Anyone ever discharge a Vectrex before?

[ComputerSpaceFan]

So my Vectrex is showing signs that the capacitors are in need of replacement. No problem, I found this awesome listing of all the caps the Vectrex uses, however the author of the site says I'll need to discharge the monitor before I start pulling components off boards.

 

Anyone ever done that before? Got some helpful hints or recommendations? I've never discharged any kind of monitor before and given this will be a vector monitor I am wondering if there's any extra steps or precautions I'll need to know before I start.

 

Maybe there's a good video of how to on YouTube.

[GroovyBee]

I'll paraphrase a tip from an old TV repair guy I used to know. Work on the back of your Vectrex one handed. Never have two hands on the chassis at the same time. You don't want a belt of electricity across the chest. A belt down one arm to ground will be pretty painful tho.

[BigO]

A previous discussion on the topic: http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/125974-safe-way-to-discharge-a-crt/page__p__1532460__hl__discharge%20CRT__fromsearch__1?do=findComment&comment=1532460

[OldAtarian]

It's probably not too dissimilar to discharging the CRT on a compact Mac.

[+remowilliams]

I've discharged Vec's before to work on them, the process is the same as any other CRT in my experience.

 

 

Never have two hands on the chassis at the same time. You don't want a belt of electricity across the chest.

 

Potentially life saving advice for those working on charged/unknown high voltage areas. One of my uncles (a master electrician) saved his life while working on high voltage equipment that way.

[lgallair]

I've re-capped my Vectrex a couple of years ago and ran across the link you posted above.

I've found some discrepencies with the list of caps listed on that site.

Here's what I think is a correct list of capacitors you'll need for the Vectrex along with part #'s from Mouser.

Edited October 22, 2010 by lgallair

[MitchSchaft]

Thanks, lgallair. Bookedmarked!

[Video]

Honestly, if you don't know how to discharge the monitor, I would stay away from it. Take it to a local TV repair person, they will have all the stuff and knowledge to do what you want, and would recap it for you too if you wanted too.

 

Outside of that, it's done the same as any tube type TV is, it's basically the same thing more or less.

[desiv]

I got in a very short disagreement with someone online once about it.

It was short because he was a professor at a University or College in California and I was in way over my head.

I don't know that I believe(d) him, but his argument was something like:

(Badly shortened and paraphrased)

Because of the theory behind the "skin effect", you will not be killed by being zapped by a monitor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_effect

 

All I can say is, when I discharged the monitor in my Arcade machine, I had a friend come over just in case.

I had my big gloves on (I had a feeling I looked a bit like a poor mans Doc from BTTF) and the machine had been off/unplugged for a few days.

There wasn't even a pop. It was very anticlimactic.

For which, I was very happy.

 

I haven't tried it again on any of my systems, but I'll probably do it the same way, to be safe..

 

I do have to replace the caps in my Vec, at least the ones involving power. It's taking quite a while from turning the dial to the anything happening on it. Once it starts tho, all is good.

 

desiv

Edited October 23, 2010 by desiv

[OldAtarian]

Honestly, if you don't know how to discharge the monitor, I would stay away from it. Take it to a local TV repair person, they will have all the stuff and knowledge to do what you want, and would recap it for you too if you wanted too.

 

Outside of that, it's done the same as any tube type TV is, it's basically the same thing more or less.

 

Do people still repair TV's? I haven't seen a TV repair shop in 25 years.

[SoulBlazer]

Honestly, if you don't know how to discharge the monitor, I would stay away from it. Take it to a local TV repair person, they will have all the stuff and knowledge to do what you want, and would recap it for you too if you wanted too.

 

Outside of that, it's done the same as any tube type TV is, it's basically the same thing more or less.

 

Do people still repair TV's? I haven't seen a TV repair shop in 25 years.

 

Yeah, there are still local electronic shops that will repair a TV set. Problem is, most of the time it's not worth it. With what TV's cost these days, anytime one of mine has broken and been looked at, I've always been told it's cheaper to buy a new one then to get it fixed -- and often can get a bigger and better set also!

[Video]

Honestly, if you don't know how to discharge the monitor, I would stay away from it. Take it to a local TV repair person, they will have all the stuff and knowledge to do what you want, and would recap it for you too if you wanted too.

 

Outside of that, it's done the same as any tube type TV is, it's basically the same thing more or less.

 

Do people still repair TV's? I haven't seen a TV repair shop in 25 years.

 

Yeah, there are still local electronic shops that will repair a TV set. Problem is, most of the time it's not worth it. With what TV's cost these days, anytime one of mine has broken and been looked at, I've always been told it's cheaper to buy a new one then to get it fixed -- and often can get a bigger and better set also!

 

Yeah, and until a few years ago (or with special hardware, like the Vectrex) this isn't the case anymore. As near as I can tell, CRT types are no longer being produced anywhere, so unless you just want to upgrade (or can, in the case of vectrex) then it's probably better to fix it.