Last week I made a post asking if I should buy an old vintage monitor.
Well, I went back to the recycled goods store this week and it was still there, so $30 later I have it, and it seems to just work*
There’s very little about this monitor on the internet, so I’m thinking of documenting as much as I can about it, especially as it’s Osborne branded so there could be some interesting history behind it.
* The power button is stuck on, and it does an occasional unsettling arc sound and the image slightly distorts for a millisecond. I believe the latter is fairly common among old CRTs but I don’t know much more than that.
ragebutt@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 weeks ago
Do you know much about crt maintenance? If so get on it!
If not: it seems like it’s in good shape but based on your description of the arcing sound and image distortion you may have high voltage leakage.
Before investigating the fix for that start with basics: clean the inside of the case. Open it up, don’t touch anything dangerous yet (turn it off and disconnect power though, obviously). Blast out everything with compressed air. Dust build up, insect nests, etc can wreak havoc but I don’t think this is the issue. I bet it’s the anode cap
Pretty easy fix: clean the anode cap. Power it down, let it sit for a bit, look up how to discharge the tube (you basically bridge the anode to ground with something like a screwdriver. This is dangerous though bc very high voltage so watch a video to see what to actually do and use an insulated screwdriver, obviously)
Once the anode cap is off clean it and the area around it with isopropyl. If the anode cap is damaged that poses a bigger challenge, you can sometimes source a replacement still or bodge repair them if not
If it’s not the anode cap next check is flyback. This is easy to diagnose generally. Just look at it: does it have cracks, does it smell, burn marks, can you wiggle it/is it loose (power disconnected obviously) then that’s probably got some issues. Sourcing a replacement can be a pain
Finally check grounding straps. Less likely but could be a factor
If none of that works it’s probably arcing inside the tube. Sorry if that’s the case and enjoy it while it lasts, nothing lasts forever. This is probably not the case, maybe
PhilipTheBucket@ponder.cat 4 weeks ago
This cannot be stressed enough. You can kill yourself poking around in an old monitor. It’s not even hard to do. There are thousands of volts in there, just waiting, even when it’s unplugged.
I would revise all of the previous advice to “leave the cover on, unless it’s giving you an issue, in which case take it to someone who knows what they’re doing.”
kalpol@lemm.ee 4 weeks ago
The click and distortion is the auto degaussing. Probably happens because the power button is stuck down. You used to push and hold on some models to degauss.