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The Great CRT Challenge!

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tcmtech

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The weather has finaly warmed up enough to start melting the snow around my place and one of my higher priority projects is cleaning up my scrap and salvageable items.

One thing I have is about 10 TV and computer monitor CRT's. Normaly I just take out some frustration on them with a big hammer or my old 22 rifle.
Also a local school is updating the computer system and I may be aquiring about 10 to as many as 30 more computers and monitors. ;)

I strip all the circuit boards and save them for parts. All the screws go in my sorting bins, any copper and metal gets put in the metals and wire barrels, and the plastic all gets "thermaly reconverted" for heat in my boiler.

The CRT's I have no real use for. Last year I filled a 55 gallon drum nearly full with crushed glass.

For this batch I though I would pose the challenge to all of you to give me some fun and unique ideas on how to destroy them before they go into the glass recycler.

So what do you got? :)
 
Thermally reconverted? Man I'd hate to live downwind from your place =O

I like the .22 CRT target practice idea. I haven't shot a .22 since I was in the boyscout =) (Only merrit badge I ever got was for rifle shooting) And guns become just another tool to use once you learn to handle them properly and fire a few. I had a friend I've lost touch with that had a 50 caliber rifle and managed to get ahold of some explosives rounds. Wish I'd seen them going off =)


Put one on a good hot coal fire blow some air into the coals get a nice hot tube, see what happens when the glass fails. It shouldn't explode since it's supposed to be a vacuum inside so when the glass gets hot enough to melt it may implode in an interesting manner, or just shatter into your typical pile.
 
Inquire with CRT manufacturers/rebuilders since some of them may pay for your duds. They typically recover the phosphor and then the glass envelope. If you have to pay for shipping then I'd shoot them (the CRTs) with the .22 as well!
 
Oooo I got a good one.
Tesla coil feeding the electron guns. Pew pew booom
 
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I am for the idea of putting the CRT on a fire.
When the glass is hot enough, the internal vacuum will cause a suck-in. Either the tube will collapse, or, a small hole will be sucked through the glass at its softest point.

I once saw this happen in a smaller way with a valve in a signal generator. Something failed and the valve passed LOTS of current resulting in the glass envelope becoming plastic. The vacuum then sucked a 1-2mm hole through the glass.

JimB
 
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I live on enough land where I can shoot whenever I want, a slug out of a 12 gauge into a 20" CRT is a beautiful thing!

Last summer I finally retired my old P2 dell, after stripping anything usable out of it, I invited the neighbours over and we put about 400 rounds from a little 22 semi pistol into all sides. Wonder what the trash service thought about that.
 
Hey tcmtech, buy yourself a decent digital movie camera and start takeing video for us =) You can get even HD cameras for dirt cheap nowdays.
 
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If I'm not mistaken, the "gunmounts" for the electron gun in a crt monitor have a little bar of glass that are called borosticks.

These too are worth money to glass artists. :)

I think Origin Glass, a subsidiary of Elan Technology now makes them purposely for glass artists but if you're going to be intentionally deconstructing some CRT monitors, I'd be interested in if you can get them out and if so, what colors you end up with.

Just something to consider...
 
Isn't there a trace amount of mercury in a CRT? Better hope the EPA dosn't catch wind of you. hehe
 
Super Ideas! keep them comming!

Isn't there a trace amount of mercury in a CRT? Better hope the EPA dosn't catch wind of you. hehe

Perhaps, but how many CRT's are crushed up in your local and fill? :eek:
 
How about dropping one CRT from a height onto a small stack of CRT's. Multiple implosions might be interesting if you can get them all to break although I imagine they're rather tough.
 
Super Ideas! keep them comming!



Perhaps, but how many CRT's are crushed up in your local and fill? :eek:

I used to work for a company that sold paper products. We threw out a pallet full of old plastic towel dispensers one time. We had a really cool happy-go-lucky kinda guy for a trash route driver, so I helped him heave them into the back of the packer truck. He ran the compactor and I commented on the satisfying crunch they made. He replied "oh, thats nothing, my favorite are TVs. They make the whole truck shake!":D

How about dropping one CRT from a height onto a small stack of CRT's. Multiple implosions might be interesting if you can get them all to break although I imagine they're rather tough.

I like this one. Kinda like CRT bowling;) Might need to rent a arial lift though... could get costly.....
 
Sony CRT's

Watch out for the Sony's they might just bounce a 22 back at you. They are thick.

I thought maybe some pyro technics. Find a tree to stand behind. Hit the record button.

kv:D

Edit: I like the Catapult.:)
 
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Explosives penetrate worth crap. You'll get a bigger boom out of the explosive than the tube, no fun in that, or you'd just blow the explosives =)
 
I still have my fingers. I know when to quit.

Explosives penetrate worth crap. You'll get a bigger boom out of the explosive than the tube, no fun in that, or you'd just blow the explosives =)


There are a lot of things I can think of very explosive but won't talk about it here nor will I recommend how to do it. It's only for those without skill level to do it even then it's really dangerous. And those people already know what could be used and how to do it.

I still like the catapult.

kv:)
 
Explosives are not actualy a problem! My brother does some very big and very good amature fireworks shows. He is up to 6 inch shells pushing 400 ft high! All home made too! We might go to 10" this year and try for 700 ft!

I just dont want glass shards spead out all over. Thats my only limitation.
 
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