, I should mention a couple of useful tips Jan has discovered.  Bananas can be delayed from going black if they are wrapped in tinfoil and kept in the fridge.  The skin may start to discolour, but the flesh remains fresh.  The second tip is carrots.  You can delay raw and unpeeled carrots going soft and wrinkly if you keep them in a water filled container in the fridge.  That’s my good deed for the day.

Two days ago the TV decided to go on strike.  The power LED was flashing and there was a strong smell of burning plastic.  We promptly turned it off at the wall.  Under Australian Consumer Law nearly all purchases have a 12 month guarantee.  The TV is 15 months old <bugger!>

It appeared I had another new project.  The first task was to have the family chief financial controller assist me move the TV off the wall and lay it face down on the dining table.  There must have been a thousand screws <perhaps an exaggeration> hold the back on the TV.   My guess was the power supply had failed and I was bracing myself for the financial impact of a replacement power board.  The TV does have a 3 year warranty.  But not for electrical spikes!  With the back off the TV I had two surprises.  There’s almost nothing to a TV these days……. Just two printed circuit boards!  The second surprise was the power supply board…. there was nothing wrong with it.

   

Power supply board

I plugged the TV into the 240V and turned it on.  Smoke wafted from the ‘other’ circuit board.  <Wow>.  Not a fault caused by an electrical spike.  I think the TV might still be covered by the 3 year warranty.  The back was carefully reattached before phoning the Australian distributor to report a fault.

It wasn’t all good news.  Jan now didn’t have a TV and withdrawal symptoms were starting to manifest themselves.  The long term plan was for this TV to eventually go in the master bedroom and we’d buy a bigger TV for the lounge room.  Actually we’ve done all the renovations to the lounge and kitchen, which means there was nothing preventing us from proceeding with the second TV.

Jan had a look at all the TV’s on display and selected a Sony Bravia as the one with the most appealing picture quality.  Of course that has created yet another project.  I now have to mount it on the wall.  Fortunately Jan has offered to hold the heavy end!