Monitor Rejuvenation: Snake oil? or real

Teknotoyz

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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!!
SuperGT-BadMonitor.jpg


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.

19721aef.jpg


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...

3c358856.jpg


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!!!

09889be7.jpg



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! :D



To sum it up in one picture:
Rejuvenation.jpg
 
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Make sure you scratch out the "bad tube" that is wrote on the frame. ;)

My rejuvenator has paid for itself in the first use. I've brought back about 5 dead monitors in my small collecting time.
Very useful tool.
 
rejuvenators are awesome and many times work wonders. The only problems I run into are when there is HTR leakage, which to me translates into a dead tube as rejuvenation will not work. Unfortunately I had a string of monitors with HTR leakage a few months ago all in a row
 
I've saved multiple tubes from the trash pile via Rejuvenation. I've also killed 2 tubes that were ... well ... already dead anyway so no loss.

Hell, the fact that I was able to rejuv a 25" ampliphone's tube ... well ... nuff said.
 
I agree. Not only for the rejuving part. The testing part is also awesome because you will KNOW the tube is OK before you start working on anything else.

Until now I haven't had any type of shorts. The only things I've done are a tube from my HD cockpit which was very dim before "doing it" (see this video, incl. the result :) (http://youtu.be/9JxFi0LtOMI) and a B/W tube from a G05 monitor.

I actually have three B/W vectors now here and could also nicely compare them. 2 of them were still in very healthy shape. The 3rd was poor, and just a burst of "cleaning" got it back to GOOD. (All 19VARP4 tubes).

My rejuvenator (Müter BMR 80
Mueter_BMR80_gross.jpg
) has three "rejuvenating" levels. The first is cleaning and I have so far needed only to use this level.

You DO have to read the manual properly because if you don't you may get false readings and you will think the tube is bad while it's actually still good.

I'd love to upgrade to the Müter 95 or 2005 or a Sencore CR 7000 who do a "computerized" rejuvenate which eliminates human error...

Haven't found the 95 or 2005 for sale yet though, and the CR 7000 is still WAY to expensive....
 
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Thanks for posting the info and before and after pictures. I have not done a tube yet, but plan to soon.
I picked up a Heathkit CRT Rejuvenator and a Dandy-Adapter Universal Adapter a ways back after reading tons of threads about having one and using it.
Actually thats no true, i purchased a OLD B&K off eBay and found it was too old to test the things i need. So point to anyone wanting to get one, make sure its not too old and wont handle the monitors you need. I picked up the Heathkit and universal adapter locally just a few months back.
Amazing the color and how vibrant the tube is now.
Thanks for posting.
Ken
 
Amazing! Pudding proof indeed. How long does monitor rejuvenation extend the life of a CRT that would get regular use?
 
This is a great thread. I'm just starting to enter into this realm. I did score a 19" TV that shows to be a good tube from the lists.


Is there any particular rejuvenators that are good and one should be looking for?
 
Amazing! Pudding proof indeed. How long does monitor rejuvenation extend the life of a CRT that would get regular use?

Unknown. But remember that you only do this for tubes that already have problems. The OP's tube was not really useable in the beginning, hence the rejuv. So - even 1 minute is longer than before.

You don't rejuv a monitor with a great picture...
 
Are there any particular rejuvenators that are good and one should be looking for?

Plenty of threads on this subject already, if you'll but look for them...
 
Is there any particular rejuvenators that are good and one should be looking for?


I chose the B&K 467 for a balance in cost and performance.
Indeed I have seen some say that the 467 is the best choice, for me it has worked and it didn't cost an arm and leg.


I've done 3 tubes now, all from Super GT's bought from Tilt where they were on daily.
All 3 tubes had issues, sad part was I thought I had only the 1 bad tube.

Here is another example... a blue tint was plaguing me, I just couldn't seem to balance it using the neck board adjustments.
It was subtle, the "Ranking" picture showing the blue glow was captured more by the camera than what the eye saw IMO.
The top picture is more of just how subtle the color was most of the time.
I had just about convinced myself the blue tone was just the way it was supposed to be.
I had the brightness and contrast down as the blue was more noticeable with a bright setting.

Check out the rejuvenator meters!! Blue is the strongest gun...
In the after pictures, I have not yet checked neck board settings, but the guns came out very evenly good.
ScreenShot2012-08-02at122215AM.png


Keep in mind that the ONLY change in the before/after pictures shown is the rejuvenation process! :D
 
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I'll bet you're saying, "How did I ever get along without this?"

BTW folks, don't forget this is also a piece of test equipment for testing the condition of the tube.
 
What one should i buy? I have a lot of games with WG6100's and the B&W vectors and also have a couple of the G08 vectors, and the standard Pac-man, Dig Dug, etc...
 
I'll bet you're saying, "How did I ever get along without this?"

BTW folks, don't forget this is also a piece of test equipment for testing the condition of the tube.

Absolutely! It's incredibly cool, to be able to fix and tune something that was previously untouchable.
To KNOW it's condition.

I knew that the commercial use of these Super GT's had taken it's toll on the monitors.
But to do a "diagnostic" process with results that just make you say WOW, that looks good!
Even when you thought the monitor was OK enough to install in a machine.
I never even removed the blue tinted one to do the rejuv, just discharged it and pulled the neckboard.
Process completed right inside the machine! :D
If you have ever removed a monitor from a Sega racer you know what it means to appreciate a fix in place solution.

Just one tube fix was enough to justify the cost IMO!
 
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I chose the B&K 467 for a balance in cost and performance.
Indeed I have seen some say that the 467 is the best choice, for me it has worked and it didn't cost an arm and leg.

Thank you. 467 it is. What you've done is really amazing.
 
I've seen both ends of the Rejuvination. First monitor, it didn't do much difference. And Chris blasted the Sh!t out of it. 2nd and 3rd ones looked brand new! major improvements.
I sold my kit awhile back, and now wish I still had it.
 
I've seen both ends of the Rejuvination. First monitor, it didn't do much difference. And Chris blasted the Sh!t out of it. 2nd and 3rd ones looked brand new! major improvements.
I sold my kit awhile back, and now wish I still had it.

I definitely can see the risks. On the second tube, gun output fell to almost nothing after just hitting clean on them. They rebounded when I hit rejuv though. I was sweating a little on that!!
 
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