Is That Smoke I Smell?

In an effort to save money I have wired the house for TV in such a way that all of the TV’s operate off of one DVR. The cable companies are on to this behavior as they have programmed their DVR’s not to work on more than one TV, instead the other TV's get a warning notice. It took a while but I eventually figured out a way around this, the problem is it requires the audio amplifier in the living room to be on and muted for any other TV in the house to work.

After spending a tidy sum at Best Buy I eventually figured out a way to use a radio frequency remote control with macro capability to operate the DVR from anywhere in the house and we were in business. By the way I heard an ad recently for AT&T U-Verse which offers a DVR that records four shows at once, and (gasp) you only need one for all the TV’s in the whole house. Amy and I would sign up at once if only it was offered in our neighborhood.

Anyway, back to the story; the other day Amy and I were watching the news in our bedroom. Out of the blue the TV suddenly went blank, I quickly figured out that for whatever reason the audio amp had turned off. I turned it back on, and soon after it again turned off. After two more attempts I finally make my way to the living room and realize I’ve entered a cloud of smoke, and it is putrid. I open the entertainment center to see even more smoke billow out.

I spent the entire morning, venting the house, and checking all of the speaker wires just sure that there must be a short somewhere. I don’t find any shorts, but I do re-insulate all of the connections, and try to turn it on again. I have it on for about an hour, when suddenly – you guessed it – smoke, again, horrid smelling white smoke begins pouring out of the device. I finally draw the line in the sand and decide the unit is defective.

Fortunately it is under warranty and I send it to Samsung who promptly returns it repaired and deodorized. I reinstalled it with its own additional heavy duty cooling fan. I’ve decided in the future that if an electronic device turns off for some unknown reason, there is likely a reason; and I should probably get myself out of bed to figure it out.

Have a great Tuesday.