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NEED CRT rescue in Texas

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First post, by Bullmecha

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Hey folks,
Figured I'd try here since I've seen a few other Texans 😀
Have an issue with my Gateway EV910 CRT and need it repaired, since I have no idea what to do with it. Anyone in the central Texas area have any experience or know someone that could possible fix it ?
Thanks in advance if you have any info.

Just a guy with a bad tinkering habit.
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Reply 1 of 10, by PeterLI

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Look for a TV repair shop in the Spanish shopping area where you live. Usually good and cheap service.

Reply 2 of 10, by Bullmecha

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I found one shop locally but they won't touch CRT anymore, still hunting though.

Just a guy with a bad tinkering habit.
i5 6600k Main Rig
too many to list old school rigs

Reply 3 of 10, by candle_86

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Find a TV repair shop with someone 50+ working in it.

Reply 4 of 10, by dogchainx

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Also.... Tell them that you WILL pick it up, even if you don't want it repaired. My local guys HATE CRT repair because when they give somone a quote, the people just tell them to keep it..... That's a pain for disposal!

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Reply 5 of 10, by smeezekitty

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What is the problem? No picture? Distorted picture? No power on?

Reply 6 of 10, by Bullmecha

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It's still a nice crystal clear picture but it's shaped like an hourglass. I have tried every adjustment possible and can't get the bowing sides to go back to normal. I have no skills with them and due to its age no one I have found will even try to fix it. Was going to be my monitor for my P4 build 😢

Just a guy with a bad tinkering habit.
i5 6600k Main Rig
too many to list old school rigs

Reply 7 of 10, by squareguy

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A little search has suggested you have a dry solder joint (I have always called them cold solder joints) somewhere. Here is a link.

http://www.electro-tech-online.com/threads/tv … -repair.111541/

If you are comfortable working on it.

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Reply 8 of 10, by dogchainx

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Just another caution. BE EXTREME CAREFUL.

I fixed a CRT of mine a few months ago...but sheesh, hearing and knowing how much voltage is in those things made every minute of working on that pretty scary. Make sure you have one hand behind your back while working on that thing.

386DX-40MHz-8MB-540MB+428MB+Speedstar64@2MB+SoundBlaster Pro+MT-32/MKII
486DX2-66Mhz-16MB-4.3GB+SpeedStar64 VLB DRAM 2MB+AWE32/SB16+SCB-55
MY BLOG RETRO PC BLOG: https://bitbyted.wordpress.com/

Reply 9 of 10, by smeezekitty

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If you open it, I strongly suggest keeping it unplugged. Give it a while to discharge before opening the case.
Also, be aware that the tube neck is very fragile.

Reply 10 of 10, by shamino

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This guy has caffeine pouring out of his skin, but in this video he shows one way to discharge a CRT:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfQbdvB8GSM
Warning: His intro is painful, so turn the volume down before hitting play.

Something I'm not sure if he mentioned - a CRT can recover a residual charge after sitting for a while, so it's a fine idea to re-discharge it if some time has passed and you're about to touch something dangerous.
I suppose you could even use a cheap multimeter to verify that it's discharged, understanding that if you're wrong, the multimeter will be destroyed. 😀
I think the pros prefer to use heavy duty resistors that drain the charge more slowly, probably because it's safer for the monitor. Many monitors will self discharge if left unplugged, but you shouldn't rely on that.
If you find yourself working near any capacitors, you can drain those by bridging the 2 leads with a screwdriver.

There's probably other youtube videos about the same topic, might be a good idea to get multiple perspectives.

Bad solder joints are common in CRTs, and that link from squareguy definitely reinforces the possibility.
If you don't find the solution that way, then I've also frequently heard of capacitors being a culprit with geometry problems. But I have no idea whether that actually fits this symptom or not.