Monitor question

[eccs19]

I've almost finished putting my Pacman machine together.  While I've been working on it, it is not where it will sit for it's permanent home.  Everytime I started it up to test things out, the colors were mostly OK, but I did notice that the right side of the screen, the colors were ever so slightly out.  I tried it again tonight, and all was good.  I moved it to it's new home, and most of the right side of the screen was a shade of purple. Moving machine back out, colors were not to bad, but back home again, colors were messed up.  I don't think there is anything close to the machine that could cause this, but can't be 100% sure.  When machine is out of it's home, it's still very close to it's home, just pulled out from the wall, and at 90 degrees from the wall.  Any ideas?  It's a WG monitor.  Not sure of the model.  I've got the back on the machine right now.

[Kevin Mullins]

What does it do if you put it where it belongs, leave it OFF for about thirty minutes and THEN turn it on ?

[eccs19]

What does it do if you put it where it belongs, leave it OFF for about thirty minutes and THEN turn it on ?

Seems to do the same thing.  I tried it last night after moving it, and I think it sat for about an hour.

[gokun]

probably an obvious question, but have you degaussed the monitor in the new home?

[eccs19]

probably an obvious question, but have you degaussed the monitor in the new home?

No.  I don't have a degausser.  Wanted to see if that would likely be the problem before I did that.

[eccs19]

I read on the internet that I could use a bulk tape eraser to degauss my monitor.  It definitely helped, but I actually think the eraser I've got may be to strong to do the job.  At full arms length away from the monitor, it was still causing it to go wild.  I had to go up, as the monitor on Pacman lays down.  Top right corner is still bad.  I think I'll get one of those $25 ones off E-bay.  At least I'll have it in case it's needed again for that monitor or one of my others.

[gokun]

sounds like a good plan; let us know how it works out.

[eccs19]

Well I got the degauser in the mail today.  Didn't work any better than what I had before.  Must be something else wacky with this monitor.  Anyone got any other ideas?  Would a bad cap(s) cause the colors to be off on one part of the screen?

[grantspain]

speaker too close,magnetised bolt,flo tube ballast nearby,magnetic field in the area of the cab.move the cab to another location and see what happens

[eccs19]

speaker too close,magnetised bolt,flo tube ballast nearby,magnetic field in the area of the cab.move the cab to another location and see what happens

The only thing on that side of the cab was my mame machine, and slot machine.  Moved them both, degaused again, and still same thing.  If the pacman game board was not mounted properly (mine's not properly mounted yet), could it be emitting something that could cause that? I'll have to check inside to see if anything inside has magnitised.  I should pull out my compass and see if anything stands out.

[grantspain]

board would not cause any issues,to prove how sensitive crt are to magnetic fields get yourself a magnetised screwdriver and hold it close to the crt
try rotating the cab 45 degrees out of interest

[eccs19]

Problem found.  I turned monitor as suggested, but issue was still there, but it was somewhat different.  So I turned it around another 45, and away from the wall.  Picture was perfect.  Got out my compass and started hunting.  Turns out that the metal cabinet that my slot machine is sitting on seems to be VERY magnetized.  Now I just need to figure out something else to put the machine on.  Guess it gives me something else to do.

Thanks for everyone's help.

[eccs19]

Well I thought I had it solved by moving the metal cabinet, but still an issue.  Checked a little closer, and it seems like half of the drywall screws in the room are magnetized.  I guess when doing the basement, I must have got a box of screws that were magnetized.  Anyone know of a good way to demagnetize screws that are in the wall?  Funny thing is that it's only affecting the one monitor.  I'm guessing it's because my other machines, the monitor is more vertical, where as Pacman monitor lays flatter.  It's got me mystified regardless.

[grantspain]

did you get a real degaussing wand?that would sort the problem

[eccs19]

did you get a real degaussing wand?that would sort the problem

Yup, I did get one.  Well not really a wand, but it's a circular type.  Same thing I think..  Would I use it on the screws to kill the magnetism in them?  If your referring to doing it to the monitor, that didn't help.  After degaussing, it still has the color off on the one side.  I switched the machine with another one (position), but problem is still there.  If I move it away from the wall, it's just about perfect, so I can only assume it's all the screws in the wall.  Don't know what else it could be.

[lilshawn]

to fix your monitor proceed like so:

1a: place your monitor where you want it.
1b: display a solid white screen...a solid red screen...a solid green screen...a solid blue screen whichever shows your discoloration the most...
2: plug in your degausing coil.
3: place about 3 inches away from the monitor with the coil flat with the face of the monitor.
4: energize the coil
5a: pull the coil slowly away... straight from the monitor until you are about 6 feet away (about 5 seconds total time)
5b: if discoloration remains energize the coil and try swirling the coil in circles (about 3 or 4 circles...5 seconds total time) around the outside of the monitor edges then (while still energized) return to the center and proceed with step 5a

5c: failing 5a and 5b use short bursts in areas of discoloration to fix the areas.


you may find that you will need to switch the displayed colors and keep going since (for example) the solid blue will look okay, but the red will not.