My Brag for the New Year: DIY Bliss

[The Gorn]

I am the somewhat proud owner of the Samsung T204 flat screen monitor, which I have owned since March '06. By no means is it the biggest or most featureful monitor ever... it's standard CRT aspect ratio, not wide angle, so it is dated and is a 21" diagonal display. It cost me about $500 when I purchased it.



For the last month or so, though, my viewing pleasure has been interrupted by a !@^* problem. Increasingly the monitor has been freaking out with a dim display and flickering when first powered up, and I can hear an electrical sound in it like a buzzing that happens when it does this. Then in the past week it has been shutting off (going black, that is - power light is still on.) The computer would give me a "ding dong" USB type plug and play sound effect if the monitor's display interface were going out to lunch, which it's not, so I have felt that this was a power supply or some sort of non - "core" issue. But I had no clue how to approach a fix.

So, I reluctantly burnt a little more budget on new year's eve and ordered a new monitor as a replacement.

Finally, it crapped out entirely today, so I temporarily replaced it with my wife's old 17" monitor. Whee, I'm partying like it's 2003.

Then I got curious and started Googleing. I noticed that the search suggestions included "samsung 204t repair" and "samsung 204t capacitor".

Hmmm.. then I found this page.

This guy is basically saying that "old age flicker" on this particular monitor is a design defect caused by two capacitors in the board that supplies the backlight, crapping out. He has  PDF file with step by step instructions for cracking the case open, disassembling the monitor, and replacing the two caps, which are 850 uF 25v electrolytic cans (pretty common things in power supplies.)

Could it be that darned easy?

I called the local small town Radio Shack. The kid I spoke with tried to search but was absolutely, profoundly clueless what I was talking about.

So I swung by there personally after dropping by the grocery. I went to their drawers of discrete parts and I found 1000 uF, 35 v electrolytics. Not an EXACT match, but overspec'd so probably a very good thing to use for this application. $1.59 apiece. I also splurged on a desoldering iron for $11.

Long story short, I butchered my monitor per the instructions, and the display came up instantly and perfectly with no power supply noise.

The two old electrolytic caps that are related to this problem/fix had a distinctive bulge at the top, which no other capacitor on the board had. It was sort of like some cell phone batteries that start to bulge when they degrade internally. So, I could believe once I got to the board that the caps were associated with this "typical" problem.

It didn't even take that long. Overall maybe an hour and a half, tops. Cracking the case open was the most difficult and time consuming part of the process. The case for this monitor basically snaps together with a series of internal "locks" that are all around the inside edges of the two pieces. So now the monitor has a few dings where the screwdriver blade I used for prying gouged the plastic... wah.

As George Peppard used to say on "The A-Team" - I love it when a plan comes together.

I am not advising everyone in the world to DIY. Some people simply shouldn't. I have a tech writer friend who tries but winds up FUBARing most things he attempts. Another story there....

I guess the upshot is, if you want to DIY on something like this -  be patient; research the problem; and be willing to take an educated risk. IE, if I completely fouled up this monitor, I was only out a defective unit anyway...

[John Masterson]

Good job!

[Fortune Green]

Thumbs-up to the guy who actually posted this obscure repair information on the internet.

It's amazing the useful nuggets of information that can be found on the net (as long as you have the patience to filter out all the garbage!), but it really does take the effort of a lot of generous individuals to post this good stuff.

[The Gorn]

Thumbs-up to the guy who actually posted this obscure repair information on the internet.  
 
  It's amazing the useful nuggets of information that can be found on the net (as long as you have the patience to filter out all the garbage!), but it   really does take the effort of a lot of generous individuals to post this good stuff.

I really do try to do likewise. I've documented the process of replacing a PC power supply on this forum, for instance.

It's truly the internet at its near-best when this comes together. (The internet at its best is when a family is reunited or a donated organ gets transplanted due to the internet. Something of that gravity, IMO.)

What I find mind boggling is the "long tail" aspect of this. One little monitor that's not even made any longer, and there is a "rote" repair for it that someone saw fit to document.

[Aussie]

Sounds almost like one of those scenes in Star Wars where they fix the Millennium Falcon's hyperdrive with a screwdriver and a couple of strategic thumps to the relevant module.

[I D Shukhov]

It's truly the internet at its near-best when this comes together. (The internet at its best is when a   family is reunited or a donated organ gets transplanted due to the internet. Something of that gravity, IMO.)

My most satisfying experience was finding the cause of my Buick LeSabre stalling problem to be a defective crankshaft sensor.  Like you, and Fortune Green write, it was because of people taking the time to document the exact year, model, mileage and repair shop experiences on message forums.   That enabled me to narrow the cause to an educated guess and inform a mechanic about the probable cause.

You would think that the manufacturers would help people out with their products' defects (which I think they must be able to know about).  In the case of my LeSabre, I first "noticed" the problem after having it stall at 65 mph during rush hour on the D.C. beltway.  (The problem was in no service bulletin at the time, maybe it is now.)

[unix]

Awesome, thank you for the inspirational story.

I just replaced the Camshaft Position Sensor in the bimmer but I have a code scanner which told me what it was. Feels good to be in control of technology.

[DarkHumour]

Good Job GB.

Sounds like the monitor problem was that bad cap formula / fiasco that affected a lot of electronic hardware.  I inherited a motherboard that has 11-20 bad caps on it.  I ordered a bag full of replacement from mouser.com.   

I started my account with mouser after I ordered some parts in an attempt to repair of an old HDTV converter box (First Generation Panasonic for $20 something at Goodwill).  The analog output did not and still does not work on it.  The component video works but most hdtvs already have tuners now.

My best friend thought it was a fool's errand to repair that motherboard.  I tried to explain that
1) It is the same chipset (different brand) as my server.
2) It doesn't have a fried diode on it (which killed 2 usb ports).
3) It also has firewire onboard.
4) I am not going to be investing in an AM3/AM(next generation) socket motherboard anytime soon.

Because of nearly non existant disposable income I have done my own automobile maintenence and repairs.

A) Change the oil.  Changed/added the coolant.  Changed the AC 'freon'.
B) Replaced the brake shoes and rotors.
C) Changed the burned out headlight
D) Changed the melted rear left turn signal socket (and bulb).
E) Replaced the odometer (only way to fix the burned out bulb above the speedometer dial)
F) Removed the entire roof fabric for cleaning and attempted to fix the mystery dent* in the roof. Only added a new dent. Oops.
(There are several dents along the door from attempting to unlock my car when I misplaced my keys)
Only way to bring that closer to cosmetic perfection is to get a convertible conversion... which probably costs more than the maximum value of my vehicle ($4000 something).
G) Replaced the thermostat with my best friend's assistance
H) Replaced all five lug bolts on my right front tire after tightening broke one completely off.  I had to use a grinder to shave the edges of the heads of those bolts to slip them in. Instead of hexagons they have a "D" profile.  This was taken from the internet.  Probably not perfect but otherwise would have had to take the entire bearing/wheel assembly off... CHA CHING.

I still need to replace the ohv gasket.  Replace the dented hood, front bumper with an exhaust pipe impression on it (Someone gunned it to get out of a parking spot (March '08). My car appears to have been their back stop. Bastards).

Probably all basic stuff... 

*I have no idea where or how this dent came about.  It is as though someone decided to sit on the roof of my car.

DarkHumour

PS.  I started thinking about bankruptcy again as I realized I could have been in a better living arrangement in 3 months or less.  My debt payments are the equivalent of buying an 39" HDTV or decent scratch built guitar every single month.