Apple Studio Display CRT 17" ... no picture...

The flybacks are shot. That is a very common problem with those monitors. I posted a thread back in Feb or so about it. Too lazy to look for it right now, plus I need to get back to work. Also a google groups search for Apple Studio Display Flyback will bring up alot of stuff.

The flyback for mine cost about $30 and an afternoon to replace it. I was able to calibrate it in about 15 min. Though I just use it as a bench monitor as I just eye balled it.

The standard disclaimer goes here for messing with monitors. If you don't know what your doing you can kill your self so get some one to help.

If you need some help I live in the Dallas area, so one school is finished for the semester I could help you.

Hey, I've got good news for you! It is in fact a common problem, and it's so common that Apple will fix it for you for free. The only downsides are that you have to deal with Apple phone support (how awful) and that it's about a two week turn around. All you have to do is call tech support and mention the Knowledge Base Article number, and then they'll say something dumb like "let me check with my supervisor." You'll then be on hold for about 4 hrs. and they'll finally come back and say, "you're correct, we are offering free repair". Then you set up to have a box mailed to you to put them in and send them off--All shipping charges Apple takes care of.

Make sure to reference Knowledge Base # 88195. They (tech support folks) won't ask you for the #, so let them know about the specific number. I've had 3 monitors fixed this way.

Good luck!

[quote]Hey, I’ve got good news for you! It is in fact a common problem, and it’s so common that Apple will fix it for you for free. The only downsides are that you have to deal with Apple phone support (how awful) and that it’s about a two week turn around. All you have to do is call tech support and mention the Knowledge Base Article number, and then they’ll say something dumb like “let me check with my supervisor.

you ever gonna meet up and give me mine? lol

Awesome Reverend-

I'm sending my two out soon. I called and got the boxes about a month ago, and they've sat packed up for that entire time. Oh well... called Apple today and my case is still valid, so now I have to call DHL.

Thanks to info in this thread, I pulled up the Apple Knowledge Base Article and phoned Apple. It took about 30 minutes on the phone but I did get the technician to agree to assign a case # and to have the monitor repaired at Apple's cost. He acknowledged this is a "known issue" and that is why Apple will cover the cost of the repair.

Unfortunately, I have to drop my Blue & White 17" Studio Display CRT off at a local Apple Authorized Service Center. No mail-in direct for me. Still, a short drive for repair is way better than a bad monitor sitting in the corner of my room.

Interestingly, I've been living with the popping, cracking, and spontaneous image zoom in and out for over two years. It just got progressively worse so that I finally stopped using the CRT and got a 19" LCD (LG 1920P=very cool!) last month. I was considering between eBaying the CRT for parts or making it into a fish tank when I figured I'd give getting it repaired one last try. If it wasn't covered by Apple, I certainly wouldn't pay to get it repaired. Some of the repair quotes, if you can even find someone who works on CRTs these days, are incredibly expensive!

This monitor has been a hassle ever since I got it. What a disappointment (as opposed to my PowerMac G3 B&W 350, which is still running strong). The monitor has been repaired TWICE before (in 1999 and then in 2001) under Apple Warranty and then under Apple Care Extended Coverage for the same type of issues. It's entirely ridiculous that it failed and needs repair again, but at least it's covered each time!

Best of luck to all else who need repairs too.

-ADM
:macos:

I just wanted to post a quick thank you to the contributors on this thread and let you all know my recent experiences.....

I have a graphite 17" Studio Display CRT (& PowerMac G4) and about a year ago when the intermittent "zooming" of the display finally became too irritating, I set off on the hunt for a new monitor. I wanted to keep with the Studio Display and eventually tracked down a used pair at a reasonable price with a (short) warrantee. Both worked fine, so I packed one away as a spare and used the other one. About 2 months ago the replacement started with the "zooming" problem (oh no...here we go again...) and failed much more severly that my first monitor with the screen going completely black with the sound of a fizz/crackle discharge mentioned in this thread. Out of the basement came the 3rd and that stayed together for a couple of weeks before succumbing to the same fate.

So here I am... back on my original semi-working monitor and 2 completely failed ones in the basement. Trying to get a better grip on the problem, I stumbled across this thread and it gave me hope. Folloing the advice above I called Apple Support and explained the issue, along with quoting the knowledge base article. In about an hour I had case numbers assigned for all three monitors and 2 days later 3 packing boxes arrived on my doorstep. I popped 2 of the monitors into them and returned them to Apple (Canada). Apple paid for all the shipping charges. I had been given a 3 week turn around expectation, but in a week the first one was back. The main board had been replaced and the monitor seemed to be working great. I then returned the 3rd faulty unit. 4 days of faultless behaviour and the second monitor returned. I swapped them over and again this unit performed perfectly for a week before the final unit arrived back today (04Feb05). I have set this one up now and everything seems good so far.

So now I have 3 good working monitors and I am very pleased with the way Apple have handled this. They were helpful (even if it took the technician about an hour to raise the paperwork), covered all the costs and provided an excellent service. This is one of the continuing joys of having a premium product.... premium performance AND premium service. Thanks Apple, and thanks to this thread for helping me get this done.

I just wanted to post my experience to encourage others to get your Studio Displays repaired and continue your happy experience with your Mac.

Thanks

jru

Makes me a bit tempted to buy a faulty one from ebay for £0.99.

But I only use LCDs now...

I went through 5 of those in 2 years. Complete crap monitors. Not worth fixing.

If you do fix these yourself, have someone around to dial 911 if you zap yourself. Were talkin about mucho voltage here.

I just bought a 21" studio display used off of ebay (possibly my 1st mistake) and it's got a big problem with the color. There's a dirty yellow-brownish spot in the upper left portion of the screen. Kind of looks like a big stain. Actually the color is uneven across the whole thing but that spot is the worst. I've tried (i think) all of the options in the system pref's but I can't get rid of the spot. I can move it a little which makes me think I'm missing something. If anyone can help I would greatly appreciate it. Any chance Apple would cover this too??

Oh, yeah - I emailed the seller and he claims is was perfect before he sent it.

It has been exposed to some sort of a magnetic field. It needs to be degaussed. Bring it to some old time tv repair shop and he will wave the magic degausser ring around it to clear it up.

Does the monitor have some sort of a built in degausser button/control? That might be enough to get rid of it.

It is very possible that the monitor was fine when it left the sellers location.

More than likely, the option to degauss would be on the 'on-screen' menu controls of the monitor and not something within the mac os.

I got mine at a university surplus sale thinking it worked. It had power, but no static build up or popping noises. I called Apple, told them I got it used and it wasn't working. I did say it used to make popping noises but now it didn't do anything (slight lie there). After I mentioned the tech article, they said they'd send a box for it - but if it wasn't the issue in the tech article, they'd charge me $100 for shipping and diagnostics. They sent the box back after 10 days and fixed it for free. The odd thing is instead of replacing the flybacks they replaced the main board. I don't know if that was a fluke or that there are multiple issues with this particular monitor. All I do know is I got a real pretty monitor for $25 - and it works.

I have absolutely no complaints.

Is this covered for the 21" blue and white studio display as well? Mine worked perfectly for years, then all of a sudden it is not displaying a picture. The power lights come on and it makes the "powering up" sound, but not picture. It's such an awesome monitor - any ideas? Apparently a TV repair guy said the CRT isn't receing power, but on the other hand he plugged it into a VERY old PC and doesn't typically service computer monitors. Any leads or suggestions?

I subscribe to this thread and got an e-mail when someone posted that the free repair program is dead. I'm not surprised they killed the program. Repairing CRTs is expensive. I suppose we're lucky it ran as long as it did.

This leads me to responding to the questions above. The answer is, if it's not working, it's not worth repairing. You'll have to suck it up and buy a new CRT or LCD. I suggest getting an LCD.

Finally, I still have my 17" Blue & White Studio Display here in my office. It's the one Apple fixed free of charge at the end of 2005 (see my posting above). I was angry and disappointed, but not surprised, that after just a couple months of infrequent use as a second monitor, it started to have the same problems as before. I didn't even bother calling in when it started acting up again. I was so ashamed. Maybe it hated me?

This means that after four repair attempts and many days of downtime, the problem was NEVER resolved. Apple could have saved a ton of money and me a ton of time by simply replacing the thing outright the first time with a model that worked.

The free repair program may be dead, but I wonder if a class-action lawsuit for selling knowingly bad monitors is coming alive?!