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.

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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!

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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...

Step 2: Take the Cover Off

Take the back cover off the TV or monitor. The screws can be difficult to find, but take your time...

Step 3: The Dangerous Part...

Now, this is the dangerous part, discharging the CRT...
Why should you do this? Because the CRT acts like a high voltage capacitor and it can hold a lethal charge. The charge stored in the CRT can last a very long time, usually a few months, sometimes for a few years...

So it is important to safely discharge the CRT before you do anything else - otherwise you might end up in the grave...

To discharge the CRT:
Connect one alligator connector clip to a flat-head screwdriver, and the other clip to another any screwdriver.
Push one screwdriver into the earth ground and take the other flat-head screwdriver and gently put the end under the suction-like cap. Keep pushing it in until you here a loud (or faint) "SNAP", the CRT is discharged, but push in the screw driver until you feel a little bump, the screwdriver had touched the metal clips Now the CRT is completely discharged.

Now, simply cut the HV wire off near the suction-like cap.
_{I took the suction-like cap off completely because I know how to do it. Taking the suction-like cap off the CRT can be tricky and dangerous.}

Step 4: Cut Up the Wires

Now the CRT is discharged, cut all the wire that are connected to the CRT. So we can take the electronics out.

Step 5: And the Screws...

And hunt down all the hidden screws and take them off the circuit board...

Step 6: Put the Cover Back On...

One last thing to do... Put the back cover back on the TV or monitor to make it safe from an implosion.

And can you do me a favor? Please take the CRT to a recycle facility. Please don't dump the CRT to the landfill. Because of this, the phosphor and other chemicals that make the CRT screen glow is extremely toxic and it is very harmful for the environment, so can you take it to a recycle facility?

Step 7: And You Are Done!

And you are done!
There are the instructions on how to take apart a TV or monitor!

The main reason why I wanted to take apart a TV or monitor is I am after one part: The flyback transformer. You can make many great high voltage projects with the flybacks.

Check out those two great instructables about how to make a high voltage power supply with a flyback transformer:
MAKE A HIGH VOLTAGE SUPPLY IN 5 MINUTES
Simple flyback driver

Here is another instructable about how to make a lighting globe with a flyback transformer.
Make your own Lightning Globe!

And most of the other parts inside the TV or a monitor can be quite useful too. 

Before you throw out all your unwanted TV parts, be sure to check out this instructable on how to get tons of  enameled wire! How to get tons of free enameled copper wire

I hope you found this instructable useful!
If you have any questions, or need help, or found an error, or anything, make a comment!

Comments

[caroking5133]

Do these packs look like the items that contain the poison part of television sets? I collect scrap wire to peel and recycle the copper. I found this on the street but don't know what it came off of. Lots of nice looking wire to peel but I scare myself it may be from a television and don't want to mess with it if it will leak something when I cut the wires loose. I looked around and couldn't find a specific picture of the dangerous item on televisions.
Thank you for your time!

[sazzefraz1]

My new thriftstore TV looks burned inside, a few elektrics explode. I don't have a suction cap like you do, there is a hole. I already cut the wires of because there was no voltage. Can I remove it safely now? I am not sure it's save.

[mohamadb030]

Wow I was doing this because I really wanted the speaker

[redbeth]

I have an old digital CRT set that hasn't worked for years. It's extremely big , bulky and heavy ( the two delivery guys who brought it in looked near to collapse after carrying it six feet ...) , I was thinking of unscrewing the case and ripping the insides out so I can dispose of it bit by bit . Would it still be dangerous after years out of use ? Can everything just go in the bin , or are there parts I need to take to Currys or something for disposal ?

[xDark_Alleyx01x]

What is that blue thing visible in the second picture in step 2?

[xDark_Alleyx01x]

Scratch that, third picture

[CarolynK24]

Thank you for this fantastic and very informative writing on taking apart televisions. I have a few dead T.V.'s I want to take the copper out of but heard taking televisions apart was dangerous. I wondered what the dangerous part was in those things.

[jianju]

I accidentally discharged a large, heavy CRT through my body into the ground. It hurt a little, but I shook it off.

[EkriirkE]

Earth ground? Wat.

[devicemodder]

i talked with a tv repair person and they said that a screwdriver can't handle 10,000 volts.he says that you should use a high voltage probe connected to a 1mega ohm half watt resistor just to be safe. here is a pic of the probe.

[Yonatan24]

ILL TELL YOU A SECRET:

There are a lot of kinds of screwdrivers, some can handle very high voltages and some can't :)

[Plasmana]

That is true, screwdrivers, cannot handle 10Kv, however, the screwdriver is grounded, so it is 0v.

[tcarpenter]

Screwdriver will be fine. Your safety, however, depends on how thick the plastic mold around the one you're touching is though. Like these other guys says, current is the issue. However, even with a large current, in this situation, the current flow will last half an instant, not even long enough to break a low current fuse, given the chance. Don't worry about what "professionals" use. Use what you have; screwdrivers are bound to have some resistance anyway, depending on the metal. If you want to feel safe, buy a random resistor >100Kohm (at least 1/4 watt) and splice it in series with whatever you have going on. Like I said before, even if the power is measured over that, it's pretty instantaneous, so your resistor won't burn out (similar to the fuse idea).

[Applez00800]

The screwdriver isn't 0V, and technically, neither is ground. Ground is only a reference point. A voltage is the potential difference between two points, and ground is simply used as the lower of the two terms in the difference equation.

The screwdrivers + alligator clip + wire are at ground voltage before touching the high voltage wire. When one of the screwdrivers touches the HV wire however, there will be a potential difference of +10-20kV across the screwdrivers + Alligator clip + wire with respect to the ground voltage. This will mean that a current will flow through them (a VERY high current). It's the current that will damage the screwdrivers, not the voltage. An increase in voltage will produce an increase the current.

[awang8]

My local TV repair guy uses something that looks like pen with a wire coming out of one end. He then plugs the wire into the mains ground, touches the metal thingy thing trys to find out what broke.

[Applez00800]

Also, although it won't be much of a risk if you have a good ground connection, make sure that the screwdriver you're using has a good deal of insulation on the handle. Do NOT use those micro screwdrivers with metal handles. If you have already however and are still with the living, it is because the resistance of your body is MUCH greater than the resistance in the wire connection the screwdriver to ground. Electricity takes the path of least resistance (well, current will still flow through all paths, but will be inversely proportional to their resistances)

[Applez00800]

It may be 10,000V, but the the transient time is so small that a screwdriver will suffice. You might also notice that he used tiny multi-core wire to connect between the two screwdrivers. If the voltage was constant, the wire would act like a fuse and melt almost instantaneously, but the time that it takes to discharge the CRT will likely be in the low milliseconds, so this isn't a problem.

[Electronics111]

Or make one like me, 100 10M ohm resistors. But I'm getting a proper one as well anyway. (from ebay of course)

[Xellers]

The screwdriver may be slightly damaged, but there is no way I'm paying for one of those "probes".

[Derin]

I know that HV probes are on power poles,look for some poles where the line goes into the ground and some nice company workers.