Down here in South Florida and was on generator power for just over a week after hurricane Wilma. Generac 5550 with 8550 surge protection. We were lucky few who didn't lose phones and my DSL was up the entire time cept for a few days this week when it was a bit flakey while they were working in the area. Used my PC during the week for work and everything was fine for the first 4 days or so...then the monitor started acting funky. Acted like the refresh rate was messed up or something. Out of nowhere when I turned it on the sides were concave about 3/4 of an inch from the edge. Couldn't fix it with monitor controls. The image was a dark too and couldnt correct it. I usually keep refresh rate at 85hz so it doesnt flicker. At first I thought the generator voltage was off so I checked. Ranged from 110-120 on my digital voltmeter. Couldnt check power freq. but generator is supposed to be 60hz. No freq. monitor on the generator to check. Turned the generator off then on again but no difference. Reset refresh rate on the monitor to 60hz then 85 again and after a few mins I was able to brighten the monitor to normal and correct the screen edges straight... but there was still a 3/4" black border on each side and 1/2" border top and bottom. Thanks to the hard workin power crews A/C power is back now and the monitor is still messed up. Image appears normal except for 3/4 to 1/2 black border around the entire screen. Does anyone know if this sounds like a capacitor or something repairable? It's an old 17" NEC Energy Star monitor I'm not going to put any money into to fix but if its something simple...I might be able to do it. Been thinking about upgrading to LCD but not ready to spend $300+ and don't like the matte finish screens and most LCD monitors I've seen $300 and under have a rather pixelated cartoonish look to the images. I much prefer a CRT looking image and a shiny looking screen. Not ready to spend $600 to get an HD LCD tho. While on generator power I had the PC and monitor plugged into My UPS and it kicked in a few times when gen. power surged or dropped due to microwave, fridge or something kicking in... but the UPS doesn't condition or control frequency. Did the generator damage the monitor somehow? Is my CRT here savable? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks Dave

Hi Dave, My guess is that the gen did not wreck the monitor. As to a repair, sounds like deflection circuits, if so a board replacement may be called for. If at first you don't succeed, you're about average. M2

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Can't say for sure but I don't think the generator was the cause of the problem. Most electronic devices have power supplies capable of cleaning up and stablizing small drifts in input voltage and frequencies. It sounds more like age has attacked your monitor (the fly back transformer to be more precise). A high voltage transformer within the monitor breaks down over time due to the high voltage it must produce. They can be replaced, but it's really not worth it. If the flyback is old enough to go, then then CRT is usually not too far behind. Pull out the Visa card and go get one of those neat 19" flat panels.

Thanks for the replies. Messed with it some more and got full screen back. It's usually set for 85hz and the problem seemed related to refresh rate but when I tried 50 and 60 just to see if it helped it enlarged a bit but had an attack of the flickers. I tried every setting last night just for the heck of it and 75hz works ....full screen now and no flicker. This monitor does support 85hz. I have it set in controls to NOT show refresh rates it doesn't support and its always at 85. Like I said...happened 4days into generator use out of nowhere...but remained on 85hz...so the odd question is... why doesn't it support 85 all of a sudden? Can age cause a problem like no longer supporting a high refresh rate? Leasts its viewable again. BTW Blackbill....looked at lots of flat panel LCDs in best buy and circuit city and all (matte finish screen) except one (shiny Screen HD Sony) with a $600+ price tag looked real bad to me. I don't like pixelation of any kind...especially on lettering. LCD is much easier on the eyes than a CRT for sure...but I prefer the look of a CRT for image quality and sharpness. Save HD LCD DLP and Plasma which are the only exceptions (and have 12"x12" price tag card)I think CRTs look better than most flat panels. If you've got a recommendation I'll check into it. Can't look at compusa here cuz theyre still shuttered up since Wilma. Losing lots of business. My friend mentioned one at Office Depot for me to check out but havent had a chance yet. Thanks again for the responses. Dave

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