Can old monitors explode

[Komataguri]

Can old monitors explode?


I have an old VGA monitor [ not svga ] thats about...oh....10 years old.


a Mitsuba 710VH


I need to use it on a small system I'm setting up.


It displays video, but it emits a loud, high pitched screech when its on.


I don't recall it doing this when I put it in storage 10 years ago.

Is it safe?

I don't want a 15inches of exploding glass to errupt towards my face or anything.

 

[Razer1]

I actually had an old monitor explode on me once. Nothing spectacular like the tube exploding, but I tried to run the resolution at 1024/768 and sparks shot out the bottom. The room smelled of ozone for a few hours. It was about that time I decided to toss it out and get a new one. It was a 8 year old packard bell 14 inch...

 

[Matrox462]

I actually had an old monitor explode on me once. Nothing spectacular like the tube exploding, but I tried to run the resolution at 1024/768 and sparks shot out the bottom. The room smelled of ozone for a few hours. It was about that time I decided to toss it out and get a new one. It was a 8 year old packard bell 14 inch...

Hmm, Packard Bell? I wouldn't trust that advice then...

I wouldn't be suprised if a Packard Bell floppy drive exploded!


Why keep an old monitor though? If you can afford it, an LCD will draw less power, be better for your eyes, and give you more desk space. With prices dropping, there really isn't a reason not to get one.

edit: http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=320118&pfp=BROWSE $159 for a 15 inch LCD after $70 instantly off. I don't know if that's a good monitor or not, but just so you get an idea.

 

[Komataguri]

Hmm, Packard Bell? I wouldn't trust that advice then...

I wouldn't be suprised if a Packard Bell floppy drive exploded!


Why keep an old monitor though? If you can afford it, an LCD will draw less power, be better for your eyes, and give you more desk space. With prices dropping, there really isn't a reason not to get one.

edit: http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=320118&pfp=BROWSE $159 for a 15 inch LCD after $70 instantly off. I don't know if that's a good monitor or not, but just so you get an idea.

Because one, this is only a temporary setup, I thought I had included that in my pervious post. I see that I did not and I appologize.

two, I prefer CRT over LCD. Yes I've used LCDs in the past [ average use, not for gaming ], and they are pretty and all, but I view LCDs like I view SLI, a waste that only the wealthy can pay for.


And the screeching has stopped, donno why it was screeching, maybe the raytube is dying...as long as it lasts the month I'll be happy.


Now I just need to find my Win98 [ yes, its legit ] install CD so I can get that PC running. >_<

 

[Matrox462]

Because one, this is only a temporary setup, I thought I had included that in my pervious post. I see that I did not and I appologize.

two, I prefer CRT over LCD. Yes I've used LCDs in the past [ average use, not for gaming ], and they are pretty and all, but I view LCDs like I view SLI, a waste that only the wealthy can pay for.


And the screeching has stopped, donno why it was screeching, maybe the raytube is dying...as long as it lasts the month I'll be happy.


Now I just need to find my Win98 [ yes, its legit ] install CD so I can get that PC running. >_<

Oh ok. Yea, I hear a lot of people still love CRTs over LCDs. Mainly because of the ghosting effect found on LCDs. CRTs are slowly getting phased as out monitors though, aren't they?

If you're going to use that monitor, make sure don't leave it on unattended so it doesn't end up burning your house down! That being said, I hope it doesn't die on you!

 

[The_Engineer]

CRT won't explode, its like a lightbulb, it is a vacuum inside, so it will implode if there were a fragment in the glass or anything, its not like its under pressure, just light going through it, so don't worry about glass fragments unless you drop it. If the power system fries you'd get sparks and maybe fire like is said above. Old crt Tubes arent inherently dangerous though.

 

[BlindedByScience]

The screeching is likely the high voltage tripler used in CRT monitors. If it's making / used to make noise, it's on the way out. Capacitors can indeed burst, but they don't usually make noise when they quit being caps (except one VERY loud bang.... ).

But, as The_Engineer said, it's very unlikely that the tube will "blow up" unless it's subjected to some physical damage of some type.

Good Luck - B.B.S.

 

[Craftish]

Record it realtime with a webcam so we can see if it explodes.

 

[Komataguri]

My Webcam ain't XP compatable



On a sadder note, the monitor in question displayed beautifully during the boot up and Win98 install.


But, the second I got into Windows it started ghosting/shadowing. It would flicker real fast and have like...4 or 5 "shadows" of the desktop displayed, overlaping one another with about a quarter screen offset to the right.


Suprisingly, Win98 had the specific drivers for this monitor, I installed them, went into display properties, set the refresh to 60hz and lowest resolution, still won't work. [ It was hard as all fuck trying to do all that through the flickering, suprised I didn't get a epileptic seizure! ] Turning it off and back on improves the image after a change, but not by much.



Sigh...I really kinda need this to, and I don't want to use a KVM cause I would be switching back and forth every 15 or so seconds [ VERY bad for a monitor, Killed my last monitor that way...basicly the equivlant of turning it off and on a bajillion times ]

 

[HvyMtl]

depending on your location - (dunno where you live)
go to some garage sales - you should find a cheapo monitor that way (like $10 or less)
Heck I got the Phillips 109B 19 inch flat screen crt for $10 that way (owner swapped to a 15 inch flat pannel to save desktop space - my gain)
Also got a 19 kds trinitron for $15 -
a couple of 17 inch for like $5 each.
So you might want to try that -
or some "computer recycler" type places that sell used monitors and buy one there (prolly like $20 or less for a 15)
yes the old monitor CAN explode as it may not be compatible with the signal its getting...

 

[Komataguri]

depending on your location - (dunno where you live)
go to some garage sales - you should find a cheapo monitor that way (like $10 or less)
Heck I got the Phillips 109B 19 inch flat screen crt for $10 that way (owner swapped to a 15 inch flat pannel to save desktop space - my gain)
Also got a 19 kds trinitron for $15 -
a couple of 17 inch for like $5 each.
So you might want to try that -
or some "computer recycler" type places that sell used monitors and buy one there (prolly like $20 or less for a 15)
yes the old monitor CAN explode as it may not be compatible with the signal its getting...

Well, I was thinking that to, but if its not compatable with the signal...why would Win98 have drivers for it?


Its a conundrum.


And yes, I'm a garage saler and avid curb collector. But people around here are nuts.


Last time I went saling and saw a PC, they wanted 700 bucks for a 300Mhz system with 64Meg of ram and no monitor.


Maybe I'll hit the compshop dumpsters tomarrow in hopes of being lucky.

 

[Matrox462]

Well, I was thinking that to, but if its not compatable with the signal...why would Win98 have drivers for it?


Its a conundrum.


And yes, I'm a garage saler and avid curb collector. But people around here are nuts.


Last time I went saling and saw a PC, they wanted 700 bucks for a 300Mhz system with 64Meg of ram and no monitor.


Maybe I'll hit the compshop dumpsters tomarrow in hopes of being lucky.

hehe, I was lucky when I was able to pick up a P2 (233MHz upgraded to 433MHz) 128MB, 8GB Hard Drive for $5. Absolute excellent condition too

I paid $10 for the faster CPU. Not bad for a fun little linux box.

 

[Frobozz]

If you're going to use that monitor, make sure don't leave it on unattended so it doesn't end up burning your house down!

This is probably the best advice in this thread. I've limped by with some oddly behaving monitors before and one thing I've never chanced was what it may do when unattended. Guess it's a trust thing... first time it makes a pop/zap noise, then that's it. It gets turned off when I'm not in front of it.

Try blowing in it real good. could be years of dust getting on something that has a dislike for dust.

other than that... just setup terminal services (or vnc, or whatever) so you can remote to it from your setup with a nice monitor.

 

[Matrox462]

This is probably the best advice in this thread. I've limped by with some oddly behaving monitors before and one thing I've never chanced was what it may do when unattended. Guess it's a trust thing... first time it makes a pop/zap noise, then that's it. It gets turned off when I'm not in front of it.

Try blowing in it real good. could be years of dust getting on something that has a dislike for dust.

other than that... just setup terminal services (or vnc, or whatever) so you can remote to it from your setup with a nice monitor.

Thanks. It's just looking for trouble if you ignore warning signs that something is failing.

Another good thing to mention is to make sure you *never* put stuff on top of your monitor. You'll block your vents. Even I have been guilty of that a few times, and man it gets HOT.

 

[dariob]

I had a monitor set itself on fire once. I was letting a housemate use it at the time and for weeks after he kept saying that I had tried to kill him. I guess it was a traumatic experience. Anyway, they can be dangerous.

 

[Komataguri]

Thanks. It's just looking for trouble if you ignore warning signs that something is failing.

Another good thing to mention is to make sure you *never* put stuff on top of your monitor. You'll block your vents. Even I have been guilty of that a few times, and man it gets HOT.

Nah, ONly thing I set on top of my monitor gets set towards the front edge, where there is no vents [ Only thing that goes up there anyway is my Guntank Highgrade model ^_^ and my glasses ]



Hrm....I didn't think about using remote desktop, I should be able to run it through the network..


Any way I can do that and be to reboot it and have access to it again when it boots back up? Preferably a free method.


Tho, I don't know if I COULD access it..

I don't even know if I can connect that PC to the network yet, and if I can it'll be outside the router [ PCI slots are dead, can only connect via a USB cable. Cable modem has the USB port, the router has no USB port. So it'd be outside the network, if that setup would even work.]

 

[Frobozz]

Any way I can do that and be to reboot it and have access to it again when it boots back up? Preferably a free method.

If you're running WindowsXP it's really easy provided you havnt played with your settings and services a bunch. (*NOTE* these are shoot from the hip instructions.. It's very likely that I forgot something.)
Right Click MyComputer -> Properties -> Remote (tab) -> check Allow users to connect remotely to this computer -> press Select Remote Users -> Add -> Advanced -> Find Now -> select your user -> Ok until you're back at System Properties.
I'm pretty sure that'll do it. may also have to check any firewall settings. Your machine should be accessible at boot.

Access it with the client computer (also assuming winxp) Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Communications -> Remote Desktop Connection

Alternatively, seek out VNC on google. You can set it up to run as a service that will also make it available at boot. ... and it's also free.

I don't even know if I can connect that PC to the network yet, and if I can it'll be outside the router [ PCI slots are dead, can only connect via a USB cable. Cable modem has the USB port, the router has no USB port. So it'd be outside the network, if that setup would even work.]

hmm.. that is an odd setup. I cant say that I've ever networked two computers together over USB, but if it shows up with a network adapter with TCP/IP on it, then I dont see why you couldnt set private addresses for them and hit it that way. Of course they'll only have eachother to talk to unless you setup the Internet Connection Sharing on your main computer.
Almost time to break out the diagram software. hehe

hope it helps.

 

[Hvatum]

Yeah, I saw this in the movie Final Desitination. Your monitor can explode and even kill you...

be wise, be careful.

 

[Komataguri]

If you're running WindowsXP it's really easy provided you havnt played with your settings and services a bunch. (*NOTE* these are shoot from the hip instructions.. It's very likely that I forgot something.)
Right Click MyComputer -> Properties -> Remote (tab) -> check Allow users to connect remotely to this computer -> press Select Remote Users -> Add -> Advanced -> Find Now -> select your user -> Ok until you're back at System Properties.
I'm pretty sure that'll do it. may also have to check any firewall settings. Your machine should be accessible at boot.

Access it with the client computer (also assuming winxp) Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Communications -> Remote Desktop Connection

Alternatively, seek out VNC on google. You can set it up to run as a service that will also make it available at boot. ... and it's also free.


hmm.. that is an odd setup. I cant say that I've ever networked two computers together over USB, but if it shows up with a network adapter with TCP/IP on it, then I dont see why you couldnt set private addresses for them and hit it that way. Of course they'll only have eachother to talk to unless you setup the Internet Connection Sharing on your main computer.
Almost time to break out the diagram software. hehe

hope it helps.

I'm gonig to be connecting to a Win98 machine from a WinXP Home machine.

 

[zaptoman]

98 to XP eh? Good luck. At least in my experience, they don't play nice together. About the monitor exploding thing, it can happen. Don't EVER shoot a monitor with a pellet gun. Bad things. Apparently if the glass breaks, that releases the vacuum and that tube comes flying out at high speed. Bad bad things.

 

[Frobozz]

I'm gonig to be connecting to a Win98 machine from a WinXP Home machine.

VNC will probably be your best bet then.

 

[The_Engineer]

VNC will probably be your best bet then.

Seconded. VNC Rocks.

I don't know how much it costs to ship a monitor, but i've got a couple of old 14-15" ers sittin around not doing anything, and i'm sure they work.. If you want to pay to ship one its yours for free. Drop me a PM.

 

[Komataguri]

Wait


There was something on The Screen Savers a long while ago..


It was like a KVM, that you could run off one PC, through your network via standard TCP/IP and control another PC.... I think it was free to?

 

[The_Engineer]

*snip*
was thinking of a program called synergy, but its for two computers and two monitors, using one keyboard and mouse. It doesn't move the display information over the network.

 

[Darth Bagel]

Did you ever get to comparing synergy to multiplicity?

 

[Happy Hopping]

I agree w/ the above that the noise is due to cap. pending failure. Although the tube won't blow, I have seen a brand name called Amaazing, in which a bluff of smoke came from the top of the monitor like camp fire, and it is bad for circulation of that room for a day or so

I have also read reported from IBM that their 17" monitors a few yr. ago has fire hazard problem, in one building, similar to above, causes the fire alarm to turn on, and people on that fl. has to leave the building.

 

[The_Engineer]

Did you ever get to comparing synergy to multiplicity?

I wanted to, and i'm sorry I never did a side by side yet, right now my desktop is actually without a video card so i can't test at this moment. The last few weeks have been hectic with my parents moving out of state, and myself into a new apartment. So once i get my heatsink back on my 9800XT i'll try and whip that program up... sadly it did end up on my to-do list though, as I got confused on the synergy install.