Where to take older CRTs for repair these days?

[NightSprinter]

Topic basically says it all. For those of us that dare not risk attempting to fix what we know nothing about, where can we take our older CRT monitors for retro gaming to for repairs? I have both my wonky 1084S-D2 monitor that could use some major repairs, and my much larger NEC XM2960 that only needs minor work (slight convergeance issue that is only seen easily on a command prompt, and neither the internal stereo speakers or the bookshelf terminals work).

 

As much as I'd like to get some of those nice scalers I've read bout for an HDTV, I'm sure there's a number of us that still prefer to keep our CRTs working for as long as we can for numerous reasons. Hence why knowing whom to send it to or where to take it for repairs are important.

[Keatah]

I throw mine out to the curb. Somebody comes by and gets them. I assume they fix them. Only problem is I don't get them back.

[shadow460]

I really wish I knew an answer to that. The 17 kV static charge in the CRT is enough to make me think twice before attempting repairs or pulling that little "suction cup" (read: high voltage anode) off the glass. I've done some very minor TV repair before, but I still don't know a whole lot about the CRT itself aside from the fact it can light you up even when the thing is unplugged.

[NightSprinter]

Well, attempted to adjust the convergence rings, only to slice my thumb and break a tab from one of the two center rings off. I think at this point I'm just gonna offer it in a for-sale thread to whomever can fix it (as one of the two middle rings now needs a special tool to correctly adjust). I'm probably better off getting another off ebay or from someone else here rather than have it fixed.

[shadow460]

Selling it is probably best. I don't mean to sound condescending, but the risks involved with working on a CRT are just too much in most cases. I hope the cut on your thumb isn't severe.

[NightSprinter]

You're not being such at all, man. This cut's not bad. I've a MUCH worse one from a week and a half ago due to an episode of sciatica. Let's just say medicines givin by syringe and pill and not being able to afford a cab back made for a not-so-fun walk of two miles back to my car at work. That's a different story for a different thread, though.

 

Back on topic, after my first-hand experience in how someone like me shouldn't attempt to open up a CRT is it possible to find places locally that still work on them? I think it would be useful to know if I can either take it to someone or (in the case of someone having a monitor like my NEC) have someone come to the client's place to do the work?

[+wood_jl]

Stockpile all the CRTs you can get your hands on cheaply (or free), retrogamers and retro-enthusiasts. Small flatscreen TVs are so cheap now that even the poorest (in this country) are getting them.

And they're tossing their CRTs.

 

I'm wondering how much longer until they are rare or gone? I think about the move from black and white sets, to color. How long did that take? It's a flawed analogy, as B&W sets hung on for years, as cheap portable TVs....so Dad could watch the news in the driveway while he changed spark plugs, after work. Not so with the CRT to LCD move.

 

But, when is the last time you actually SAW a black and white TV set? If you own one, you're in an extreme minority. When the changeover to digital broadcast took over, I think a bunch of B&W sets got tossed, as every TV required a $40+ investment in a converter box, and B&W sets weren't worth it.

 

Ok, back to topic:

 

Good luck to you (and your thumb), NightSprinter. Get some spare CRTs, too. You're (We're) going to need them, in the future.

Edited February 18, 2013 by wood_jl

[Schizophretard]

But, when is the last time you actually SAW a black and white TV set?

 

In the last month: Good Will, Salvation Army, Trader Baker's Flea Market, The Recycling Bin, Treasures Flea Market, Value Village Flea Market, Emporium Flea Market, and eBay. I probably forgot a few places.

 

I see them all the time and it usually goes something like this,"Look at that beauty! Wait a minute.... Only contrast and brightness? Damn!" It really pisses me off too because the black and white TV's have just as much style as the early color units.

 

Anyway, not everyone is tossing them. As a pizza delivery driver I get to see people's TV's. Seniors, the poor, and people who keep things until they break don't get rid of them. The people that do toss them are the people that upgrade everything and toss perfectly good things. They are the majority but the groups that keep them as a whole are still a bigger group than retro gamers. They are so big that I'm finding their 70s and 80s TV's still in the wild but have trouble finding retro video games in the wild. Most of the CRTs are going into land fills but 20 years from now there will still be enough 90s and 00s CRTs in the wild to supply me. Most people tossed there retro games decades ago but there is still enough to supply us today. The same principle applies to retro TV's but the difference is that everyone once owned retro TV's.

 

It is still a good idea to stockpile them though because even though it won't be hard to find a CRT in the future it will be a little challenging to find the model you want. Free from the curb with gas money as shipping isn't bad at all. There is a beautiful 1979 Sony Trinitron KV-1214 on eBay right now. Yummy! I wish my parent's stockpiled those for me.