Is my monitor dying?

[OuTpaTienT]

My monitor is starting to do funny things. Every once in while the picture distorts as the image squeezes in from the sides. Not a lot, just a tiny bit. And not all the time. It seems to do it a few times then stop. Then maybe hours later it'll do it again for just few moments then stop.

I attempted to recreate what it looks like with an animated gif. I was surprised at how well it came out. This is almost exactly what it looks like. So what does it mean?

http://home.attbi.com/~outpatientrules/monitor.gif


(can't display images?...in the video/graphic forum?...oh well, you can click on it and see it.)

[Mntsnow]

Hmmm... I upped the size of the files that could be displayed in this forum. The file size was just over the limit. (was at 100kb and your image was at 108kb thus it became a link)

[OuTpaTienT]

Originally posted by Mntsnow
Hmmm... I upped the size of the files that could be displayed in this forum. The file size was just over the limit. (was at 100kb and your image was at 108kb thus it became a link)

Oh, I've always wondered how that worked. I would've shrunk the file size a little had I known.

[fosin]

It's probably bad solder joints. I know that's what people say for almost all monitor problems. But resoldering bad joints works most the time for problems like this.

[OuTpaTienT]

Ok, so if necessary is that something a DIY'er could do or not? I know the insides of a monitor can be quite dangerous for people that aren't aware of the stored charge in some of the components. Is there a safe way to discharge a monitor?

[fosin]

Usually I tell people (and myself) not to mess with stuff like that since there are sometimes "gotchas" because some type of electronics may be built different than normal. I was trained to work on crts while working during my college days, but I don't even work on them anymore. There's plenty of people around here that know how to work on them (and it doesn't cost me anything cause I work on their computers for them).

Bascially don't touch (or unplug) anything until you discharge the high voltage in the tube. The low voltage stuff normally discharges automatically quicker than you can get the back of the monitor. Clip a jumper from a screw driver to chassis ground and slip the driver under the anode connected to the back of the tube (while it's still connected to the tube). It may spark.

Maybe wear some welding gloves or something to be extra safe.

Instructions with pix:
http://www.usd465.com/staff/classes/service_training/display_foundations/Safety/safety_2.html

[NDC]

Wow, that's almost identical to the problem I was having...

http://www.xtremepccentral.com/vbforums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2327

[madfish]

"I gladly accepct donations of anykind you know"

I said it in that thread and I'll say it here again in case you missed it NDC.

hehe provided you pay shipping :D

[NDC]

Actually, I will keep it around for a backup monitor... :)

[jad1097]

Thanks for the link fosin. It sure beats the way I have done it in the past.

[fosin]

Your welcome. Those instructions are better than the ones I had.

One guy told me he discharged a tube with his belly button once. His hands were on the ground that wraps around the front of the tube and the back of the tube hit his belly button. Ouch! The tube had been discharged improperly or set in his shop so long it built up more charge. Luckily it wasn't enough of a charge to make him drop it or hurt him.