Monitor Blew Up

mlewis wrote on 7/27/2003, 1:23 PM
Seriously... i was capturing and about 5 or 10 min into it, i hear a loud "pop", turn around and see white smoke drifting out of the top of the monitor. Vegas 4.0 was frozen (monitor still displayed) and the entire computer was frozen as well (couldn't power off with button... had to hold for 6 seconds which means it's hung).
Could the capture or software have had anything to do with this? The video card??? I havn't opened the computer yet, but i guess the video card could be done for. Anyone with ideas on what to look for or how/if the Vegas software could have contributed to this?
Thanks. :-(
matt

Comments

sek0910 wrote on 7/27/2003, 2:01 PM
Well, I think we all feel that Vegas is a dynamite program, but I seriously doubt if it blew up your monitor.

I've had several monitors die on me myself,and I just went out and bought a new one. 17" monitors can be bought for as little as $59.

I guess a short in the video card could possibly have somehow shorted out the monitor, but the only real way to find out is to attach another monitor to your computer and turn it on. Does your computer seem to turn on and boot up now?

Other than that, I don't know what to say.
BillyBoy wrote on 7/27/2003, 2:56 PM
Had a similar thing happen to a 56K modem. As was my practice back then I would leave the room where the computer was for extended times while dowloading some larger file. I was in the basement at the time, heard the smoke alarm go off, thinking it was something in the kitchen, nope it was the external modem. Apparently the power supply overheated. Those little cubes that plug into the wall outlet was so hot I couldn't keep my hand on it for more than a couple seconds.

In your case sounds like it was the monitor. Probably something in the high voltage section. It happens. Not to scare anyone but TV's have been known to start house fires in the middle of the night. They don't have to be on, just plugged in. Especially newer ones with 'instant' on, they are always drawing power.
AlexB wrote on 7/27/2003, 8:50 PM
Funny thing "the monitor still displayed"????
Did you try to turn it on again after a break? Sounds rather like some small insect got into the hot parts of the thing and was cremated by high voltage (smoke). A second try won't destroy much more of the monitor/computer.
mlewis wrote on 7/27/2003, 9:04 PM
Haha... yeah, it still displayed (a frozen computer). I turned it on a few hours later, and it's just like new... no problems whatsoever. :-)
The pop was pretty loud, and it smoked for about 15 long seconds... personally i think it might have been a capacitor or something... but a bug is just as likely i suppose. Whatever it is, it must not have been important. :-)
BTW, i didn't mean to imply that the software destroyed it, but rather if my specific capture had done it via the video card. I love Vegas 4.0! :)
THanks,
matt