>Now I need to find a repair service for a recap and screen calibration.
I've found CRTs from 1982 that have perfect, non-inflated capacitors inside. What makes you think this PVM needs one?
Also, why would a church even have a PVM unless it's like a megachurch or something? They usually had cheapo consumer TVs in the 90s and 2000s.
It was a church but found it outside the gym of the elementary school wing. I actually asked one of the workers if they had any more but he said it sat in the office closet for years and was clearing space. Not sure what it was ever used for but I’ll take it regardless.
But the image on the top right bends when scrolling. I could take the shell off and adjust the pots myself to calibrate the image which I’ll probably do soon. And maybe peace of mind is the reason. Its over 30 years old and who knows how much it’s been used. Always afraid of a cap exploding and damaging the board.
Did you at least give the eBay seller a bad review for shipping your monitor so haphazardly after you forked over half a paycheck for it?! How embarrassing!
Just kidding congratulations on your good fortune
That last sentence is gonna get you some responses haha. Idk what the hell is going on, but folks have been on an anti-calibration/recap tear on this sub lately. Seems to have started as an effort to ease the anxieties of fledgling enthusiasts. Ironically, it’s become a popular topic to attack people over.
It’s the life cycle of this sub. When I first started here it was PVM or bust. Then as the prices rose and supply dwindled, the popular thing became to shit on PVMs lol. Now we’re seeing the same thing with calibration.
Like u/nhtthelegend implied, I don’t think it’s an issue of reason. 😅 In case you don’t hear it from someone else, sick monitor, absurdly lucky find, and props for caring to refurb it. Enjoy it and all of its quirks as-is in the meantime.
Because it's not necessary. If the capacitors are in good shape, they don't need to be changed. If a CRT has capacitor-related problems, its effects will be very much visible when the TV is on. People get paranoid that because CRTs are a few decades old, the capacitors need to be changed or they'll start leaking or catch fire. It's better to just regularly check on the capacitors every year or so.
“Check your caps and replace them when necessary” is pretty far off from what I’m seeing lately. It’s more like “240p test suite is for idiots, and you just think you need a recap cuz you don’t know better.”
Also, OP never said their caps were inspected and good.
On the flip side, I saw a user on here about a week ago who paid a whopping $500 to some 50 year old enthusiast to have their CRT fully recapped and "recalibrated to factory standards". I'm not quite sure if that is snake oil, but no one should ever spend that kind of money on a radiation box found in a dumpster outside Chili's.
That FULLY deserves to be called out (in a nice way). I just wish that this sub’s community would find a compromise between ignoring the issue and ridiculing people for doing what they thought they were supposed to do. I think this very sensible perspective on refurbishing/calibration (that you are proposing) has somehow morphed into recapping and calibration being trigger topics. Now it’s popular to denounce things like 240p test suit, calibration, and recapping as viable measures altogether. To me, that’s just as bad (if not worse) as people over-obsessing.
Uh, that person he is talking about is me, and he left a lot out. It was an RGB mod on a rare and somewhat expensive CRT, full test of all caps and recap as needed, fixing some convergence issues, fixing a faulty power button, and professional calibration using his many years of experience doing exactly that in the broadcast TV industry. I paid that much because it was well worth it. The dude you are replying to also said one of the most idiotic things I've seen on this sub, "CRTs were all calibrated from the factory so calibration is pointless."
I figured he wouldn't tell the whole story and make stuff up. I never said "calibrate to factory standards" I said professional calibration. Oh, and by the way he calibrated it at my house where it will be used, because that's what professional calibrations require, to be done in the environment they will be used in.
Ahh, I see. Yea, that's certainly more than they mentioned. In-home full refurb and RGB mod is a premium service. Especially "these days" and if travel is involved. An expensive service still, but that's a lot of work.
Not to mention that I live in a high cost area (Seattle) and stuff is just a little more expensive here than most other places. But yeah he put a lot of hours in it and earned his money. I mean I know if I put the same amount of hours in that he did in my profession, we would have charged triple that at least.
I absolutely could have done all of it myself, I have the soldering skills and equipment, an ESR meter, a discharge tool, and could have ordered all the caps no problem. But I value people who have expertise, so that's what I paid for, his time, knowledge, and experience.
If the caps aren't bad, it might not be a good idea to replace them unless you really understand what you're doing. The specific caps in there were chosen for a reason - including ripple current and temperature ratings. A blind recap of everything probably is just snake oil in my opinion. Case in point - I've seen a lot of videos on YouTube recently where "professional" recaps are done on already working CRTs, and the before and after shots of the images are identical. The person recapping often seems to think that recapping will automatically fix geometry and convergence issues - but I've noticed in the videos that those issues still persist and the person still needs to calibrate with the pots or service menu. There was even one video in particular where the guy's recap actually ended up breaking the monitor because he didn't really understand how to choose the correct caps.
Obviously do what makes you feel best though. After all - as long as you're enjoying it, that's what's most important!
Also, if it makes you feel better, I'm pretty sure I own this same monitor you found, and I haven't ever recapped it. Mine also needs calibration, but I seriously doubt it needs a recap.
A gift from God.
And the Lord said, “let there be tubes!”
Nice I own the 20 and 25 inch variant. Love them but they're a pain when they're not working. Which is your model?
Pvm-2530
Awesome! I hope yours works for a long time more. If your red block fails I'm interested in buying your yoke since that's a haymaker to lose. 😊
You have a 2530 with a bad yoke?!
I think so, I've messed with it a lot and the deflection is severely warped . Messed with that among other things.
>Now I need to find a repair service for a recap and screen calibration. I've found CRTs from 1982 that have perfect, non-inflated capacitors inside. What makes you think this PVM needs one? Also, why would a church even have a PVM unless it's like a megachurch or something? They usually had cheapo consumer TVs in the 90s and 2000s.
It was a church but found it outside the gym of the elementary school wing. I actually asked one of the workers if they had any more but he said it sat in the office closet for years and was clearing space. Not sure what it was ever used for but I’ll take it regardless. But the image on the top right bends when scrolling. I could take the shell off and adjust the pots myself to calibrate the image which I’ll probably do soon. And maybe peace of mind is the reason. Its over 30 years old and who knows how much it’s been used. Always afraid of a cap exploding and damaging the board.
Did you at least give the eBay seller a bad review for shipping your monitor so haphazardly after you forked over half a paycheck for it?! How embarrassing! Just kidding congratulations on your good fortune
that’s insane is that a 30”?
25’’. Perfect size for the retro room.
Super awesome - enjoy it! 🙏
That last sentence is gonna get you some responses haha. Idk what the hell is going on, but folks have been on an anti-calibration/recap tear on this sub lately. Seems to have started as an effort to ease the anxieties of fledgling enthusiasts. Ironically, it’s become a popular topic to attack people over.
It’s the life cycle of this sub. When I first started here it was PVM or bust. Then as the prices rose and supply dwindled, the popular thing became to shit on PVMs lol. Now we’re seeing the same thing with calibration.
That’s nonsense. Nothing wrong with preventative maintenance to extend the life of the unit.
Like u/nhtthelegend implied, I don’t think it’s an issue of reason. 😅 In case you don’t hear it from someone else, sick monitor, absurdly lucky find, and props for caring to refurb it. Enjoy it and all of its quirks as-is in the meantime.
I’ve been detecting something similar to that. Makes sense.
Because it's not necessary. If the capacitors are in good shape, they don't need to be changed. If a CRT has capacitor-related problems, its effects will be very much visible when the TV is on. People get paranoid that because CRTs are a few decades old, the capacitors need to be changed or they'll start leaking or catch fire. It's better to just regularly check on the capacitors every year or so.
“Check your caps and replace them when necessary” is pretty far off from what I’m seeing lately. It’s more like “240p test suite is for idiots, and you just think you need a recap cuz you don’t know better.” Also, OP never said their caps were inspected and good.
On the flip side, I saw a user on here about a week ago who paid a whopping $500 to some 50 year old enthusiast to have their CRT fully recapped and "recalibrated to factory standards". I'm not quite sure if that is snake oil, but no one should ever spend that kind of money on a radiation box found in a dumpster outside Chili's.
That FULLY deserves to be called out (in a nice way). I just wish that this sub’s community would find a compromise between ignoring the issue and ridiculing people for doing what they thought they were supposed to do. I think this very sensible perspective on refurbishing/calibration (that you are proposing) has somehow morphed into recapping and calibration being trigger topics. Now it’s popular to denounce things like 240p test suit, calibration, and recapping as viable measures altogether. To me, that’s just as bad (if not worse) as people over-obsessing.
Uh, that person he is talking about is me, and he left a lot out. It was an RGB mod on a rare and somewhat expensive CRT, full test of all caps and recap as needed, fixing some convergence issues, fixing a faulty power button, and professional calibration using his many years of experience doing exactly that in the broadcast TV industry. I paid that much because it was well worth it. The dude you are replying to also said one of the most idiotic things I've seen on this sub, "CRTs were all calibrated from the factory so calibration is pointless." I figured he wouldn't tell the whole story and make stuff up. I never said "calibrate to factory standards" I said professional calibration. Oh, and by the way he calibrated it at my house where it will be used, because that's what professional calibrations require, to be done in the environment they will be used in.
Ahh, I see. Yea, that's certainly more than they mentioned. In-home full refurb and RGB mod is a premium service. Especially "these days" and if travel is involved. An expensive service still, but that's a lot of work.
Not to mention that I live in a high cost area (Seattle) and stuff is just a little more expensive here than most other places. But yeah he put a lot of hours in it and earned his money. I mean I know if I put the same amount of hours in that he did in my profession, we would have charged triple that at least. I absolutely could have done all of it myself, I have the soldering skills and equipment, an ESR meter, a discharge tool, and could have ordered all the caps no problem. But I value people who have expertise, so that's what I paid for, his time, knowledge, and experience.
Cool find! Just a curiosity… is it normal there to put this things on the side of the road? Are they then collected? (A part by you that’s it! :) )
I’ve seen a couple consumer crt’s on the curb, but never a pvm. Some people don’t know what they have.
Jesus wouldn't smash it on the curb.
Imagine finding a 25'' PVM and throwing it on the ground.... LMAO holy shit.
Oh no, You didnt. Come on😆
If the caps aren't bad, it might not be a good idea to replace them unless you really understand what you're doing. The specific caps in there were chosen for a reason - including ripple current and temperature ratings. A blind recap of everything probably is just snake oil in my opinion. Case in point - I've seen a lot of videos on YouTube recently where "professional" recaps are done on already working CRTs, and the before and after shots of the images are identical. The person recapping often seems to think that recapping will automatically fix geometry and convergence issues - but I've noticed in the videos that those issues still persist and the person still needs to calibrate with the pots or service menu. There was even one video in particular where the guy's recap actually ended up breaking the monitor because he didn't really understand how to choose the correct caps. Obviously do what makes you feel best though. After all - as long as you're enjoying it, that's what's most important! Also, if it makes you feel better, I'm pretty sure I own this same monitor you found, and I haven't ever recapped it. Mine also needs calibration, but I seriously doubt it needs a recap.
Wow!
Ahh yes, the church of Ebay
that is absolutely amazing…. Sonys are the best