During my last visit to my local B&O store I was offered a second-hand Beovision 3-32 (from - I think- 2003). The set was returned to the shop as faulty, the service told that it's working but nobody knows how long, as it had some sort of tube problem (I don't know the exact story). Anyway at the moment the set works, picture is perfect, but as of the possible fault they cant sell it for any bigger total. New tube is available for around 800 EUR.

I bought the set for 150 EUR (including a second hand Beo4), the set will arrive tomorrow. The reason of buying it was clearly the price, and as the set works for now, I am happy! (I have one moth money-back warranty in case it breaks.)

In general, what is the reputation of this model, how well the tubes hold, and how good in general this Tv is? What should I test first, and how to expand the life of the tube / how to estimate how long it works?

The Tv arrived about an hour ago. It's BIG, stylish and impressive! Everything works great and the picture is fantastic. My old Tv was a Philips with a 4:3 ratio 100 Hz tube (a bit older than the BV3) and I didn't expect this much difference. Everything is detailed, smooth and perfect. Even the cheapest second-hand Beo4 I got with it is as clean as new and works.

Now to watch some 2001: a space odyssey!

If (and when) the tube someday gives up, how it starts? What should I keep looking for? Focus, colors?

Same tube as the Avant and same excellent picture. Tubes go in a number of ways but a nasty green hue seems to be a characteristic sometimes seen. However I wouldn't worry - you have got a wonderful picture for the price of a new Beo4! Did it come with a remote?

I see it did - essentially a free TV - well done!

You will love it every day. :)

At least, I do.

As a personal advice, try to switch off the movie mode by using the "not to be used" setup menu. Some people likes most the picture with it off, and it's AUTO by default.

I will love it as long as it works! At the moment it's so perfect that I can hardly believe it COULD fail at all!

I have already gone to the service menu. I just wanted to check the service timers, better not to touch other things there!  I already tried with the movie mode on and off, the smoothing fits to some material but with some sources it doesn't really look that good (fe. smoothing cursor movement in Lemmings on SNES!)

Hi, i just took my head out of the back of one of those....

What to keep an eye for with the tube (and i'm sure they know what they sell if they do so for that price so all the reason to be suspicious...) is if the black parts aren't black anymore but starting to show a faint colour (blue, red or green) with or without lines, best visible of course with a black picture.

If this happens, not all is lost straight away, recently i managed to 'revive' about 5 tubes and so far they're all good but i don't know how good you are with working on tv's (and picture tubes).

B&O prices for tubes are from a different planet, anywhere else replacement tubes can be found for 100-200 euro if all fails (who's gonna spend on 800 for a BV3 repair in all fairness...).

Thanks for the info. No problems so far, but better to be suspicious. I can say that I bought a Beo4 and get the tv as an extra! I never heard the actual reason for the set being sent to service in the first place, the serviceman had said that the set works now Ok but can't say how long.

Does you 'revive' mean the process where you make the heater glow much stronger than usually and taping the tube? I have read about it but I wouldn't like to try it myself! (I have re-capped a LX5500 which isn't working at the moment but I haven't got time to get back to it).

I believe this Tv uses a Philips tube? Is the tube in case used in other sets too or only in B&O range? (=Could it be bought cheaper somewhere else?)

Indeed: in short: have the tube face the floor, make the heater glow at about double the normal voltage and tapping, but it does need some care etc because it is easy to mess up and destroy things (in other words if the tube is 'lost' already it's ok to try but one has to be carefull also for your own safety).

Yes: they're all LG/Philips tubes and Philips sells them cheap these days, being made in Czech Republic now, i used a replacement type from new old stock but i have to say the original tube is better (of course if it is still alive :) ).

My guess is that if you buy a tube from B&O it'll also be a replacement type.

Is the point in the reviving process to loosen the dirt inside the tube/heater or something like that? The Tv was transported here in car so it must have some shaking during the way if that helps any! Perhaps not. Anyway if the tube gives up I might try this method. And as the BV was so cheap I thought it would work as the grand finale of tube televisions in my house for the while it works.

The service counters showed only some 400 hours of usage so this is not very much used, if that helps any.

ipaul,

Are you sure that these tubes are still being manufactured? I thought that the LG/Philips CRT partnership had gone bankrupt and the factory in the Czech Republic closed. Is there a tube of this type being manufactured anywhere now? I know that broadcasters are having to come to terms with LCD monitors since the high quality CRT displays in use up to now are no longer available. I was under the impression that all the replacement tubes from B&O were new old stock.

Either way, I can't see many more new replacement tubes from B&O being required now, given the extremely high price asked and the fact that CRT televisions are now seen as "old fashioned", even B&O!

Neil.

Neil, i don't know about that (factory closed etc) but you could be right.

In any case what's for sale is than still stock i guess, but for sure there's still a need for tubes on this planet as the vast majority still uses crt tv's (out of western Europe/VS).

Anyway, indeed the prices B&O charges for tubes is beyond any sense of reality, but the tapping/glowing trick seems to work ok most of the time so if that keeps 'them' going for some years i'll gladly watch an old fashioned crt.

ipaul,

I'll gladly watch a CRT tv as well as long as the tube is ok, but even though I would prefer to keep my Avant than buy a flat panel tv, if the tube fails I don't think I could justify paying B&O prices for a replacement. I'm also concerned that you say a new tube is not likely to be as good. It looks like your "tapping" repair method is certainly worth a try with a faulty tube.

I agree that a huge number of CRT tv's are still being used, but if what is happening in my part of the UK is anything to go by this situation will not exist much longer. The analogue transmitters were switched off here last June, and this seemed to be the catalyst for people to change to the brave new world of flat panel tv's, mostly LCD. My local recycling depot (tip) has received huge amounts of working CRT tv's and VCR's, and for a while local retailers were struggling to keep up with demand. By the time the Digital Switch Over scheme is completed in 2012, I think that tube tv's will be in the minority here in the UK.

It looks like we will just have to enjoy them while we can.

Regards.

Neil.

Bump.

The BV has been working very well. I continuously enjoy the picture and especially the rich sound.

However it has one problem which it has now demonstrated for about five times. Tv is in standby, red led. I press TV, light turns green but the tube doesn't wake up. Green led stays, no response from the remote. After disconnecting mains for a few minutes the red led stays and won't turn green. Usually after a few moments (of overnight) with no mains it starts working again, it has done it few times already. What could that mean? I checked that there were some errors logged in the service menu, can't check them now but I think the code ended -22A (?).

Any ideas?