Sources for Monitor Schematics and Parts by John Bachman COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This material is copyrighted under United States of America copyright laws. All rights are retained by the author. Purchase of this material entitles the purchaser to his/her private use. Reproduction or distribution of this material by other than the author is expressly forbidden. Two problems in servicing computer monitors are where to get schematics, and where to get parts. Schematics and other technical data are nearly impossible to acquire for many monitors. Some manufacturers are willing to sell their schematics and technical manuals; many will not. Some manufacturers cannot be found. This article will help with the schematic problem, but there are monitors for which no data is available. Finding parts is not as difficult as schematics, but it still can be a problem. Some manufacturers try to control parts availability, but a third party monitor parts industry fills much of the gap. Most parts can be found if you know where to look. But, once again, there are some parts that are simply not available. This article will provide a list of parts sources that should solve this problem for you. TECHNICAL MANUALS AND SCHEMATICS There are two sources for schematics: manufacturers and reverse engineering companies. Some manufacturers will sell a copy of their technical manuals and/or schematics which are generally very accurate, giving you all of the details, optional circuitry and design changes. Some manufacturers restrict the information to their authorized dealers and repair centers but will supply parts. The requirements for becoming authorized vary from just asking (Tatung) to being required to attend lengthy training sessions overseas (KFC), and everything in between. If you want to become an authorized service center call the manufacturer and ask about their requirements. Table 1 lists the manufacturers and their policies on schematics, technical manuals and parts. Table 1 - Manufacturers Manuals and Parts Policies Manual Parts Mftr. Avail. Avail. Tel. No. Comments Aamazing No Yes 714-255-1688 Acer Yes Yes 800-733-2237 See comments on Acer's bulletin board below. Arche Yes Yes 510-623-3286 Arche sells their service manuals and parts. Compaq No No 800-345-1518 Compaq suggests 800-652-6672 that you contact the nearest Compaq authorized distributor for parts. Call Compaq to identify a distributor near you. CTX Yes Yes 800-342-5289 Dell Some Some 800-624-9896 Dell does not support their monitors directly, but will refer inquiries to the monitor manufacturer. Epson No No 800-922-8911 Epson monitors are difficult to support due to unavailability of technical data and parts. Goldstar Yes Yes 800-777-1192 Hitachi Yes Yes 800-225-1370 X319 IBM No Yes 800-426-7282 IBM supplies only subassemblies, no component parts. KFC(Kuo Fong Corp.) No Yes 800-253-2872 Service manuals are supplied to authorized dealers only. Matsushita Yes Yes 800-447-4700 201-348-9090 Nanao Some Yes 800-800-5202 Service manuals are available for older models only. NEC Yes Yes 800-388-8888 NEC makes manuals and parts available for older models only, (up through "D" models are currently available). Packard Bell No Yes 800-398-3003 Service manuals are available only to authorized repair centers. Relisys Yes Yes 408-456-6900 Relisys schematics (Q-squared) and parts are available through Q-squared, 2035 O'Toole Ave., San Jose, CA 95131. Sampo Yes Yes 404-449-6220 Samsung Yes Yes 800-446-0262 Service manuals 800-627-4368 and parts are also available through distributors such as J & J Intn'l and Arocom (see section on parts). Sony Yes Yes 800-352-7669 Sony will refer 800-488-7669 you to a distributor who can supply what you need. Tatung Yes Yes 800-827-2850 Xtron Some Yes 201-798-5000 Xtron has been out of the monitor business for several years but they still supply some technical manuals and parts. Zenith No No 800-553-0331 Zenith treats monitors as non-repairable, replacement only. Therefore, the only parts they offer are whole monitors. Over 700 authorized service centers. Reverse engineering companies purchase a monitor, disassemble it and trace the circuits to create a schematic. The result is usually representative of the unit that was disassembled, but cannot reflect any design changes, updates or optional circuitry. The author is not aware of any reliable reverse engineering schematic providers at this time. PARTS Parts availability is a happier story than technical documentation due to an active third party parts industry. While some manufacturers will sell replacement parts (see Table 1) they are usually the most expensive source. If you can find an independent source for the part you need, and you usually can, it is likely to be less expensive than the manufacturer's part. Table 2 lists distributors who specialize in unique monitor parts. Table 2 - Monitor Parts Distributors Distributor Flyback Monitor Monitor Schematics Trans. IC's Semicond. AmcoTron Yes Yes Yes Samsung & 14821 Spring Ave. Samtron Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670 Tel: 800-344-3882 FAX: 310-802-0061 B & D Enterprises No Yes Yes No 1452 Hamburg Turnpike Wayne, NJ 07470 Tel: 800-458-6053 or 201-628-7373 FAX: 201-696-5623 Consolidated Elect. Yes Yes Yes Yes (Howard 705 Watervliet Ave. W. Sams & Dayton, OH 45420-2599 Co.) Tel: 800-543-3568 or 513-252-5662 FAX: 513-252-4066 BBS: 513-252-9992 Computer Component Yes Yes Yes No Sources 135 Eileen Way P. O. Box 9022 Syosset, NY 11791-9022 Tel: 800-356-1227 or 516-496-8727 FAX: 800-926-2062 CRC Components, Inc. Yes Yes Yes Yes 186 University Pkwy Pomona, CA 91768 Tel: 800-822-1272 or 714-468-9711 FAX: 714-468-9667 Dalbani Corporation Yes Yes Yes No 4225 N. W. 72nd Ave. Miami, FL 33166 Tel: 800-325-2264 FAX: 305-594-6588 Digi-Key Corp. No Yes Yes No 701 Brooks Ave. S. P. O. Box 677 Thief River Falls, MN 56701-0677 Tel: 800-344-4539 FAX: 218-681-3380 FOX International Yes Yes Yes No 23600 Aurora Road Bedford Heights, OH 44146 Tel: 800-321-6993 FAX: 800-445-7991 J & J International Yes Yes Yes Samsung & P. O. Box 5778 Samtron Parsippany, NJ 07054 Tel: 800-627-4368 FAX: 201-884-4378 LEAD Electronics Yes Yes Yes No 8370 Thompson Road Cicero, NY 13039 Tel: 315-699-6099 FAX: 315-699-6280 MAT Electronics Yes Yes Yes No 975 Jaymor Road Southampton, PA 18966 Tel: 800-628-1118 FAX: 215-364-8554 MCM Electronics Yes Yes Yes No 650 Congress Park Drive Centerville, OH 45459-4072 Tel: 800-543-4330 FAX: 513-434-6959 Mouser Electronics No Yes Yes No 2401 Highway 287 North Mansfield, TX 76063-4827 Tel: 800-346-6873 FAX: Various Prelco Electronics No Yes Yes No 605 Chestnut Street Union, NJ 07083-9318 Tel: 908-851-8600 FAX: 908-686-4656 Russell Industries Yes No No No 3000 Lawson Boulevard Oceanside, NY 11572 Tel: 800-645-2202 or 516-536-5000 FAX: 800-645-2200 or 516-764-5747 OTHER SOURCES The knowledge vacuum in the computer monitor field resulted in the formation of AnaTek Corporation which provides monitor technical data including troubleshooting tips, part and data sources in its Resolve Monitor Repair Database product. Much of the information in this article comes from the Resolve product. We welcome your inquiries and comments. Manufacturer operated bulletin board systems are another source of technical data. Acer's bulletin board (408-428-0140) includes common failures and the engineering design changes. Packard Bell's bulletin board (818-773-7307) provides basic technical data on all their monitors but not much troubleshooting help. Other manufacturers restrict access to their bulletin boards to authorized repair centers.