I'm Back! (somehow)

Those last few months have seen me settling in another country - this time is Spain. Not exactly in a populated area, but I'll talk about this in another post. that's one of the reason I felt to come back to this. It's just a "hit and run" post,  but I couldn't let this slip away!

This time I've had the "disappointment" to disassemble an old CRT monitor. I was disappointed because I thought it would have had way more dinstinct components, instead I was able to completely disassemble with 13 screws in total. Quite a "sustainable" feature!

Let's start!

 

 Here it is, our "patient".

Moving away means that I couldn't bring a lot of things with me, even if I was moving with my car. So, I'll try to what I can with the tools I've got. It's just an "emergency kit" from IKEA but it works.

And all the tools I got for the job.

The base came out without trouble, as it was only held in place by 4 peg. One of the removable snips was damaged, too.

The adjustable mount.

The two pieces providing adjustability to the screen were held together by this mechanism - no screws at all. The fin prevented to accidentally dislodge the monitor from the support, but was easily reversable.

Finally the first 4 screws! Those were right behind the screen and held the back and the front frame together... and that would be 80% of the structure! :D

The first 4 screws! 

To completely release the back cover, a gente lift of those snaps is all what was needed after the 4 screws above.

 Free! And... oh the dust. So much dust there... thick, but not greasy. At least.

Dust. Dust never changes. 

The first thing I could take apart was the rear tube circuitry. I've cut the grounds soldered to the metal cage, but later I've discovered that I could just unscrew them. The screws were hidden under tiny mountains of dust tho, and not easily noticeable.

So far I can count only 2 more "big parts": the lower circuit board and the tube itself. I like the tube... has some kind of own aestethic.

Some vivid colours under the black dust.

Back to unscrewing! 4 copper screws hold the tube in place... and that's pretty much all.

Copper screws! Yay! 

Those snaps could be pushed back in to slide away the main board. A bit stiff tho... they almost shattered in the removing process.

Some coilings and grounds that could be removed. The thick one was mounted on the frame, while the spring one was on the tube.

There's no such thing as too much ground.

 

Cleaned tube.

 

This last screw kept the lower board together with the metal frame. 9 unscrewings so far! After pulling the snaps back in, the board slided away applying a minimal forse with the screwdriver.

The last screw!

Dust, dust everywhere...

Here is the board! Looks nice and "techy". The other side has A LOT of dust on it and I'll clean it as soon as I'll get the new vacuum (later this week hopefully. It's traveling!). there are a lot of interesting components on it, but without my iron I'm not able to remove any of them.

Finished! I plan to make some shelfy-thing with the plastic frame of the screen. I don't have a cat nor a small small dog here, otherwise it could be a nerdy housing for a pet! I don't really want to throw away the tube, since I "like" it, but I can't see any possible use for it. I am aware that is a "special" kind of component and isn't posible to recycle it in the glass bell, if I am to throw it away for good :\

CRT monitor are quite easy to disassemble, their bulky plastic cases could be differentiated easily! The boards... well, as with all the electronics, it's extremely difficult to find any use for them beside a weird decoration or other "artistic" uses. one could cut the up to pieces and use the single components on said pieces, but it's so much work that isn't a viable option IMHO.

That's all for now... thanks for reading!