Did my first tube replacement! Like night and day! :D

nesjess

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Did my first tube replacement! Like night and day! :D

I know this is probably no big deal for most of you monitor veterans, but I consider myself a restoration guy more than a monitor/electronics guy, so this one was a big victory for me.

I got a dedicated X-Men months ago and the picture was all dim and washed out. After getting advice from a handful of sources, I got everything from "do a cap kit" to "replace the flyback."

Well, fast forward this past weekend, I picked up a replacement WG K7191 monitor to simply swap out rather than try to figure out the problem. Unfortunately, my new monitor got damaged somehow during the move back home. Two of the adjustment pots cracked and at that point, I felt at a lost since I didn't have any replacement pots on hand.

Disappointed and bummed out, I thought I was stuck with two monitors with issues. Then it dawned on me: Isn't there a possibility my old chassis was fine and the tube was the problem? I decided to try putting the old chassis into the new tube. About 20 minutes later, I checked all my points, fired it up, and...

Voila! Bright, sharp and colorful picture! I realized that some things aren't as difficult to do as one may think. You just have to learn by doing.

Before:

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After:

dsc0264a.jpg


I still have another good chassis, just have to replace those pots and I should be good. The old tube however may have weak/dirty guns from what I'm told. But at least I pinpointed that the problem with the old monitor was with the tube. Hopefully, I can have it rejuvenated and improve its picture.

:thrasher:
 
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Sometimes the most simple things feel like a huge win.

Good job!
 
I'm not a monitor person, but what I find interesting is that you found swapping tubes easier than soldering. hmmm... is this true?

I've soldered before and find that easy. So is a tube swap even easier???
 
I'm not a monitor person, but what I find interesting is that you found swapping tubes easier than soldering. hmmm... is this true?

I've soldered before and find that easy. So is a tube swap even easier???

Totally! As long as you know how to discharge, it's just plug and play. You may have a ground wire soldered to the tube, but that's easy to remove. Like I said, I was like you and felt it would be a daunting task, but it was super easy.

Maybe it's because I haven't soldered enough, but I don't think I have as much heat and solder control as the average KLOVer. I feel like a moron every time I solder. :)
 
Interesting... I've seen how to DC a monitor via youtube and such so that's easy.

I figured you'd have to use compatible chasis or something, but I guess a tube is a tube.

As you can tell I've never looked into much as I've never had the need.

Good work though, your new monitor looks great. :)
 
Interesting... I've seen how to DC a monitor via youtube and such so that's easy.

I figured you'd have to use compatible chasis or something, but I guess a tube is a tube.

As you can tell I've never looked into much as I've never had the need.

Good work though, your new monitor looks great. :)

Thanks! Yeah, this wasn't technically a "tube swap" as much as it was a tube replacement. I was dealing with two WG K7191 monitor chassis and the same Zenith tubes. So everything was compatible and identifiable to say the least. The only difference is one has a remote board (old, good chassis) and the other does not (new, damaged chassis).
 
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Nice job! But... remember - this isn't really the traditional "tube swap" - you swapped the whole tube, yoke, convergence rings, everything in one shot, since you had two identical monitors. You could have also simply switched the chassis between the two tubes/frames.

Doing a bare tube swap from a different device (like a television set) is a lot more work, since you have to swap the yokes, and readjust the convergence.

But, it's definitely a step in the right direction - you're realizing that just because something "big" is broken, doesn't mean it's hard to fix.

-Ian
 
http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=151477

Hey me too!

Although swapping the tube into another compatible chassis, isn't hard work either. The yoke and convergence rings slide off with the loosening of two screws. Fine tuning the picture takes a little while, but after you see how the rings and yoke control the picture it's not that daunting.

Great job! This was a major hurdle for me, that I cleared too. No big deal right?

Now I need someone local with a rejuvenator.
 
Congratulations on your acccomplishment! For future reference it's a lot easier to swap out the chassis than the whole tube.
 
He mentioned that the old tube was the problem. So switching it was what made it look better since the old chassis was used.

Yeah, but he has two identical monitors. One with a bad chassis, one with a bad tube. Just pointing out that it's easier to swap the good chassis over to the monitor frame with the good tube than it is to swap the good picture tube over to the frame with the good chassis :)

Or, rather, I think it's easier. Doesn't much matter - same outcome either way.

-Ian
 
Just pointing out that it's easier to swap the good chassis over to the monitor frame with the good tube than it is to swap the good picture tube over to the frame with the good chassis :) Or, rather, I think it's easier. Doesn't much matter - same outcome either way.

-Ian

Congratulations on your acccomplishment! For future reference it's a lot easier to swap out the chassis than the whole tube.


Oh, that's what I did, I swapped the two chassis. Essentially, it's the same thing. Either way, you're switching the tube that you're using. Just not physically removing them from the monitor frames. I called it a tube replacement because that was the issue with my original monitor. Sorry, it was late and I wasn't as clear as I could be. Edited for clarity. :)
 
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Good job!

I've yet to try an actual tube swap (i.e. swapping yoke, wedges, etc). Messing with convergence doesn't seem fun.
 
Good job!

I've yet to try an actual tube swap (i.e. swapping yoke, wedges, etc). Messing with convergence doesn't seem fun.

Yeah, I hate messing with convergence rings. Luckily, the rings on the new monitor were glued in place so I didn't have to mess with them. Though, I've had to do it on a couple of Sanyo EZ monitors and it's annoying. I definitely recommend using a mirror when you do. Haha.
 
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Hi Jess if you want you can bring that monitor over to my house and I'll zap that tube for ya

Andrew

QUOTE=R3LL1K;1345941]Congratulations on your acccomplishment! For future reference it's a lot easier to swap out the chassis than the whole tube.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I hate messing with convergence rings. Luckily, the rings on the new monitor were glued in place so I didn't have to mess with them. Though, I've had to do it on a couple of Sanyo EZ monitors and it's annoying. I definitely recommend using a mirror when you do. Haha.
 
Did my first a few weeks ago. I glued the rings beforehand just because. All I can say is...DAMN! It's like getting new shoes:001_ssuprised:
 
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