Author Topic: Repair/Remove anti-glare coating on a CRT?  (Read 14868 times)

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Offline Flybye

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Repair/Remove anti-glare coating on a CRT?
« on: Thu, 26 August 2010, 07:51:38 »
Hi all.  I'm glad I came across this site because you guys seem like the home brew savvy guys that may have the solution for me. :)

I have an HP A7217A (Sony GDM-FW900) 24" CRT that I acquired as new-old stock a few years ago for about $350.  Yeah, that was a heck of a day.  I had to help the Fedex guy carry it into the house. :lol:

Anyways, this bad boy has been nothing but beautiful, until...  I had just finished cutting my nails and must have left a sharp edge I did not notice.  While wiping the screen, I made a scratch on the anti-glare coating.  

I've read around on the internet for possible solutions. One was getting a scouring pad and removing the entire coating.  I tested this on a 14" monitor, but was unhappy with the results. It left too many micro scratches, but I think the scratches were on left over coating and not on the glass.

I've read of other solutions ranging from car waxes to toothpaste and nothing has seemed to work.  At this point, I'm convinced the only real solution would be to take the monitor completly apart and fully remove the coating from the glass.  I'm worried about taking apart the monitor, though.

Any thoughts, comments, suggestions, and anything else you guys can think of will be greatly appreciated. :)

Offline TheSoulhunter

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Repair/Remove anti-glare coating on a CRT?
« Reply #1 on: Thu, 26 August 2010, 11:54:06 »
Sandpaper with 8000-12000 grid, its used to give knifes or chrome parts a mirror finish!
Perhaps start with 4000-8000 and finish with 6000-12000...

Offline TheSoulhunter

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Repair/Remove anti-glare coating on a CRT?
« Reply #2 on: Thu, 26 August 2010, 12:10:45 »
Yep, touching the wrong things could kill ya! *Zaaaap*
« Last Edit: Thu, 26 August 2010, 12:16:36 by TheSoulhunter »

Offline Flybye

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Repair/Remove anti-glare coating on a CRT?
« Reply #3 on: Fri, 27 August 2010, 07:02:15 »
TheSoulhunter, I never thought about using high grit sandpaper.  Will definitely do some testing. Thx.

Ripster, yeah, opening up this thing is my last option.  I thought I had read somewhere that leaving the power button on with the monitor unplugged overnight would also discharge everything.  Maybe not?

Offline EverythingIBM

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Repair/Remove anti-glare coating on a CRT?
« Reply #4 on: Fri, 27 August 2010, 09:40:45 »
Quote from: Flybye;217206
TheSoulhunter, I never thought about using high grit sandpaper.  Will definitely do some testing. Thx.

Ripster, yeah, opening up this thing is my last option.  I thought I had read somewhere that leaving the power button on with the monitor unplugged overnight would also discharge everything.  Maybe not?


There's no way of telling, the capacitors can have a mind of their own when it comes to storing voltage. There's so many variables involved that it's best just to leave them alone.

Is the scratch really that major?* I don't think you'd notice it when the monitor is turned on.

*if it's due purely to aesthetic reasons, that's understandable too, but if it doesn't affect performance, I wouldn't take apart the whole thing just to replace the glass. That will take too much time, it's dangerous, and simply not worth it I think.
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Offline Flybye

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Repair/Remove anti-glare coating on a CRT?
« Reply #5 on: Fri, 27 August 2010, 12:44:42 »
Quote from: EverythingIBM;217267
....Is the scratch really that major?* I don't think you'd notice it when the monitor is turned on.

*if it's due purely to aesthetic reasons.....

It is about 4 inches long, is vertical, and it is almost right down the center of the screen.

The performance of the monitor is not affected at all.  It is just a scratch off the anti-glare coating on the glass.  Believe me, if there is a way to repair this without having to take apart the monitor, I am all eyes and ears!

You really only see it when the screen is all black/white or all of one shade.


Offline MissileMike

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Repair/Remove anti-glare coating on a CRT?
« Reply #6 on: Fri, 27 August 2010, 13:00:43 »
Could acetone take out the coating?
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Offline Infinite north

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Repair/Remove anti-glare coating on a CRT?
« Reply #7 on: Fri, 27 August 2010, 13:17:32 »
There is a forum thread for your monitor, people cover ways to remove the film somewhere in the mass of it.

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=952788

Offline Stone

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Repair/Remove anti-glare coating on a CRT?
« Reply #8 on: Sun, 29 August 2010, 07:12:45 »
I did much the same thing with my last pair of glasses - using the wrong material for cleaning left some ugly scratches. I used my Dremel with one of the soft felt buffing wheels and some jeweller's rouge to remove the entire AR coating - you have to go slowly and check often (look at a sharp angle with a bright light source in the background to see where the coating still adheres) but it worked very well.

In fact it worked so well the glare became intolerable and I ended up buying a new pair of specs, but it's definitely one way of doing it! :becky:

Stone

Offline Rajagra

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Repair/Remove anti-glare coating on a CRT?
« Reply #9 on: Sun, 29 August 2010, 18:19:48 »
On at least some screens, the anti-glare coating is in fact a film that has been applied. You can use a scalpel to start peeling it away at the corner, then carefully pull the whole thing off.

Offline Flybye

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Repair/Remove anti-glare coating on a CRT?
« Reply #10 on: Thu, 02 September 2010, 00:01:57 »
Thanks guys.  I'll be over there inquiring on it. :)

Offline firestorm

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Repair/Remove anti-glare coating on a CRT?
« Reply #11 on: Thu, 02 September 2010, 08:42:54 »
I removed the anti-glare *film* from a Samsung 900IFT 19" CRT.  At some point, some glass cleaner that contained either vinegar or ammonia got on the top edge of the screen and damaged the coating.  After a while, it bothered me enough that I tried removing the rest with both types of cleaner.  Unfortunately, that only removed about 5-10% of the coating.

At this point, I attempted to remove the coating (or what I thought was a mere coating) with a razor installed in a scraper tool (i.e. as used to remove paint from glass.)  With some pressure on the blade, it dug into the surface, revealing that there was actually a plastic film there.  This is likely why your test screen scratched, since I can't imagine a typical scouring pad scratching glass too easily.

I ended up scoring the outer edges with a razor, as the film appears to cover the entire glass (i.e. continues under the bezel), then used the razor to carefully scrape the film off.  The film was fairly substantial, but it was the glue that put up the biggest fight.  I believe I used mostly glass cleaner as a solvent to help in the glue removal, perhaps some alcohol.  If I had Goo Gone or similar, I probably would have tried that.