My TV keeps switching itself on!
By BabyCheetah
@BabyCheetah (1911)
Australia
July 7, 2012 8:31pm CST
OK so I have a plasma TV and usually what it will do at times is switch on by itself and then switch off again which was fine but for the past few days it's just been switching on and not switching off and it's really irritating! I have to switch my TV on properly and then switch it off.
When it switches on it doesn't completely switch on to a channel thankfully but you can see it's on and just on a black screen all the time. Has anyone else had this issue? I'm going to get a powerboard so I can easily flick the switch off at night and only switch it on when I'm going to use it. That will solve it but I just wondered if it's just my TV or if it's normal, I don't think it is! :(
4 responses
@jjzone44 (917)
• United States
8 Jul 12
No I don't think that is normal at all. If the TV is still under warranty, I would contact the manufacturer and tell them of your problem. Even if it is not, I would still check to see if there was a recall of that unit for similar problems. The other thing to check is to make sure the remote is not in an area that it can get bumped accidentally and it be responsible for turning the TV on. Wouldn't be the first time a pet bumping a remote turned on the TV. My dog used to bump her nose off of the computer that sits on the floor for my TV, and she would boot the computer that way.
The power switch idea would stop the TV from turning on, but if you have any pre-programmed channels or the time in that TV, those may get erased when the power is removed from the mains.
@BabyCheetah (1911)
• Australia
8 Jul 12
Ahh I've had it now for a couple of years so no longer under warranty. I haven't checked for a recall but I don't think it would have been. It's been working well until a few days ago. The remote is in a place where it isn't bumped and I have no pets that could do it either. It's got a mind of it's own!
I don't have anything pre programed so it should be OK. Thanks for all those suggestions! :)
@jjzone44 (917)
• United States
8 Jul 12
You're welcome. So the pets are ruled out, but there is one other possibility I thought of, other than of course a malfunctioning TV. I don't know your living arrangements (house, condo, apartment) but it is possible that if you have someone in close proximity to you that has the same make of TV, their remote could be doing that. Remotes used to be IR (InfraRed) and they worked on line of sight; you had to actually see the TV for the remote to work. Increasingly they are using RF (Radio Frequency) remotes, and those do not need line of sight. Those kinds of remotes can bounce off of and pass through walls. My satellite receiver has those kinds of remotes, because it has dual tuners so it can operate 2 TVs in different rooms on separate channels.
@BabyCheetah (1911)
• Australia
8 Jul 12
Haahaa that's a good one actually but I live in a brick house so ther is a bit of distance between us and the neighbours. But if that were teh case the TV would come right on one of the channels. All it does is it seems to just switch on. Maybe a better description is like a standby mode, it's blank but you can tell it's on. So weird!
@sedel1027 (17846)
• Cupertino, California
13 Jul 12
I'm wondering if someone near you bought a new electronic and it happens to be on the same frequency as your TV. Have you tried changing the batteries in the remote?
@BabyCheetah (1911)
• Australia
13 Jul 12
Well TV was always switching on blank and not on any chanel so it would seem strange if that's what it was. The remote is fine as well, doesn't seem to be faulty but I have a powerboard with a switch now so it stops bugging me 
@sedel1027 (17846)
• Cupertino, California
13 Jul 12
The only reason I thought of that was because we had that happen with our old TV and a toy my son was given for his birthday and we have had issues in the past with neighbors being able to change our channels and vice versa lol
The way our tv works is unless you have the cable box on (or the tv to that setting), the light indicates that it's on but the screen stays empty.
@BabyCheetah (1911)
• Australia
14 Jul 12
Yeah fair enough but it seems strange that it would come up blank as if standing by for something. I'm not sure that was it but thank you 
@sharksfin (1091)
• Philippines
11 Jul 12
oh, have you tried checking if it was set up to turn on at a certain time of the day? It happened to me before and I found out that it was only because of the setting.
Another similar thing that happened to me was when my radio clock kept turning on every morning playing the same song which later on became my alarm! Gosh! The song was, Hopelessly Devoted To You. *goosebumps*
@BabyCheetah (1911)
• Australia
13 Jul 12
Yeah I did and I can't see it but I've had the TV for years and it hasn't done this before so I don't see how it could be that
Oh that's just creepy!
Oh that's just creepy!
@chicksdigscars (5483)
•
11 Jul 12
I would possibly have it looked at if its causing you a severe problem, but technology can sometimes just be tempramental. My television volume changes itself randomly lol.. I'll go to bed and the last volume the tv will have been on will be say 6, and I come in the next day, turn the tv on and nearly get deafened because the tv has jumped to say 24 haha!
@BabyCheetah (1911)
• Australia
13 Jul 12
Ohhh wow possessed TV LOL. What I've done is got one of those powerboards with a switch to stop it and it's better anyway because I can switch it off at night and save more electricity that doesn't need to be wasted. In a way my TV helped me take action, maybe it's a sign
