Last week my old CRT monitor nearly caught fire...

I pulled out my trusty Sony Trinitron from 1998 for a retro gaming session last Tuesday in my basement, and it started making this weird crackling noise after about 20 minutes. Then I saw a tiny puff of smoke near the power cord connection, so I yanked the plug fast. Anyone else ever have an old monitor suddenly go scary on them like that?

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2 Comments

grace4192mo ago

Yeah I used to be one of those people who thought old tech was built better and would just keep working forever... but that changed real fast when I had a similar scare with my old Dell monitor from 2001. It was fine for years then one day the back started getting super hot and I could smell something burning. I pulled the plug too just in time but honestly it made me realize these things aren't meant to last decades even if they look cool. The capacitors and power supply parts just get old and dry out or something. Now I never leave old CRT stuff plugged in when I'm not using it and I keep a fire extinguisher nearby just in case. That smoke puff is way too close to a real disaster for my comfort.

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finley_flores282mo ago

Had the exact same thing happen with an old Compaq monitor from 1999, got that burnt plastic smell and a little white smoke right where the cord goes in. Now I unplug everything old after each use, no way I'm risking my house for some nostalgic pixels.

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