My first TFT repair - Nec LCD1703M

[Rtech]

Excellent

[goodpsusearch]

Found a couple more Nec LCD1703M monitors but some stupid a__hole used something sharp like a key to scratch the panels on most of them to make sure no one else that will find the monitors can get some kind of use out of them.

Anyway, 1 of the monitors needed recap similar to the one I had done in this thread several years ago.

Used junk caps to repair psu since the panel is scratched (but not broken) and the monitor will be donored.

Pics attached

[momaka]

Wow, this thread's a blast from the past... but I just re-read it and it was still fun.

Originally Posted by goodpsusearch

Found a couple more Nec LCD1703M monitors but some stupid a__hole used something sharp like a key to scratch the panels on most of them to make sure no one else that will find the monitors can get some kind of use out of them.

I hate people like that.

Just because something is useless to me and I'm going to throw it away doesn't mean I should totally destroy it so that no one else can reclaim it and use it. That's just stupid on so many levels.

On a tangent: almost all of the businesses here where I live are kind of like that: they have closed dumpsters with motorized compactors so that no one can take stuff out of them.

Originally Posted by goodpsusearch

Used junk caps to repair psu since the panel is scratched (but not broken) and the monitor will be donored.

Hey, better than going to waste any day!

Actually, even monitors like this can still be useful for something like an IT test bench, or similar - especially since they are pretty small and can easily be moved around. I scooped up a 15" LCD out of my previous job's dumpster and used it on the same job when I had to go to sites and access servers that didn't have any built-in monitors. Unfortunately, this was the only monitor I found in our dumpster that wasn't smashed. There were several 17" ones that simply got tossed in the dumpster and their screen broke from the impact. They also got covered with food-trash. The worst was a 21" 4:3 Dell (1600x1200 resolution) that was actually a really nice monitor - same fate as the 17" ones. However, that 21" Dell was not covered in food waste, so I picked it up and salvaged it anyways. Figured the boards and CCFLs might come in handy, if nothing else.

Originally Posted by alexanna

Ya really gota be realy careful with this stuff,It almost like eating potato chips you can’t do just 1!

Oh my! This actually predicted my future 10 years ago.
Indeed recapping is like a bag of chips. I've been addicted ever since I started, and it's really hard to stop now.

[goodpsusearch]

Originally Posted by momaka

I hate people like that.

Just because something is useless to me and I'm going to throw it away doesn't mean I should totally destroy it so that no one else can reclaim it and use it. That's just stupid on so many levels.

On a tangent: almost all of the businesses here where I live are kind of like that: they have closed dumpsters with motorized compactors so that no one can take stuff out of them.


Hey, better than going to waste any day!

I hate this practice too, as much as I hate stupid youtubers destroying valuable or rare things for the sake of views.

BTW this is a lot worse than the scratched Nec monitor panel of this thread:

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=102598

Out of 4 panels, he managed to permanently damage the pixels on 3 of them, making them permanently lit white.....

There is a special place in hell for people doing this, I am sure

Originally Posted by momaka

Actually, even monitors like this can still be useful for something like an IT test bench, or similar - especially since they are pretty small and can easily be moved around.

Yeap, many have predicted that the value of these 17inch monitors will increase , as they are perfectly sized for testing monitor. But need to have VGA and DVI ports, and preferably embedded speakers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhBMowCs8Rs

The only part I disagree with him is that 15 inch monitors usually have very large bezels, ending up taking up similar or same space as 2004+ 17 inch monitors and also the resolution of 15 inch monitors is too low even for installing windows on a customers pc. 1024 768 is too low for Windows unfortunately. Finally, the odds of finding 15" monitors with DVI port are very low

Originally Posted by momaka

Unfortunately, this was the only monitor I found in our dumpster that wasn't smashed. There were several 17" ones that simply got tossed in the dumpster and their screen broke from the impact. They also got covered with food-trash. The worst was a 21" 4:3 Dell (1600x1200 resolution) that was actually a really nice monitor - same fate as the 17" ones. However, that 21" Dell was not covered in food waste, so I picked it up and salvaged it anyways. Figured the boards and CCFLs might come in handy, if nothing else.

Such a shame. Lately, had bad luck with stuff that I took home, after opening case, found dead roaches inside. This is a warning that if I keep doing this, sometime there will be alive insects too

Originally Posted by momaka

Oh my! This actually predicted my future 10 years ago.
Indeed recapping is like a bag of chips. I've been addicted ever since I started, and it's really hard to stop now.

Same for me! But it's not our faults that the majority of failures still have to do with bad electrolytic caps

[momaka]

Originally Posted by goodpsusearch

I hate this practice too, as much as I hate stupid youtubers destroying valuable or rare things for the sake of views.

Same here.
I call those the cancer of the internet

Originally Posted by goodpsusearch

Out of 4 panels, he managed to permanently damage the pixels on 3 of them, making them permanently lit white.....

Originally Posted by goodpsusearch

The only part I disagree with him is that 15 inch monitors usually have very large bezels, ending up taking up similar or same space as 2004+ 17 inch monitors and also the resolution of 15 inch monitors is too low even for installing windows on a customers pc. 1024 768 is too low for Windows unfortunately.

True.
Mine is like that: VGA only, 1024x768 and not that much smaller than a 17". But it worked for the few times I needed it on the road. Now it sits in the garage. Has a few bad caps and doesn't always start in the cold... but after 1-2 plug-in, it does. Oh, and the CCFLs are worn to death and screen is not too visible. So it's literally worth nothing. Honestly, I don't know why I'm even keeping it... but I just hate throwing away working stuff. Actually, I know why I kept it - I didn't feel like detaching the VGA cord from it when I found it, and to me that was more valuable than the monitor itself.

Originally Posted by goodpsusearch

Such a shame. Lately, had bad luck with stuff that I took home, after opening case, found dead roaches inside. This is a warning that if I keep doing this, sometime there will be alive insects too

Yeah, that's the one part that always worries me about picking up used stuff. Actually, I'm kind of worried it might be too late already. I haven't properly cleaned out the garage in years, and there are a few stuff that have been stored in boxes for 1-2 years without getting touched. Roaches love undisturbed areas like that... and considering the garage is the first place where I store found things (after checking, inspecting, and cleaning carefully, of course... and possible weather treatment - see more on that below), I'm only hoping a colony hasn't started somewhere already. :| Otherwise, my house is still clean and I haven't noticed any roaches ever. I'd definitely like to keep it that way!

As for finding used stuff: I always take precautions by taking everything apart -outside-, regardless of how cold or hot it is. (Well, when it's too cold, I can't work for more than 5-10 minutes, so that limits the amount of stuff I can take in.) Then I thoroughly inspect and clean everything. And I usually try to avoid taking stuff in the warmer (but not "too hot") months of the year. Both cold and heat can kill roaches, from what I've read. For the former, the temperature needs to drop to -9C for roaches and their eggs to die. However, if they haven't had a chance to get acclimatized to the cold (i.e. if they are still in their "active" period and used to 25-30C temperatures), then it's possible that even -2 to -5C could kill them... though that's still pretty cold, and I don't imagine it gets that cold where you live. As for heat-treatment: roaches (and their eggs) die when exposed to +50C. At one point, I considered even building a small "treatment oven" outside for heating up various electronics... but have kept busy with other projects. I don't know if leaving something in a hot car could also work. I imagine not, since even if the car's interior reaches 50C, it would need to hold it for a few hours so that whatever is inside can also evenly heat to that temperature. Otherwise, a dark-colored car sitting in the summer sun all day could possibly reach over 50C.

The biggest scare I had was last year's winter, where I found a huge dead roach body in one of the PC cases in my closet. Not sure how that happened, since almost all of the PC cases I bring in the house are inspected and cleaned thoroughly first and usually have sat in the garage for a few years (i.e. I never bring them upstairs where my room/closet is right away.) The case in question I picked up back in 2014 and it looked pretty clean, so I only disinfected it with wipes. I did bring it with me in my college apartment, so perhaps it could have picked up something there... but I doubt it. Anyways, I got in a panic then, so I pulled everything out of the closet and looked in every nook, cranny, and case there is. Fortunately, I didn't find any more dead roaches, nor any dropping to indicate that they've been living there. So the one I found was definitely a singleton. And from previous research on the matter, it was likely a male roach, since it seemed to have wings longer than its body length (male roaches have that so that they can fly during warm seasons to find mates.) Plus, being a really big roach suggests it was an "outdoors" species. Thus, I suspect it did come from outside - probably when I had the windows open, which I like to do A LOT in the spring and early summer, as well as early fall. I actually had a roach enter like that before from outside - had the kitchen window open and had left a plate with some leftover fruit peels. It was in early June too - right in the middle of roach mating season here. So when I saw it, I trapped it in a glass and went to look up info online, which is what lead me to the info above: that large roaches tend to be "outside" ones and probably only lured in by the food. In conclusion to that story: don't leave starch-y food leftovers near an open-window in the warm summer months!

Now, if the roaches you found in those monitors are of the "smaller" variety - run away! These are the "house" ones... or one that like to live indoors.
On that note, I just picked up 2 free LCD TVs from a bush (yes, a BUSH! ) near a GoodWill store parking lot. Should have figured why. One had busted screen, so can see why it was ditched (assuming that's why it was ditched, though. ) The other one... turned out to work OK so far... but when I opened it, I found lots of roach "skins" inside, suggesting they've been growing/breeding there, possibly. Luckily, this was 2 weeks ago again, and we've had some really cold weather here (dropped to -9C for a few hours overnight on two nights/occasions.) Of course I put the TV outside as soon as I found it... and it's still there for more "weather treatment". Also, when I found it, it looked like it had been sitting in that bush for quite a while (maybe at least a few days? if not more), judging by the weathering on the plastic from rain water. So maybe whatever else was in it left already. Nonetheless, I'm not taking any chances, so that TV is going to stay outside until there's enough warm weather to take it apart and wash all of the plastics + disinfect the rest of the metal bits and LCD. After that, I might just donate it, if it's still working. It's only a 32" Samsung anyways - no remote or stand. Bleh.

[goodpsusearch]

All my Windows have this net thing to keep mosquitoes away, cannot recollect the English term right now. And I made sure during renovation that there are no cracks or opening on the wall and especially near water pipes because I read that's where these creatures usually come in from.

I found small and quite large roaches 2 or 3 times near my apartment door. I guess they came from the corridor, unfortunately nothing I can do about it. There is no way to completely seal the gap bellow the door.

I once picked a vintage monophonic boombox that I found partially buried on the ground on an area without houses near the beach. Turned out it was a house for many different insects, sprayed it with roach killer, then closed it on a sealed bag, then after several months made sure nothing is alive there and I stored it in a sealed bag again without trying to troubleshoot.

But the worst of all was fairly recently. I found on marketplace complete mechanism of my grandma s turntable (this mechanism has been used back in those days in a lot of machines) and bought it.

Took it from Greek postal service, inspected it and nothing found. But I failed to remove the turntable plate to check bellow. Some weeks later , went to swap parts with my grandma s turntable and when I removed the washer that is there to keep the plate there and I picked it up there was a huge dead roach bellow.

I almost jumped and I still feel scared as I am typing this