So, tonight ended in tears. My replacement Nichicon capacitors arrived two days early, and I got to recapping the power supply board. It was a long, frustrating process, but eventually I got it done. So, I went to putting the monitor back together, but first I wanted to dump out this black dirt that had somehow made its way inside. I'm not the strongest, so instead of lifting the 66 pound beast, I tipped it over to try and shake out the dirt. But then, disaster struck. I heard a loud crack, and then a long hiss. It was clear that I had snapped the neck of the tube somewhere I couldn't see, and the vacuum maintained inside the tube was going out fast. I tried turning on the monitor just to check after loosely connecting the components, but I still had an issue. The power lights were flashing, and the last LED on the row of indicators (centering indicator) was lit. Checking the service manual suggested that I needed to replace the deflection board. Also, nothing from the tube. When I would turn the power off, it would stay off for a few seconds, but power on again. I'm pretty sure this is an issue separate to the main issue of the broken tube. So, I got to work pulling the tube out of the monitor chassis, and setting it aside. I plan on dropping it off at the recycling center, but keeping the rest of the components and the monitor casing. I hope to one day find another 20" Sony Trinitron tube that can go in my monitor, and try and rebuild it, since I wrote down the model number. I'm not sure how possible this is, but I at least want to try. After this, I feel like a complete idiot. I should have asked for help to lift up the monitor, instead of being lazy and just tipping it over. I find it ironic how at the VCF when I got this thing, the piece of paper taped to it said how the previous owner hoped that someone could salvage the tube, and yet quite the opposite happened. So, this project is paused, until I can find another tube that can be used as a replacement.
