HELP! please - 2 fried monitors

David_L6

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Here are the specs:

Computer: Dell 4700

P4 3.4GHz
80GB HD
DVD ROM
1GB DDR2 RAM @ 400 Mhz

Audigy 2 ZS sound card
eVGA 6600GT PCI express video card.
350W PSU (from a Dell 8400 - I replaced the PSU in the 8400 with an aftermarket PSU and switched the stock Dell 8400 PSU into the 4700.)

First fried monitor: Dell M782 17" CRT
Second fried monitor also a CRT.


I have tried my Dell 1703 LCD and it works fine on either the analog or digital output. I haven't been brave enough to let the computer go into power saving mode though... (down to my last monitor now!)


Here's the problem:

Computer went into sleep mode/power saving mode and then the monitor would not come back on. It had power but would not show anything on the screen, just made a slow clicking sound.

Tried another monitor. It worked at first. My daughter played a game for a little while and then stopped. When she went back a few hours later the computer had gone into power saving/sleep mode and the screen on the second monitor would not come up either, it has the same kind of clicking sound as the first one.

Tried both of the monitors on different computers and neither will work now. Blank screen and clicking noise is all I get. While trying the Dell M782 CRT on a different computer it also made a loud pop - kinda like a firecracker. I unhooked and unplugged it once that happened.


Any ideas???
 
That clicking noise usually means the high voltage part of the crt's power unit is broken. Usually it's bad capacitors, but you usually don't want to mess with that anyway. From what it sounds you've just had insanely bad luck. I can't see how the computer's graphics card could send out anything that would end up breaking the power unit of a crt screen.
 
Did you just change the PSU and then try the monitor, or did you change it a long time ago?

I'd have to wonder if a PSU could do that to monitors.

Melon
 
Zedric,

Any idea what could have caused two monitors to fail? (Both hooked to the same computer in the same location, but on different days.)


melon,

I changed the PSU before I ever plugged the computer in for the first time.
 
very interesting. i once had that happen with a crt monitor on a hp pavilion pc. usually crt's "click" when they try to find the right settings to fit the computer's graphics cards. i really get lots of clicks when trying new crt's with old comps lying around.. however if the monitor is the same year range as the comp then zedric's right.. you just have really bad luck and the capacitors malfunctioned.


now my hp's monitor quit when it went into powerstandby mode once.. i never connected the fact of it burning out with the powerstandby mode but it never came on since. i think that it's old age had something to do with it though... i never tried another crt with it but i hooked up a ibm lcd monitor to it and it's still working just fine.. there is really no signal that the graphics card can produce which would cause a monitor to burn out... unless if your graphics card is shorting out somewhere but then chances are it wouldn't work at all

still.. the psu couldn't affect anything because it is the same voltage it has to be because psu's are standardized according to their connectors. now the wattage could be different but it wouldn't affect anything... low wattage would burn something else out first for sure and high wattage -- you can't really get too high. you can always use more power-- is there anything else different on it since factory config?
 
Yes, I know what makes monitors fail. It was microsoft in my case. When they came out with a patch (I think it was for 2000 but it was a long time ago) the damn software defaulted the refresh rate to higher than my monitor could support. Fried the high voltage transformer. Clicking noises are usaully high voltage arcing over. The boom was propably a capacitor exploding.

I doubt if it was a microsoft patch in your case, but if you set the refresh higher than the monitors can handle it will fry them. Note you can't fry an LCD this way so you are probably safe now.

Start figuring out which application is over driving the refresh rate before you hook a CRT back to that system. Many new applications, games and game "optimizing" software assume your monitor can do 75-85 Hz at high resolution. They don't take into account that a good monitor can last 10 years.

Also, make sure the right "monitor" is installed. Windows does check the plug and play to see what refresh rates are allowed. If you are swapping monitors around you can end up with the wrong monitor drivers allowing too high a refresh rate.
 
Hmm...I'm glad my monitor just shows an "Out of Range" message when it goes too high. :speechless:

Melon
 
Thanks guys! :)

BTW, I finally let the computer (with the LCD hooked up) go into power saver mode several times and never had a problem. Put computer into stand by.... turned it off and on..... No problems.

The only things that were done as far as I know: Sims2 was installed and a printer was installed. I don't think my daughter has fooled with the refresh rate, but I'll ask her. No one else has been on that computer.

I'm going to hook it back up and see what the refresh rate is at now, but I've already removed the game and printer programs and did a system restore to a date before anything was installed.
 
Well I had a very odd problem once with my TFT, it decided to go out of range, just could not change the rfresh rate atall back to normal 75ghz.

So I just got a spare monitor and changed the refresh rate down to 60ghz, put back the TFT and changed it to 75ghz and it's fine.

Just wondering if you have tried that yet?
 
I just checked the settings. They were right where I originally set them.

1024 X 768 (32 bit) and 75Hz
 

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