ComputerSpaceFan Posted October 22, 2010 Share Posted October 22, 2010 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted October 22, 2010 Share Posted October 22, 2010 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigO Posted October 22, 2010 Share Posted October 22, 2010 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldAtarian Posted October 22, 2010 Share Posted October 22, 2010 It's probably not too dissimilar to discharging the CRT on a compact Mac. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+remowilliams Posted October 22, 2010 Share Posted October 22, 2010 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lgallair Posted October 22, 2010 Share Posted October 22, 2010 (edited) 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MitchSchaft Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 Thanks, lgallair. Bookedmarked! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Video Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desiv Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 (edited) 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldAtarian Posted October 24, 2010 Share Posted October 24, 2010 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulBlazer Posted October 24, 2010 Share Posted October 24, 2010 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Video Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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