Humidity Level?

Topic

New Reply

I have a Gateway EV900 Monitor that cracks and pops at will which is unnerving to say the least. I contacted Gateway who, among other things [ie. drivers etc], suggested that if the room was too dry it could cause the cracking and popping. A humidistat showed the room had 50 % humidity. I am currently using a humidifier and the humidity is up to 60%. But what is the “correct” level of humidity?

BTW because the cracking and popping is random, its too soon to tell if the increased humidity has helped.

Any Ideas/Suggestions?

Reply | Quote

Replies

Hi (if this is a spoof, you got me )
They’re hoping it will go away, is all. But it won’t. It sounds to me like one or more dry joints, which means at least one contact somewhere on one of the monitor’s circuit boards is now less than perfect, so the current ‘arcs’ producing a minute spark and crackle. ie.

It is up to them to replace your monitor – it would be highly unlikey they would spend the time trying to find the fault, and nor should you. atm they’re trying to avoid the inconvenience of taking it back. Probably.
Hope it’s still under warranty, and I haven’t been too wet…
Rgds

Reply | Quote

My guess would be the high voltage circuit – usually sited at the back of the tube.
If there is sparking, it needs some sort of conductor – dust or moisture are the favourites, which would make me suggest a lower humidity level would be preferable.
However, the HV circuitry is normally well sealed and insulated so I suspect it is either a bad joint as Mel suggests, or a component failure.
If it’s not under warranty, get professional/qualified help. Do NOT open up the back of the monitor unless you know what you’re doing.

Reply | Quote

No spoof, unfortunately . And the monitor is not under warranty (just my luck, the warranty ran out in January and it is 4 years old). Is it really worth finding someone to repair it or do people just buy new ones when monitors die? I really don’t want to invest in a new one if repairing this one will work. But I also don’t want to waste my money in repairs if the end result will be buying a new monitor anyway. I’m open to all suggestions/advice.

Reply | Quote

“But I also don’t want to waste my money in repairs if the end result will be buying a new monitor anyway. I’m open to all suggestions/advice”

It will cost MORE MONEY to repair it that to go out and buy a new one with improvements.

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

Reply | Quote

Thanks guys for the input. I really appreciate it. I have tried deguassing and it really doesn’t seem to help. About repairs vs buying new – As I ran thru Best Buy yesterday I noticed a 19″ monitor for $499 (original price on mine was $655). Would I expect to pay hundreds of dollars for repairs? Or are you suggesting that repairs would only be a short term fix?

Reply | Quote

It depends on exactly what the problem is, and how honest the shop you take it to is. It does sound like something arcing in the high voltage circuit at the back of the tube. That could be something simple like a paper clip fell into the area, and you are getting an arc from the high voltage circuit to the paper clip. That should be fairly inexpensive to fix. Or it could be the whole high voltage wiring breaking down which would be hundreds of dollars. Of course, a dishonest shop would remove the paper clip and charge you for a complete new high voltage circuit. It could also be something simple like the paper clip, but very hard to find, which could also get expensive. You might call a few shops and get them to give you an estimate.

Reply | Quote

I would surprised if anyone would be prepared to give a quote before knowing what the problem was – they are more likely to say ‘between $x.xx and $y’ – where $x.xx is their minimum charge. I would also be very surprised at getting any warranty of more than 3 months.

I think you need to think about the expected life of the monitor – I would suggest 5 years is probably not unreasonable. We (financially) write-off PC’s here after 3 years and sell them on for a nominal amount to deserving causes – so I can’t give you a personal-experience estimate.
I would expect manufacturers to give a ‘technical’ life of 5 years – so you’ve got 80% of that. Based on that, I think you could do worse than to calculate the cost of the original monitor as being 655/5 = or $131 per year. The replacement could be calculated as being 499/5 or $100 per year.

Personally, I would say that if I could not get another guaranteed one year of life from it for < $100, I'd scrap it.

Reply | Quote

Thanks again all. And Leif, when you look at it that way, I guess you are right – its time for a new monitor.

Now can I ask you all to look into your crystal ball and tell me if I need to run out and buy one yesterday? My concern is that it is going to just die without warning and I will be forced to buy one rashly. Worse yet, my fear is that its death will be violent, while I am using the PC . Should I be afraid to use it?

Reply | Quote

Assume that it could die at any moment and ask yourself how long you can live without it. Only you can anser that.

Are you happy to buy without seeing what you’re getting? I would have thought that buying on the ‘net with next-day-delivery could be the most cost effective. Otherwise, are you far from your nearest PC World or whatever?

Safety: who knows? Personally, I would be dis-inclined to use it more than you need. How it will die is an unknown; it could be that switch-on is going to be the hardest for it to cope with – on the other hand, extended use may lead to component failure which may lead to overheating and a puff of smoke…
I don’t know what the statistics are, but TV sets do go up in flames and their technology is not far removed. If it is making regular scary noises, go with the fear factor, and get something underway.

Just as a by the way, and I’m sure this is totally unrelated, but plants do not like to be near monitors. I half killed a rampant cheese plant once – you could actually see the leaves move at switch on.

Reply | Quote

Thanks for all the input. I spent my lunch-hour comparing monitors on the net .

BTW what exactly is a cheese plant?

Reply | Quote

Living in Switzerland in a rural farming village, we have lots of cheese plants. That’s where they get the holes in Swiss Cheese!

Well, its almost still April 1st.

Reply | Quote

Contrary to what Legare might have you believe (although mine was called Emmy – short for Emmental):

Common names
Swiss-cheese plant, Split-leaf philodendron, Ceriman

Botanical name
Monstera deliciosa

Poisonous parts
Leaves

Notes
Swiss-cheese plant is a popular indoor ornamental because of its ability to withstand the wide range of conditions encountered in the home.

For a pic, go here

Good luck with the shopping.

Reply | Quote

OK. Split-leaf philodendron is a name I know. Seriously, you all have been great – with your advice and your humor. Thanks a bunch!

Reply | Quote

I’m with Dave – more than likely going to be cheaper to buy new.

BTW – you have deguassed your monitor recently? (I think more modern monitors do it automatically on power-on.) There should be an option somewhere to do it.

Reply | Quote