Teknotoyz
Well-known member
You know, it's amazing that for so long monitors were simply taboo for me to touch.
I got very lucky through most of my early machines that none had any serious monitor snafu's.
I mean, monitors are fragile, DANGEROUS, high voltage, overall a mystery to a newb....
But slowly, the cap kit came into play, gotta do cap kits if a monitor is a little off right?
Well as I got comfortable with doing cap kits, other issues reared up: blown HOT's and cracked flybacks.....
People plugging in a chassis without an iso...
So I slowly kept creeping further and further into the realm of monitor repairs.
Now one day, I hear about tube rejuvenators, this mythical magic tool was surely just that, a myth.
Just like a crystal ball, you see into the inner workings of a glass tube, untouchable.... or not? seemed like snake oil to me.
Well, in hearing talk from masters like Ken Layton and Modessitt, I began to believe...
Especially when sick monitors began to appear in my garage that no amount of chassis troubleshooting could seem to repair.....
a tube that produced no green, gotta be a transistor right?? nope, a known good chassis couldn't produce green on that tube either.
So I did what any newb would do... I smashed the tube, a no-burn 25" K7000 died a death that I now know could likely have been prevented.
So, many of us have worked on monitors, but how many of us own a CRT analyzer?
I broke down and bought one last week, a vintage B&K 467 for a decent price with 9 adaptors.
I had just the tube to try a first rejuvenation on, a WG 27" medium res with a U5000 chassis.
Sadly, I parted the game it came from because it was a dead tube, just had not gotten around to disposing of the tube itself. ahh well... hindsight again.
Both of these monitors should look the same, the tube on the left was as bright as it could get!!
So I quickly made up a CR23 adaptor from a G07 broken neck board and plugged everything in.
I actually read the instructions a couple times, lots of buttons and dials, but pretty easy actually.
So, I set up the 467's voltages and began the testing.
- None of the color guns are above halfway through the red zones.
- G1-K short light is blinking on and off..... so I perform the "Remove shorts" function.
(basically your discharging a capacitor in hopes of burning out the short)
- FAILED the tracking, lifetime, and Focus OK tests....
- So I perform a low energy "cleaning" cycle... no help....
- Time to bring the big guns and I set the restore mode to rejuvenate!
Now, the rejuvenate cycle does carry a risk... but the tube is dead anyway, so I proceed to run the cycle on the red gun only... flares and flashes ensue from the neck during the 2-3 second process!! ughh...
I quickly returned to the test mode and let everything settle... nothing yet....
Reading the instructions, I jump back to re-adjust the gun cutoffs and then.... life, the heartbeat is back so to speak.... the needles settle into green, uneven as yet.
So I go back to the restore mode on the clean setting and hit each gun....
Going back to the test mode and everything lines up....
Check tracking -- good, check lifespan -- good, check focus circuit --- good...
WOW... that was cool... the 467 is saying the tube is good, with life left yet.
Well, proof is in the pudding, so I installed a U5000 chassis and fired it up...
COLOR!!!
So, if your into monitor repair, don't underestimate the rejuvenator.
It does a lot more than just "rejuvenating" a tube, it's your eyes into the health of the most important part of your monitor, THE TUBE!
To sum it up in one picture:
I got very lucky through most of my early machines that none had any serious monitor snafu's.
I mean, monitors are fragile, DANGEROUS, high voltage, overall a mystery to a newb....
But slowly, the cap kit came into play, gotta do cap kits if a monitor is a little off right?
Well as I got comfortable with doing cap kits, other issues reared up: blown HOT's and cracked flybacks.....
People plugging in a chassis without an iso...
So I slowly kept creeping further and further into the realm of monitor repairs.
Now one day, I hear about tube rejuvenators, this mythical magic tool was surely just that, a myth.
Just like a crystal ball, you see into the inner workings of a glass tube, untouchable.... or not? seemed like snake oil to me.
Well, in hearing talk from masters like Ken Layton and Modessitt, I began to believe...
Especially when sick monitors began to appear in my garage that no amount of chassis troubleshooting could seem to repair.....
a tube that produced no green, gotta be a transistor right?? nope, a known good chassis couldn't produce green on that tube either.
So I did what any newb would do... I smashed the tube, a no-burn 25" K7000 died a death that I now know could likely have been prevented.
So, many of us have worked on monitors, but how many of us own a CRT analyzer?
I broke down and bought one last week, a vintage B&K 467 for a decent price with 9 adaptors.
I had just the tube to try a first rejuvenation on, a WG 27" medium res with a U5000 chassis.
Sadly, I parted the game it came from because it was a dead tube, just had not gotten around to disposing of the tube itself. ahh well... hindsight again.
Both of these monitors should look the same, the tube on the left was as bright as it could get!!
So I quickly made up a CR23 adaptor from a G07 broken neck board and plugged everything in.
I actually read the instructions a couple times, lots of buttons and dials, but pretty easy actually.
So, I set up the 467's voltages and began the testing.
- None of the color guns are above halfway through the red zones.
- G1-K short light is blinking on and off..... so I perform the "Remove shorts" function.
(basically your discharging a capacitor in hopes of burning out the short)
- FAILED the tracking, lifetime, and Focus OK tests....
- So I perform a low energy "cleaning" cycle... no help....
- Time to bring the big guns and I set the restore mode to rejuvenate!
Now, the rejuvenate cycle does carry a risk... but the tube is dead anyway, so I proceed to run the cycle on the red gun only... flares and flashes ensue from the neck during the 2-3 second process!! ughh...
I quickly returned to the test mode and let everything settle... nothing yet....
Reading the instructions, I jump back to re-adjust the gun cutoffs and then.... life, the heartbeat is back so to speak.... the needles settle into green, uneven as yet.
So I go back to the restore mode on the clean setting and hit each gun....
Going back to the test mode and everything lines up....
Check tracking -- good, check lifespan -- good, check focus circuit --- good...
WOW... that was cool... the 467 is saying the tube is good, with life left yet.
Well, proof is in the pudding, so I installed a U5000 chassis and fired it up...
COLOR!!!
So, if your into monitor repair, don't underestimate the rejuvenator.
It does a lot more than just "rejuvenating" a tube, it's your eyes into the health of the most important part of your monitor, THE TUBE!
To sum it up in one picture:
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