While vacuuming last weekend, I knocked the vacuum cleaner into something and the cord sparked at the base; it's old. We got rid of it. However, at the same time it sparked, my husband heard crackling noises from our plasma TV, also kind of old. Six days later, I open the garage door and the TV dies. It won't stay on and gets no picture. Our house is only about 9 years old. Are these things just coincidences? Did the vacuum sparking cause damage to the TV? Or do we have another electrical issue that might be at work? No breakers were tripped.
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It is possible that the short in the vacuum was insufficient to trip the breaker but large enough to cause a voltage spike which could have damaged the television. This is supported by your husband hearing crackling noises at the same time. This is made more likely if the tv and vacuum were on the same circuit when this happened.
A surge suppressor, if you have one, should have protected the television. Not all power strips have surge protectors. Some surge protectors even warranty the electronics connected to them.
Is your garage door opener on the same circuit as the tv? The tv was probably damaged with the voltage spike and was ready to fail. The garage door may have just been a coincidence, but if it is on the same circuit, the motor load starting may have been enough to dip the voltage slightly which took out the weakened television.
It is too bad you lost your television. If you know someone who works on televisions, you could explain what happened to see if it can be fixed. I have repaired a handful of LED televisions by replacing one or two $1.00 capacitors. The electrolytic capacitor looks like a tiny pop can and bad ones often bulge at the top or even have black gunk oozing out the top. I do not know if this is the problem with your tv.
Good Luck.
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