[constant thinker]

I have an old computer monitor and I was thinking about taking it apart. To see in side and stuff. Maybe even have a working cathode ray gun (I already have a couple of CD player lasers which make my room look cool). I've read that CRT monitors contain Cadmium which is extremely toxic.

Would this be something that I could do safely and is there anything else I'd have to worry about? I wear latex gloves when taking electronics apart because it makes me feel better to know that I won't have lead all over my hands.

[jdurg]

The phosphors of the screen may indeed have cadmium in there, and there is probably a little button of barium metal inside the tube itself.  Also remember that there is a VERY high vacuum inside that tube, and if you attempt to open it up there's a chance it could implode on you and send shrapnel all over the place.  In addition, the capacitors in those old CRTs hold onto their charge for a good long while, so if the tube isn't properly discharged, as well as all of the other capacitors, you may severely hurt yourself with a vicious electrical shock.

[joeflsts]

I have to tell you a funny story.  When I started work after finishing school I took a job as an electronic field tech.  Back in those days we actually repaired equipment in the field and didn't just send it back to a repair depot.  On this one visit I needed to repair a small color monitor (7") and after troubleshooting it I determined that it needed to have the video control board replaced.  Normally in this case we would actually pull the terminal and replace it with a shop fresh unit.  The procedure to replace the board was long and required the discharge of the tube which isn't exactly something one should do in a retail setting due to the devices being almost always located on the counter.

I decided to replace the control board onsite because the terminal was heavy (110lbs) and the store was elevated and the only entrance was a very steep set of stairs.  I went down to my van and pulled a working board.  The discharge process isn't always necessary when you are removing the "cup" but ALWAYS required when inserting it.  Over the years or so I also learned the hard way that tubes can actually recharge on thier own and gain enough voltaged to wake you up.  Fully charged they will send about 20K volts through you with little regard to whether or not you like it.

So here I am, hanging over the counter inserting this new board and when it comes time to attach the "cup" I grab my trusty discharge tool (long flat screw driver with a ground strap and an aligator clip.  Normally I would attach the aligator clip to a ground point on the chasis and make sure the terminal was plugged in.  This would create a pretty audible "snap" and then you would have about 10 minutes before the tube would begin to recharge on its own.  Well this day I apparently didn't get enough coffee and forgot to connect the aligator clip to the ground point and just held on to it with my free hand.  No "snap" was heard that day.. In fact I think it burned a damn whole in my underwear.. Well not really because the pee spot keep it from igniting!  

From that day forward I have a new appeciation of monitors!

Joe

[billnotgatez]

LOL - the trials of misspent youth

[constant thinker]

That's wicked funny.

[woelen]

I have an old computer monitor and I was thinking about taking it apart. To see in side and stuff. Maybe even have a working cathode ray gun (I already have a couple of CD player lasers which make my room look cool). I've read that CRT monitors contain Cadmium which is extremely toxic.

Would this be something that I could do safely and is there anything else I'd have to worry about? I wear latex gloves when taking electronics apart because it makes me feel better to know that I won't have lead all over my hands.

A nice thing to do is to keep the high-voltage generator (25kV at high frequency) and use this for a lifter project. Have a look for this. I know someone who actually made such a thing and really, it works!

http://jnaudin.free.fr/lifters/main.htm