General newbie Tester and Rejuvenator questions

GoldenAge

Well-known member

Donor 2011
Joined
Dec 1, 2010
Messages
1,070
Reaction score
41
Location
Vancouver, Washington
Hi,

I'm planning to buy a rejuvenator soon. I've been reading/watching vids on their use, learning what I can, I see some of the brands/models that seem to be favored by those on this site, and I'm finding them for sale on eBay and such.

How hard are the adapters to find? Are there guys around here that make them and sell them? From what I've read, it looks like there are 3 or 4 common ones that will be needed.

Should I stay away from rejuvenators that don't include adapters common for arcade CRTs, or can I go ahead and get one with some faith that finding the appropriate adapters will be possible after the fact? Are these adapters proprietary within a brand, or even within specific models? Or are they fairly standard between brands?

What other considerations should I keep in mind when buying one? I'm looking at second-hand, I can't imagine I'd use it more than a handful of times in my life, and I'm really just now getting into learning how to work on monitors, so I certainly don't want to spend many hundreds of $ on such a thing.

Any advice is definitely appreciated!

Regards,
Ryan
 
The adapters are brand specific. They're also slightly specific to the models, although generally they will be the same for several models made by one manufacturer.

It's pretty common to not get the adapter you need with the rejuvinator, but they are easy to make yourself, using the socket scavenged from a junk monitor or TV set.

A rejuvinator is a very handy tool - but if you are just getting started in monitor repair, you might want to concentrate on learning how to do the more fundamental stuff first, like capacitor replacement, flyback replacement, chassis troubleshooting, etc.

I have a rejuvinator, and it's a wonderful tool - but I don't need or use it on every monitor. Keep your eyes open for one, but there are much more important tools that you need more often than the rejuvinator (like a multimeter).

Also, since you're in California, there are probably some other arcade collectors nearby. You probably don't need to buy your own, just do what most of my friends do, and bribe me with pizza to come over and zap tubes for them. That way, you don't even need to know how to use the thing!

-Ian
 
Last edited:
You can make your own adapters. As long as you have a compatible neck socket, you can make one. Heck, you could even get by without the neck socket, if you could find a way to hook all the wires up without toughing each other :eek:

I can also make you an adapter. I have all the parts to make the most common ones.

Great tools, they are. Cheap too, if you can find someone who didn't buy it new :)
 
I own one but it's a very limited-use tool and I don't feel like it was a good investment for this hobby. I have a smaller collection (about 10 games) and don't constantly buy-and-sell new ones.

When you have a CRT that displays a picture, the test is going to confirm "it's good" or "it's still working but old" which was already obvious. In those cases you'd do nothing -- you don't zap the tube and turn something "good" into something "better". In cases where a CRT tests "bad" you can try for an improvement, but there might be enough other issues like burn-in with that 30 year old monitor where you'd consider replacing it anyway.

Would be more useful if I were constantly buying and flipping games from craigslist/auctions and had a constant churn of monitors. Mine was entertaining for a week and now sits on the shelf. At least it was cheap.
 
I own one but it's a very limited-use tool and I don't feel like it was a good investment for this hobby. I have a smaller collection (about 10 games) and don't constantly buy-and-sell new ones.

For the casual hobbyist, it's probably not a good investment to get one of the EXPENSIVE ones, but if you can pick up a working one for cheap, they help out. Or make friends with a local who has one (as several have done with me, although I'd like to think they'd talk to me even if I didn't have one). Someone like me who does a lot of monitor repair needs a rejuvenator on hand at all times.

Yes, adapters can be made yourself, or several people here will be glad to make you one for a price. Almost all games will be done with either the CR-23 or CR-31 adapter (BK rejuvenator numbers), although there are some different ones used for 13", vector, or B&W tubes. I personally like the BK rejuvenators because the documentation is easy to get.

And pay attention to model numbers. BK 466 and older require an adapter to mate their connectors with the CR plugs used on most arcade monitors. BK 467 and later do not need that adapter to use the CR plugs.

And before you buy, check out what you can find on the rejuvenator. The BK470 looks a lot different than the BK467, and has different steps. For example, the 470 only has one gauge and you select which color you want to test. The 467 (and 490) has a different gauge for each color and you can check all three at the same time. Find out which model (whether BK Precision, Sencore, etc) looks to be something you'd feel comfortable operating, has online documentation if no manuals are included so you know how to use it, etc.

And be careful about linking Ebay ads for advice, as it may attract bidding competition. Just as for opinions on specific models...
 
That describes about 90% of the tools I use in most of my hobbies anyway..
Haha... agreed. When I bought it, I thought I'd be hooking it up to every CRT and turning it from "already ok" into "awesome". Nope. It depends what you encounter but it was useful for zero of my last 10-15 monitor repairs. Now what HAS made them look like brand new is a pattern generator and redoing purity/convergence.

I'd have gotten better results investing in a $100-better oscilloscope, or a $100-better eprom burner, or a $100-better multimeter, or a $100-better soldering iron, or a $100-better shelf for holding these tools, or $100 more beer. However it was an excellent way to get rid of the $100 that was, at the time, burning a hole in my pocket.
 
I'd have gotten better results investing in a $100-better oscilloscope, or a $100-better eprom burner, or a $100-better multimeter, or a $100-better soldering iron, or a $100-better shelf for holding these tools, or $100 more beer. However it was an excellent way to get rid of the $100 that was, at the time, burning a hole in my pocket.

My rejuvenator cost me $15.24 with shipping. Sometimes you get lucky....
 
Haha... agreed. When I bought it, I thought I'd be hooking it up to every CRT and turning it from "already ok" into "awesome". Nope. It depends what you encounter but it was useful for zero of my last 10-15 monitor repairs. Now what HAS made them look like brand new is a pattern generator and redoing purity/convergence.

I'd have gotten better results investing in a $100-better oscilloscope, or a $100-better eprom burner, or a $100-better multimeter, or a $100-better soldering iron, or a $100-better shelf for holding these tools, or $100 more beer. However it was an excellent way to get rid of the $100 that was, at the time, burning a hole in my pocket.

I see you're into pins. You'd better add a zero to all of your expenses.
 
Back
Top Bottom