CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[IWantMyHD]

I have an Electrohome ECP with Sony 07MS tubes. Lately, I have notices a blurring on the lenses (the red is really bad 80% of raster area, the green is splotchy 10% and the blue looks fine). Upon further investigation it is clear there is like patches of "soap scum" on the inside of the coolant sealed lens. I have read the various posts about fungus, bacteria, corrosion and plan on changing the glycol solution and have ordered Techspray TV coolant to replace after cleaning the old solution.

I have read the service manual on removing CRTs and several posts on replacing coolant, but I have the following questions if anyone has been here before with an Electrohome ECP:

1: The Melt Glue. There is a lot of it connecting the tube to the "video board?" at the end. It looks pretty sturdy. What is the technique for removing this? Some posts say twist and pull and the glue will snap - but with the pins behind the tube this seems problematic. Other posts say that there is also some on the yoke assembly although I haven't noticed any except gobs for keeping the magnetic sliders in place, I am wondering if this is an issue.

2: The Yoke Assembly. I am planning to just remove the tube, flush the coolant, clean and then replace coolant. If I manage to unplug the hot glued video card on the end of tube and unplug, is the crt tube just going to slide out of the yoke assembly? And then when I slide it back in will the magnetics be as they were?

3: Torque on the yoke clamp screws. Once I looses the screws to the yoke clamps to "hopefully" just slide out the CRT, I will have to retighten upon reinstallation. How tight should I go. With all the posts about CRTs exploding, I don't want to over tigthen.

4: High Voltage. 10,000 volts! What is the real danger here? How long to dissipate this voltage? If the machine is unplugged is it okay after a half an hour. If not, if I unplug the HV lead, what is the correct method for discharging?

5: Cleaning tips: I plan to try the least invasive process of flushing the fluid through the drain holes and cleaning with CLR, alcohol or ammonia depending upon success with pipe cleaners, long Qtips and shaking (versus removing the lens). Then after flushing with water I plan to refill with the Techspray solution. Any other helpful hints.

I know these are a lot of questions, but before I really F things up I would like to be a little more informed. I am fearful that I am biting off more than I can chew so any confidence building would also be appreciated.

Thank you!

[Tim in Phoenix]

Hello

Your first best bet is a chemical like CLR or similar. You will not be able to scrub the glass clean without cutting the faceplate off of each tube, the fillholes are very small. The high voltage is actually 30,000 volts, but will mostly dissipate in 24 hours of sitting. Then, the tip of each anode wire can be touched to the metal frame to discharge what is left.


.

[ecrabb]

Tim, I thought I read something from Curt where he said most sets will dissipate any retained HV in fairly short order. Is there something different about ECP's that they don't dissipate the charge as quickly? I pulled the tubes out of a Sony 12xx within an hour of it running and didn't have a problem. Was I just lucky?

SC

[emdawgz1]

DROP YOUR SOCKS AND LET THE FUNGUS BE AMONG US!!!!!


I just couldnt resist. I second the motion for CLR. It works well and as long as you give it a good final flush...it safe!

[IWantMyHD]

Yea, Curt told me ten minutes and I would be fine...but I figured he was just hoping I'd jap myself to stop bugging him.

Any help on questions 1-3?

[Curt Palme]

1) rip it off. It's just hot glue. The socket will wiggle off.

2) Take the yoke off. Don't disturb the position of those tabs on the yoke. You'll need to twist the yoke slightly to break the seal of the adhesive tape under the yoke on the tube neck once you loosen the clamp. IN fact the yoke will slide off as you pull the tube out. There's grounding wires that you'll need to take right off the yoke clamp, otherwise the tube won't come out.


3) Don't tighten the clamp too much, just enough so that the yoke doesn't slide around freely. SNUG is the term I'd use..

You'll most likely need to leave the clamp loose anyways, as you'll need to rotate the yoke slightly when the set is back together and turned on so that the blue image lines back up with the R and G. You'll also need to slightly reconverge as everything will be disturbed once you take the tube out.

This will all be daunting at first, but once you've done it once, it's pretty easy. The tubes are hardier than you think. You won't break it.

[Curt Palme]

1) rip it off. It's just hot glue. The socket will wiggle off.

2) Take the yoke off. Don't disturb the position of those tabs on the yoke. You'll need to twist the yoke slightly to break the seal of the adhesive tape under the yoke on the tube neck once you loosen the clamp. IN fact the yoke will slide off as you pull the tube out. There's grounding wires that you'll need to take right off the yoke clamp, otherwise the tube won't come out.


3) Don't tighten the clamp too much, just enough so that the yoke doesn't slide around freely. SNUG is the term I'd use..

You'll most likely need to leave the clamp loose anyways, as you'll need to rotate the yoke slightly when the set is back together and turned on so that the blue image lines back up with the R and G. You'll also need to slightly reconverge as everything will be disturbed once you take the tube out.

This will all be daunting at first, but once you've done it once, it's pretty easy. The tubes are hardier than you think. You won't break it.