Entertainment Center: TVs, Stereos, VCRs and DVDs - Disposing of a 40" tube TV?

No one wants to pick it up. Our garbage service says they'll haul it away if the tube is destroyed.

What would it take to bashed the screen/tube? Could I cover the screen with duct tape and hit it with a small sledge hammer?

tia

The tube will implode due to the vacuum. It can be violent. That might be the reason why no one will take it.

We thought it would be fun to smash one before we put it in the dumpster. We covered it with a tarp and threw a brick at it from 25 feet. Three tosses for a dollar. ;)

You could take the back off it and break the tube at the neck -- it's most vulnerable there. Use a chunk of wood, stand to the side, and wear eye protection.

Or, you could try using the human condition: I had a fridge that worked. Put it at the curb with a sign: Working Fridge. Free To A Good Home. No one took it. One day the neighbor says, "If it works, why don't you sell it?" I put a sign on it: Working Fridge, $25. That night someone stole it.

Be careful if you open up a TV. The capacitors could hold a charge and give you quite a jolt. I've seen people work on radio station transmitters, and although there is circuitry to automatically discharge the capacitors, they still use a "Jesus" stick; which is an insulated metal stick that is grounded. They call it that because if the capacitors do discharge you will say "Jesus" and if you don't use the stick, then you may need him.

I have a F.A.Q. about opening up TV's which stresses the safety issues. A TV that has been unplugged for a few hours if not minutes will not have any charge left.

Suggest looking into electronic recycling.Most areas have at least one but some actually require you to pay a (usually a small) fee and you'll likely have to take it to them.

That said it keeps all those chemicals and metals out of the landfill.

Given that it has been an entire month I doubt the TV is still sitting there.

Hopefully it has been used as shotgun target practice by now.

Where I live, it's not uncommon to find stuff disposed of on BLM land in the desert. And, it has usually been shot at. But in all seriousness, I think it's now illegal to dispose of TVs in a landfill.

Yes, in many states it is illegal to dump CRT's, and will be soon everywhere. You should find an electronics recycler, or call your city or county environmental department. They should be able to tell you where to take it, and when you next free disposal day is (most communities have a day or 2 a year which they do this to keep it from being dumped illegally).

Our DPW has a drop-off center that takes most everything. They charge a small fee ($5 to $15) for handling large items, which go to a recycling center.

I wonder, in Feb. of 2009 when analog TV signals stop, what kind of a CRT disposal nightmare is that going to create?

I wonder, in Feb. of 2009 when analog TV signals stop, what kind of a CRT disposal nightmare is that going to create?
I don't think it will cause too much. Most people will just get a box if their tv is good. Cable, box, sat box, whatever.

Especially when that box will be basically free, courtesy the government or whoever is paying for those coupons.

Yeah I don't see it having hardly any impact at all. I wouldn't throw away my CRT and buy a new nearly _identical_ CRT for $200 just for the tiny tuner inside.

I'd be curious to know what percentage of the US population actually watches TV over-the-air exclusively. (HD people aside; that does not count)

Last I heard it was 15%, or about 17 million households.