Using A Degaussing Coil
Sometimes when you move a game you might find that your monitor has some areas of discoloration or that your once bright colors now appear somewhat washed out. This might be due in part to some unwanted magnetic fields interfering with your screen. In this post, we’ll discuss how to use a degaussing coil to solve the issues caused by these fields.
Using A Degaussing Coil
Before we get started, let’s talk about what a degaussing coil does. The job of the degaussing coil is to demagnetize the shadow mask which is similar to a metal mesh plate located inside your tube. The holes in this plate are aligned to ensure that the electrons from the red, green and blue cathode guns reach the same colored phosphors on the monitor. Should this plate become magnetized, the color and focus of your screen can suffer. Hopefully by demagnetizing the shadow mask you can solve some of the discoloration and focus problems you might be having. Please see our links below for more information on purchasing a degaussing coil.
Buy a Degaussing Coil (CRTs Less Than 19″)
Buy a Degaussing Coil from Arcade Shop now!
Once you have purchased a degaussing coil, you can begin the process of degaussing your monitor. First off, make sure that you have the degaussing coil plugged in and that the power to your arcade game is on. Take the degaussing coil and hold it to the center of your monitor screen. Press the button to active the degaussing coil and move it in small circles across the front of your monitor. Slowly begin to widen the circles as you back away from the monitor. As you do this you will notice the degaussing effect on the monitor start to dwindle. Keep repeating the circles until the coil has no effect on the monitor then release the button. You have now completed the process of degaussing your monitor.
At this point, you might want to check your screen to see if it made a difference in your picture. We sometimes repeat this process if we didn’t get the desired effect the first time. Remember that this process can be used for any CRT based screen not just arcade monitors. If you have any comments, questions or suggestions about degaussing a monitor please leave them below.
Good job!! Great video
If you have a pacemaker, stay far far away from degaussing coils
Hey guys. Great info! I have four 19″ monitors and one 25″ monitor. Will the 19″ coil still work on the 25″ monitor? Or do I need to buy the bigger coil? And, will that the bigger coil be ok on my 19″ monitors?
Thanks in advance.
John
John,
The smaller degaussing coil should work fine for all of your monitors. For some reason Amazon.com lists this degaussing coil as only working on 19″ monitors or smaller but we have successfully used it for pretty much any size tube. Of course, the bigger the coil you get the more of an effect it will have on the monitor but overall any degaussing coil you get from a reputable source should work on all your monitors.
We have also featured your question on episode 7 of our Q&A podcast. Please listen to it for more of our thoughts on your question. Thank you for your question and good luck with your future repairs.