Tube Swap with Computer Monitor Tube

[siastbill1]

Hi, got an Electrohome G07 with about 20 years of Pac Man burnt into it. I was contemplating doing (or having done for me), a tube swap. I was originally going to try and find a 19" colour TV, but realized that I have an old 19" Dell monitor that I have decased and is currently doing nothing.

So long story short, can I swap the tube from my Computer Monitor into my G07, or is there something significantly different between computer and TV/Arcade tubes?

Heres the specs on the Dell if anyone thinks they may be useful: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/monitors/59119/specs.htm

Thanks.

[BobA]

The tube from your computer is too small and electrically incompatible. A 19 inch computer monitor is smaller then an arcade monitor.  Arcade monitors use what are basically TV tubes.  The specs you gave are for the computer monitor and its electroinics.  If you find the right tube from a TV then a swap could be made.

If you cannot find the exact tube for a swap then you could also look at putting together a TV tube and an 8 liner board but you have to be knowlegeable about TV tubes and make measurements of resistance to make sure you get the right board.

 

[D_Zoot]

Generally speaking, PC monitors don't make good tube donors for this type of swap.

The specs of the Dell monitor isn't as important as the physical charactaristics of the picture tube itself, which isn't really described.

First and foremost, does the Dell tube have the same  pinout  (and connector) as the neck on your G07?

Is the yoke on the Dell tube bonded (glued) to the neck?  PC monitor tubes often use bonded yokes with electrical charactaristics I am sure won't be compatable with a G07 chassis.  If the Dell has a bonded yoke, you won't be able to swap yokes.  Getting bonded yokes off without breaking the neck is usually impossible.

If the tube pinout is the same and the yoke isn't bonded (or by some shear luck happens to be compatable), then it would probably work.   BUT a few more factors come into play.  Does the Dell tube have the same deflection angle as the G07?  If the tube has a different deflection angle or neck length you would probably have geometry problems that will be difficult to correct.   Lastly I see the Dell is a flat face tube,  a G07 isn't, this would probably induce pincushion effects in the picture, also very hard, if not impossible, to correct with a G07 chassis.

Lastly, if you are a purist, the final picture probably wouldn't look authentic as the dot pitch on the Dell tube is much finer than a typical arcade monitor.  


I'm interested to hear what you find if you dig into this further, post back!  


D

[siastbill1]

Hmm, you raise a good point about the dot pitch. Basically, even if everything happens to be electronically compatible, it will just end up looking like I have a computer monitor in my cab. This kinda makes doing a tube swap pointless, as I could just as easily mount the Dell monitor in there.

If I do decided to pursue this further, I will definitely keep you posted on what I find out.

Thanks for the responses.