Cheap Degaussers? Or, Restoring a dead RGB channel?

[Jorpho]

I have an old CRT TV that's thoroughly messed up, color-wise. I notice there are some degaussing wands available from Hong Kong pretty cheap on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Degaussing-Wand-Deg ... 0581952416

But of course it will need a converter to work here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/50W-AC-Power-Voltag ... 0657242508

It's a teensy bit on the pricey side, in the end, but it's still a little cheaper and more convenient than trying to replace it outright or hauling the CRT to the local repair shop. Sounds like it's worth a go. Can someone suggest a reason why I wouldn't want to try this? (In particular, is that transformer really all it's cracked up to be?)

(And no, I lack a soldering gun, bulk eraser, or suitable power-drill-and-permanent-magnet solution, as are commonly recommended for the purposes of degaussing.)

EDIT: I did find a positive review:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1059907

[Jorpho]

Well, since making this post I have received the degausser in question. After about a minute of waving it around (a little long, considering it's only supposed to take 20 seconds to do its thing) the picture suddenly clarified! It shortly switched back to its previous state, though.

That's when I realized that the purple snow I was staring at was actually white noise displayed in only red and blue, and the timing of this flicker was probably only a coincidence. (As further justification, the normally-green numbers of the OSD come up in black.)

So this CRT has seemingly lost its ability to display green. Is there an easy way of fixing this problem? I guess there's probably a loose connection inside somewhere, but would it be easy to find without shocking myself badly?

[Jorpho]

Nobody? I'd have thought folks here would know all about this sort of thing.

[jb143]

What's the year and model of the TV?

The first thing I'd do is a visual inspection. Try to trace the green signal to the best of your ability and look for any loose wires, burnt transistors, bulging caps, etc... Anything that doesn't look quite right compared to all the other components.

Also check for any adjustment pots that could adjust green. Many newer TV's have controls in software that you need a special code to get into to adjust all the stuff that used to be on the backs of sets.

You don't have to worry about getting shocked as long as you're safe about it. Just remember that even a TV that's unplugged can still hold a charge.

I thought of replying to this thread before now but figured someone more knowledgeable would come along. I have just enough enough experience with TV's that I can usually fix things of this nature if I'm there to poke around at them, but not quite enough that I can just tell someone what the problem is.

[Jorpho]

What's the year and model of the TV?

But of course. It's a "Nikko", and the sticker on the back says December 1992.

You don't have to worry about getting shocked as long as you're safe about it. Just remember that even a TV that's unplugged can still hold a charge.

Well, before I crack this thing open and start tinkering, what exactly are the things not to touch?

[jb143]

The flyback is the high voltage transformer. It's the one with the thick wire running to the suction cup looking thing on the side of the tube. That's the main area you want to stay away from.

I couldn't find much online about Nikko TV's. If you have a model# try looking online for the service manual. That should tell you how to get the TV into service mode. There's usually a special sequence of keys to press. The menus are navigated and adjusted pretty much like a TV's standard menu. Once there you can look for a green adjustment. Don't mess with anything else though since it can screw up the TV. Always remember where things were set to so you change it back if needed.

If that doesn't work, or if there's no option for that then you can open 'er up. It sounds like there's probably some electronics issue though. More than likely a bad resistor, cap, transistor, trace, or solder joint. There are very few electronics issues which can not be fixed with a "simple" fix. The only problem is finding it.