Forum Overview :: American McGee's Honda Civic :: FIXING MY CRT

[quote name="Fussbett"]This thread will detail trying my effort to fix my 21" Viewsonic G225f CRT. In a recent move, it has become jostled and it's now out of focus. Apparently there is a focus trim pot inside somewhere that I must turn. Turn while the monitor is on! This is scary, but as I mention in the AIM log below, a 21" is heavy, cumbersome, and sitting here on the second floor where it does not want to move, so I'm going to attempt this fix which will hopefully prove easier than lugging it around. In the case of the repair killing me, the authorities will maybe find this thread and piece together what went wrong and sue the applicable parties (Quarter to Three and Penny Arcade). I have a dual 21" CRT and 21" LCD setup, so I don't want to hear any of you homos say that I should just ditch the CRT and get an LCD. The CRT is still an important part of PC gaming and color checking (not that I do that anymore). Let's not get embroiled in that old debate. <font color="yellow">Sanitario666:</font> Have you seen the fixes for CRT focus problems? It involves taking apart your monitor and using an unmagnetized screwdriver to DON'T TOUCH THAT PART THAT WILL KILL YOU turn some screws deep inside. <font color="skyblue">Ray of Light:</font> I have never messed with the inside of a CRT and probably never will! <font color="skyblue">Ray of Light:</font> there are about a million of them on the used market, why not throw it away and buy one of those? <font color="skyblue">Ray of Light:</font> then post on Caltrops that someone from Caltrops sent you a replacement CRT, so as to make fabio lose his shit <font color="yellow">Sanitario666:</font> Because it's a $600 awesome CRT! (when working) <font color="yellow">Sanitario666:</font> We're not talking about a 19" Dell here <font color="skyblue">Ray of Light:</font> I did take a crt to a monitor repair place one time; they were surprisingly cheap <font color="skyblue">Ray of Light:</font> a gift to worm would be a nice play at this point -- making worm angry (as everything does) for getting something, and fabio angry for not <font color="yellow">Sanitario666:</font> haha ... <a href="http://www.kellerstudio.de/repairfaq/sam/monfaq.htm" target="monitor">http://www.kellerstudio.de/repairfaq/sam/monfaq.htm</a> <font color="yellow">Sanitario666:</font> "Don't attempt repair work when you are tired. Not only will you be more careless, but your primary diagnostic tool - deductive reasoning - will not be operating at full capacity." <font color="yellow">Sanitario666:</font> (Monitor repair FAQ) <font color="yellow">Sanitario666:</font> nerdy to the core <font color="skyblue">Ray of Light:</font> "you must hone your mind to the keenest of edges, then slice through the problem in a single, decisive stroke. Watch it bleed out on the ground before you." <font color="yellow">Sanitario666:</font> my deductive reasoning isn't getting enough voltage :( <font color="yellow">Sanitario666:</font> "Always keep one hand in your pocket when anywhere around a powered line-connected or high voltage system. " <font color="yellow">Sanitario666:</font> This step apparently saves your life. <font color="skyblue">Ray of Light:</font> preferably, two hands <font color="yellow">Sanitario666:</font> It was the single greatest piece of info I learned. McMoo told me about it separately in e-mail. It's insider info. <font color="skyblue">Ray of Light:</font> yeah, it's the info given out after "don't work on energized lines at all" fails <font color="skyblue">Ray of Light:</font> however it doesn't protect you from forming a path to ground through your feet or (in tight quarters) hair <font color="skyblue">Ray of Light:</font> and large capacitors like those in a monitor present an extra danger: you could short them with a tool and make them explode, injuring yourself that way <font color="yellow">Sanitario666:</font> plastic blade screwdrivers was the other tip I'm pursuing <font color="skyblue">Ray of Light:</font> have you considered a monitor repair shop? <font color="yellow">Sanitario666:</font> I have! <font color="yellow">Sanitario666:</font> Supposedly my fix is very easy, once you crack the case and get over your fear of death. <font color="skyblue">Ray of Light:</font> I've replaced switchboxes and lighting receptacles with the power on, for example, but I wouldn't open the back of a CRT <font color="yellow">Sanitario666:</font> The second consideration is that a 21" CRT weighs a fucking tonne and it's up two flights of stairs. <font color="yellow">Sanitario666:</font> I've just gotta turn one "focus" trim pot <font color="skyblue">Ray of Light:</font> well that doesn't sound so bad <font color="yellow">Sanitario666:</font> Yeah! Maybe put those trim pots on the outside of the case next time, monitor makers! <font color="yellow">Sanitario666:</font> (apparently some do give access to these pots from a hole in the case that you stick the screwdriver through) <font color="skyblue">Ray of Light:</font> while other monitors provide access to leads of GIANT CAP OF DEATH through similar holes <font color="yellow">Sanitario666:</font> similar unidentified holes <font color="skyblue">Ray of Light:</font> "We call it a Quest for Glory Hole" ... <font color="yellow">Sanitario666:</font> I went to Home Depot to get an "insulated screwdriver" -- guy in the electrical aisle looked at me like I had lobsters crawling out of my ears[/quote]