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What is harvest-worthy from an old CRT monitor?

daveindelaware

daveindelaware

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14 months!!?? Are you kidding? That's a long friggin' time.

And by "short the caps out" I'm guessing you mean use the screwdriver and touch it to both the leads at the same time, right?

Sorry, I'm truly an electronics/electricity n00b. Which is why I ask these questions first! You're all the experts here!
 





MikeBP

MikeBP

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Fair amount of copper if you spend the time to get it, buttons you can desolder and reuse, leds you can desolder and reuse, the cord like said above, tons of components that you may need like resistors, capacitors ect.

I use to only take the buttons, switches and female/male plugs for the vga
 
daveindelaware

daveindelaware

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I had quite a surprise when checking out the board to the first monitor. I found a few voltage regulators w/ heatsinks, plenty of capacitors and resistors, and some diodes....

But what I hadn't noticed before, were TWO adjustable potentiometers, and they look just like the ones needed from the DIY driver thread. I'm hoping they're 100ohm ones, and not larger.

How can you tell what kind it is? By the markings on it? The size? I could take a picture if that'll help.
 
kiyoukan

kiyoukan

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Meter them, my meter can measure resistance. If you dont have one it is one thing you might want to get. use the pot to find the resistance you need then find out and then replace it with equal resistors. That way you save on using all your pots.
 
billg519

billg519

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There can be quite a few useful components in a monitor. For the two pots, just measure them with your DMM to get the ohms. They are more likely to be 10k or something, though. The flyback is nice to get for HV experiments. (hene supply?) There are usually a few mosfets on these boards. The power resistors are nice. There will be non-electrolytic caps on these boards, too. The electrolytics are the unreliable ones, some will be OK for breadboarding, etc. Ceramic, poly, and other caps can be saved and used for projects. CRT tv's are a good place to look for parts as well.
You can run part numbers on www.alldatasheet.com for example to get info.
 
Cyparagon

Cyparagon

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daveindelaware said:
Don't CRT's generate X-Rays or something? Is that good or bad for a DIY tinkerer?
Click to expand...

Cathode ray tubes can generate X-rays, but the energy in CRT monitors is not high enough. They would not be sold to consumers if they emitted X-rays. The CDRH would be all over it.

BShanahan14rulz said:
the electron guns. They look like little coiled filaments. I bet they are some kind of special metal!
Click to expand...

The electron guns are nothing more than tungsten with an emission coating as far as I know. The ones in fluorescent lamps are similar.

daveindelaware said:
adjustable potentiometers
Click to expand...

As opposed to...? :)
 
daveindelaware

daveindelaware

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Ok, everyone, thank you for the input and suggestions. I greatly appreciate this forum's knowledge base.

Cyparagon said:
As opposed to...? :)
Click to expand...
As opposed to there being NO pots on the board. It was a pleasant surprise to find them, since I wasn't expecting it. Remember: this was my first dissection of a monitor. Ever.

What fun though!!!
 
kiyoukan

kiyoukan

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daveindelaware said:
Ok, everyone, thank you for the input and suggestions. I greatly appreciate this forum's knowledge base.

As opposed to there being NO pots on the board. It was a pleasant surprise to find them, since I wasn't expecting it. Remember: this was my first dissection of a monitor. Ever.

What fun though!!!
Click to expand...

More stuff for the parts bin.
And money saved in your wallet.
 
Pontiacg5

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the degauss coil is usually a lot of copper, if you keep a scrap pile that's worth something. I've also used a crt transformer to power a CO2 laser, but its really not the best way to power one.

also, just for fun...
Monitor Hack - Security System!
 
kiyoukan

kiyoukan

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Wow i just caught that.
:crackup:
I was wondering what you were meaning by that.
 
daveindelaware

daveindelaware

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Oh, well my fault then. Obviously I'm still a noob with some terminology and basic definitions of components. I guess "adjustable" and "potentiometer" is redundant.

I guess the joke is on me.
 
kiyoukan

kiyoukan

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Hey trust me i am no expert myself. i practically had to get someone to hold my hand to get a simple ttl driver to work. But i am getting better.
 
Pontiacg5

Pontiacg5

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You have to start somewhere, the stupid question is the one not asked. If you want to build some fun little projects to learn a little I suggest you pick up one of the "For Evil Geniuses" books. Most all of them have great projects for beginners and you can harvest a lot of the stuff for some of the projects from old electronics.

for evil geniuses books - Google Product Search
 
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