How to take apart TV

Do you have an old TV or monitor lying around in your house? You don't want it and planing to throw it away? Well don't! You can make good use of its parts!

Taking apart a TV or a monitor may sound easy, but they can be very dangerous if you are not careful...

This instructable will be your guide of taking apart a TV or a monitor.

---

Disclaimer:
Taking apart the TV or monitor can be very dangerous. High voltage presents inside the CRT - even when the power is off! And the CRT is fragile. You could get seriously injured or die. I am NOT responsible what ever happens to you if you take apart the TV or monitor!

---

Step 1: Tools...

Okay, go grab your tool box, you may need all sorts of tools to dissemble the TV or monitor...

What I used are:

• Screwdrivers in various types and sizes
• Some types of pliers
• A wire cutter
• A safety goggles

Safety goggles are very important, who knows the CRT may implode while you are busy dissembling the TV or monitor... It is better to be safe than sorry about losing your eyes...

Comments

[Samphillips1]

I attempted to discharge the CRT but no sound was made. How am i supposed to know if it is discharged or not?

[Oblivitus]

Hi, I was wondering if you could help me with something. I started taking apart an old radio called a Technics SA-616 with a Quartz Digital Synthesizer, and was wondering if there's anything in there like the tv here that will shock me. I've done some online research and haven't found any claims of danger but want to be sure. Here is a link with some photos of one that looks exactly like mine and shows the insides.

http://www.classic-audio.com/technics-sa616-p-826.html

[nerd7473]

cool plasmana

[AnarchistAsian]

one time, when he was young, my dad made a tv with his friends... and whenever our tv breaks, he fixes it... lol, yay!

[Plasmana]

He... Made... His... Own... TV!?!?! Wow, that is amazing!

[AnarchistAsian]

lol, i told you he was smart!

note, this was back in the 70's-80's, maybe 60's? i forget, but it's still pretty impressive...

[shannonlove]

It was prior to the 70s when TVs still had tubes.

[Plasmana]

Yeah, that is really impressive! Do you have a picture that you can show to us?

[AnarchistAsian]

70'S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i don't think there's any pictures... all i know is that it's the only tv his family owned... and he made it with his friends... yeah.... he had a cool childhood... they played alot, and made alot of stuff... *sigh* times were simpler then...

[Plasmana]

That is really cool! And yeah, All of the great electronic components are just getting rarer and rarer as we advanced in technology... :-(

[muttyfutty]

Agreed! you Know there going to start replacing the massive transformers in microwaves with some fancy circutry? (I think a boost converter ) Makes me sad just thinking about it...

[Plasmana]

Yep! :-( I also heard they have an safety feature that they will shut off for good if tampered..

[fostersfriend]

Please tell me theyre leaving the capacitors :)))

[croslandjr123]

OMG! That is so sad... D-; Damn the government and overtaking technology! I just don't want to happen...

[muttyfutty]

NOOOooo..... *sniff* first LCD TV's with NO flybacks... NST are (I think) very gradually being replaced buy a "dc power supply" (no transformer) And then MOT's Oh the HUMANITY!!!!!!!

[masterochicken]

What are NST?

[muttyfutty]

an NST is a Neon Sign Transformer
it changes mains voltage (230V RMS) and steps it up till about 15KV RMS
its obviously used in (yes, you got it!) Neon Signs

here is an wikipeadia artcle on NST's
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neon_sign_transformer

[masterochicken]

I didn't know those were being replaced. I've been looking for one actually.

[AnarchistAsian]

yeah. : ...-(

[Plasmana]

We will have to snag up all of the old electronic equipment while we still have time...

[AnarchistAsian]

and party like it's 1929...

[AnarchistAsian]

i'm posting an ible on how to scavenge free stuff, for the 1929 contest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Plasmana]

LOL! I was just about to make that same instructable too!

[Jimmy Proton]

dude go to a junk yard, i find ALL kinds of cool old electronics there!

[shannonlove]

Sending mildly toxic items to the recycling center instead of the landfill doesn't do much for the environment. Biology is dominated by concentration. To little is a bad as to much. Small amounts of something is easily handled but large concentrations are lethal.

Modern landfills are pretty much eternal. Stuff buried there won't come out for centuries and then only slowly and highly diluted. Nature won't notice.

By contrast, recycling centers tend to concentrate toxic compounds e.g. you can't have phosphorus or anything else in recycled glass so they strip everything off with acid. All the now highly concentrated gunk has to go somewhere. Usually a toxic landfill because it's such a chemical mishmash that it has no use. When that concentrated stuff escapes, it will kill everything it touches.

It something of the problem they ran into with alkaline battery recycling. Putting all the waste from batteries in one place made it very dangerous compared to having dilute waste scattered over thousands of landfills.

[teaquack]

Got a question. I took everything off CRT and left only the tube. I would like to have the electron gun. There are no screws or anything like that. Would it be ok to break the tube? If so, where would be the best spot to break it? (I'm taking apart a small tv. i'm uploading image here and hoping it will show up.)

[huck alexander]

Great instructable! Was just given 2 large CRT's yesterday. I've made a very careful practice of harvesting these things. Your guide will be a valuable item to print out and put in my workbook for these occasions. Safety is critical.

One of my CRT's has been unplugged for over 1 year, which is what I prefer. Can your method be used to safely discharge a set that has been unplugged for under 3 mos?

Love it!

[tinstructable]

When I took mine apart, it never made the small *pop* like you mentioned. I did get the suction cup cap off and the vacuum filled, and then took everything else out very carefully. I had it on the day before, why did it not discharge?

[fostersfriend]

The suction cup does not hold the vacuum in it just is a large insulator

[red9er]

what is a flyback transformer? and what can it be used for?

[fostersfriend]

Very big sparks um hv capacitor charging Uzzorrs2k is a excellent website it has a ton of info on hv projects

[argos090]

Mine has the flyback transformer on the side with a lead to a rubber thing soldered to the board, anyone know what it might be?

[science rox]

will this wok for every single old tv? justn to check

[schumi23]

Mostly. They wont have all the same parts, but they will all have a capacitator, and a flyback transformer. Also, the screw will obviously not be in the same place.

[synchr0nize]

This is nuts.

[peckert]

I have a really small TV (the ones which can be operated by batteries). I just want to place it in a different case (together with an old pong clone) to make a pong-station out of it.
If i discharge the tube, for safety reasons, as you described here, will it still work after putting it then in a differnt housing? I don't wanna break it.

[brady911]

i wanted to point out that the most high voltage can do is burn you from the inside out if you are in contact for long, not kill you. The current is what killsm not the voltage.  It takes 50mA to kill, a CRT transformer only puts out about 20mA to 30mA.  It shouldn't hurt you, but could give severe burns.  I hope this helped you! :)

[dmccormick1]

i touched a capacitor in a TV and it threw me across a room and i was unconscious for a while. my father also touched one, though his was a microwave and it burned a hole in his finger lasted about a year before it healed over. but they can kill you there are countless reports of it happening. its always best to be careful.

[Applez00800]

Actually, lethal current is only around 30mA, but current as low as 20mA has known to kill. It depends mainly on the contact time and what path the current flows through your body(eg. your heart). The cause of death by electrocution is mainly due to the alternating current altering the rhythm of your heart's beat which causes it to freak out and eventually stop. You should probably avoid this. I have always thought it much safer to wear a grounding cord and strap (a bare wire wrapped around your arm with the other end grounded would suffice) on my arm if working with high voltage. At least this will give the electricity a path to follow that isn't through my heart, but instead through my arm and down the wire. I haven't tested this however...

Note that while it's the current that kills in most cases, high voltage can still cause serious and lethal burns to internal organs. This requires more contact time though.

[brady911]

Yes, that's a good point.