Drunk Monitor! Help!

**MetalheadGautham** · 28-07-2008, 07:03 AM

My monitor is getting freaky. It started a month or so back. I came home and noticed that nothing was visible on the monitor. After lots of checking, I went to the monitor firmware menu using the menu button on the monitor. I noticed that brightness, contrast, colour, etc were set to 0%. I fixed it and asked about it on IRC. Then forgot about it.

Recently, while using I see that brightness value keeps reducing with the display of the monitor firmware first flashing on the screen then all these things happening. I need to reset it by pressing the menu button again, but then the keys get all mixed up. I press left and it sometimes goes right and sometimes goes left. Same for right. Exit button also not working.

Today, the firmware went all drunk. I went to menu and it acted like the left button is permanently pressed - if I select something its value keeps going down and otherwise it keeps jumping between icons on the menu. Suddenly it stops. I need a fix. Please help.

I have Acer AC713 17" Colour Monitor.

I have never misused it or caused any damage to it. I don't know why all this started...

NucleusKore · 28-07-2008, 07:29 AM

Get it serviced, I do not know if anyone will have a solution here.

nish_higher · 28-07-2008, 07:32 AM

its those buttons that are gone bad..might just need a cleaning
get it serviced

pimpom · 28-07-2008, 11:07 AM

Are you sure it's not you who's drunk, MHG?

Sorry, couldn't pass that up.

Seriously, unless you have some experience in working on the insides of electronic equipment, I'd say there's not much you can do yourself.

That's a CRT, isn't it? My first two suspects would be moisture (esp if you've been having a lot of damp weather) and the left menu button (which may also be linked to moisture).

If you feel confident about opening the cover and cleaning the insides, I suggest you do that and leave it out in the sun before putting the cover back on again. Otherwise, it will be best to take it to a service centre as others have suggested.

hellgate · 28-07-2008, 04:14 PM

if u hav warranty left then get it RMA'ed else u can try to clean the button contact points but do this only if u know wat ur doin.

k6153r · 28-07-2008, 06:00 PM

Always Acer monitors give lots of trouble.

tango_cash · 29-07-2008, 08:13 PM

i am facing the same problem. i think moisture is the culprit.well if u do not want to open the monitor and put in sun,then u can try what i have done.i found it accidentally.
see for long my monitor was not covered and recently it started giving the same problem as yours.so one day when i was on the cleaning routine i put a cloth on my monitor so that dust wont accumulate.now when i started my system i noticed that after sometime the problem went away.
my guess is that due to the cover the heat inside takes away the moisture.
and i think this does not harm my monitor because i have seen a lot of people cover there monitors with plastic covers.
u can definitely try this before putting it in the sun.

pimpom · 29-07-2008, 08:53 PM

tango_cash: Nice to know your monitor is OK, but be careful. CRT monitors generate a lot of heat inside and must be well ventilated.

The plastic covers you saw probably have many small holes punched out of the material, especially at the top. Even then, it's not really a good idea to keep the cover on while the monitor is turned on. This is because many of the holes in the plastic cover do not line up with the ventilation holes in the monitor itself.

The problem is that most of us live in an environment that is dusty in the dry season, and very moist in the rainy season. The accumulated dust absorbs and retains moisture that evaporates quickly when the product was new and clean inside. The high voltage generated inside a CRT monitor (more than 20,000 volts) makes things worse by attracting dust and smoke particles and depositing them inside.

Most of the time, if the monitor is used regularly, the moisture gets dried up by the heat. But if it is left unused for an extended period, there's an increased chance of facing a problem caused by the moisture.

toofan · 31-07-2008, 09:10 PM

I bet if there is not any hardware problem its moisture.
Now its a very good opportunity to change your monitor man. Just go for a 19 inch widescreen LCD. What a pleasent solution.
You can look for a exchange offer. I too did the same. I got 2500 for my old compaq CRT and got a brand new HPw1907.
Try you may get a similar deal.

tango_cash · 01-08-2008, 11:07 PM

hey maybe you can use a hair dryer.switch off your p.c and just use the hair dryer on the front buttons of the monitor!!!that will take away the moisture!!!