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- Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
- Path: sparky!uunet!think.com!ames!agate!linus!linus.mitre.org!jcmorris
- From: jcmorris@mwunix.mitre.org (Joe Morris)
- Subject: Re: Monitor screen damaged by Magnet
- Message-ID: <jcmorris.721406154@mwunix>
- Sender: news@linus.mitre.org (News Service)
- Nntp-Posting-Host: mwunix.mitre.org
- Organization: The MITRE Corporation
- References: <1992Nov09.202601.12715@bmerh85.bnr.ca>
- Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 14:35:54 GMT
- Lines: 55
-
- bmutas@bnr.ca (Bryan Utas) writes:
-
- >My five year old son decided to see what would happen if he placed
- >a magnet on my SVGA CTX monitor. Well, he found out. The two areas
- >where the magnet were placed now have 'shadows' associated with them
- >(ie: darker areas). This is especially noticeable if the background
- >is light in color.
-
- >Does anyone know if there is a fix for this sort of problem. If so,
- >what type of equipment would I need?
-
- Other responders have suggested that the built-in degausser in your
- display may undo the damage, but it may be that the degausser field
- from the built-in feature is too weak to remove the magnetism left behind
- by a magnet held directly against the screen.
-
- What you need is a tube degausser. It's a standard tool which any
- should be available to any repair shop which works on either TV sets
- or computer monitors; you certainly aren't the first person to have
- the problem you described. Your tech support staff at BNR may have
- one you can borrow.
-
- A degausser is essentially just a choke coil plugged into an AC wall
- outlet. Although the ones used for displays are usually somewhat
- larger, their design is generally the same as for bulk tape erasers
- like you can find at Radio Shack. (Within some delta, of course. I
- think you'll find that most bulk tape erasers use iron-core coils while
- most tube degaussers don't) Even if you can't borrow one intended
- for use with a CRT you may be able to use a bulk eraser for the same
- purpose:
-
- * Hold the coil a full arm's length away from the tube and turn
- it on.
-
- * Slowly bring the coil close to the tube faceplate, keeping the
- plane of the coil parallel to the face of the tube. Don't let
- the coil stop in one place; continually move the coil slowly in
- a circular pattern obove the faceplate just as if you were polishing
- your car.
-
- * While continuing to "polish" the faceplace, lift the coil away until
- it's at arm's length from the tube again and turn it off.
-
- **NEVER** turn the degausser on or off while it's near the tube: the
- sudden construction or collapse of the magnetic field may magnetise
- anything in the vicinity.
-
- Depending on its construction the bulk eraser may or may not be able to
- help you. I've seen ones which could barely affect tape held direcly
- against them, and I've seen (and used) erasers which had no problem
- completely erasing the old 2" broadcast-quality videotapes. If there
- is any possiblity of getting the use of a tube degausser, it's strongly
- recommended over trying to use a tape eraser.
-
- Joe Morris
-