APB Monitor

[urgeboy]

Soooo, I seem to have the worlds biggest problem child in this APB game.

A little bit of history: I bought it several months ago off a craigs list add. Seemed to work fine in when I looked at it. Got it home and it started playing blind. Took it to a repair shop where the gentlemen apparently tried everything including getting a new chasis. Finally after several weeks there he tells me its the tube and there is nothing he can do for me. So now I am stuck with a 19" medium resolution monitor that needs a new tube.

I've checked around and only found one person who said he could get me a new tube for 300, plus 100 for an install...not exactly cheap. I have been looking around for other options, but I just haven't been able to come up with any yet. Anyone have any bright ideas?

[corycet]

First thing I would do is verify that the tube is really bad. Is the heater open or is the tube shorted in some way? If it has a short then sometimes this can be fixed using a rejuvenater or sometimes you can remove a short by tapping carefully on neck of the tube or setting the tube on its face and then slightly lifting the tube and then carefully hit it against the floor. Its sounds crazy but it can work in some cases. If the heater is open then the tube is bad and you'll have to get a new one. You can get a new tube for a reasonable price if you look hard enough. Medium resolution is going to be harder to find but just keep looking on eBay, craigslist, game auctions, yard sales etc.

[urgeboy]

Thanks! I'm still very new at all this and especially working on monitors but I'll open her up again tomorrow when I have a little more time and see what I can figure out. This will most likely sound stupid but what is this heater I am looking for?

I've also toyed with the idea of replacing it with an LCD as CRT monitors are becoming more and more difficult to come by (especially the medium resolution ones). Anyone gone down this road and have anything good or bad to say about it?

Thanks again for all the help!

[MonMotha]

There are several methods for working around internal single tube shorts, but what you'd have to do depends on the actual fault.  It sounds like pretty much all of them would be beyond what you'd want to perform.

It's also generally possible to swap in a tube from a donor CRT TV (arcade monitors actually use TV tubes).  Given that this is a medium res monitor, you may be stuck swapping the yokes over.  Not all TV tubes will be suitable for this particular monitor, but it's generally possible to find one that is.  This is a fairly straightforward process for someone who knows what they're doing, but again probably not something it sounds like you'd be comfortable with doing yourself.

[mrazy1]

I would say you have to be careful about what you do here. NOt knowing your experience, playing round with CRTs is dangers  and can kill you  . you should be asking lots of questions before trying anything with this game. I wouldnt be doing everything that these two are saying at this point. One step at a time. Do you have Neckglow? Put a piece of paper to the front of the tube and turn it on. Does the paper get drawn to the face of the Monitor? Let us know what you get. Then we can move on to SAFELY taking the tube out and or finding the right tube for your system
 

[mrazy1]

Depending on your Chassis and Tube will depend on if you can Use a donor tube... If you have the money and want to go to a LCD you have to know what type of system boards you are working with. A multi sync monitor that is a LCD would work on most games. 

[urgeboy]

Thank to everyone for the quick replies!

I definitely wont be trying anything very invasive with this tube by myself. I have pretty much zero experience with this and don't fancy electrocuting myself.

I went and checked for any glow coming from the neck. Nothing the inside is totally dark, except for the red light on the PCB board saying its on.

I also checked for the numbers inside the machine.

The tube# is M48AAW02X

The number on the PCB board is A044520-01. This isn't the serial#, but that is also still there if I need it.

I had thought about putting an LCD in there but I didn't know if it was going to be any advantage at this point. I guy at a repair shop in near by Baltimore told me he could get me a brand new tube for 300, which is about what the LCDs that I have looked at cost. I also didn't know much about the screen quality of an LCD vs a CRT. My monitor has some burn on it, but it's not really noticeable when the game is on.

[corycet]

Do you have a digital multimeter? If so, check to see if your heater is open. This can be done without removing the monitor assuming the chassis frame is not blocking the neckboard. I looked up your tube and it uses the common CR23 adapter which means the heater is on pins 9 and 10 of the neckboard. These 2 pins are located on the small square circuit board(neckboard) on the back of the tube. Make sure the monitor is off when performing this test. Place your meter in Ohms test and put the test leads on pins 9 and 10. The polarity of the leads does not matter. Your ohm meter should not read infinite, it should read low ohms. If it reads infinite then your tube is ruined. There was a company that used to fix these issues by actually cutting the neck off the tube and inserting a new gun assembly then resealing them, but the repairs were always highly unreliable and I believe they are out of business now. If the heater reads low ohms then we might be able to save your tube.

[mrazy1]

I also Found that a tube in your monitor cost 199.00 on-line thru www.encompassparts.com/products/?M48AAW02X You may have to pay for shipping.
That is a Med Res 19" tube. You have to find or buy another tube if the tube is at fault. If Corycet check shows low OHMage then its the monitor board. Do you know the manufactor of the monitor and numbers?

[urgeboy]

Hey, thanks man! I might end up buying the tube. I talked to a guy near by in Baltimore who said he could get me one for 299 plus shipping so this would save me a 100 bucks. Thanks!

I'm going to try to test the monitor today and see if that is indeed the problem. I'm a little hesitant about it though since I am a complete noob at this and would like to try to avoid almost killing myself again with this thing (creating an electric arc is a scary thing when you're not expecting it) but I think I'll be ok. I'm assuming with the monitor off and unplugged I cant hurt myself too much.  I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks again!

[urgeboy]

Sooo, I know this is going to sound like a stupid question but I am staring at the back of the green board attached to the back of the tube...I don't see any pins and don't really know what it is I am looking for...any suggestions?

[corycet]

In the center of the board you should see soldered pins that form a circle. This is where you will check to see if the heater is open.