At what point do you swap tubes?

philt80

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So I currently have a WG4900 in my the Pac-Man cab I'm restoring with slight 10-yard Fight burn in. It's unnoticeable while on, but drives me insane when it isn't.

Being an absolute n00b to tube swapping, I'm hesitant to learn what seems like an arduous task(convergence scares me more than swapping the actual tube and yolk)...

Too bad I don't have a 10-Yard Fight cab with Pac-Man burn-in lying around to perform a monitor swap instead... :001_sbiggrin:

At what point do you guys go through with tube swaps on your old monitors?
 
On light burn that you can't see while playing? I wouldn't.

On a tube that has brightness issues, or burn that makes the tube look on, even when it's not....I'd be looking for a candidate.

Remember, they're not making these any more. So get as much life out of what you have as you can.
 
On light burn that you can't see while playing? I wouldn't.

On a tube that has brightness issues, or burn that makes the tube look on, even when it's not....I'd be looking for a candidate.

Remember, they're not making these any more. So get as much life out of what you have as you can.

Iwould have to agree with peale here. but I would add that I woudl be looking for a tube anyway ust in case you want to change it when it does happen. Since they dotn make them any more. GOt lots of help and ask as many question you can before you do a swap. lots to know to do it right with little having to mess with fighting with all those issues that can happen. I have done and helped other on a few. GOD BLESS
 
On light burn that you can't see while playing? I wouldn't.

On a tube that has brightness issues, or burn that makes the tube look on, even when it's not....I'd be looking for a candidate.

Remember, they're not making these any more. So get as much life out of what you have as you can.
Definitely makes sense to wait until it is unbearable to swap...
I wish I had stocked up on new CGAs back when they were 1/3 the current going rate.

Iwould have to agree with peale here. but I would add that I woudl be looking for a tube anyway ust in case you want to change it when it does happen. Since they dotn make them any more. GOt lots of help and ask as many question you can before you do a swap. lots to know to do it right with little having to mess with fighting with all those issues that can happen. I have done and helped other on a few. GOD BLESS

Thanks for the kind words. I don't know why, but tube swapping just seems so advanced to me for some reason. I've read a few threads on the basics, but it would be awesome if one of you more learned guys could post pics or a vid of your next tube swap. :001_sbiggrin:
 
If its not visible with the game on I dont worry about it. Some games dont show burn as much as others so I put the burned tubes in those. If you dont already have tinted plexi its a good easy way to hide the burn.
Tube swaps are pretty easy. In most cases you can reuse the existing purity rings on the donor tube which makes it alot easier. The yoke placement is the easy part. Messing with the rings can involve alot of trial and error. If you have the monitor on a bench its 10x easier.
 
If its not visible with the game on I dont worry about it. Some games dont show burn as much as others so I put the burned tubes in those. If you dont already have tinted plexi its a good easy way to hide the burn.
Tube swaps are pretty easy. In most cases you can reuse the existing purity rings on the donor tube which makes it alot easier. The yoke placement is the easy part. Messing with the rings can involve alot of trial and error. If you have the monitor on a bench its 10x easier.

Thanks for that Riptor....I think I'll seek out a donor tube to store away in reserves until it does bother me enough to warrant a swap. :001_sbiggrin:
 
I've done a few tube swaps and it's not too bad.. Rings stay with the donor tube and you mark the position and placement before removing to get to the yoke.

If your lucky and you can find a tube/yoke with very similar readings to your existing yoke- then use the yoke/rings/donor tube and you will not likely have to make any adjustments to the picture other than color. I got lucky on a tube swap on a K7000 and did just that - what a beautiful picture I'm getting from a $5.00 Craigslist Phllips TV Tube.

On the 2 other swaps on 4900's, the yoke had to be swapped out - I haven't come across any drop-in replacements for 4900's. I had to adjust the yoke, degauss, and minor adjustments to the rings.

I like to cap the chassis and run it on the existing tube and burn it in before I do the tube swap.

If I can see burn with the tube on, it's time to replace the tube.
 
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