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Dog shutting off the tv with magical dog powers?

post #1 of 39
2/2/10 at 6:22am
Thread Starter 
My girlfriend has a 60" LG plasma tv. She also has a little dog (a cavalier) that has some magical power to turn the tv off. we'll be watching something and the dog will walk in front of the tv and it shuts off! then it turns itself back on a second later. We thought maybe the plug was a little loose and she was making enough vibrations in the floor to make the plug wobble, but it's in there good and when we walk by (we're heavier than a 15 pound dog) nothing happens. Her dog is kinda staticy right now so could it be some kind of static charge that is making the tv do that? But, it still did it in the summer time when there wasn't much static around.
 
Anyone ever heard of something like this happening? what can we do other than get rid of the dog? (thats not gonna happen)
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post #2 of 39
2/2/10 at 6:40am
Send me the TV. I don't have a dog.
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post #3 of 39
2/2/10 at 6:44am
Does the dog have a collar on that has a gem on it or something? Possably it is refracting light in to the correct IR frequency?
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post #4 of 39
2/2/10 at 7:09am
Thread Starter 
 No actually the dog has no collar at all.

I did some googling a little while ago and found other people who have had problems with their tvs shutting off and on. some said it was a cable box setting but we messed with a bunch of settings and nothing has changed and it really seems like it only does it when the dog goes near the tv. Not every single time but once in a while it walks by the TV and it shuts off and goes back on. It's not like a back screen when it changes resolutions or anything like that, it clicks and shuts off, then comes back on.
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post #5 of 39
2/2/10 at 1:44pm
Some people think black cats are witches trapped in animal form, and I think your dog is a wizard thusly imprisoned.  I imagine he just doesn't like the shows you watch and is sending the only message he can.  Try to figure out what shows the three of you can enjoy together and it'll stop.
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post #6 of 39
2/2/10 at 1:51pm

That's ridiculous, Greg.  Clearly the dog has ingested Silica, and the Silica is absorbing the electrical signals causing the TV to turn off.  The only solution is to give the dog a bath in Salsa.

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post #7 of 39
2/2/10 at 2:16pm
Does the TV ever shut itself off like that when the dog is not around?

Perhaps you need to add a cat to the house to equalize the energy vibes.
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post #8 of 39
2/2/10 at 2:38pm
It's interesting about the dog and all...but how does someone find a girlfriend with a 60" plasma?!? 


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post #9 of 39
2/2/10 at 2:42pm
Apparently to her, size does matter!
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post #10 of 39
2/2/10 at 7:37pm


Quote:
Originally Posted by Bryan X View Post
Clearly the dog has ingested Silica, and the Silica is absorbing the electrical signals causing the TV to turn off.  The only solution is to give the dog a bath in Salsa.

I've seen better dog tricks at the Mall of America.

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post #11 of 39
2/2/10 at 7:47pm
I wonder if this guy is on the screen at the time it shuts off...


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post #12 of 39
2/2/10 at 8:15pm
Thread Starter 
The tv used to shut off and on a bunch before we noticed it was always happening when the dog walks by, now whenever the tv shuts off we look down and the dog is there. She's not a wizard or a witch she's the sweetest dog in the world :) Shes very furry and staticy so thats why I thought it was some kind of static charge.
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post #13 of 39
2/2/10 at 9:12pm
Thread Starter 

As far as my girlfriend loving big TVs I'm just lucky to have her in so many ways :)

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post #14 of 39
2/2/10 at 9:42pm
In ancient times when tv remotes were ultrasonic rather than infrared (that's where the term "clicker" for the remote control started, btw) I used to be able to change channels by shaking my car keys.
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post #15 of 39
2/3/10 at 4:09am

Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg_S_H View Post




I've seen better dog tricks at the Mall of America.

 


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post #16 of 39
2/3/10 at 4:26am
If it has anything to do with static, you might try getting a large "anti static mat" and putting it in front of the TV where the dog walks. Your GF will hate it, though: they're ugly black plastic(*), and it'll need a wire running to a water pipe or other good ground, so it could be a tripping hazard.

____
 * they're black because they have a high carbon content. They're high resistance conductors: enough to draw off static charges, but not enough to allow a dangerous amount of current to flow.
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post #17 of 39
2/3/10 at 4:37am
If you think static electricity is the problem then you should address that.  Here is a device that is made for automobiles.  I am sure with some modification you could install it on your canine.   If static electric discharge is really your problem this will solve it.   Give it a try and let us know how it goes.




http://media.uxcell.com/uxcell/images/item/catalog/ux_a07111300ux0038_ux_c.jpg
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post #18 of 39
2/3/10 at 5:03am
My cat likes to sometime hop up on my media center, and sit on my center speaker and watch my LCD there... Especially if it's some kind of nature show. I have never had my TV go off too so maybe it is only a dog thing.   (Another reason to have cats :) )

Jay
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post #19 of 39
2/3/10 at 7:24am
Thread Starter 
I think we're just gonna have to get ahold of LG since it's still under warranty but it's way too big and heavy big to ship anywhere and we didn't keep the original box. We've been Googling around and there's a lot of folks having problems with both plasmas and LCDs just shutting off and turning on again and no one seems to know what the problem is. Firmware updates don't help either. It just seems like every time it happens, the dog is right there. At first I thought it was something with HD channels and the TV trying to autodetect and it kept changing resolutions but it does it no matter what settings we change the cable box to and happens on both HD and SD channels. Maybe if everything wasn't made by the lowest bidder in china things would work better... :(

Getting a cat instead won't help :) neither of us are cat people and in fact she's very allergic to cats. Like the your whole body puffs up and you can't breathe and die unless someone shoves a needle in your heart kind of allergic.
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post #20 of 39
2/3/10 at 8:12am
Sounds like the TV is allergic to your dog!
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post #21 of 39
2/4/10 at 4:58pm
How certain are you that the dog didn't eat a TV remote?
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post #22 of 39
2/4/10 at 5:28pm
Have you tried covering the IR window on the TV with something like black tape, have the dog walk in front of the TV and see if it turns off/on?


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post #23 of 39
2/4/10 at 9:35pm
I had a similarly odd problem with my dog. Whenever I was watching a DVD and the dog walked by the TV, the movie would freeze. It was weird. After a little detective work I discovered the problem. The dog was stepping on paws. http://instantrimshot.com/

-KeithP
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post #24 of 39
2/5/10 at 4:22am


Quote:
Originally Posted by Keith Plucker View Post

I had a similarly odd problem with my dog. Whenever I was watching a DVD and the dog walked by the TV, the movie would freeze. It was weird. After a little detective work I discovered the problem. The dog was stepping on paws. http://instantrimshot.com/

-KeithP


 

HAHAHAHAHA good one!

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post #25 of 39
2/5/10 at 8:13am
Perhaps it's the other way around. Those plasmas apparently have problems, given what you found on the 'net. Perhaps just before they are going to shut off, they're emitting some sort of high frequency sound, making her dog restless and approaching the TV.


Cees
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post #26 of 39
2/5/10 at 8:52am
Something like this?

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post #27 of 39
2/5/10 at 8:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cees Alons View Post

Perhaps it's the other way around. Those plasmas apparently have problems, given what you found on the 'net. Perhaps just before they are going to shut off, they're emitting some sort of high frequency sound, making her dog restless and approaching the TV.


"Next on 60 Minutes:  Malfunctioning TVs calling dogs to 'come.'" 
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post #28 of 39
2/5/10 at 11:34am


Quote:
Originally Posted by Keith Plucker View Post

I had a similarly odd problem with my dog. Whenever I was watching a DVD and the dog walked by the TV, the movie would freeze. It was weird. After a little detective work I discovered the problem. The dog was stepping on paws.

  It took me a while to get that!

Cees, I think you're on to something.  If we are ever overrun by dogs and need to create a dog zapper, we can build it around a defective plasma TV.



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post #29 of 39
2/6/10 at 8:22am
I have lived by the interstate my entire life. When I was a kid, we would occasionally experience the tv turning off or on and changing channels. I'm guessing it was cb radio interference causing it.
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post #30 of 39
2/6/10 at 12:12pm
Maybe Tim's dog has had one of those ID chips inserted under it's skin which interferes with the IR receptor on the TV. 

Or, maybe it's got a ham radio system set up in the basement...


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