#Sick 1084S
34 messages in this thread
I need advice (and/or help) from all. I just unpacked all of my husband's
and my computer equipment and my 1084S is very sick. It turns on but there
is no picture whatsoever. This was in storage (moisture free, etc.) for
awhile and it had been working fine up to then. I'm not sure if this
spells doom for the poor creature or not but I'd like some input before I
try to find a monitor repair place or just go ahead and buy a new one.
Money is VERY tight right now as my husband has been deployed to Saudi, so
I'm hoping that someone may be able to come up with some on-line advice as
to where I should go or do. I am currently having to borrow a friend's
computer to go on-line so would appreciate any and all comments as soon as
possible. Thanks in advance for your help (and no I am not a computer
stupid person just frustrated and down for the count because of all the
garbage this war has thrown my way).
Hi, Rebecca — sorry to hear you're having complications. I'm sure
you've tried it already, but wiggle your connections to make sure they're
good and tight between the computer and the monitor.
Tom,
I've already done that and just about every other obvious thing. Heck I
even used my spare cables to see if they were the problem but no go.
***sigh*** Thanks for the help.
Rebecca
Ah, well — sorry my "help" wasn't much help. <grin>
——————————————————–
-> *I* just love being the entertainment for the evening, |
——————————————————–
Heh, heh. I've had days like that! Don't feel bad; my monitor's in the
shop as I type this. I'm using an RGB encoder to get the picture to my TV
set. 🙂
=Tom=
Yes, well, it's the thought that counts. (g)
Rebecca
Excuse Me – Jumping into this thread late.
Rebecca,
How old is this monitor? The heading say 1084s? Is it under any
warrantee? If it is have you tryed call the C= toll free repair #.
It has been my experience, that if the monitor is under warrantee then
most authorized repair shops are not going to be able to do much to the
thing. C= pretty much wants them sent straight in and they repair them. So
call C= direct and try out their new Express Service. Even if the monitor
is out of warrantee, I believe they have established flat rate repair fees.
The number is 1.800.66.AMIGA <— Note how close it is to my number 🙂
Be readin' ya….
– Roy Pahnke – 1.800.76.AMIGA
– Crazy Mountain Software – Casper Wyomin'
Roy,
Thanks for jumping in with your two dollars (face it two cents don't buy
nothing today (g)) and I will probably try that. As to whether the thing
is still under warranty, I haven't the slightest, but I believe it is less
that 2 years old for the simple fact my husband bought his Amiga less than
2 years ago and his 128D has it's own monitor. It's kind of hard finding
out considering he is a little out of touch over in the big sandbox in the
Middle East and mail can take as long as 6 weeks to get to and from.
(blegh) I'll try calling that number and see what they say.
Thanks,
Rebecca
Rebecca –
For about a year now C= has been offering 1 year warrantee's on their
hardware (I think, less than that on monitors – they were 90 days). So if
yours is over a year old it is probably out of warrantee.
Try the number anyway and ask them about flat repair rates.
– Roy Pahnke – 1.800.76.AMIGA
– Crazy Mountain Software – Casper Wyomin'
Roy,
I am going to do that now that I know it is dead for sure. I had a
friend who knew a little more about electronics look at it last night and
he pronounced it deceased (more or less). **sigh** (g)
Thanks,
Rebecca
Rebecca,
re: your amiga monitor problem
Did you try adjusting the brightness/contrast etc. controls? They might
have been moved/bumped in the storage process. (forgive me if this is
elementary to you, but I didn't notice that anybody else mentioned it and
it is a definite possiblity.)
Do you have a VCR or a TV with a video output? If so, you might try
connecting the composite video input and switching the necessary switch.
(for that matter, use the Amiga's composite video output.) If this works,
you can concentrate your efforts on the computer side of things, rather
than the TV side of the monitor.
Hope this helps, 8)
David
Unfortunately I tried ALL the obvious things including those very good
suggestions and nada. This is one dead piece of equipment other than it
makes the most bizarre sound when turned on and definitely no picture no
matter what you do. The computer is definitely okay and works beautifully
(I borrowed a monitor to check that possibility out). But it really
doesn't matter, since I don't have a modem that hooks up to the Amiga, only
to my 128D which is what I am using right now. It may not be much but it
certainly is a reliable, mostly user-friendly critter. (g) I guess I'll
just wait til H%$# freezes over and then get the money to fix it and with
the way the Army is on the backpay it owes us, that may be a good estimate.
**sigh** (g) Sorry, I've had a bad week or should I say bad 5.5 months.
Rea
You've probably tried this, but there's a switch in the front panel all the
way on the right that's labelled "Video Mode." This should be pushed all
the way to the right to the "RGB" setting. If it's on anything else you
will get a dark monitor. Hopefully this is the source of your problem —
sure had _me_ scared when I first got my 1084S! 🙂
— steve
Steve,
Thanks for the advice but unfortunately *I* have tried that and all other
obvious solutions so I have a bad feeling that it has decided to make it
difficult on me. (g) **sigh**
Thanks again.
Rebecca
Aargh, well it sounds like a trip to the nearest Commodore dealer may be in
order, then. Don't futz around with opening the back of the monitor if
you're not _real_ familiar with that kind of stuff, it can be a rather
shocking experience (and sometimes fatal).
— steve
Yes I have more or less resigned myself to that and I have to do it soon
because my husband will hopefully be home soon and we are normally
stationed in El Paso (the armpit of the universe) and the closest
Commodore/Amiga dealer is in Albuquerque, a 5-6 hour drive away. I much
prefer it here in California, or back up in Alaska where we were last
stationed or in Florida where I am from. Heck, if I was back home, I could
get FREE repairs from a friend. ***sigh***
Rebecca
Rebecca,
Well hang in there! We all understand your frustration but in time things
will work out, be assured. At least a drive from El Paso to Albuquerque can
be a nice way to spend some time (maybe with an overnight car-camping
outing planned in-between?) together. 😉
— steve
Steve,
Too true and maybe it will be soon if this cease-fire is for real. (g)
Rebecca
I'm not sure how electronically inclined you are, but I had a 1084 monitor
go dead like that on me before. While it was not the 1084S, I think perhaps
it may be similiar inside. What I found out was one of the connectors
inside the case came loose. All I had to do is open it up and reconnect the
loose connector.
Remember, if you open your monitor – make sure it is unplugged and make
sure you are grounded. (IE: Touch something like a metal pipe, or a
radiator before working on the monitor).
Joe,
Well I have already opened the critter up and everything looks like it is
connected and no obvious things showed up. People thought I was nuts to
mess with it by opening it in the first place and stood WAY back waiting
for me to electrocute myself or something even worse. *I* just love being
the entertainment for the evening, don't you? Thanks for the help though.
Rebecca
Sorry those things did not help. You should send it in for a repair
estimate, and see how much it would cost. Ya never know, it could be a real
simple repair 🙂
Yeah, that's what I figure I'll have to do but the closest repair shop
anyone can recommend is in San Jose which is over a 2 hour drive from here.
And a real boring drive it is. (g)
Rebecca –
Where are you located in Northern California? San Jose is not the only
Northern California location for Amiga service.
Jeff Schweiger
Jeff,
I am currently living near the Concord/Antioch area, about a half hours
drive east of Oakland.
Rebecca
Rebecca,
You might check to see if the following locations somewhat closer to you
still provide Amiga service (my list is a bit old):
Hi-Tech Computer
1331 Meadow Lane
Concord, CA 94520
Ph: 415-827-1555
Microage Computer Stores
1150 Contra Costa Blvd.
Concord, CA 94523
Ph: 415-680-1489
Winners Circle
2618 Telegraph Ave
Berkeley, CA 94704
Ph: 415-845-4814
Jeff Schweiger
Jeff,
Thanks for the list. I'll try the first two but I know Winners Circle
doesn't touch monitors. They do computer repair, sales, etc. and are
probably about the best I've ever come across, but if you mention monitors
they go suddenly deaf. (g)
Rebecca
> Remember, if you open your monitor – make sure it is unplugged and make
> sure you are grounded.
In fact, make sure it has been unplugged for a while (preferably MANY
minutes) to allow the capacitors that hold the 20,000+ volts to discharge
some!
. . . . . JimDoc <<via WHAP!>>
Jim,
When I did open it up, it hadn't been plugged in for a few days, so you can
tell I am not a suicidally inclined person. (g)
Rebecca
Jim, (And Rebecca)
Actually…it's not the capacitors you need to worry about so much
as it is the CRT itself. It acts alike a very large capacitor. While they
are equipped with bleed off resistors…they can hold a LARGE charge for a
long time.
BTW…the advice to ground yourself is poor advice. Working with a
monitor you don't worry about static charges from yourself into the
monitor, you worry about voltages in the monitor finding a part of your
body is a lovely ground path.
You ground the monitor, in particular the CRT…not yourself.
Don
Rebecca,
My 1084 also 'died' once, even though the power went on there was no
picture. It was a $40 repair job at the Amiga dealer and I believe it was
related to a short of some kind inside the unit.
My 1084S monitor 'died' the same way. It was hooked up to my A1000. I put
another monitor on it. It worked for a while but within about 15 minutes
it was fried too. I guess the problem is really in my A1000. 🙁
— Mike Roth
Christopher,
Hopefully that's all it will cost me, but first I have to find someone who
works on monitors, not just computers in the area. Around here Amigas and
Commodores are considered jokes and game computers, this is major IBMer
territory and if you tell them what you have they look at you like you
crawled out from under a rock. I personally love both my Amiga and C128D.
Rebecca
Just a note (I came in late, so hope this isn't a copy). The 1084s
produced sometime in 1988 (I think) have a lifetime warranty on the flyback
mechanism – I just had mine go about two months ago and got it fixed for
FREE! And it was almost 3 years old! Something worth looking into
anyways…
-chris
Chris, could you explain a bit about this "flyback" problem? I had some
intermittent snapping/scrolling of my 1084S about a month ago, but this
seemed to disappear when i moved the monitor off of the 2000 case during a
"desk re-assignment." The problem's gone for now…but I'm suspicious that
it might start up real soon again, and I haven't a clue as to what might be
going on here
Tim
– via Whap!
Chris,
Thanks for the info, I'll see what it may produce.
Rea