Re: Monitor blacking out

[nparker@cie-2.uoregon.edu (Neil Parker)]

In article <hy0e5YD.tmcdanel@delphi.com> Terry Mcdanel <tmcdanel@delphi.com>
writes:
>I think my monitor is on the way out.  When I'm sitting working on my ][gs,
>there is a very slight jump in the text, the screen will start getting black
>and rapidly fade to black.  I'm pretty certain it is not a screen blanker that
>I don't know i have because it does it in ProDOS 8 applications like ProTerm.
> 
>And get this:  If I slap it up beside the head, it comes back... for a while.
>(reminds me of Ross Perot)
> 
>Is this the beginning of the end?

It need not be the beginning of the end, but it's definitely cause for
alarm.  My monitor had the same symptoms for over a year, and I ignored it,
and eventually it died completely.  After it died it took it in to be
repaired, and was told that repairing it would cost more than the monitor
was worth.  I had to get a new monitor.

The good news is if you repair it now, while it's still mostly functional,
fixing it is reasonably cheap.  The symptoms are caused by a problem with
the flyback transformer, and can often be cured simply by resoldering the
transformer to its circuit board.  If that doesn't cure it, the transformer
may have to be replaced.

If you know your way around the insides of electronic equipment, and you
know which part is the flyback transformer (I don't, unfortunately), you
can probably fix it yourself.  If not, take it in to be repaired by
somebody who does know these things.

Whatever you do, don't wait until the monitor dies completely.  Apparently
when the flyback transformer finally blows, it takes lots of other parts
with it, and the cost of replacing all of the damaged parts is prohibitive.

               - Neil Parker
--
Neil Parker, nparker@{cie-2,cie}.uoregon.edu, http://cie-2.uoregon.edu/~nparker

     "Evolution is vastly overrated."  -- Ambassador Delenn, _Babylon_5_