Cap replacement, who do I call?

I went to several TV repair places near my house and none of them will repair my caps on my monitor. I posted a question a while ago about my monitor. The color on it sucks. When I play Bust A MOVE I have to look at the bubbles and see what is inside inorder to tell if it's green or yellow. I hate this. Also the screen is real dark. If I turn up the brightness I get white lines through the monitor. I was told I need to replace the Caps. Well I tried seeing if TV repair shops would help, but they won't. I am a little scared to do it myself. I don't want to end up dead because I do it wrong. What do you call the person who repair Arcade machines? A video repair engineeer? How do you get in touch with someone that can help? Honestly is it really that hard to change them manually? I know how to sodder, so I dont' see that as a problem. I just have no idea what I am looking for. thanks for your help in advance....... <img src="graemlins/help.gif" border="0" alt="[Help]" /> <img src="graemlins/annoyed.gif" border="0" alt="[Annoyed]" /> <img src="graemlins/help.gif" border="0" alt="[Help]" /> <img src="graemlins/help.gif" border="0" alt="[Help]" />

I'd try asking someone that runs a local Arcade who they get to work on thier systems. As long as you're in a fairly big city there should be someone that can do the work.

One thing you can do to make the operation safer is to let the monitor sit without any power going to it for a few days. Though to be honest the thought of working on a monitor scares the Hell out of me (and I've an monitor for an old VAX Workstation that needs the Cap's replaced).

I used to work as an Electrician, and we'd always short the Caps before working on something, BUT I'm not sure if that would damage the monitor or not.

Zane

Careful with that moniter buddy ! ,

I read on the net that power can still be in the moniter for months even if its unplugged !

I tried takeing my moniter to TV repair places by my house and they wouldn't repair it saying it was too old just buy a new one .

Is there any one in driveing distance from your house that sells arcade games ? They could help you ,

This is the only place I know of that could help you , <a href="http://www.videoconnect.com/index.html" target="_blank">http://www.videoconnect.com/index.html</a> , I buy lots of Neo carts from them and other arcade stuff , They are in Cal so they are probably not near you but could maybe help locate some one near you that can help . I would suggest calling them ,

It is possible to replace the caps yourself. Method 1 short the caps out without killing yourself, brace for the LOUD bang then measure the voltage around them if zero (more than likely) then replace. Method 2 unplug monitor for a week then measure voltage across caps, if zero then replace if not short then replace. Method 3 go to a arcade look for a phone number on one of the machines, call that number.

Couple of things...

First, don't bet on the caps fixing all your problems. I have a 25" monitor that sounds just like you describe. I have to keep it dimmer than I want because if you turn the brightness up, some of the colors flare out like the lines you describe. I capped my monitor and it helped, but it did not fix it completely.

Having said that, I would do a cap kit. It is fairly inexpensive and does help to some extent.

If you are not comfortable around electronics, working on monitors is probably not a good place to jump in. As it has been posted many times, touching the wrong thing on a monitor can kill you, that is no joke.

I'm not a fan of letting a monitor just sit and hoping that the voltage will bleed out. It may work sometimes, but for your health and saftey you should always discharge the monitor completely before working on it.

If the local TV guys are not willing to help (they think it will be different from a TV but it really is not) there are a couple things you can try:

The idea above about checking with a local arcade to see who works on their machines is a good one.

Second, check in the yellow pages, there are places that sell arcade and pinball machines to residential customers, they will have someone to fix them as well. This is probably your most expensive fix short of buying a new monitor.

Third, is post a message on Rec.Games.Video.Arcade.Collecting newsgroup. You can do it through <a href="http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&group=rec.games.video.arcade.collecting" target="_blank">Google Groups</a> There are alot of people who would come out and do a cap kit, or they may want you to bring the cab to them. This is probably your cheapest route short of doing the cap kit yourself.

Good luck, and let us know how it turns out.

[ February 19, 2002: Message edited by: Briggs ]</p>

Actually, many old school TV repair men know exactly how to fix these things. I've dealt with a few of them...and had them fix my monitor

They are after all, just like TVs.

i had no luck with people wanting to fix my monitor. i've emailed and called everyone. i either got no response (thanks anyway rev) or it was too expensive (65 to look at it and 45 and hour!?!?!)

so i decided to get a cap kit and do it my self.

the day before the cab kit arrived, the monitor died

it turns out it wasnt the caps at all, but the flyback transformer (the pcb is TOASTED around it)

i had the same problems as you, loss of color, dark picture etc.


i suggest if its a nice monitor, go to arcade shop amusements' or happ's website, and see if you can get a replacement chassis and neck board.
i also suggest you do this before it dies, like mine, just so you can know for SURE nothing is wrong with the tube

and finally, if you still want to do the cap kit, i have a cap kit for a 19" hantarex monitor. if thats the type of monitor you have i'll sell it to you. its brand new

Tell him we all said if he can't fix it he's a punk.

I would really try the RGVAC newsgroup and see if you can find someone in your area. They will probably do it for a flat fee.