SSM-14N5U - worth repairing considering my location?

[shikikanzero]

TLDR: I'm pretty sure tubes are shot. Any Hawaii guys can tell me if you/anyone would pay ~$350 for a fully refurbished, RGB modded SSM-14N5U with a brand new tube considering it was probably your only option aside spending 2k+?

So, I think I already know the answer to this is that the tubes are shot, but just trying to bounce this off others.

So I have 2 SSM-14N5U's that I picked up for $10 off a auction, came from our main postal facility hub as part of their security cam setup. Monitors are dated 2000 and 2001, so safe to bet that they've been on 24/7 for the last 20 years. I started with fully recapping both boards which fixed some serious geometry and warmup issues, but as you can see in the pictures the colors are messed up. One has this red tint and the other has a blue tint. Pictures are being compared against my Panasonic BT-S1360Y. I'm sure the tubes are dead and I do have a source for 2 tubes at ~$500 shipped from France to Hawaii.

I've tried swapping main boards and neckboards between the two, and the issues seem to stick with the tubes. Would these be worth buying tubes for bringing my cost at ~$300 per monitor considering the cost of the replacement tube and caps? I intend on selling these, I'm located in Hawaii and PVM's of any sort are pretty much non-existent here, and shipping any in from the mainland is also a no go due to cost. I don't intend on price gouging on these like the market seems to be trending towards, but I just want to make sure I wouldn't end up in the red with these.

Thanks for any input!

[matt]

$350 seems to me like too much for a 14" monitor. But it's not out of line with the Ebay price of a 14N6U, which is what it would be equivalent to. I don't think the local market for CRTs is very good, but at least you don't have much competition and you only need to find homes for two of them. If you're patient you probably could make it work.

Doing a tube swap plus all the other work is a huge time investment, though (especially the yoke and convergence adjustments). If you don't plan on keeping the monitors, is it worth the time and effort you'd have to put into them?

[SuperSpongo]

14N6U, which is what it would be equivalent to.

But keep in mind that the N5U has RGB input, which the N5U does not! That's a huge factor in the price.

I have successfully RGB modded an N5MDE, but like you said, on top of tube swapping, you're looking at a couple of days worth of work.

[shikikanzero]

Thanks for the reply guys. Yeah the N6U is the version with factory RGB right? I do intend on RGB modding these using that one guide that's out there somewhere. As far as time, its not much of an issue for me as its honestly something I'm doing for fun, and experience.

I do have a line for a practically brand new 14M4U that I'm trying to get sorted out (but will need to fly to Kauai for it, probably when I'm there for work again), as well as 14" MD series PVM that is soon to be released to me, but the guy hasn't looked at the model number yet. Those would be the ones that I'd actually be keeping, or selling just to fund a 20" PVM if I ever some across one.

I'd honestly be okay with breaking even if it came out to that, if not just so that someone gets to have a PVM to use. I guess there must be some interest for these monitors though, I recently picked up the Panasonic in the pictures along with a PVM-8045Q from a small studio that was closing down in Iwilei, was originally listed super cheap but ended up in a bidding war with someone else. Even when I went to pick them up someone else had shown up due to some miscommunication (multiple people in charge of listing the same things) and ended up leaving him real bummed out.

I guess I'll actually just go ahead and order the tubes, if anything I'll loan them out to a friend at Kawaii Kon for them to use in the gaming room, and maybe I can get some hits for a sale there, hopefully if conventions can happen soon.

[SuperSpongo]

The most important thing to remember when doing the RGB mod is that the connector on the A board is labeled wrong (like, the actual silkscreen print is in the wrong order).

Also, I recently did a tube swap on a 20 inch PVM. Before disassembly, check the old tube for convergence strips and glued on magnets and take a picture of their positions. After the tube swap, chances are that you will have to reinstall them on the new tube as the deflection coil setup stays the same.

[matt]

Hah - I was interested in that Panasonic monitor too, but the lady selling it didn't seem to have her act together. Glad to see it went to somebody who appreciates it!

The supply of pro monitors here isn't very good and shipping from the mainland isn't a good option for most people - it's definitely a good thing to keep more of them around.