IBM 5154001 Monitor: Needs recapping

[SmittysLittleBrother]

Hey, ya'll new here. So if I'm doing something incorrect, please let me know and I'll remove post or revise. I appreciate everyone's patience.

I obtained an IBM 5154001 color display monitor the other day, and in my infinite ignorance tried to get some picture working without having maintenance done to it. Who knows how long its been since last used.

Long story short, caps blew, smoke came out, smelled lovely. I'm not versed in repairing CRT monitors and it's not something I'd want to do without guidance in person. Therefore, was wondering if anyone here knew of anyone that does repairs or if there are any hobbyists here who are interested in the Houston, TX area.

Any other guidance or advice would be appreciated.

Best.

 

[Chuck(G)]

A very likely candidate is the RIFA safety capacitors used to control line noise on the AC mains. Very common; doesn't damage the unit.

 

[SmittysLittleBrother]

A very likely candidate is the RIFA safety capacitors used to control line noise on the AC mains. Very common; doesn't damage the unit.

Okay, thank you for that information. In such a case, would it normally be recommended to replace all caps, or would just the RIFA suffice? Would it be something a novice could safely do? Obviously would look up guides and that, but if difficult or possibly dangerous, would just rather have someone more skilled than myself doing it.

Thank you for replying and thank you for reading.

 

[modem7]

Hey, ya'll new here.

Welcome to these forums.

Just in case you are unaware, there it lots of IBM 51xx information at [here], including a section for the 5154.

Long story short, caps blew, smoke came out ...

Is the "caps blew" an assumption, or did you open up the 5154 to investigate the source of the smoke?

A very likely candidate is the RIFA safety capacitors used to control line noise on the AC mains.

In my 5154, the safety capacitor (a.k.a. line suppression capacitor, and a host of other possible names), was made by WIMA, not RIFA. Photo at [here].

The subject capacitor is located on a circuit board that resides within the 5154's power supply (one of the two metal cages).

Some hazards are listed at [here]. For you to feel safe, disconnect the 5154 from mains power, and then wait half an hour before opening up the 5154. There will still be some EHT voltage present, but for what is being done here, there is no requirement to discharge the EHT - i.e. there is no need to remove the CRT's anode cap.

 

[SmittysLittleBrother]

Welcome to these forums.

Just in case you are unaware, there it lots of IBM 51xx information at [here], including a section for the 5154.


Is the "caps blew" an assumption, or did you open up the 5154 to investigate the source of the smoke?


In my 5154, the safety capacitor (a.k.a. line suppression capacitor, and a host of other possible names), was made by WIMA, not RIFA. Photo at [here].

The subject capacitor is located on a circuit board that resides within the 5154's power supply (one of the two metal cages).

Some hazards are listed at [here]. For you to feel safe, disconnect the 5154 from mains power, and then wait half an hour before opening up the 5154. There will still be some EHT voltage present, but for what is being done here, there is no requirement to discharge the EHT - i.e. there is no need to remove the CRT's anode cap.

Thank you for the additional response and advice, I appreciate it. I will check out that linked information. Thank you for supplying it.

The smoke blew out and I heard a pop and to be honest, main concern was getting it out of the apartment and unplugged/disconnected. It's back in after airing out for awhile, I haven't taken it apart yet to investigate as I wasn't sure of the specifics of it all and if I was just going to straight up pass it off to someone more skilled than myself.

Thank you for the Safety information as well, that is good to know. In the event that the capacitor that was blown WAS the WIMA/RIFA (*whichever it ends up being), does that imply that the other caps should be replaced as well or its replacement would suffice? I was under the impression that in the event of it being that, it still would mean best course of action would be recapping the whole thing. Any and all advice is appreciated, if you feel I should go read more as opposed to asking questions, I can go do that as well. Don't want to be a bother. Thank you for your time and the information!

 

[Chuck(G)]

My approach to this stuff is "replace what's failed" and nothing more. There's always a risk of doing more damage with a "shotgun" approach.

 

[SmittysLittleBrother]

My approach to this stuff is "replace what's failed" and nothing more. There's always a risk of doing more damage with a "shotgun" approach.

That makes sense and does sound like a much more feasible goal.

Another probably dumb question, but I don't really find alot of good information easily on it online with my searches. Is there a relatively reliable way to convert EGA/DB9 to DB15/VGA?

 

[Chuck(G)]

Others may have an answer, but the signals are quite different--different frequencies and VGA is analog, where EGA is digital. You'll need some sort of adapter for passable results.

 

[Hugo Holden]

Monotech in NZ sell them, though appear out of stock currently:

EternalCRT - MDA/CGA/EGA to VGA Converter Box

Note: Semiconductor shortage is greatly delaying the production of new stock. It may be a few months or over a year away. New and improved, smaller version! Convert MDA, Hercules, CGA, and EGA video signals to VGA for use with a modern monitor. Run your vintage PCs with their native video cards...

monotech.fwscart.com

 

[Chuck(G)]

Maybe the more practical approach is to find an old monitor that can handle a variety of signals. My old Mitsubishi Diamondscan for instance that I've had for donkey's years:

 

[andy]

I'm in Austin, and I do repair these for people. If you're ever in the area, I can definitely help you. I've had people ship them to me, but it's a lot of extra work to pack them properly. At least the 5154 cabinets seem to be aging better than the 5153, which is almost always brittle.

As others have said, it's almost certainly the power line bypass caps in the power supply. These usually fail with a lot of smoke if the monitor hasn't been used for many years.

As far as other capacitors go, it depends on hoe much use it has seen. A lightly used 5154 will probably be fine, but a heavily used one will need a lot of new capacitors. Specifically, the ones inside the power supply, and video cages. Those areas run hot, and the caps dry out (particularly the smaller ones). The ones on the main board are usually fine, but I have seen failures there too.

If VGA compatibility is something you desire, then I would recommend selling the 5154 since they're highly desirable right now. Something like an NEC Multisync I, or II will do everything, and probably cost less than a 5154 is worth.

 

[Hugo Holden]

I'm in Austin, and I do repair these for people. If you're ever in the area, I can definitely help you. I've had people ship them to me, but it's a lot of extra work to pack them properly. At least the 5154 cabinets seem to be aging better than the 5153, which is almost always brittle.

As others have said, it's almost certainly the power line bypass caps in the power supply. These usually fail with a lot of smoke if the monitor hasn't been used for many years.

As far as other capacitors go, it depends on hoe much use it has seen. A lightly used 5154 will probably be fine, but a heavily used one will need a lot of new capacitors. Specifically, the ones inside the power supply, and video cages. Those areas run hot, and the caps dry out (particularly the smaller ones). The ones on the main board are usually fine, but I have seen failures there too.

If VGA compatibility is something you desire, then I would recommend selling the 5154 since they're highly desirable right now. Something like an NEC Multisync I, or II will do everything, and probably cost less than a 5154 is worth.

It was somewhat odd that in the 5154, where the heat dissipation inside it was higher than the 5153, that they removed many of the ventilation slots that the 5153 had in the cabinet.

In addition, they stuck with phenolic pcb's, when fiberglass ones had been around for over a decade and were much more heat resistant. Generally the phenolic board in the 5154 is pushed past its max temp rating and is on its way to becoming a carbon conductor. This happens in the video output stage areas, in the region of the video output transistors. Also around the vertical scan output IC and in some areas in the psu.

And they did other things that made you wonder if the designer was still in nappies, for example placing electrolytic capacitors very close to very hot running objects like the vertical output IC.

In a nutshell, the 5154 has about the poorest thermal management of any computer VDU ever made. The 5153 was much better, but not EGA capable.

If you want the 5154 to have any longevity, it is a good idea to increase the cabinet ventilation and add a cooling fan.

 

[Chuck(G)]

In a nutshell, the 5154 has about the poorest thermal management of any computer VDU ever made. The 5153 was much better, but not EGA capable.

There were early LCD monitors with capacitors hot-glued to driver heatsinks. I'd class those as being about the worst thermal management.

 

[Hugo Holden]

There were early LCD monitors with capacitors hot-glued to driver heatsinks. I'd class those as being about the worst thermal management.

I should have been more specific and said "..........CRT computer VDU's"

Those LCD VDU's sound equally diabolical.

 

[Chuck(G)]

I used to pick them up left out as trash; mostly a recapping of a few abused electrolytics was all that was needed. I always wondered if the bad design was intentional.

 

[Hugo Holden]

I used to pick them up left out as trash; mostly a recapping of a few abused electrolytics was all that was needed. I always wondered if the bad design was intentional.

I often wonder that, especially when I see things like a U shaped heatsinks on a pcb, for the power devices, and electrolytic caps placed inside that U, being hugged more tightly than their true love.

 

[andy]

I think people are often too critical of the 5154. I've worked on about 10 of them in recent years, and all but one were still in excellent condition as far as heat damage went. Even the worst one just needed a bunch of new caps, which isn't unusual on a heavily used monitor. I just repaired one that was used enough to have severe burn in, but the capacitors and boards were still in good shape. It ended up having a broken CRT neck, so the burn in got taken care of when I replaced the CRT with one from a generic VGA monitor.

I've also seen some pretty crispy 5153s, that needed a lot of new caps. Most 5153s probably got less use since they were obsolete soonest. Even in the early 90's EGA was still somewhat usable, but nobody would touch a CGA monitor. The brittle cabinet problem that most 5153 suffer from is a HUGE problem. You have to treat them like glass, and they're only going to get worse.

Considering that many of these 5154s were run 8+ hours a day, 365 days a year (with 24/7 not uncommon in a typical office) they haven't aged too badly. Yes, it wasn't uncommon for people in an office to leave a computer running 24/7 with the monitor on. That's why energy saving features became standard by the mid 90's. A typical collector isn't going to run it for more than a few hours at a time, so I wouldn't worry about adding cooling, and I certainly wouldn't drill holes int he cabinet!

I've seen two versions of the 5154. The one that's most common in the US was made in Korea, probably by Samsung, or Goldstar. I've also seen one that was made in Finland, presumably by Nokia. While the design of both is the same, there may be some differences in some materials quality.

 

[Hugo Holden]

I think people are often too critical of the 5154. I've worked on about 10 of them in recent years, and all but one were still in excellent condition as far as heat damage went. Even the worst one just needed a bunch of new caps, which isn't unusual on a heavily used monitor. I just repaired one that was used enough to have severe burn in, but the capacitors and boards were still in good shape. It ended up having a broken CRT neck, so the burn in got taken care of when I replaced the CRT with one from a generic VGA monitor.


I've seen two versions of the 5154. The one that's most common in the US was made in Korea, probably by Samsung, or Goldstar. I've also seen one that was made in Finland, presumably by Nokia. While the design of both is the same, there may be some differences in some materials quality.

I didn't know there was another version of the 5154.

I still prefer the internal construction of the 5153, it has good metalwork & electroplating and a fairly high quality pcb with good components and was made by Tatung, most of the components are Japanese, though the signal coupling electrolytics are better replaced with film capacitors. It also has a great CRT with a dark tinted faceplate resulting in excellent contrast, a fine phosphor pitch and very wide band video amplifiers. It will, with a modification pcb added, display good quality 16 color EGA images, albeit in a reduced size:

www.worldphaco.com/INCREASING_THE_UTILITY_OF_THE_IBM_5153_COLOR_MONITOR_TO_AUTO.pdf

I modified my 5153 to do this because it can be awkward if some software package throws the card into EGA mode, then you cannot see what you are doing.