Monitor Sad Shipping Story

[lilliputian]

Well, I'm sure you all can see where this is headed.

Was very excited to get a reasonably priced M0401 High-Resolution RGB CRT from ebay, and...

The seller didn't use bubble wrap at all. Just cardboard inserts.

If they had used both, it would have been perfect, but with just the cardboard the front bezel cracked in the corners during shipment.

Sigh.



EDIT: Well, they refunded the order, so there's that atleast...

 

[lilliputian]

It seems to be working at least! And it was hissing rather loudly, but that seems to have stopped now, thank goodness. Was afraid it might have been the flyback.

 

[lilliputian]

I guess all things considered, I should be glad it still works. And hey, it ended up being free in the end, I suppose...

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

I’d try and plastic weld the cracks back together. Fun weekend project.

 

[retr01]

Wow!

Glad you got your money back, @lilliputian. Those sellers who pack poorly...sigh.

When you said that you heard a hissing sound, I was like, from the CRT tube? Oh, it works, whew. Yeah, those Sony Trinitrons are solid. Hmm. Hopefully, it will last because that damage could mean damage internally. Have you opened up and inspected it?

 

[lilliputian]

Wow!

Glad you got your money back, @lilliputian. Those sellers who pack poorly...sigh.

When you said that you heard a hissing sound, I was like, from the CRT tube? Oh, it works, whew. Yeah, those Sony Trinitrons are solid. Hmm. Hopefully, it will last because that damage could mean damage internally. Have you opened up and inspected it?

Thanks! Not yet, but I plan to do a full servicing of the monitor. For now though, there appears to be no problems with the tube itself, which is bright and crisp, with no burn-in (that I've noticed anyway). The hissing could have been arcing from the flyback, but given that it goes away, I wonder if it's an inductor or perhaps a transistor that starts off vibrating, then settles down once it's been on.

 

[retr01]

I wonder if it's an inductor or perhaps a transistor that starts off vibrating, then settles down once it's been on.

Did that happen only once or every time you power on the monitor?

 

[lilliputian]

So far, each time, then it settles down. It may be correlated with whether it's receiving a signal or not. This will become more obvious as I use it.

 

[retr01]

Yes. And when you do the service, you may see something "off" as well.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

I have had quite a few crts that would make a sound/whine at start up and then stop after a few seconds. I assumed it was the flyback but that is a sweeping generalization I know without actually opening it up and testing it.

 

[3lectr1c]

Did it sound like dust crackling? I've heard that sort of thing from a lot of CRTs I've seen. I've always assumed that it's dust on the tube reacting with the sudden high voltage. Never been sure about that though.

 

[lilliputian]

Hmm, guess I'm not sure what that sounds like! It does seem to have a dust burning smell, but that's to be expected, haha.

 

[JDW]

I take it you did not issue specific instructions to the seller regarding packing. I failed to do that long ago but soon learned that "people are stupid." I sometimes feel I am a complete idiot until I realize there are a huge number of people out there a lot dumber than I am, not because they have a lower IQ necessarily, but because they refuse to use that brain of theirs. I simply cannot understand people who ship like that. To me, that's textbook idiocy. And that's why we have to go the extra mile to ensure that inept sellers can get a valuable item to us in one piece.

To be honest, it would have been best not only to have bubble wrapped it with many layers, but also double-boxed too. That means you box it, then put padding into a larger box and put the smaller box inside. What that does is to better cushion the glass CRT from falls onto hard surfaces. That's important because delivery people are often more inept than EBAY sellers when it comes to shipping. Here in Japan, shippers care, so that doesn't happen like it does in the USA and other countries.

So for all of you reading this, instruct your sellers precisely on how to pack delicate vintage items which sometimes cannot be replaced.

 

[lilliputian]

I've done that before actually. They were very quick about sending it out though, so I didn't get a chance. But, in the end, it's mostly fine, and it ended up being free.

 

[retr01]

I did have to tell a seller to protect the screen of my SE/30 that I purchased. I emphasized to the seller to double-box and pack extra cardboard and padding on the screen. This is what I got. Then later, when I bought a dual FDHD SE, I told the other seller the same thing. And that is what I got, different yet well-packed.

Both are working great!

I remember I purchased a Samsung 17" LCD screen for my Apple IIGS. I received it fine. Then it turned up a wide vertical blue bar on the screen after about 5 minutes of powering up. I contacted the seller, who promptly refunded me.

Not quite that great, but at least I got another one that works well.