Where to service my Sony PVMs and what to be aware of?

DonBurgundy

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I've been wondering where would the best place be to take my CRT monitors to be serviced? I live in Miami, FL and I have a Sony PVM 20L5 and a 20M2UMDU? lol. I don't really have any major issues right now other then a slight geometry issue with both of the monitors. I can't find the service hours on the 20L5 either and I've searched all through the manual and service menu.

I read in the CRT review thread that capacitors could be the cause of geometry issues in the PVMs, is this correct? If so I would like to get my monitors serviced.

Let me know,
Thanks
 

Psygnosis8

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I'm piggybacking on this thread because I have a similar question. I have a geometry issue on mine, and now the RGB line won't sync. I live in Los Angeles. Anybody have a hook up for people out here?
 

ReplicaX

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I don't know if Quan @ East Coast Amusements can fix PVMs/BVMs. He said he would need to see one to decide if its possible. Understand that these Monitors have a lot of caps and sub boards vs an arcade monitor and regular CRT.

Unless someone in Massachusetts wants to try with a decent model. Regardless, if he can fix them you will still have to ship it out and back.
 

Jibbajaba

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I'm piggybacking on this thread because I have a similar question. I have a geometry issue on mine, and now the RGB line won't sync. I live in Los Angeles. Anybody have a hook up for people out here?

I don't remember the name of the place, but I looked into it a while back and there is a place in LA that services broadcast equipment, including PVMs. Just do a Google search.
 

DonBurgundy

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I don't remember the name of the place, but I looked into it a while back and there is a place in LA that services broadcast equipment, including PVMs. Just do a Google search.

I'm going to search for this in South Florida then. I purchased my PVM-20L5 from a company that rents out all kinds of professional recording equipment that is located next door to the Hit Factory in Opa Locka, so hopefully they will be able to service it. What exact work would be recommended that I get done? Replace all the capacitors?

I think I found my guys over in Hialeah... link and these guys but they're pretty taxed at $125/hour plus parts... link
 
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Jibbajaba

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No Florida location but I'm going to call they're number and see if they know of a certified spot in South Florida.

Yeah, that's what I was suggesting. I'm sure that they can recommend a Sony-certified repair center, rather than just taking it to "Habeeb's TV Repair and No-Contract Cell Phones".
 

DonBurgundy

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Yeah, that's what I was suggesting. I'm sure that they can recommend a Sony-certified repair center, rather than just taking it to "Habeeb's TV Repair and No-Contract Cell Phones".

Well I just got off the phone with SONY's toll free number and the guy didn't even know much and said I would have to send it to them. I asked if this Midtown Video was a certified spot and they said they wouldn't know and suggested I call the New Jersey location to find out. I call them and they have to list of 3rd party repair centers and told me that I would have to ship it to them. So I went ahead and contacted midtown video since they seemed the most legit and they told me they would send the monitor to Sony's NJ location. I found this to be retarded especially considering I don't need much work to be done to my monitor. What was funny too is that on Midtown's site they claim $125/hr for labor and Sony quoted me at $135/hr on the phone.

I'm considering talking to my cuban homies over in Hialeah and see what they have to say lol
 

Psygnosis8

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I'm surprised that whoever answered the phone at don't even knew what a Pvm was...
 

indierocklocks

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This isn't much of a lead-- but the only people around here who know anything about servicing broadcast CRTs are oldschool engineers at local television stations. Maybe it's possible to get lucky and find some shop with an enthusiast that has went past the point of consumer grade displays though.
 

DonBurgundy

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Midtown Video called me back and left a voice message saying the Monitor must be shipped to SONY and a $175 Diagnostic Fee will be automatically charged. After they diagnose the monitor it's $125/hr for the labor plus what ever the costs of parts are. Then they ship it back and I have to pay for that too. I'm assuming its like $200 to ship my PVM-20L5 to the NJ center, so thats $400 round trip alone on shipping if my estimate is correct! Let's say they only take 1 hour to do the service plus the diagnosis, that's $300 not including parts. This seems to be like $700+ just to fix MINOR geometry issues with my PVM. I definitely need to find some oldschool analogue era engineer from my local television stations lol! I can't really complain tho... when we're dealing with $20,000 msrp monitors meant to be used by Movie/Broadcast studios then it only makes sense. Then add the fact these parts aren't really being manufactured on a massive scale as they once were.

My last option is Rick TV Guy out of Hialeah that has been in business since 1990... At this point I think it's worth a shot of seeing what he knows and can offer in comparison. I'll keep you guys updated as I think this thread is helpful. It may take a while tho since I'm in the middle of moving.
 
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mikejmoffitt

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It would be nice to make a page saying which repair places will deal with a CRT in which areas.
 

Wachenroder

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I'm piggybacking on this thread because I have a similar question. I have a geometry issue on mine, and now the RGB line won't sync. I live in Los Angeles. Anybody have a hook up for people out here?

Same...for future reference
 
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