Monitor Nightmare

Reading some old Merit documentation and they suggest dental floss. LOL! I've never used dental floss to remove a touch screen.
 
Update.

Left it sitting face down in a gallon of Goof-Off "Pro Strength" for about 15 hours. Pulled it out this morning and basically the perimeter of the adhesive gave away - about 1 measly millimeter worth. I was able to scrap it away with a plastic scraper. Zero penetration beyond that.

Next, I put it in front of a heat. I got it HOT. I used 60lb braided fishing line and was able to get under one corner about a half an inch. The problem is the damn adhesive is so strong that I wasn't even slicing through it as much as pushing it forward. Finally the fishing line snapped. Tried another piece and it snapped as well. And another...

Age must have morphed this glue into an aircraft-quality adhesive. It's truly incredible. Dental floss probably worked on these the first couple years but it's laughable now. I'm now trying to find the thinnest and strongest fishing line.

This will be the death of me.
 
Maybe try something like a thermal foam cutter where you can get the wire between the digitizer and tube at the corners. But where to go from there?
 
It's crazy how the acetone just runs right off of it.

I'm really thinking about using paint stripper...
 
Razor knife. :) I'm tellin ya, its how its done in every operator's shop in the country and how distributors do it as well.

Whateves....
 
Razor knife. :) I'm tellin ya, its how its done in every operator's shop in the country and how distributors do it as well.

Whateves....

Yes, sorry will try tomorrow. Not stepping near a big box store today and everything else is closed.
 
This is how far i've gotten in 3 days.

The razor knife did nothing. You slice into it and it's like it heals itself.

The best way I can think of to describe how hard the adhesive has become is that it feels like a hockey puck.


QyaO8pF.jpg
 
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If you are going to go at it and just break the glass off I'd recommend eye protection. Thats one way to do it!

Not being there I cant determine if the adhesive is any different from what I was taking of off games 20 years ago.

Gloves too man.

Word of caution, that broken glass can scratch the face of the tube. Be careful.
 
I dont see any evidence of double stick in that picture. I wonder if some one used an epoxy or something to secure that touch screen the the tube?
 
Use the knife like you've been doing. Behind the knife slide in a a nylon pry tool (you can get cheapies at Harbor Freight) or another knife blade. That way it can't stick itself back down as you go along.
 
I dont see any evidence of double stick in that picture. I wonder if some one used an epoxy or something to secure that touch screen the the tube?

Half of what you are seeing is the adhesive. The entire screen face is clear adhesive that has hardened to a hockey puck-like hardness.

Nobody used anything on it. It was factory NOS. Removed the insulating tape and perimeter foam myself.
 
Wait a minute. koolmocgraig, are you saying that not just the edges of the touch screen is glued to the face of that tube but rather ALL OF IT is??
 
Wait a minute. koolmocgraig, are you saying that not just the edges of the touch screen is glued to the face of that tube but rather ALL OF IT is??

Bingo. The entire face is adhesive under the touchscreen. Here I thought the perimeter was a pain.

After breaking away some of the glass I found that sheet of adhesive which has now hardened into and extremely hard rubber-type material. On a hardness scale of 1-10 with glass being a 10, this stuff is easily a 9.

My next thought is to treat is as rubber and find something to dissolve it. This seems to be the ticket:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006SOK9YY/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

I am quite confident that paint stripper would make quick work of it as well as perhaps oven cleaner but I am not confident that they wouldn't etch the CRT glass. Open to thoughts...

By the way, this is for my Baby Pac-Man that I have been restoring for 4 years. This was the final piece of the puzzle. I expected to receive it and be finished. Here I am going into day 4 in getting the digitizer off. Heartbreaking.
 
wow. Some one went WAY overboard and glued that touch screen to the face of that tube. Thats insane.

I doubt that paint stripper would have any effect on the glass face of the CRT.
 
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