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- Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
- Path: sparky!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!news.acns.nwu.edu!casbah.acns.nwu.edu!golub
- From: golub@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Robert Golub)
- Subject: Strange flicker on Apple 13" Hi-res monitor (summary)
- Message-ID: <1992Aug20.182407.29734@news.acns.nwu.edu>
- Sender: usenet@news.acns.nwu.edu (Usenet on news.acns)
- Organization: Northwestern University, Evanston Illinois.
- Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 18:24:07 GMT
- Lines: 185
-
- I would like to thank everyone for their responses to my original posting.
- Below is a summary of the replies. The consensus appears to be that this
- phenomenon can be natural and benign, representing arc'ing of the electron
- beam with loose phosphor from shipping; however, frequent occurrences could
- cause some monitor damage and may represent a
- bad capacitor.
- There have been problems noted with specific monitor serial numbers (see
- below) and it is possible that Apple would cover cost of repair.
- Thanks again!
- -Rob
- Original posting:
- I have a new Apple 13" Hi-Res RGB monitor, and it intermittently does a quick
- black jump of the screen image, similar to what happens on-screen during a
- restart. It is rare,
- and doesn't seem to have any particular pattern to it, and though it may be
- associated with closing windows I think it occurs at other times. There may be
- a "static" sounding crackle with it. It is *not* at all like the degaussing
- effect.
- Again, it is rare, and otherwise the monitor seems to be working fine. I have
- a new Mac IIci, 8 meg RAM, cache card.
- I know that this is somewhat vague, but does it sound familiar to anyone?
- ___________________________________________
- From: fussy@Sun.COM (Tom Fussy)
- The condition you are experiencing is high voltage arcing internal to the CRT.
- It is considered normal unless it is happening frequently (once or twice or
- more per day). Inside the CRT there is a near vacuum. There are closely
- spaced electrodes withing the CRT's electron gun that rely on this vacuum for
- insulation. Small bits
- of contamination that are produced during the manufacturing process of the CRT
- may
- create a path for a spark to jump between electrodes. This is the crackle you
- hear. The screen goes blank momentarily because the CRT's high voltage field
- is temporarily nulled. No need to worry about any of this, unless it is
- happening often to the point of annoyance.
- If it is happening several times per day, then I would say that you have
- reasonable grounds for requesting a replacmement. How old is the monitor?
- This condition often is aggrevated by shipping and handling, but will settle
- down after the monitor has been installed over a period of time.
- There is no risk to you.
- It should die out over time, but may never go to zero instances. The reason I
- say you may have grounds to request a replacement
- is that there are components mounted on the circuit boards that are designed
- to protect sensitive circuitry from the high energy contained in these arcs.
- The protecting components have a rated life before they begin to degrade to
- where their ability to protect is compromised. Someday you may have one of
- these arcs and your screen may go black
- and not come back. This may require several thousands arcs, but at "several"
- per day, they can add up.
- I don't know what Apple uses as an accept/reject number for this problem.
- Here at Sun
- we have monitored this problem using an arc counter on suspected bad units.
- We have
- been successful at
- getting Sony to take back tubes that arc at the 10 per day level. They
- consider 1 or 2 per day to be normal, particularly early in the life of the
- unit, when floating contaminants are more abundant within the CRT. If there
- is reputed to be a rash of such problems, then it sounds like Sony is having
- process problems at their CRT factory. It still may be worth trying for a
- replacement on the chance that you will get a better one.
- Tom Fussy
- Monitor Development
- _________________________________________
- From gibson@hplabsz.hpl.hp.com Tue Aug 18 18:11:34 1992
- My monitor does a similar thing (don't know if it's exactly
- the same) and I believe it's a known bug, from what I read before on the net.
- In case no one's posted a response, I'm appending an article I saved from
- previous discussions about
- this. The article says "shutdown of the monitor" but I interpreted the
- discussion at the time to include the bounce/blink that I see.
- Btw, I'd definitely call Apple's customer relations number
- to check on this program before assuming Apple would pay. A while back,
- someone reported that the customer relations people didn't know about the
- program, but I'd expect they would by now.
- Good luck!
- Bill
- --------<comp.sys.mac.digest.1199>--------
- Subject: Info-Mac Digest V10 #151
- >From: Info-Mac@sumex-aim.stanford.edu
- Date: 24 Jun 92 20:03:43 GMT
- Info-Mac Digest Wed, 24 Jun 92 Volume 10 : Issue 151 Today's
- Topics: AppleColor High-Res RGB H.V. capacitor (A)
- ...
- Date: Tue, 23 Jun 92 19:12:17 -0700
- >From: moynihan@venice.sedd.trw.com (Bill Moynihan)
- Subject: AppleColor High-Res RGB H.V. capacitor (A)
- In an effort to clarify the above subject issue I will give you the Readers
- Digest version of Apple's Repair Extension Program 3L0218. 1)The symptom is a
- shutdown of the monitor
- and the green power-on LED. 2)The monitors were manufactured from March '90
- through July 22, 1991. 3)Qualifying capacitors have a date code printed on
- their sides
- from 0C01 to 1G22 (inclusive). 4)This program will end March 23, 1993. 5)For
- those people who have already had their monitors serviced by an Authorized
- Apple Service Provider and their monitor serial numbers are 7000001 thru
- 7101012 or 5378111 thru 5624450 or 9000001 thru 9029500 they are eligible for
- reimbursement if they a)have a proof of purchase, b)an Authorized Apple
- Transaction Form stating name of service
- provider, product serial number, date of repair, parts used in repair, cost of
- repair, c)proof of repair payment (canceled check, credit card receipt, paid
- invoice). Submit your reimbursement claim to Apple Computer, Inc., Attn. High
- Voltage Capacitor
- Reimbursement, P.O. Box 17214, Denver, CO 80217.
- Bill Moynihan (moynihan@venice.sedd.trw.com)
- __________________________________________
- From: Tony Rich <tonyrich@cs.wisc.edu>
- Yes, Bill Gibson sent me (and you) the article about bad capacitors. I had
- seen it at the time it came out, but monitors FAILING sounded like a more
- serious problem than ours, and our monitor's serial number didn't land in the
- range of the serial numbers that were
- given (although I see now that its manufacturing date, June 1991, does). I
- didn't pursue the matter then, although I wondered if the problems were
- related.
- > If it helps, my serial number is 7101777.
- So yours falls (barely) outside their "defectives" range, too -- 7101012 was
- the last one they listed in the 7-millions in the "defective capacitors"
- article! Ours is serial number 5017740. Perhaps you and I are seeing a
- "just-starting-to-fail borderline capacitor" problem.
- Do you know if anyone who has experienced the jumping has actually gotten
- their
- monitor fixed (i.e., the problem is gone after taking it in for repair)?
- -- Tony
- _________________________________________________
- From: urritche@mcs.drexel.edu (Ralph Paul Ritchey)
- Hi. I'm having the same things that you described happening to my monitor.
- THere is an old issue of MacWorld that listed a series of serial numbers for
- the Apple monitor that had bad capacitors put in them. I dropped mine off at
- a local apple dealer, and they told me it was fine (right) even though it was
- within the range of numbers. I'm at a loss as to what's going on with it,
- since it does it so infrequently. If you hear anything, could you let me know
- about it? Thanks.
- Ralph Ritchey
- urritche@mcs.drexel.edu
- ______________________________________
- From: PHEACOCK@utmmg.med.uth.tmc.edu (Philip Heacock)
- I have talked to three people who have bought 13 inch monitors in the last six
- mo. All of them exhibit this behavior. The "problem" (is it?) is independent
- of cpu.
- -Phil
- ________________________________________
- From: tertium@milton.u.washington.edu (l boyd)
- Make that four! My 1-month-old monitor went (quite literally) on the blink.
- Of course, now I can't reproduce the problem, but I DO HAVE A WITNESS!
- I do believe the problem is independent of the CPU -- it might even be
- something
- as "stupid" as a loose cable, though that was the first thing I checked.
- Lauren Boyd Department of Otolaryngology
- Systems Analyst/Programmer University of Washington, RL-
- 30 *Go Huskies* Seattle, Washington 98195
- ________________________________________
- From shoemake@apple.com Wed Aug 12 10:20:47 1992
- I've had that happen on all of the Apple 13" RGB monitors I've ever had, plus
- I just saw it on one of the new 16" color monitors.
- I have been told that this is normal on new trinitron tubes. The crackle you
- hear is the electron beam arc'ing inside the tube as loose phosphors from the
- tube manufacture float around inside the tube.
- I do not know if this is true or not, but it makes sense, and the 'crackle'
- has always gone away after a while.
- Mike Shoemaker
- Apple Computer, Inc.
- ______________________________________________
- From: parkj@bones.et.byu.edu (john r park)
- It sounds like you have a bad High Voltage Capacitor. This is a known problem
- in the
- 13" monitor. Most apple dealers will fix this for free if it falls within a
- certain range of serial numbers.
- John R Park | Dept of Mech. Engineering parkj@bones.et.byu.edu
- | Brigham Young University
- _____________________________________________
- From: Gerard Hammond <ghammond@metz.une.edu.au>
- I've had exactly the same problems. the screen just does a quick
- flick and then it's ok. Happens very intermitently and
- usually happens after a mouse click. I too have a IIci, Cache card
- 8 megs ram. Sounds suspious doesn't it?!
- Please Keep me informed!
- best regards
- Gerard Hammond
- Dept Chem
- Univ of New England
- Armidale
- Australia
- --
- %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
- Robert M. Golub, M.D. Division of General Internal Medicine
- 222 E. Superior Northwestern University Medical School
- Chicago, IL 60611 E-mail: golub@nwu.edu Voice: (312) 908-8630
-