Trying to get rid of an old TV set

[Lionel Mandrake]

Last edited Wed Jan 25, 2012, 07:22 PM - Edit history (1)

We got a new TV set - an LCD model. It was on sale. It weighs about thirty pounds. It required some assembly, but I was able to do that. I had no trouble setting it up.

Our old TV set weighs 200 pounds. I can't even lift one end of it. I called around, and nobody wanted it. I knew Good Will wouldn't touch it.

As a last resort, I tried the Salvation Army. They said they would take a look at it, but it was up to the truck driver to decide whether they would take it or not. I didn't think they would. They said the truck would arrive between 7AM and 5PM today. Oh great, a ten-hour window during which I had to be available.

I called them again this morning, and they said the truck would arrive between 8:30 and 11:30 AM. A three hour window. That would pretty much chew up the morning, but it was an improvement.

The truck arrived about 10AM. There were two guys on the truck. They looked dubious when they saw the TV set.

But then, Major Barbara smiled down on me. The Salvation Army guys took our old TV set! Hallefuckinglujah!

[Duer 157099]

1. They are easy to give away for free on Craigslist

Some people appreciate a working TV even if it is old school

[Lionel Mandrake]

4. I'm glad there is a demand for old TV sets.

Craigslist looks like a valuable resource for donors and sellers to find people who want whatever it is they have to offer.

Thanks for the tip.

[pokerfan]

7. Ditto on Craigslist

Friend of mine picked one up for free.

[hlthe2b]

2. Actually, I had one hell of a hard time getting rid of two old type tvs...

I was more than willing to give them away or junk them, though both were in working order and had been very top of the line tvs in their time. I found that no one would take them (Salvation Army, ARC, Goodwill, etc. and no pawn shop at all ) and my state and locale required you to pay to dispose at an approved landfill. Ignoring the fact I would have had to pay--to haul them out there and then $40-$60 for the right to dispose, this was pretty devastating.

Fortunately, these were in storage in a major university town and I found a couple of poor students that were happy to have a tv of any kind and they took them. So, craigslist (for free) might be your best option.

[Lionel Mandrake]

3. I was lucky.

Either that, or someone up there likes me - which is unlikely since there's no-one up there.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

5. I put an old TV I wanted to get rid of in front of my house.

Poof. Gone by morning.

[sinkingfeeling]

6. I just sit anything I don't want at the end of my driveway and it disappears.

A complete water bed, 3 or 4 broken TVs, a couple of vacuum cleaners, old stool, shelves, and end tables all have disappeared within hours. I think they end up at flea markets.

[HopeHoops]

8. ANYTHING like that - just put it on the curb with a big sign that says "$20".

It will be gone in an hour. Do NOT put "free" on the sign or people will think something's wrong with it and not steal it.

[Major Nikon]

17. Years ago I was going to haul off an old couch for my mom

She said to just put it out on the curb and someone would take it. Sure enough, about 30 minutes later two guys drove up in an old Honda. They put the couch on the roof of the car and didn't even bother to tie it down. They drove off with the two of them hanging their heads out the window to see. Funny as hell to watch.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

9. I put unwanted large stuff out on the curb at dusk on trash pickup day

It's always gone by morning.

I've been known to do some "curb shopping" myself. I once snagged an office chair that way.

[Thew]

10. You can try E-cycling

I had a similar problem a few months back and ended up finding a electronics recycler to come pick it up, as well as old computer parts, monitors etc... The computer stuff was free and a small fee for the giant tv

and I tipped the drivers (since they had to haul it down 3 flights)

[Lionel Mandrake]

14. That would have been my next step

if the Salvation Army had turned me down.

E-cycling is better than dumping a TV in a landfill, but it's even better to get the TV to someone who will use it.

[kentauros]

11. Our city (Houston) has recycling centers that will take almost anything.

It's where I took my old CRT-type TV years ago (almost threw my back out getting it to my car!)

Alternately, there's also FreeCycle. It's amazing how many people there are out there that want your old, non-working junk!


Oh, one thing I learned a few years ago about organizations like Goodwill and the rest: they refuse to take metal desks. So, I've still got this old but solid workstation desk. And I'll probably keep it

[Lionel Mandrake]

15. What is the problem with metal office furniture?

The Salvation Army wasn't interested in a perfectly good two-drawer metal file cabinet. It's still in our garage, waiting for a home.

[kentauros]

21. Maybe there's some kind of safety issue.

Although I would think people would be more likely to be injured by wood furniture/equipment that's rotting and falling apart than the metal stuff.

Or, there's a glut of all things metal in office furniture.

[Lionel Mandrake]

22. Could be.

Or maybe the charities don't want metal because wood is prettier.

[Archae]

12. Our local Freecycle gets those big projection TV's from time to time.

I've never wanted one of those, I just don't have the room.

My TV before I got my 32" big-screen was a 20" CRT.
I still have it, it's in my bedroom as a spare.

[Lionel Mandrake]

16. I've never wanted a projection TV, either.

I don't think there's much of a market for projection TV sets. The stores are filled with flat-panel (Plasma and LCD) TV's of all sizes.

The main problems I had in shopping for a new TV were:

1. The store would deliver the new TV, but they wouldn't take the old TV (because it weighed too much).

2. Most of the new TVs don't have the kind of audio output I can route to my stereo system. The new TVs have crappy little built-in speakers, and they have digital (optical) audio output, which only works with 5-channel "surround-sound" audio systems. What I needed, and finally got, was a TV with two RCA pin jacks labelled "audio out". Such sets are surprisingly hard to find.

I always thought monaural audio was just fine, and I resisted the pressure to buy stereo equipment as long as possible. I absolutely refuse to buy audio equipment with more than two channels.

[Archae]

19. I know what you mean about the sound.

My big-screen TV has really shitty speakers, makes everything sound hollow.

I have a DVD/speaker setup that the sound come through, and the TV's speakers are at zero.

I have two older computer speakers for my videogame sound.

So I have 7 speakers and a subwoofer.

[femmocrat]

18. We have one of those old ones with a wooden cabinet.

Couldn't give it away. I have stuff piled on it in the garage.

[Lionel Mandrake]

20. The first TV set my parents bought (in the 1950s)

was a big wooden console, with a beautiful finish. Underneath the picture tube was a pretty good speaker.

In those days, everything had vacuum tubes. The TV would keep the room warm. The sound was narrowband FM, which is no better than AM, so the fine speaker went to waste.

The next TV set they got went on top of the console. My dad was a professor, but he would watch the most godawful crap. I got to know all the advertising jingles and quite a few wrestlers. There were funny comics like Red Skelton and unfunny ones like Milton Berle.

There was also high drama, like the adventures of Joe McCarthy.

Ah, those were the days!

[Major Nikon]

23. Keep it

[Lionel Mandrake]

25. Ah yes,

the old and the new.

[Rambis]

24. Moved one last month

The guy that helped me does triathalons and we could not carry this thing. We had to throw some straps on it and slide it down the stairs on planks of wood. It is gonna have to come out in pieces when it dies (years from now

[Lionel Mandrake]

26. Those monsters seldom die.

One of the vacuum tubes may die, but it can be replaced. The picture tube will deteriorate, especially if it gets direct sunlight, but it probably won't die. Other problems are quite rare.