Randy - Samsung 226BW monitor flickering fix

 Randy

I enjoy doing outdoor things with the family like camping, biking, and hiking.  I like to go hunting, but so far just take Colin hunting.  I enjoy running to stay in shape and keep from getting old - I don't think it's completely working though.  I enjoy accompanying the kids on guitar when they play fiddle tunes.  We have a good time.  I also enjoy programming and electronic circuits.

Today's post is about our computer monitor (Samsung 226BW) that recently started flickering.  First it was only flickering for half a minute when the monitor came out of sleep.  I got around that by changing the setting on the computer so that it doesn't put the monitor to sleep.  That worked for a week or so, but then the monitor got turned off and when we tried to turn it back on it just flickered forever and never fully turned on.  The monitor still showed the picture, but it wasn't very bright and it made me sick to try to use it so I just used the laptop instead.

A Google search showed that this is actually a common problem for this monitor and the typical solution is to replace some capacitors.  I decided to open up the monitor and see what condition the capacitors were in.

First, I just three screws out of the back to remove the base and three more followed by some easy prying with a screwdriver to get the back black plastic cover removed.

Then I pried the left sheet of metal up at the tabs to pop it off.

I unhooked the wires from the bottom left and the bottom right so I'll be able to lift up the cover.

With the cover lifted, now I see two boards.  The one on the left is the one with the power supply (where the power cord connects), so I need to unscrew that one to see the capacitors.

There was also a small sheet of metal at the top of the left board that needed to come out before the board would pull out.

There they are.  And now for a closer look...

These three capacitors are no longer flat on top like they should be, so they'll need to be replaced.  The two on the left are 820uF capacitors.  The one on the right is a 330uF capacitor.

Looks like this one needs to be replaced too.  It's a 680uF capacitor.

And its companion behind it of the same size also needs to be replaced.

Look at that.  This one looks good and won't need to be replaced.  It's 47uF.

And this big one looks good too.












So the capacitors I need to replace are:
one 25V 330uF 105C capacitor
two 25V 820uF 105C capacitors
two 25V 680uF 105C capacitors

The 47uF capacitor is 50V 105C, but it doesn't need to be replaced, and neither does the big 450V 150uF capacitor.

If I were patient, I'd order the capacitors and just install them when they arrived, but I'm not very patient.  I tried to find some locally at Radio Shack, but they didn't have any high temp (105C) capacitors, let alone the right capacitance.  I found a local electronics parts store called The Current Source.  The guy I talked to there has a 330uF 50V 105C capacitor and some 1000uF 25V 105C capacitors.  While reading other forums, I found plenty of people have used 1000uF instead of 820uF with success.  For power supply usage, the exact capacitance doesn't seem to matter as long as it's not less than the original, and the same goes for the voltage.

So I bought four 1000uF 25V capacitors and one 330uF 50V capacitor for $7.60.  The 1000uF capacitors are about the same size as the original 820uF capacitors, but the 330uF 50V capacitor is quite a bit larger because it's 50V.  It still fits on the board though.

This picture is after removing the 820uF capacitors and the 330uF capacitor and installing one of the new 1000uF capacitors.  The circle on the board has slanted lines in the negative half of the circle showing where the capacitor goes.  The capacitors have a band on them with a negative sign indicating which lead is the negative one.  Also, the negative lead is shorter than the positive lead.

 Here's the board with all the new capacitors installed.

I just put it back together and plugged it in to try it out.  It's working great!  A fun way to save $200!

Reeder Rules

Since I try not to ask anything of my children that I am not willing to do myself,  I guess it's my turn to post an introduction.  
Hello.  I'm Kim.  

I'm the lucky wife of Randy and the mother of these amazing children.  One of whom is celebrating a birthday today!  Happy Birthday Caden!

My main interest currently is letting the children all live to adulthood so they can then have their come-uppances in the form of my adorable grandchildren. 

In another attempt in that never ending pursuit, I have focused my writing today on a new set of REEDER RULES.  One of these times I'll get it right.  Here's hoping this time is it!  (Or at least close enough for now.) 

REEDER RULES (version about 597)

1. Pleasant attitudes that enhance the spirit of the Holy Ghost's presence are required. Anyone who brings bad spirits with them will be required to leave. If this leaving is during a family time, the person will be required to make that time up during personal time (whether it be work or scripture study or mealtime or something else).
2. Full Participation is expected. Anyone distracting anyone else, or otherwise damning the progess of anyone else, will be given extra family work to make up for that wasting of the other person's time. This work will be completed during personal time and will not interfer with other people's personal time.
3. Saying “OK”, doing the task immediately, and reporting back are expected. Those persons over the age of six needing babysitting will earn extra family work time to pay for the babysitting. Disagreeing apropriately is encouraged. Fussing, whining, crying, or otherwise unbecoming behavior will earn extra work time.
4. A daily paragraph (or more) is required as a report on daily study time. Of special interest are the ideas you've had, new concepts discovered, connections made, project planning and/or completion, and successes you've felt. Blog worthy entries are encouraged.
5. Stewardships must be attended to. Please don't let living things die due to neglect!
   
   
   (PS I asked Colin submit some recommendations for the new rules (specifically to deal with bad attitudes at the table) and he came back with "Either good food or optional food.  And by "good",  I mean not too complicated, edible, and unanimous." It was in a helvetica type font and printed on a paper with this comic from February 15, 1998 printed below it.  Funny boy, EVERYTHING reminds him of a Dilbert comic.  I will try to implement his recommendations, but they are going to need to be revised to be more SMART as in Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, & Timebound.)   

Introducing Colin

Hi, I'm Colin.  I like to program and take pictures.  Recently I did some stop motion animation.



I also did a sequel, I think I'll post that later.
As for programming, I've been working on a game called Bouncy Ball. The goal was to make it portable, so all the graphics are simple shapes. It is available at http://bit.ly/ballbouncy. The next feature to add will be the ability to resume the game from where you left off.

Introducing Robyn!

Hi I'm Robyn, I like to sew, read, write, draw, fiddle, play piano, and rip-stick.
I started to take piano in January.
My favorite thing to write are stories.

This is me at the Idaho Open Fiddle contest:

I like to fiddle because it helps me to bring my left brain and right brain together and that helps with my stories.

Introducing: Grace!

Grace enjoys swimming, cooking, sewing, ripsticking, crafting, and solving puzzles.  Something amazing about Grace is that she can solve her Rubiks Cube in 5 minutes. Grace was born almost eight years ago in a blow up swimming pool in my bedroom after an only 90 minute labor.  She hasn't slowed down since.  Once she makes up her mind to do it, Grace does everything FAST! 

This video is Grace's round one in the Idaho Open Fiddle Contest Small Fry intermediate division.  She started at Betsy's age and look how far she's come! 

Introducing: Caden

Caden enjoys: picking cherries, playing toys, building things, and fishing.  His recent accomplishments including making it through the first set of Bob Books all by himself! He is anxiously looking forward to his 5th birthday.  

Caden has also been playing his fiddle with the Little Hoedowners since September.   This is video of him in his first fiddle contest this weekend.  Something you might notice about Caden is that he is the lefty of the family.  He plays a right handed fiddle with the chin rest replaced with a custom made one for lefties. This makes his fiddle be on his left shoulder and his E string is where the right handed kids have a G string.  It works out perfectly for him, until right handed little sisters need to borrow it.  :)

In this video, he is accompanied by his teacher, the amazing Bobbie Pearce, on the piano and his big brother, Colin, on the guitar.



 Caden said his favorite thing about the fiddle contest was playing the Thomas the Tank Engine Matching game in the practice room while waiting for his turn. 

Welcome to Reeder Commons!

For our first post here at Reeder Commons, we will introduce the youngest member of Reeder Academy:

Betsy.

Betsy says she likes: French fries, dinosaurs, playing in the sandpile, picking and eating cherries, riding bikes, and going swimming.  I will add that she enjoys music as well.  She especially enjoys jamming with her daddy.  Whenever he picks up his guitar to practice, she runs for her fiddle to play along. 

 This video is Betsy playing in her first fiddle contest this morning. She has been playing with Roberta Pearce's Junior Jammer Fiddlers in the Little Hoedowner group since last September. She mostly provides "cuteness" for the group, something she excels at (especially in little red cowboy boots).  The fiddle she is playing on in this video is not her own.  Her own fiddle was left at home due to a broken neck.  (I'm sure it is not hard for you to imagine that happening to a three year old's fiddle.  This is a prime example of how motherhood makes you smarter:  Luthier was not on my list of skills prior to motherhood, but since having children I get to try my hand at it occasionally.  Not this time - she didn't give us time to let the glue dry.)  Her big brother kindly let her borrow his.  Unfortunately her brother is a lefty so this fiddle is a little awkward to hang on to.  Luckily, when you are this little, all fiddles are a little awkward so she hardly noticed. 



Betsy said afterward playing in the contest this morning, "I think I like shows better. Ones with ALL the kids on stage."