cdoublejj wrote:

just a few mins ago go i weird flash of green like and orb. then a few seconds later a flash of green, just plain flash of the color green no shapes. and not every thing is pink. this is a dell trinitron P992.

On top of that my second monitor a Dell M993s is mostly fine but, as long as i've had i've never been able to stretch the picture out to the edges of the screen with out distortion, notable distortion. i have to keep it a quarter inch from the edge on that CRT or it bends and warps the picture.

I had one of those with that problem. There's a resistor that you can replace that fixes it,but it's too much trouble.I threw mine out because I couldn't be bothered to try to fix it. It's also mildly dangerous playing around near the yoke of the picture tube. If that thing discharges while you have your hands in there it's going to hurt.

If you're lucky it's not caused by the tube...

25 000V will hurt for sure 😀
But he can always discharge the capacitors using heavy resistors.

I dont think its that though of a task to fix it, but more so to clean it. That dust there is ancient probably. Took 2 days to clean out mine.

I've worked on a projection TV before i know of the dangers. the color has seemed to come back, idk when but, it's not pink any more. I wonder how many of the capacitors might be going. i don't minder soldering.

I'd like to get this one fixed if there are any hardware issues and i'd like to get picture quality fixed on the other one when the image is stretch to the out edges.

EDIT: then i'll start with the dust. did you take the back cover off to really dust it out?

If you manage to clean it with an compressor consider your self lucky. I had to use a rag and an brush to clean it bit by bit, dust was too though and hardened. I think i reduced my lung life time by 10% that day 🤣

Take the cover off, make sure the cathode is empty and not connected to the power line. Remove the cable and turn the monitor on to discharge it.

The P992 is notorious for having a software controlled G2 voltage, which for some unknown reason seems to creep up slowly over the life of the monitor until the picture is excessively bright, almost completely white. Also there are a couple of thermal failures caused by electrolytic capacitors being installed next to heatsinks (not good), one of these is a picture which seems to be rolling on itself upon a cold start.

For the brightness issue I've seen people add high value resistors in series with the G2 line to lower the voltage but that's attacking the symptoms instead of the root cause. To fix it you need a RS232-TTL converter to hook up the monitor's service port into your PC's serial port and a piece of software called Windas. With this program you can download the internal calibration data for the monitor, modify the G2 voltage value and upload it back again. Just keep in mind you'll probably have to do the same thing a few years down the road.

I suggest having a look for cold solder joints on the neck board and main board first. This monitor is full of metal cages and screws, kinda tedious to take apart.

hey would that explain why the Darks are so dang pale? i had to ramp the darkness up all the way.

you mean like these?

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p20506 … cat=0&_from=R40

if that that's cheap cheap cheap.

I'm wondering based on other readings if Windas could help sort out the M993s? some monitors have some hidden picture settings or something. I seriously lack experience with tuning and repairing CRTs. though i am experienced with soldering and cap replacement and firmware/bios flashing.

I would personally just get another CRT. They are free / cheap when you look around. Best Buy and Goodwill take CRTs for free for recycling. 😀

cdoublejj wrote:

hey would that explain why the Darks are so dang pale? i had to ramp the darkness up all the way.

Exactly. Given enough time the picture will be almost white even with the user brightness control set to zero.

cdoublejj wrote:

you mean like these? [...] if that that's cheap cheap cheap.

I think a USB one would work fine, but just in case I'd get one like this or this and use a real serial port on a Win9x PC. Windas is one of those headache inducing pieces of software. 😵

For the monitor end of the cable I use a floppy power connector chopped off an old PSU. Fits perfectly! The monitor supplies the +5V so you don't need an external supply for the TTL-232 converter.

cdoublejj wrote:

I'm wondering based on other readings if Windas could help sort out the M993s?

Your M993 sounds like it has a bad capacitor on the horizontal output stage instead of a software problem.

PeterLI wrote:

I would personally just get another CRT. They are free / cheap when you look around. Best Buy and Goodwill take CRTs for free for recycling. 😀

Sure, low quality 14~17" CRT monitors are plentiful and free/cheap if you look around, but getting anything larger or higher quality in decent shape for a decent price... not so easy.

Picked up the red one. 😎 I have a 98 machine, if that doesn't work i have a 98VM and if that doesn't work i can build 1. 🤣

Yeah Peter not to rag on you but, good CRTs aren't as common. I have the ones i have because i work at local PC shop. We used to be one the major dumping grounds but, we down sized so the owners can work from home. as you can imagine we don't have a free table any more.

Goodwill and Dav probably have some. i'm not sure all or an BestBuys let you take the freebies any more they have this whole secure destruction thing so any data left behind is safe. Though i'd be wise to call and ask. It might not hurt to put some APBs out who knows maybe i'd get lucky and find an FW900 😎

Goodwill and Best Buy will not let you take anything. My point is that you can drop it off there "no questions asked".

When you check Craigslist on a regular basis there are usually good CRTs around. Anyway: repairing is excellent when you have the tools & skills. I for one; do not. 😀

"No questions asked"

Uuuhhh... hi... I.. uh... I need to drop off this blood covered CRT.

Oookayyyy

Jim go get a box from the back.

cdoublejj wrote:

Picked up the red one.
good CRTs aren't as common.
maybe i'd get lucky and find an FW900 😎

😲 Interesting! I hope everything works out for you. Good CRTs shouldn't be thrown out.

133MHz wrote:

Exactly. Given enough time the picture will be almost white even with the user brightness control set to zero. […]
Show full quote

cdoublejj wrote:

hey would that explain why the Darks are so dang pale? i had to ramp the darkness up all the way.

Exactly. Given enough time the picture will be almost white even with the user brightness control set to zero.

cdoublejj wrote:

you mean like these? [...] if that that's cheap cheap cheap.

I think a USB one would work fine, but just in case I'd get one like this or this and use a real serial port on a Win9x PC. Windas is one of those headache inducing pieces of software. 😵

For the monitor end of the cable I use a floppy power connector chopped off an old PSU. Fits perfectly! The monitor supplies the +5V so you don't need an external supply for the TTL-232 converter.

cdoublejj wrote:

I'm wondering based on other readings if Windas could help sort out the M993s?

Your M993 sounds like it has a bad capacitor on the horizontal output stage instead of a software problem.

PeterLI wrote:

I would personally just get another CRT. They are free / cheap when you look around. Best Buy and Goodwill take CRTs for free for recycling. 😀

Sure, low quality 14~17" CRT monitors are plentiful and free/cheap if you look around, but getting anything larger or higher quality in decent shape for a decent price... not so easy.

like this?

now the question is: which wires go to what?

EDIT: or will the monitor haves it pin labeled not unlike the the converter does in these pictures?

I did this so many years ago I actually forgot (and didn't keep notes), but according to what I've found online, the pinout on the monitor side should be

• 1 GND
• 2 VCC
• 3 RX
• 4 TX

Not sure which way to interpret it (my P992 is buried in storage right now) but pin 1 (GND) should be easy to identify with a multimeter on continuity setting, by putting one lead to the metal chassis and the other one to the corner pins - the one that beeps is your pin 1. GND & VCC go straight but TX & RX go to their opposites.

Reversing TX & RX won't do any harm (it just won't work) but do make sure you get VCC & GND right.

As it would turn out, in order to connect the Serial adapter to the Serial port on my laptop, I need something called a Serial Cable. 🤣

This is one of the big reasons why I moved over to LCDs and gives me more space for other hoarded things. Had some nice CRTs over the years slowly go out and just to lazy to bother with the high voltages. BTW that CRT can use some cleaning, dust can brick a lot of things given how things age.

1 Day i will hit it with a real deal air compressor and re cap the board.

As it would turn out my laptops VGA port is black so it looked like a serial port. I wonder if windows 95 would work? Have old epson with windows 95 and a Serial port.