PC Monitor goes Yellow.....simple fix or junk it?

[JLR2000]

Ok, since 17" PC monitors are going for about $90 at the local Office Max I'm thinking this is an easy one....but I thought I"d ask the experts here.  Have a Compaq 17" MV740 monitor that suddenly goes yellow......like a yellowed tinge to the screen....sometimes it pops back to normal, sometimes it stays.  I tried adjusting the colors and degaussing....but I think something inside is just going bad.  This just may become my extra monitor in the basement when setting up test rigs...who knows.  Anyway, I'm thinking it's not worth even trying, but I thought I'd ask.  Thoughts?

[MonitorGuru]

You could have a Heater-to-Cathode short of both the red and green guns, though actually if it comes and goes and always is yellow, thats a bit of a long shot and perhaps virtual impossibility. Usually it;s a single color, not 2 separate guns.    Does the screen get very bright/fog and show retrace lines? (sign of cathode short) or does it just seem to loose the blue color without other adverse effects?

Thus, It could be actually your blue gun is going bad, or the circuit leading up to the gun (a transistor failing due to heat, a cold solder joint, etc..)

Does it get better if you tap it?  If so, then its just a cold solder joint and is fixable. If it's thermal related then you will need to replace some components.

[JLR2000]

You could have a Heater-to-Cathode short of both the red and green guns, though actually if it comes and goes and always is yellow, thats a bit of a long shot and perhaps virtual impossibility. Usually it;s a single color, not 2 separate guns.    Does the screen get very bright/fog and show retrace lines? (sign of cathode short) or does it just seem to loose the blue color without other adverse effects?

Thus, It could be actually your blue gun is going bad, or the circuit leading up to the gun (a transistor failing due to heat, a cold solder joint, etc..)

Does it get better if you tap it?  If so, then its just a cold solder joint and is fixable. If it's thermal related then you will need to replace some components.

No other problems other than the yellowish color...it's like there is a yellow or brown screen in front of it.  Everything else is fine.  Funny you mention the "tapping" it....I've tried tonite giving it a whack or two and it seemed to resolve it for a little while. Now when I try I get no effect....guess I ticked it off.  Maybe I'll replace it and keep it as a future monitor project.  Thanks for the info!

[Hamselv]

I think you should try replacing the VGA cable before discarding the monitor.

I bought a brand new TFT monitor once that showed the exact same problem, and it turned out that the cable was bad.

If it isn't the cable, then check the VGA socket inside your monitor for bad solder.

PC monitors tend to stay in their protective cases always, as opposed to arcade monitors, so the most likely place of a bad solder is where the cable enters the case. A friend of mine has fixed several 'bad' PC monitors he got for free, just by checking for bad solders near the VGA cable. The fact that it comes and goes by tapping on the monitor (occasionally) supports this theory.

Good luck!

[gprime]

I would agree that it's probably a bad cable. I used to have a monitor that would sometimes go red, and I would have to jiggle the cable to get it right.

[telengard]

Ok, since 17" PC monitors are going for about $90 at the local Office Max I'm thinking this is an easy one....but I thought I"d ask the experts here.  Have a Compaq 17" MV740 monitor that suddenly goes yellow......like a yellowed tinge to the screen....sometimes it pops back to normal, sometimes it stays.  I tried adjusting the colors and degaussing....but I think something inside is just going bad.  This just may become my extra monitor in the basement when setting up test rigs...who knows.  Anyway, I'm thinking it's not worth even trying, but I thought I'd ask.  Thoughts?

I am having the *exact* same problem w/ my 19" monitor.  Has been happening for quite a while.  It's like the white goes light brown/yellow.  Looks awful.  I have a rotating monitor and thought I might have loosened something but it happens randomly even if I haven't rotated the monitor in weeks.

[telengard]

Ok, since 17" PC monitors are going for about $90 at the local Office Max I'm thinking this is an easy one....but I thought I"d ask the experts here.  Have a Compaq 17" MV740 monitor that suddenly goes yellow......like a yellowed tinge to the screen....sometimes it pops back to normal, sometimes it stays.  I tried adjusting the colors and degaussing....but I think something inside is just going bad.  This just may become my extra monitor in the basement when setting up test rigs...who knows.  Anyway, I'm thinking it's not worth even trying, but I thought I'd ask.  Thoughts?

I am having the *exact* same problem w/ my 19" monitor.  Has been happening for quite a while.  It's like the white goes light brown/yellow.  Looks awful.  I have a rotating monitor and thought I might have loosened something but it happens randomly even if I haven't rotated the monitor in weeks.

Just to follow up, I tightened the cable going to my PC and also jiggled the cable in the back of the monitor and the issue went away and has been gone for a few days now, even after rotating my monitor a few times.  It will probably come back but I just thought I'd share...

[neuromancer]

I'm liking the cable too.

I had a monitor where the screen would suddenly turn red. It wasn't really turning red, but it was loosing the green gun. I noticed it would happen as people walked around the room.

Upon opening the case, I discovered that there was a bad solder connection on the boad that controlls the guns.

Bob

[JLR2000]

Thanks for all the suggestions!  I ended up replacing it with a new monitor from OfficeMax ($79 for 17" CRT).  I'm keeping the old one and I may try opening it up to experiment/fix for a future mame project.  BTW, I tried jiggling the cable with no changes.

Thanks again for all the responses.