Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!athena.mit.edu!langz
From: langz@athena.mit.edu (Lang Zerner)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Re: monitor problems
Message-ID: <6422@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU>
Date: 26 Jul 88 15:00:32 GMT
References: <3452@louie.udel.EDU>
Sender: daemon@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU
Reply-To: langz@athena.mit.edu (Lang Zerner)
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lines: 38

In message <654@sunspot.edu> Charlie Miller says:
> My Commodore 2002 monitor seems to be developing a problem and ...
> After warming up a while (15 minutes or so) it occasionally makes a
> snap sound (like something discharging) and the screen flickers.
>

And Shawn Clabough <24847843%WSUVM1.BITNET@cunyvm.cuny.edu> replies:
> Well, my monitor does exactly (and I mean EXACTLY!) the same thing.  I
> have taken the back off and cleaned it out, but it still does it.
>

In article <3452@louie.udel.EDU> iphwk%MTSUNIX1.BITNET@cunyvm.cuny.edu (Bill Kinnersley) writes:
>Hey, me too!  Mine has been doing it off and on for over a year now.
>Usually the >SNAP!< just causes the picture to jump, so that the vertical
>blanking bar becomes visible.  A few times it has caused a crash.  Once
>(no kidding) it caused my printer to output a line feed!  Is my computer
>trying to tell me something? :-)

It might be trying to tell you that your monitor is not properly grounded,
especially given the fact that Charlie Miller could not duplicate the problem
when using the system at someone else's house.  The most common source of
improper grounding is "cord hacking" to get the monitor's 3-prong plug to fit a
2-hole power socket, for example by plugging it into a 2-conductor extension
cord that doesn't have a tab to block the third prong.  Another common cause is
improper use of a 3- to 2-prong converter.  These have a 3-slot socket on one
side, and 2 prongs and a wire coming out the other side.  You plug the 2 prongs
into your 2-prong wall socket and attach the green wire to a good ground
(usually the screw that holds the outlet cover in place).  Often, grounding the
wire is neglected, or the outlet itself is not properly grounded and the
faceplate screw is not a good ground.  Try running the wire to more reliable
grounds; one almost sure bet is a drain- or radiator pipe.  If grounding has
been the cause of your trouble, you may find that the charge is discharged over
the ground instead of in the monitor circuitry.  Good luck.

Be seeing you...
 Lang Zerner      langz@athena.mit.edu     ihnp4!mit-eddie!athena.mit.edu!langz
"Many a good hanging prevents a bad marriage..." 
      -- Bill Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, I.v.19