Is this monitor dead?

[plemming]

EDIT: Having read the standard stickies, I'm afraid I don't know any specifics about the monitor make and model - which probably will encourage nobody to reply.  Though if I actually have a reasonable chance at a simple repair (I'm a computer programmer with minimal experience with a soldering iron, not an electrical engineer) then I'll tear the room apart so I can access the back of the cabinet and get specific information.  I'm just a bit lost of ideas right now, and would like a poke in the right direction.  Thanks.

Hi all, not best pleased with myself right now.

I have an arcade machine with a CRT monitor in it, which takes standard VGA input (and even has a PC style VGA connector.)  I've used this in the past to run a computer to run some homebrew games through it at 640x480 with plenty of success.

Now, the machine has been sitting out in an uninsulated garage environment and it's hardly new.  It's pretty cold today.  I went out to play it and it took a while to warm up - the picture remained fuzzy for a while.  Given a minute extra than longer, it eventually got back up to usual quality.

Then, click.  One loud click from the back of the monitor and the image goes black - not off, but just that blue/black that says its on but displaying no image.  I turned the machine and the PC off.

Being an idiot and fairly sure it was outright dead, and also probably creating possible fire hazards, I turned the cabinet on again - sure enough the blue/black of no signal came back, but as I started up the laptop again, it just clicked again.

I know enough about this CRT to know that it isn't making a click when changing resolution or anything similar, and I was under the impression from my last dead CRT monitor I've ever owned is that they won't appear to entertain you with powering on once they've died.  In short, I'm just hoping that it's objecting to the cold temperature.  It's refused to power on before on a series of fairly chilly days and magically came back to life on more clement weather, though it never clicked.

I'm guessing I'm trying to avoid the answer of 'You're screwed, bud?'  I'm afraid to replace it because it's in a pain-in-the-ass position to get access to and I'm frankly afraid of the voltages CRTs can carry.

A sanity check, an idiocy slap or a more unlikely answer would be welcomed.  Thanks.

-Paul

[Ken Layton]

Probably cold temperatures and moisture condensation. Electronics and monitors do not like that.

[plemming]

Probably cold temperatures and moisture condensation. Electronics and monitors do not like that.

Ain't that the truth...  I'm very unhappy that I have to keep it out there in the first place but I literally have no room in this house.  In a few years time I plan to move out and with a bit of luck will get somewhere where I can keep the damn thing safe.

Regardless I tried again today after getting the heaters out and it's working as if nothing happened again.  Yay.  I'd be happy with this except I'm worried that keeping it even stored out there may cause problems if there's enough condensation to cause rust.  I'm not sure what I can do there - perhaps keeping it covered is a good idea?

I like to learn, and I have only a little idea about the technology of CRTs.  What exactly causes the clicking sound (any of them, the change of resolution click and the clicks that seem to indicate a dead monitor?)  Is it some physical mechanism or is it arcs of electricity?

I really need to give myself a crash course in these things, they're pretty much the only component I don't understand in an arcade machine.