This is were I found it. I only remembered to take a picture when I already put the thing into my car. It was laying tube down on the fridge.
This was also my first time working on a CRT. Was kinda scary, but nothing happened in the end. Not even a spark when discharging. Guess these newer sets all have a resistor that drains the voltage built in (this TV is from November of 2002).
The power cable uses a connector, so I could just remove the cable and solder a new one to it. Soldering it directly to the board would have probably looked cleaner, but I guess this worked well too. I simply cut off one end of a normal power cable and soldered it to what was left of the existing one. I planned on using heatshrink tubes, but they already shrinked while soldering. I just ended up using electrical tape instead. Not the cleanest soldering work, but it does the job.
This is how it ended up looking inside the TV:
I wanted to be on the safe side when turning the CRT on for the first time, so I did it outside.
It did power on, and looks pretty damn good!
As it turns out, the tube was actually made in the UK. I think that’s pretty cool, since everything has to be made as cheaply as possible today. The whole thing seems very well built in general, Rubycon capacitors everywhere.
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Of course I don’t have the remote for it, so I didn’t change any setting when taking these pictures. The black levels were still pretty bad, and geometry could be better as well. I ordered a remote to dial everything in, I hope it looks even better after that.
The amount of tube TVs I saw on the side of to road in the US a few years ago was depressing, especially since I knew there was nothing I could do for them. They were all too large and I’m not confident enough to try any repairs on anything that potentially dangerous.
I’m glad you were able to save this one!
I see CRTs pretty rarily on the street. It’s probably because they’re getting rarer? But yeah, I know the feeling of seeing one and not being able to take it with you. I mean, I have already seen a few that I just didn’t need, like 100hz sets or just rather low quality TVs. I don’t have that much space so I never picked these up, even though I also didn’t want so see them trashed. With this one, I just couldn’t leave it there. It’s a 21 inch CRT, so I somehow made space for it at home.
And yes, this was also my first time working on a CRT. It would have probably taken a few more years for me to build up enough confidence to open one, but finding one that needed repairs greatly accelerated it if that makes sense. I still don’t really feel comfortable touching the electronics inside because every just tells you about how dangerous they are, but I hope it gets better for me in the future so that I can possibly do some more difficult repairs if needed.
The size and variety of objects in the pile would have me very worried about bedbugs.
Valid concern. I made a little visual inspection from the inside of course, but didn’t find anything. Now that I think about it though, I didn’t check below the PCB.
Another person also mentioned that my soldering work isn’t that clean, so I will probably open the thing again and check for bugs and redo my the cable.
Wonderful to see! Nice job on the repair, may your crt glow for many years to come.
Thank you :) I’ll see how many hours it was used once I get the remote for it. It’s probably not too much, since the tube looks pretty bright.
That solder joint is super cold, you need to apply some flux and heat it more before applying the solder. Probably fine, but safer to re-do it.
Yes you’re right, it really isn’t the cleanest soldering work. I’m still practising a lot.
It is probably fine though, I tried pulling the cable apart where I soldered with quite a bit of force, but it didn’t loosen a bit.
The TV also only consumes 52W according to the back label, so it should be fine.
On the other hand through, this really is a connection that needs to be really solid.
You’re right, I should probably revisit it. I’ll see when I have time for it.
You’re right, it’s probably fine. The current wouldn’t be an issue, since it uses basically no power. And the joint doesn’t look like it would cause a high resistance.
But the thing that can happen is the solder cracks and the wires seperate a little bit. This causes arcing, which could cause a fire. Especially on 230-250V like we have in Europe this can be an issue. But it’s very very unlikely.
No worries man, you did good and we are all learning our whole life. Just re-do it when you get the chance and consider it practice.
I love that you rescued a dumpster TV. I recently refurbished an old (1983) CRT monitor, brought it back from the dead and made it almost good as new. I have some cosmetic work to do, plus a vertical size issue that’s intermittent. But other than that it’s perfect. Saving shit from going to landfill is always worth while.
I had heard about people cutting the cords of CRTs left on the curb for free, back when they were more common, but I never understood the point. Surely turning an existing (though relatively power hungry) monitor into 100lb of eWaste is a massive net loss for sustainability?
Either way, props and well done!
A lot of times for businesses, that’s how you RMA things. “Take a picture of it destroyed and we’ll send you a new one”
Well, I guess there are some people that really think that the few grams of copper inside the cable is worth something. Most people see CRTs as worthless today anyway, which is pretty sad.
