Ok, this is more of a question, and it's not for fish... I posted these questions at www.reptileadvice.com but member activity there has been low and no one has responded yet... I figure there's pleanty of intelligent people here who could help me out anyway... I plan on taking an old computer monitor and turn it into a tank for snakes, frogs, or some other small creature. I removed the picture tube and all the wires and stuff so I'm ready to start... I plan on using plexiglass for the front so I can see into it but I also need to line the bottom and sides of it. Basically, once you remove the inside of a monitor you are left with some rough plastic with all sorts of crevices, grooves, and holes and stuff... so it needs to be something smooth, and easy to clean. I was thinking of just lining it with more plexiglass but wanted second opinions on that. I don't know if there are any materials out there that are either cheaper or easier to use. Cutting plexiglass to fit something perfectly isn't that hard, but it's not that fun either... So that's my first question. I also plan on cutting a hole in the side or back for a door, or the top where I will put a light... That's my next question... lighting... I'm not quite sure what type of light to use, it couldn't be anything too big... What I would like to do is mount a light on the top somewhere and have it wired so the switch that use to turn the monitor on and off would now turn the light on and off.... any thoughs or suggestions for me...? Once I get things started I'll try to post some pics of my progress if anyone is interested...
¿computer monitor tank?
- Thread starter millipede
- Start date
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WarOrks15
Aquarium Advice Addict
well if you got the tube out with out killing your self the worst pa5rt is over. there is 1,000 volts for every diagonal in in a monitor. so a 17 in monitor would have 17,000 volts in it. and the capacitors would be able to kill you if you touch them. so i think the hard part is done.
RogerMcAllen
Aquarium Advice Addict
FYI, volts don't kill, amps do. But I think there are plenty of amps in those capacitors.
Back on topic, search the forum for tv tanks. They are basically the same things, and know for a fact someone else has already done a computer monitor.
Back on topic, search the forum for tv tanks. They are basically the same things, and know for a fact someone else has already done a computer monitor.
JProx
Aquarium Advice Freak
thought i would add my 2 cents, the capacitors you find in newer tv's, crt monitors, power supplies ect can only stay charged for a few days. there is a slight load on their high voltage and low voltage power supplies, so leakage will occur, it's small amount but enough to drain the capacitor's charge in a few days. this is not true on older tv's that use vacuum tubes, their power supplies were built so their was ~0 load, thus they could remain charged indefinitely.
so if you leave the monitor unpluged for a week, it's almost certain, the charge the caps were holding will be discharged. the best idea is to build a simple capacitor discharge device, using a high wattage resistor (25watts or more) and picking an ohm value using this ideal, 5 to 50 ohms per V of the working voltage of the capacitor or you can use a screwdriver placed across the leads of the capacitors. the discharging device is the safest option though even using a insulated screwdriver will not guarantee complete safety. Also using a screw driver on high voltage capacitors can generate arc wielder type results, where the screwdriver is actually wielded to the leads of the capacitor.
i have one of those big old floor model tv's from 60's in my basement, and for a long time i have been thinking of building that into a fish tank, like so many other people have. anyway good luck Mille! can't wait to see pics of the project come together.
bry
so if you leave the monitor unpluged for a week, it's almost certain, the charge the caps were holding will be discharged. the best idea is to build a simple capacitor discharge device, using a high wattage resistor (25watts or more) and picking an ohm value using this ideal, 5 to 50 ohms per V of the working voltage of the capacitor or you can use a screwdriver placed across the leads of the capacitors. the discharging device is the safest option though even using a insulated screwdriver will not guarantee complete safety. Also using a screw driver on high voltage capacitors can generate arc wielder type results, where the screwdriver is actually wielded to the leads of the capacitor.
i have one of those big old floor model tv's from 60's in my basement, and for a long time i have been thinking of building that into a fish tank, like so many other people have. anyway good luck Mille! can't wait to see pics of the project come together.
bry
yaksplat
Aquarium Advice Freak
You have to think of electricity as a pipe with water flowing in it. The voltage is the diameter of the pipe and the water flow rate is the amperage. High flow with a very small diameter wont hurt you, just as a huge pipe with a minimal flow won't. Something in the midrange of both will knock you right on your a$$. If you think about static electricity, how it will arc from your finger to something else. Someone can correct me on this, but I believe that for every 1/4" of arc, there is a potential difference of 10,000 Volts. Yet it's completely harmless. Someone else just needs to come up with a high amperage and low voltage example. I'm just a mechanical engineer 
Jim
Jim
JProx
Aquarium Advice Freak
here's a little story, i was told by my first instructor, on the first day of my EE degree. "think of voltage, as a highway. the more voltage you have the more lanes you have. Amperage is the traffic, and resistance is either roadblocks, or constuction that impede the flow of traffic."
i have been racking my brain now for 5mins and can't think of anything hi amps, lo volts. i will add something when i think of it.
i have been racking my brain now for 5mins and can't think of anything hi amps, lo volts. i will add something when i think of it.
A car battery.
TV tanks I have done. Monotor tanks I have not. For TV tanks you can often cheat by using off the shelf aquariums. For a montior conversion your really looking at needing to build you own acrylic or glass tank to fit the specific size limits of the big white box.
JProx
Aquarium Advice Freak
doh! i am idiot
sharkbait
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
I worked in a television repair shop partway through college. I have also had the displeasure of discharging the anode through my thumb. Did it kill me? Obviously not. Could it have? You bet it could have! Why risk it? I was always taught to only put one hand in a television at once. If you take a shock across your heart (eg. in one hand and out the other), you stand a very real risk of cardiac arrest.
With the proper tools and methods, qualified personnel can safely discharge the anode on a picture tube. If you're not sure what a qualified person is, then it definitely isn't you.
With the proper tools and methods, qualified personnel can safely discharge the anode on a picture tube. If you're not sure what a qualified person is, then it definitely isn't you.
my monitor tank...
I think I'll have to start this weekend. Got a lot of other things going on... Thanks for all the info... yeah, a tv tank would be nicer and easier... Last year I got one of those old console tvs free at a yard sale... I gutted that but it was at the pet store I was helping out at when... well, long story, but a lot of things that were mine were taken from me... I do remember when I cut the wire leading into the picture tube I made sure I used either plastic or rubber handled scissors or something... I had now problems fortunately... A while later, wire being cut already, if I touched the wire with the scissors you could here a nice ticking sort of noise, I'm assuming the electricity that was still in it.... anyway, I don't have that console anymore...
This monitor is going to be for a small snake or something so it needs to be lined with something so it is smooth and easy to clean, not wood(mold etc...) but it doesn't need to be water tight... If I had the tv console I'd be doing the same thing so I could use every square inch of it... Anyway, I saved a link or two so I can read on the lighting and stuff... hopefully I'll get things going real soon. I will post some pics as I start making progress...
I think I'll have to start this weekend. Got a lot of other things going on... Thanks for all the info... yeah, a tv tank would be nicer and easier... Last year I got one of those old console tvs free at a yard sale... I gutted that but it was at the pet store I was helping out at when... well, long story, but a lot of things that were mine were taken from me... I do remember when I cut the wire leading into the picture tube I made sure I used either plastic or rubber handled scissors or something... I had now problems fortunately... A while later, wire being cut already, if I touched the wire with the scissors you could here a nice ticking sort of noise, I'm assuming the electricity that was still in it.... anyway, I don't have that console anymore...
This monitor is going to be for a small snake or something so it needs to be lined with something so it is smooth and easy to clean, not wood(mold etc...) but it doesn't need to be water tight... If I had the tv console I'd be doing the same thing so I could use every square inch of it... Anyway, I saved a link or two so I can read on the lighting and stuff... hopefully I'll get things going real soon. I will post some pics as I start making progress...
