Re: Monitor Problems

["Warren Ernst" <wernst@gmail.com>]

Ralph,

A TV Repairman should have no difficulty repairing the monitor -
especially one as old as this. If you are shopping around for TV
repair-people, look for one with lots of gray hair -- age and
experience are your friend here.

Get the full, exact story of how it failed. Did it slowly get real
bright, or quickly? Did all the colors wash out, or did just some
colors go bright? Were there any smells? Any sounds, like a POP! or
CRACKLE! or hiss? A high-pitched whine? If there was none of that
stuff, that is usefull knowledge too.

Before it failed, did he notice any shimying? Color fading? Noise?
Sounds?

Here's why I ask. I am not a TV repairman, but I do own 8 full-sized
arcade games, and they all have 20+ year old monitors that I must tend
to from time to time. Some things an amateur can't repair, but there
are a lot of things an amateur can, and those different symtoms point
to different failed components, and that REALLY helps with the
diagnosis.To a professional repairman, these observations are GOLD - or
so they have told me in the past.

The fact that the LED doesn't light tells me I would check the fuses
first, and replace any bad ones. When a flyback fails, or a deflector
transisitor, or an electron gun, or you have cold-solder joints, or a
cap has blown, the LED normally stays lit. Normally.

Disclaimer: there can be 19,000 volts at the annode (the metal part
under the suction cup attached to the side of the tube). Be careful.
Discharge the annode before doing any work on it - look it up online.
There are lots of online resources for tips for repairing/servicing
monitors and TVs.

-Warr







julian814 wrote:
> julian814 wrote:
> > Okay, a guy just called me and told me that while he was in the middle
> > of doing something on his GS, the monitor went black. Any advice or
> > help would be greatly appreciated.
>
> An update on the situation - the monitor he was using was a composite
> color monitor for an Apple //c. He said that the screen got real
> bright, then went black. I had him start it up while I was there, and
> the power light on the monitor didn't come on. I'm hoping this just
> means I have to replace a fuse, but I'm not sure. In the meantime, I've
> loaned him the RGB monitor from my GS. Again, any advice or help would
> be greatly appreciated.
> 
> 
> Ralph Glatt