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Monitor Going South?


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So out of the blue my monitor, about 5-6 years old, is going dark on me. Power is on, no change to connections. Can't be a "sleep" mode thing its too damn fast. Only comes back if I pull the power supply plug and re-insert.  And in seconds, black screen again. 

Anyone have this  come up before? Or should I say, go down before?  Am I stuck buying a new monitor?  Or is there a card that is going bad?

I bet for the same money I can get one much bigger than this but not money I want to spend right now.  But the home PC has the new turntable connected so if I want to do any audio editing and disc burning I have to have a monitor.

 

As always, thanks in advance!

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run an output from your laptop and see if the issue repeats? Or see if you can get it open and look at the plug input itself?

If it comes back on when reinserting the plug, you know that it's getting power. What you don't know is what's happening next. If the issue repeats on other inputs then it's something in that chain.

Or, see if you can run your PC into your laptop, to see if it's your video card?

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+1 on what Jim said, just to confirm that the problem is with the monitor and not with the computer or video card. But I'd strongly suspect the monitor has crapped out based on your description - I had a Samsung monitor that did the same thing several years ago. 

Don't know how big your current monitor is (or how big a monitor you'd like to have), but I've found ASUS monitors in the 23-24" range to be a solid choice at a low price point. Those with more specialized needs (gamers, folks who do a lot of photo or video editing, etc.) may well prefer a higher-end monitor, but for general use the budget ASUS models work just fine. 

Newegg has this 23" one for $139.99 with free shipping, but you get a $20 rebate card for a final cost of $119.99:

ASUS VX238H Black 23" 1ms (GTG) HDMI Widescreen LED Backlight LCD Monitor 250 cd/m2 ASCR 80,000,000:1

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thanks gents. I will move the monitor over to the work PC and plug that in tonight. 

Regarding better monitors I spotted an option at Walmart, list $150, price with free shipping $80. I think I paid about $130 five years ago and that was 19 inch flat screen this is 24 inch.

And I also realized I have a video card sitting in the old, refurbished one that crapped out last Fall. So it should be pretty simple to replace that if this test doesn't determine that its a monitor problem.

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Well taking input from the work pc, it didn't actually load any drivers - they are both Dells so maybe that's why. Anyway, same problem started right away. I can't find any other VGA cables my wife says we have so that's it I'm off to find a new monitor. thanks for the advice.

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Have you thought that it might be that  the power plug isn't sitting in the input socket properly?

You say that the power comes on if you reinsert the power plug, which is the same problem I had several years ago.

I stuck a pared down wooden toothpick into the socket and jiggled the plug and toothpick around till the monitor lit up. I then firmly wedged in the toothpick and all was well. I had to rejiggle the toothpick now and then but it worked ok.

 

 

Edited by kinuta
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3 hours ago, kinuta said:

Have you thought that it might be that  the power plug isn't sitting in the input socket properly?

You say that the power comes on if you reinsert the power plug, which is the same problem I had several years ago.

I stuck a pared down wooden toothpick into the socket and jiggled the plug and toothpick around till the monitor lit up. I then firmly wedged in the toothpick and all was well. I had to rejiggle the toothpick now and then but it worked ok.

 

 

It's a very firmly wedged power supply. It doesn't jiggle you have to pull it straight out. I'm comfortable in believing the monitor to be the problem. Thanks.

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From your description of the problem, it sounds like a thermal issue, which is usually related to a failing component or failing solder joint (more likely) on the power supply board. Not worth the money to try and fix it or get it fixed. Just opening these monitors up to get to the circuit boards can be a nightmare with all of the shielding in the way/ I tried opening one of these up and I ended up with screws all over the floor. Then I found that the board itself was "wave soldered" which made it practically impossible to re-work without lifting all of the circuit board traces.

These days, I'd just buy a new one myself.

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2 hours ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:

From your description of the problem, it sounds like a thermal issue, which is usually related to a failing component or failing solder joint (more likely) on the power supply board. Not worth the money to try and fix it or get it fixed. Just opening these monitors up to get to the circuit boards can be a nightmare with all of the shielding in the way/ I tried opening one of these up and I ended up with screws all over the floor. Then I found that the board itself was "wave soldered" which made it practically impossible to re-work without lifting all of the circuit board traces.

These days, I'd just buy a new one myself.

Kevin could a thermal issue develop from leaving it powered up overnight?  I've left this PC on more frequently in the past month or so. Screen went into sleep mode (before it went permanently asleep) so I can't see leaving it on could actually have caused the failure but you got me to wondering.

Here's the one I ordered:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sceptre-24-LED-Full-HD-1080p-Monitor-E248W-1920-Black/40718688

Have to admit I never heard of the brand but hey, I got the two year extended service plan with no deductible!  Seriously though the price was right though shipping time on the website surely did change from "by Wed" to Friday. I'll live.

 

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21 hours ago, Dan Gould said:

Kevin could a thermal issue develop from leaving it powered up overnight?  I've left this PC on more frequently in the past month or so. Screen went into sleep mode (before it went permanently asleep) so I can't see leaving it on could actually have caused the failure but you got me to wondering.

Here's the one I ordered:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sceptre-24-LED-Full-HD-1080p-Monitor-E248W-1920-Black/40718688

Have to admit I never heard of the brand but hey, I got the two year extended service plan with no deductible!  Seriously though the price was right though shipping time on the website surely did change from "by Wed" to Friday. I'll live.

 

I doubt that leaving it on caused this failure. At the least, it shouldn't have caused this failure. Most circuits fail at start up, when initial surges stress components.

But like many things today, most modern electronics are very cheaply made. Inside the glossy exterior, you'll often find the lowest cost components on too-thin circuit boards often designed with minimal protective circuits. Every circuit component costs money. There's a reason today's electronics don't last like they used to - most are designed that way.

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6 hours ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:

I doubt that leaving it on caused this failure. At the least, it shouldn't have caused this failure. Most circuits fail at start up, when initial surges stress components.

But like many things today, most modern electronics are very cheaply made. Inside the glossy exterior, you'll often find the lowest cost components on too-thin circuit boards often designed with minimal protective circuits. Every circuit component costs money. There's a reason today's electronics don't last like they used to - most are designed that way.

There's always been a debate about whether hard drives were more likely to fail from repeated startup/shutdown cycles or from being powered up all the time, although I assume this may be less of an issue as SSDs have become more common.

FWIW, my computers have run 24/7 for years with no problems, and they're off-the-shelf, consumer-grade PCs, not purpose-built servers. My monitors are likewise powered up all the time, but they're set to go to sleep after ten minutes of inactivity. 

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