 All right. Hello everybody. I am Steve and welcome to an all-new episode of Retro Tech It is a lovely October 31st and first off if you're joining me today. Thank you Thank you for subscribing if you're a subscriber. Definitely. Thank you for leaving a comment if you ever do that and Today is actually about comments. It's more question and answers and So I've got a lot of questions today specifically a question I put out there if did anybody have a question for me on a reddit post about two weeks ago So I've got quite a few questions to go over for that and so let's just jump right into it before we do that though I just want to show you that we've got these three monitors going behind me a 20L5 behind me And then these are just two similar PVMs 13 inch screens 1353 and 1354 so They're also using a RGB connection playing Sega Genesis or Mega Drive But today let's get into these questions So the first question I had Well, actually a few questions about this on here about safety features for PVMs as compared to consumer sets So this was the question I got and I got it before I had the two safety videos So I'm sure if you're watching this, you've had a chance to see probably one of those two in the PVM one or the consumer set safety But those two are detailed and I'm not going to really go into a lot of details on safety going further on Those two types of TVs if we're working on them unless there's something that comes up that I feel like it's important but those two cover safety pretty well I plan to maybe do a CRT computer monitor When I get one, that's a good one to go through and kind of do the same kind of video on safety for it, but not really for consumer CRTs or PVMs and Some people are asking about stacking PVMs, which most people know it's okay to stack them like I've got it stacked here This 20L5 I have it stacked up usually smaller 8 inch screens to give them a little height so you can see it behind me I Kozuko Asked do you have any recommendations for cleaning dust? Off the components at better than you know using compressed air or anti-static brushes So that's something that I want to go through further in an upcoming video where we're going to try some of those non Damaging chemical cleaners to spray off boards, but most of the time I'm probably still going to take that board out Disassemble the monitor and just clean it that way if I'm going to do that I wouldn't leave it probably together and You know clean it like that and then just let it dry Which you maybe could do but for me I will probably disassemble the monitoring and spray that But if you don't have that you know It's always safe to get in there and try to rub off some with some alcohol on like a q-tip or a little cotton Wipe or something or something that is just a little wipe that's not going to damage anything I've done that before and that seems to be pretty good to get off accumulated dust, but really the best way is to use those brushes and Compressed air if you don't want to you know get into a major task of taking apart the monitor and What are your personal preferences for tired doll asked? What are your personal preferences for CRT's for example, Sony's? Jvc RCA pvm's etc. So this is a good question And I'll be completely honest with you personally. I love Sony pvm's when it comes to CRT's and I really love the 2030 is one of my favorite at least looking ones I think the size is perfect on that to to it's one inch bigger than like the 19 inch Screens like this. It's actually one inch larger and the black frame looks great As far as the way it looks now I didn't have much problems with that as far as like performance goes, you know, I do like the And to get to it my favorite to the Sony pvm's I do have Jvc's to shivas and other CRT's. I'll go through more consumer set stuff in the future, too but first monitors I'd say Sony's and the pvm's I really like the 600 line ones They seem to do great. I use them for multiple things. I don't use them just for gaming. I'll watch stuff and 480i looks really good on it. If you're gonna watch laser discs or VHS tapes or anything like that This this monitor works really well like a 1953 20m to plus they have no sync problems That you could just take and throw anything at them whereas with certain bvm's you'll have trouble with syncs on certain consoles and Even 20l 5 can be tricky sometimes when you're going through the manuals trying to get things set up So the 20l 5 is like one of the best overall just because it's a little bit easier to work with than the bvm's and So, you know if you but if you can't get it then I really say you're really getting a good quality product of the 600 line bvm and How do you clean off residue off a screen? Okay, that's the next question and You know honestly, I know some people have a problem with anti-glare stuff having a reaction with Windex I've heard that before so you can get cleaning solutions if you go to any store like Walmart or something There's a cleaning solution. Just read it and make sure it's not going to be harmful, but they're usually designed to not damage that anti-glare Layer now, I know at not every CRT even has the anti-glare layer some of them just have Straight-up blast, but a lot of higher. No one's do have an anti-glare layer. So You know if you have something that's very difficult to get off there. I still have just scrubbed scrubbed I've had like marker on a screen or Scuffs that I thought were something like scratches, but actually just wipe and got it off Maybe tape residue that's been on there for a long time and it's okay If you need to use like temporarily like Gugon or maybe even commercial Windex to clean it off initially It's not going to immediately blow it up or anything But if you like spray it and left it on there it could damage it. I've seen that happen before but good question there and The next question was about working with magnets to fix color issues And this really goes for how do you use it? Basically without getting an ode he's asking sorry to be vague here He asked about the small factory magnets on the Tube itself which is a little on most tubes not everyone if you open it up You'll see tiny magnets on the tube itself And that is for color purity most of the time color purity is where you have see The way the tubes inside is manipulated is through magnetism So you've got a whole system inside these things trying to create a Magnetic field to give you the picture that you want on the screen and that's all it's doing It's using it's shooting some electricity in and then it's you know just to be a little bit, you know Vague on this part, but it's using that magnetism So sometimes in that magnetism there's loops in it where it affects an area of the screen and colors is a color just discoloration like you may see if you didn't have a magnet there or If you yeah, if you remove the magnet so to correct that the factory installer would have added a little magnet and Honestly color purity doesn't automatically go away right away I've talked to other people who work on arcade units and they've told me that there's not a cure for purity sometimes you have to put the magnet on there and it can take days sometimes up to weeks for the color to clear up and So it's something that is there to correct the magnetism within the unit itself while it's running So there's not that color issue on the screen itself Okay, so the next question I did get some trolling questions about having stuff here my water heater, which I thought was funny everything here is on wheels. I do move it around to get better pictures and That just happens to be a corner that has no glare. So we're not over there today, but just won't you know that? Let's go to the next question here Okay, so somebody's asking about RGB Monty and consumer Trinitron and He's got a 27 fv310 that he'd love to try Monty It's probably one that'll work so Trinitrons are one of the best to target to try to mod I've also got a few questions about me offering a mod service and I'm for that if you're in my area and are interested in getting a CRT modded that's something I've got coming up announcing on a along with like a patreon service where if you remember the patreon you can get things like pricing for And availability for things like CRTs that are RGB modded or you know get on the list for any pvms I'll have for sale and also any repair work that you might want that will all go through that patreon that's how I'll probably set it up and that way I'll get some support for the channel also, but Kind of combine that and that way, you know, I can guarantee everybody that's on that patreon the best pricing that I'll have available and You know that way everybody will have the same, you know And the good thing is is when I do that a lot of those items one of them video content made about them so you'll get to see your own items being repaired or something and So I think that's a great idea and something I'm looking forward to doing and the problem with CRTs is obviously shipping and So that's why I'm trying to do a lot of repair videos to try to help people Because I feel like the only way if you're out of town that would be feasible or cost efficient is if you Took your pvm or CRT apart and sent me the individual deflection boards for example to be recapped and Honestly, we could even retrofit a deflection board with RGB stuff If you are a capable of, you know cutting holes in your casing of your CRT shell So I feel like we're gonna have to have it where people would break it down if they're outside of the area because you're talking about hundreds of dollars Invested in shipping as well as the possibility of somebody just dropping it and ruining everything. We've done So that's one of the things I'm working out and then somebody here said what do you do when a monitor is way too bright the next question and Someone already answered this but we've gone through this in the past the flyback has two knobs on the back of it And one of them controls screen brightness So you can go back there and tweak, you know, turn that and it'll go up or it'll go down That's gonna control the overall brightness. If you don't want to mess with that always try to find The regular brightness and contrast knobs on the front of the TV or on the menu And then if you even get into the sub menu of your monitor or television There's even a sub setting for brightness and contrast that you can go down further or increase They're always and that will help you if you don't even want to open and check your flyback flyback Should only be if it gets so damn. You can't see anything anymore. It's really old monitor Somebody want to go over more soldering techniques and I'll do that in the future When we're doing some more work coming up on the red TV that we see our RGB mod on the consumer CRT I've got some more adjustments that need to be made to that and so that's coming up in a Video very soon. I'll also show a Little bit more detail on tools and just go over them and just do a video specifically on the exact soldering gun I'm using especially because people have been asking that a lot Someone then said I'd love to know how to refurbish a CRT and Come a beginner from basically a beginner's point of view so If you're gonna get a CRT and try to refurbish it First off, it's if you're just looking for one to refurbish What are you getting? Are you gonna go and just find one that's randomly available? I Feel like if it's not yours already, you can go out and be very this you know Decisive on what you want So if you want something that's gonna need less work and you're a new person at it you can get something that's already pretty well serviced or cleaned up at least and Go for it that way and then you can kind of learn by looking at things rather than actually having to do the work And you can always use sort of service menus no matter what if your TV has a service menu And it has the regular menu settings You can do that without hurting anything and you don't even have to get inside the TVs so there's always that possibility and Then if you want to start getting in a CRT's though I always recommend Getting something that first of all is cheap that you're not too worried about but also get something that you kind of want Do you like I decided I want this CRT and then even before you get it It's always good to go Google and try to find the service manual for it So you can get in there and look at it and see how it's working See if it has the parts to do an RGB mod already built in not not the parts but the chips that you need and Then also see if it's got any kind of weird features that maybe make it unique that you like So I think that when you're choosing the CRT those are definitely some important things to choose from and then You know once you start refurbishing it the best things just to go through take it apart and follow the safety video Clean it discharge it clean it and then decide whatever you're gonna do next if you're going to do a cap kit on it You can just you know take it apart mark the caps that you want to change and then document those order them and Change the caps and then you can also do your RGB mod if you want to do that and put it all together at the same time At the end and just test it at once Or just do your whatever you want to do that way So the important thing about working on a consumer CRT is you can still get them for free to cheat So as long as you get something and you realize hey I want to do some work and even if you mess something up if it's your first couple times That's why I said don't don't jump right into an expensive television or monitor and start working on it If it's your first experience with it, so kind of keep that in mind But don't be afraid to just wait for a better Sony Trinitron or something to come available that has already been RGB modded On on either a forum or on a video on YouTube that you can basically follow And and RGB monitor yourself that way it would be easiest done and you'll kind of know where to work from Okay, so some people have been asking to this another great question It might be the last question of this video talking about CRT storage because and obviously I have a lot of storage And I'm in a climate change area where I mean by climate change I mean just like four seasons we get cold warm cold warm cold warm many times throughout the year and And So what do you do? How do you safely store CRTs? Well, you have to make sure that they're not in too cold of a temperature Environment and not too warm of a temperature environment And what that means is they can withstand heats higher than like a person could so if for example in a shop environment We don't have full-time heating and cooling. They'll be okay in the storage unit. Yeah, I always try to keep my Elevate a little bit. I don't like to keep them directing on the ground And that's because more bugs will crawl up under them and build cobwebs And they might even crawl into them and then you have to clean them out every time So that's a good tip, but if you're storing any of them, they should be fine You know come in and check them every, you know, three times a year is fine Most of the time they can sit around and don't be surprised. So if you leave one not using it You just check it a little bit If you just do that it might go out of calibration really quickly A good idea is if you are taking them out of storage and use them every once in a while Let them run for a couple hours hook a source up to them like I'm doing here and just leave it Let it run get warmed up Again, it will be safe in anything. That's like I don't want to say it can even stand a little bit below freezing temperatures And it won't be won't be a problem Just remember if it is the this is an important thing if you're ever taking it from a really hot environment or Really cold environment Where it's been stored don't immediately take it inside To say your house where it's really hot because you're heating the house And it's like you're taking it from like 25 degrees outside into like 75 degrees inside and then immediately turn it on and You could be risking having some kind of condensation built up on some of the glass or parts And something shorting out breaking from that. So don't do that Let it either bring the TV inside and let it sit and get itself Accumulated to the ambient temperature Or warm it up in the environment. It's in so you know, just if it's in the cold environment Plug it in in there and let it warm up out there and use it out there. Don't bring it inside that's the risk right there with class and I Want to appreciate everybody this is really not going to be a heavily edited video I'm seeing here if There's anything else That's really pretty much just of all the important questions from the Reddit forum. So again, I really appreciate everything There will be another follow-up video where I'll do another Q&A and a day or two and that will be for all the YouTube questions I've gotten over the last couple weeks and more talk specifically about what's to come on the channel I'll go through some of the cool stuff I've got packed up for inventory for the show, which again is coming up. Please let me know if you're gonna be there I've talked to some of you. I will have some CRTs. I'm planning to bring at least five I'm not quite sure on which RGB-modded CRT. I'm bringing I'm gonna bring one of those two I've done and I'll bring these two PVS right here the 14 inches and then we'll be Bring in two 20 inches not the 20.05, okay, but two 20 inches that are 600 line monitors, but I'm Steve with Retro Tech. Thanks again for watching and have a wonderful day