Can you power drain a flat screen monitor?












0














Two people I work with stated that we should power drain a monitor. I've been working in computers for a while, and I've never heard of this. Is that a thing?



Okay, here's a little more context; when a computer won't start up (a really old computer, say 20 years old), it comes up to a black screen with a white flashing cursor in the upper left hand corner. When it ends up in this state after a reboot, we do what is referred to as a "power drain" which means that we unplug the computer from power, and hold in the power button for 20 seconds. Then when we plug it back in, the computer works again.



The other day, one of my co-workers told me to do a power drain on the monitor, and I have never in my entire life heard of anyone doing a "power drain" on a monitor; but given the age of the computers we are working on I was unsure if 20 years ago this was an actual fix or not.



Also, the monitors are LCDs from old IBM POSs.










share|improve this question




















  • 2




    It simply means you unplug the monitor allowing the capacitors to discharge. will allow you to determine, if it is useful, to do that to a monitor.
    – Ramhound
    Nov 30 at 5:15










  • Have your people specified any context in which a power drain is necessary?
    – grawity
    Nov 30 at 5:33






  • 1




    This sounds like sending a car mechanic apprentice to fetch the "blinker fluid"… Are you sure they (a) were serious and (b) know what they're talking about?
    – n.st
    Nov 30 at 5:49






  • 2




    @n.st: Well, it would make sense in the context of repairing a CRT (which apparently can be lethal unless discharged)...
    – grawity
    Nov 30 at 6:58










  • @grawity Almost anything that uses electrolytic capacitors can be seriously dangerous if they're not discharged properly. I've seen people get serious localized burns from accidentally touching the contacts of electrolytic caps that weren't discharged safely when dealing with stuff rated as low as 12V. Given that, and the energy levels needed in a CRT, I could easily see one of those being lethal if one of the big capacitors discharged through your body.
    – Austin Hemmelgarn
    Nov 30 at 20:09
















0














Two people I work with stated that we should power drain a monitor. I've been working in computers for a while, and I've never heard of this. Is that a thing?



Okay, here's a little more context; when a computer won't start up (a really old computer, say 20 years old), it comes up to a black screen with a white flashing cursor in the upper left hand corner. When it ends up in this state after a reboot, we do what is referred to as a "power drain" which means that we unplug the computer from power, and hold in the power button for 20 seconds. Then when we plug it back in, the computer works again.



The other day, one of my co-workers told me to do a power drain on the monitor, and I have never in my entire life heard of anyone doing a "power drain" on a monitor; but given the age of the computers we are working on I was unsure if 20 years ago this was an actual fix or not.



Also, the monitors are LCDs from old IBM POSs.










share|improve this question




















  • 2




    It simply means you unplug the monitor allowing the capacitors to discharge. will allow you to determine, if it is useful, to do that to a monitor.
    – Ramhound
    Nov 30 at 5:15










  • Have your people specified any context in which a power drain is necessary?
    – grawity
    Nov 30 at 5:33






  • 1




    This sounds like sending a car mechanic apprentice to fetch the "blinker fluid"… Are you sure they (a) were serious and (b) know what they're talking about?
    – n.st
    Nov 30 at 5:49






  • 2




    @n.st: Well, it would make sense in the context of repairing a CRT (which apparently can be lethal unless discharged)...
    – grawity
    Nov 30 at 6:58










  • @grawity Almost anything that uses electrolytic capacitors can be seriously dangerous if they're not discharged properly. I've seen people get serious localized burns from accidentally touching the contacts of electrolytic caps that weren't discharged safely when dealing with stuff rated as low as 12V. Given that, and the energy levels needed in a CRT, I could easily see one of those being lethal if one of the big capacitors discharged through your body.
    – Austin Hemmelgarn
    Nov 30 at 20:09














0












0








0







Two people I work with stated that we should power drain a monitor. I've been working in computers for a while, and I've never heard of this. Is that a thing?



Okay, here's a little more context; when a computer won't start up (a really old computer, say 20 years old), it comes up to a black screen with a white flashing cursor in the upper left hand corner. When it ends up in this state after a reboot, we do what is referred to as a "power drain" which means that we unplug the computer from power, and hold in the power button for 20 seconds. Then when we plug it back in, the computer works again.



The other day, one of my co-workers told me to do a power drain on the monitor, and I have never in my entire life heard of anyone doing a "power drain" on a monitor; but given the age of the computers we are working on I was unsure if 20 years ago this was an actual fix or not.



Also, the monitors are LCDs from old IBM POSs.










share|improve this question















Two people I work with stated that we should power drain a monitor. I've been working in computers for a while, and I've never heard of this. Is that a thing?



Okay, here's a little more context; when a computer won't start up (a really old computer, say 20 years old), it comes up to a black screen with a white flashing cursor in the upper left hand corner. When it ends up in this state after a reboot, we do what is referred to as a "power drain" which means that we unplug the computer from power, and hold in the power button for 20 seconds. Then when we plug it back in, the computer works again.



The other day, one of my co-workers told me to do a power drain on the monitor, and I have never in my entire life heard of anyone doing a "power drain" on a monitor; but given the age of the computers we are working on I was unsure if 20 years ago this was an actual fix or not.



Also, the monitors are LCDs from old IBM POSs.







display






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited Dec 2 at 13:32

























asked Nov 30 at 5:08









leeand00

6,3552681142




6,3552681142








  • 2




    It simply means you unplug the monitor allowing the capacitors to discharge. will allow you to determine, if it is useful, to do that to a monitor.
    – Ramhound
    Nov 30 at 5:15










  • Have your people specified any context in which a power drain is necessary?
    – grawity
    Nov 30 at 5:33






  • 1




    This sounds like sending a car mechanic apprentice to fetch the "blinker fluid"… Are you sure they (a) were serious and (b) know what they're talking about?
    – n.st
    Nov 30 at 5:49






  • 2




    @n.st: Well, it would make sense in the context of repairing a CRT (which apparently can be lethal unless discharged)...
    – grawity
    Nov 30 at 6:58










  • @grawity Almost anything that uses electrolytic capacitors can be seriously dangerous if they're not discharged properly. I've seen people get serious localized burns from accidentally touching the contacts of electrolytic caps that weren't discharged safely when dealing with stuff rated as low as 12V. Given that, and the energy levels needed in a CRT, I could easily see one of those being lethal if one of the big capacitors discharged through your body.
    – Austin Hemmelgarn
    Nov 30 at 20:09














  • 2




    It simply means you unplug the monitor allowing the capacitors to discharge. will allow you to determine, if it is useful, to do that to a monitor.
    – Ramhound
    Nov 30 at 5:15










  • Have your people specified any context in which a power drain is necessary?
    – grawity
    Nov 30 at 5:33






  • 1




    This sounds like sending a car mechanic apprentice to fetch the "blinker fluid"… Are you sure they (a) were serious and (b) know what they're talking about?
    – n.st
    Nov 30 at 5:49






  • 2




    @n.st: Well, it would make sense in the context of repairing a CRT (which apparently can be lethal unless discharged)...
    – grawity
    Nov 30 at 6:58










  • @grawity Almost anything that uses electrolytic capacitors can be seriously dangerous if they're not discharged properly. I've seen people get serious localized burns from accidentally touching the contacts of electrolytic caps that weren't discharged safely when dealing with stuff rated as low as 12V. Given that, and the energy levels needed in a CRT, I could easily see one of those being lethal if one of the big capacitors discharged through your body.
    – Austin Hemmelgarn
    Nov 30 at 20:09








2




2




It simply means you unplug the monitor allowing the capacitors to discharge. will allow you to determine, if it is useful, to do that to a monitor.
– Ramhound
Nov 30 at 5:15




It simply means you unplug the monitor allowing the capacitors to discharge. will allow you to determine, if it is useful, to do that to a monitor.
– Ramhound
Nov 30 at 5:15












Have your people specified any context in which a power drain is necessary?
– grawity
Nov 30 at 5:33




Have your people specified any context in which a power drain is necessary?
– grawity
Nov 30 at 5:33




1




1




This sounds like sending a car mechanic apprentice to fetch the "blinker fluid"… Are you sure they (a) were serious and (b) know what they're talking about?
– n.st
Nov 30 at 5:49




This sounds like sending a car mechanic apprentice to fetch the "blinker fluid"… Are you sure they (a) were serious and (b) know what they're talking about?
– n.st
Nov 30 at 5:49




2




2




@n.st: Well, it would make sense in the context of repairing a CRT (which apparently can be lethal unless discharged)...
– grawity
Nov 30 at 6:58




@n.st: Well, it would make sense in the context of repairing a CRT (which apparently can be lethal unless discharged)...
– grawity
Nov 30 at 6:58












@grawity Almost anything that uses electrolytic capacitors can be seriously dangerous if they're not discharged properly. I've seen people get serious localized burns from accidentally touching the contacts of electrolytic caps that weren't discharged safely when dealing with stuff rated as low as 12V. Given that, and the energy levels needed in a CRT, I could easily see one of those being lethal if one of the big capacitors discharged through your body.
– Austin Hemmelgarn
Nov 30 at 20:09




@grawity Almost anything that uses electrolytic capacitors can be seriously dangerous if they're not discharged properly. I've seen people get serious localized burns from accidentally touching the contacts of electrolytic caps that weren't discharged safely when dealing with stuff rated as low as 12V. Given that, and the energy levels needed in a CRT, I could easily see one of those being lethal if one of the big capacitors discharged through your body.
– Austin Hemmelgarn
Nov 30 at 20:09















active

oldest

votes











Your Answer








StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "3"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});

function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: true,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: 10,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});


}
});














draft saved

draft discarded


















StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fsuperuser.com%2fquestions%2f1379651%2fcan-you-power-drain-a-flat-screen-monitor%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);

Post as a guest















Required, but never shown






























active

oldest

votes













active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes
















draft saved

draft discarded




















































Thanks for contributing an answer to Super User!


  • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

But avoid



  • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

  • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.





Some of your past answers have not been well-received, and you're in danger of being blocked from answering.


Please pay close attention to the following guidance:


  • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

But avoid



  • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

  • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




draft saved


draft discarded














StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fsuperuser.com%2fquestions%2f1379651%2fcan-you-power-drain-a-flat-screen-monitor%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);

Post as a guest















Required, but never shown





















































Required, but never shown














Required, but never shown












Required, but never shown







Required, but never shown

































Required, but never shown














Required, but never shown












Required, but never shown







Required, but never shown







Popular posts from this blog

Сан-Квентин

8-я гвардейская общевойсковая армия

Алькесар