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Dangers of Repairing a CRT Monitor
By Jade York
CRT monitors are fast becoming a thing of the past. Many monitors from manufacturers such as Allen Bradley, Modicon, Total Control, Fanuc and Nematron are cumbersome, antiquated, and can easily develop screen burn-in. It has also become nearly impossible to find tubes for replacement in CRT Monitors.
In addition, and perhaps more importantly, there are numerous illicit dangers involved with handling or repairing a CRT monitor. These can affect workers handling the monitors, and other people around the monitors. These include:
• Infamous “hand-grenade” effect. CRTs operate under high vacuum so that air and gas molecules do not interfere with the electron stream. In addition, the back of the monitor screen has large viewing areas and proportionally larger bells required to accommodate the deflection of the electron beams. Because of this, the bulbs are exposed to high atmospheric pressure and CRT monitors can implode, sending chards of glass 10-20 feet in all directions and possibly causing great bodily injury.
• High-voltage dangers. CRT monitors function at very high voltages. Anode lead carries 24,000 volts to the CRT tube. In addition to operating at high voltages, they can continue to be a danger even after the device has been turned off and unplugged.
• Heavy in weight. CRT’s are heavy, bulky and relatively fragile. If dropped, this device could present serious hazards.
• CRT tubes emit radiation. CRTs emit x-rays due to the electron beams bombarding the shadow mask or aperture grille and phosphors. Because of this, CRT monitors are bad for your eyes if you are exposed over a long period of time.
The best way to avoid these dangers is to replace your CRT with a LCD screen. At Repair Zone, we can retrofit all types of monitors used in HMIs, workstations, industrial computers, and other interfaces with LCD displays. We specialize in this and can get your unit vastly improved, ready to operate and back to you quickly. Contact us for more information.
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