Anyone ever "Re-Capped" a PC monitor?

[Bumblebounces]

I have two 19" Viewsonic E790 monitors whose only problem is that they are extremely dark.  I had been using them for their intended purpose (being used as a PC monitor for day to day PC usage) but they got to the point where they were unusable for that purpose.  Even with the brightness and contrast cranked to max, everything is very dark and lifeless.

Now that they are laying about, collecting dust, I am looking at getting rid of them but don't really like the price tag attached to doing so.  My waste provider wants $35 each to dispose of them.  Rather than do that , I was thinking I might be able to spend half that amount and make them useful again.  The caps can't cost that much.

Anyone ever try this with any success?

Thanks
Bumble

[MonitorGuru]

First, crack them open and lookd for a "sub brightness" control, or simply try adjusting up the SCREEN control on the back of the flyback transformer. Both should increase the range the "user" controls can give you.  You can also play with the RGB drive and cutoff controls on the chassis/neckboard, however once you start with these, rebalancing them can be a pain, but doable.

Usually when PC monitors go dark, it's more than just caps, as those usually affect deflection/geometry and not the pure drive intensity... it's usually the tube itself or other more significant components.

You are welcome to try to recap it and see if it helps, but since you can get new PC CRT monitors relatively inexpensively, it usually isn't cost effective. Though 19" is about the level you need to make the decision at... 17 and smaller = toss.

[Ken Layton]

Some computer monitors are used commercially with coin-operated games such as dart machines. The Medalist "DartStar" dart games used Goldstar amber monitors as well as Radio Shack CM-11 color monitors. I have a capkit/repair guide on the Radio Shack CM-11 which is a very easy monitor to repair (very reliable too).

Arachnid English Mark Darts used the Magnavox Computer Monitor 80 (amber) which is another one I have recapped (it was easy).

However there are some brands/models that are a real pain in the ass like the IBM cga color monitors.