Destroyed IBM 5151 Monitor - Anything Useful?

[PatrickXT]

I won an eBay auction for an IBM 5151 Monitor that was utterly destroyed in transit. The seller's packing job seemed above average. There was a foam pad plus bubble wrap within an inner box which was placed in an outer box containing additional packing material. I do think they could have added a bit more padding, seeing how thin that foam is, but I cannot fathom how UPS managed to totally smash apart the shell of the monitor. One side was totally shattered and as you can see there are fragments that are little more than plastic dust. I could understand a fall from a stack of boxes causing a crack or two, but with two boxes combined with at least a modest amount of cushioning that's about the worst I'd have expected.

Is there anything here worth saving, or is one for the recycling center (assuming they'll accept it in this condition)? Perhaps the knobs and cord could be of use, but I don't know CRT repair, so it's doubtful I could utilize anything beyond that myself. The picture tube appears to be intact, so it might be possible to transplant it into another shell, but it's a shame as this one was nearly pristine with almost no yellowing. I'll probably hold onto it until I can find another. Then perhaps I'll give this one away if there's anything of value left, or discarding it if not.

Is there anything I can do on my end to help prevent this kind of damage? I hate to advise sellers regarding packing, considering if it's subsequently damaged the blame could be placed on me. Plus he did a decent job. Even if he'd done a little better it's hard to imagine it surviving that journey unscathed. Perhaps the biggest mistake was conducting the transaction at Christmas time.

 

[Eudimorphodon]

I remember the plastic shells of those monitors getting brittle back in the 1990’s. I’m sure it varies from unit to unit, but I think I’d be afraid to ship one now under almost any circumstances. Maybe cast molded foam, but even then I’d worry about internal mounts cracking off if shook hard enough.

 

[Chuck(G)]

Is the CRT intact? If so, I'd probably save that and the PCB. Spares are terribly common now. My first mono monitor for my 5150 was an 18" OEM kit monitor in a plywood box. People thought it was crude-looking, but the focus was absolutely tack-sharp and bright.

 

[Larrydanna]

Is there anything I can do on my end to help prevent this kind of damage?

Yeah, pick up the monitor in-person. I know it isn't easy, but these monitors (5151, 5153, 5154) can easily destroy themselves in shipping by virtue of their own internal weight.

I have a similar situation from just a few months ago. Since then, I recently drove 3 hours, one-way, on a work-night to pick up a 5151 in good condition.

It's possible to ship one successfully, but I think, receiving one in good condition is purely up to chance. (...I'm sorry to say.)

 

[T-R-A]

I remember the plastic shells of those monitors getting brittle back in the 1990’s. I’m sure it varies from unit to unit, but I think I’d be afraid to ship one now under almost any circumstances. Maybe cast molded foam, but even then I’d worry about internal mounts cracking off if shook hard enough.

Almost all the plastics on my c.1980s stuff is now so brittle that it breaks (more like shatters) with very little force. I picked up an IBM CGA monitor about a year ago and it literally crumbled in my arms. Too much damage to even bother.

 

[VERAULT]

I bought some new shelves to better store all my monitors and I was moving a 1995 apple monitor onyo kt and just by holding it one half crumpled in.. Just hsppened today.. Apple Macs are the worst for plastic decomposition but everything is getting old.

 

[Trixter]

The issue with shipping monitors is that you have to assume the box will be dropped up to 4 feet (the max height a drop can occur at USPS distribution centers), or stepped on (a common practice for UPS and FedEx carriers to reach boxes at the top of the truck). Monitors are hollow glass tubes and hollow plastic, with some circuit boards thrown in, so you can imagine how this usually goes.

Sometimes you get lucky. And some people have reported success taking the tube out and shipping the tube and the shell separately, using different packing methods appropriate for each. But I don't ship monitors any more.

 

[Plasma]

I would go one further and say you should prepare your package to survive getting thrown down a flight of stairs.

Expanding foam is the best method for packing CRTs but few ebay sellers use it. Even so it's still risky shipping those old IBM monitors.

 

[VileR]

Is there anything I can do on my end to help prevent this kind of damage? I hate to advise sellers regarding packing, considering if it's subsequently damaged the blame could be placed on me. Plus he did a decent job. Even if he'd done a little better it's hard to imagine it surviving that journey unscathed. Perhaps the biggest mistake was conducting the transaction at Christmas time.

My experience with what did and did not work (pictures included): https://int10h.org/blog/2021/04/safe-crt-monitor-shipping-5153-makes-it/

The tl;dr version would be: protect in a way that steers concussive force away from the most vulnerable parts, double-pack in sturdy boxes, and make sure the CRT is face-down (even if you can't very well expect it to stay that way throughout the journey). But unfortunately you can never really know; there have been examples where the monitor was barely even packed at all, but still arrived intact somehow. And vice versa - if someone along the way is feeling especially meticulous and thorough, they'll find a way to smash it up regardless. #2 in my linked post really should've made it.

 

[VERAULT]

You have to take an offensive approach at this. I watch the Fedex drivers litterally toss my boxes onto my driveway. If your items arent treated like they are highly radioactive and need lots of shielding they wont make it.. More often than not you get a greedy shipper who wants every dollar they can get. Not enough tape, a small inadequarte box. And one layer of packing material or bubble wrap which is useless. If you can still feel something hard coming through the bubble wrap.. its not working.. It needs to be like the core of the earth suspended in the center where you cant get to it. I spend alot of money on packing and shipping. My stuff pretty much always gets there safe and sound as long as its not tampered with.

 

[PatrickXT]

I took a chance on another and it was a success, no damage whatsoever this time around. My Hercules card appears to be in good working order as well. I still have the broken 5151 sitting around for the time being. I'm not sure if anything from it can be salvaged. The screen isn't cracked at least, but I'm actually not sure if the entire picture tube is intact. If it is then perhaps it'd be of use to somebody with a failed unit. I suppose at minimum I should cut off the cord. I've seen some out there with broken DE-9 plugs.

 

[VERAULT]

no you should not cut the cord off.. you should never ever do that. Thats terrible.

 

[PatrickXT]

Admittedly it's probably not of much value, so just take the entire thing to recycling as-is? The shell is in pieces and I know nothing about CRT disassembly. I suppose if somebody wanted to buy it as-is I could sell it, but unless it's local we'd simply have to hope what little might be intact survives another round of shipping.

 

[jafir]

I’ve not opened one of these, but based on the photo at minuszerodegrees it looks like you can remove the entire cable, so you don’t have to cut it.

minuszerodegrees.net

 

[VERAULT]

yes sell it. someone will buy it.

 

[PatrickXT]

OK, I'll take another peek at it and see what I can see regarding the condition. Assuming it's worth saving I'd rather keep the cables with and and find somebody to take the whole thing. I'm not looking to make any money on it, but shipping these is a bit pricey and I assume there aren't too many people out there willing to pay to ship one in this condition, but I could be wrong. I believe the recycling center here charges a small fee at least, so if I had to pay for somebody to take it, that wouldn't be worst thing in the world. Predictably the seller had no interest in taking it back.

 

[SomeGuy]

I think at some point, someone is going to have to start 3-d printing replacement cases for these things.

If it were me, I'd disassemble it and check the condition of the parts or even see if it could be made working. My main concern would be if the frame is warped it might short something out. I'd check to see if anything is cracked or ripped off on the PCBs. Then I'd inspect the tube. If it is not cracked anywhere it very well may still be good. Be very careful if you remove the CRT board on the back of the CRT, there is a little glass bit in the center that can break off very easily (it is used for intentionally imploding the tube at disposal). Hopefully that didn't already break.

 

[Pickelhaube808]

If the CRT and electronics are intact, I would save it for a future project or sell it to someone else for one of theirs. A good green phosphor CRT would be good for rebuilding or replacing compatible components in other 80s gear-

 

[PatrickXT]

One entire side of the monitor case is simply gone, so now that the box is out of the way it's pretty easy to look inside. At least to my untrained eye, I'm not spotting any damage to the internal components. What do you all think? On a side note, I see the CRT is made by a company called Clinton Taiwan Corp. Looking through the top grill of my replacement 5151, it clearly has Samsung printed on the label. I wonder if the components are all interchangeable between the two.

 

[maxtherabbit]

They are interchangeable