Hi all. I have a 2 year old Emerson combination TV/VCR/DVD that is making a loud popping noise. It does it sporadically, but probably 2-3 times a day. Sometimes more. Sometimes not at all. It seems as thought electricity may be building up somewhere in the unit and then discharging when it builds up too much. It is unplugged now, because I'm nervous it may cause damage or fire or something. Also, my sister gave me a stuffed animal that talks when you press a button on it's ear. It is sitting on top of my entertainment center. When the TV pops it makes the animal chatter, which makes me nervous because it must be sending an electrical charge through the air. Anyway. I was dumb and did not purchase an extended warranty or fill out the warranty card that came with the television. So here are my questions. Has anyone ever heard of this problem? Any ideas on what it is? Is it something I can fix or should I take it in somewhere? I can't decide if I should have it repaired or buy a new TV. I just hate to buy a new one because this one is slightly less than 2 years old. If it would be cheaper to buy a new one though I'd rather do that. Thanks for any responses! I appreciate your time and expertise!

I have a really old Motorola AM radio that I am trying to repair. I have replaced all 7 of the vacuum tubes and now the unit warms up, but a very loud buzz is present, separate from the volume control. I read a previous post about an old phonograph, and it is possible that this could be due to dried up capacitors. All of the tubes as well as (2) metal looking things are sticking out of the top of the metal case. Are these the capacitors? How do I fix these? or find replacements? I don't see any labels on them, but they have a long narrow screw protruding from the top. There is also a screw adjustment labeled "wave trap", I'm guessing that this is for fine tuning the tuner, but not sure how it works. Can anyone shed some light on this? Thanks, Joe