What problems does a degaussing solve?

[skeezix]

I picked up some beat to hell degaussing coil long years ago.. maybe 10 or 15 years back. Looks like a coil wrapped in electrical tape with a plug out the back

Anyway, the guy who sold it to me told me to be careful with it.. wave it around too fast or in the wrong pattern and you muck up a monitor; wave it around just so, and slow (how slow?), and it'd be like magic and restore crappy looking monitors to sharp and new. (But no, I only paid a couple bucks, so he wasn't conning me

When is the right time to use it, and any guides?

I have a slight discolouration (towards blue) on the right side 3/4 down; its not too bad, but I wonder if thats the sort of thing this is for? I'm afraid of performing the act and buggering up the display

jeff

[qrz]

a magnetized screen will cause incorrect beam landing ( color crts only ).
this will result in miscolored areas on the screen.

an alternating magnetic field is used to nuetralize the magnetized areas, restoring normal operation

hold coil close to screen . turn on and slowly back away moving coil in a circular motion.
when approx 5 feet away , turn coil 90 degrees ( perpendicular to screen  ) and turn off .
repeat if needed.

[MonMotha]

As a note, the degauss coil will get hot during operation.  Be careful where you hold it.  You may need to let it cool down if you elect to repeat the process.

[Ummon]

Hot?  I'm wondering you want your hand in proximity to that, radiation-wise, in that case?......

[MonMotha]

At 60Hz?  No cause for concern.  It's more like DC sloshing around than anything else from a EM safety point of view.

The reason the thing gets hot is because of resistive losses in the coil.  It's basically a space heater.  You just don't want to get burned.