Three monitors dead in a week

[ptmarshall01]

Hi. A few days ago my monitor died. Screen went black and the led was changing from amber to green constantly. It was old so I replaced it. All was well for a couple of days then the new monitor died as well. (Thankfully got a refund). Then a friend gave me an old dell monitor that worked well for a couple of days then died too.
In all cases I tested the monitors on a different pc to confirm that they were fried. I have not had any problems with the pc in question previously. If I manually turn the monitor off then back on, the screen flickers on for a split second showing the desktop screen. So the pc itself is booting normally.
Any suggestions what could be causing this?
Thanks, Paul

 

[Darkbreeze]

Did you use the same cable for all three?

Same GPU card?

Same outlet or power strip?

Did these work at first and then fail or did they fail as soon as they were powered up?

 

[ptmarshall01]

Did you use the same cable for all three?

Same GPU card?

Same outlet or power strip?

Did these work at first and then fail or did they fail as soon as they were powered up?

Thanks for your reply.

I swapped the old cables for the new ones that came with the new monitor.

I am using the same power outlet. I have been using the pc from this outlet for almost a year with no problems.

I am using the the sane gpu card.

The original monitor I had been using for many years so I just thought it had died due to its age. The other two monitors worked for a couple of days then went the same way.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Full system specs?

I appologize if it takes a while between replies. Just had shoulder surgery yesterday.

 

[aquielisunari]

Did you use the same cable for all three?

Same GPU card?

Same outlet or power strip?

Did these work at first and then fail or did they fail as soon as they were powered up?

Thanks for your reply.

I swapped the old cables for the new ones that came with the new monitor.

I am using the same power outlet. I have been using the pc from this outlet for almost a year with no problems.

I am using the the sane gpu card.

The original monitor I had been using for many years so I just thought it had died due to its age. The other two monitors worked for a couple of days then went the same way.

Simple coincidence. If you exchanged the bad new monitor I doubt you'd be here. Don't get me wrong. I'm glad you're here looking for a cause but imo your situation is comprised of coincidences. Should you purchase another brand new monitor and it dies somehow then I'd start scratching my head.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I disagree. New or old, three monitors don't all fail the same way unless something is wrong.

Are you connecting these via hdmi, dvi or how?

Get rid of the powerstrip first. Even 20-50 dollar "surge" types are worthless and often cause more harm than help.

 

[aquielisunari]

I disagree. New or old, three monitors don't all fail the same way unless something is wrong.

Are you connecting these via hdmi, dvi or how?

Get rid of the powerstrip first. Even 20-50 dollar "surge" types are worthless and often cause more harm than help.

Them failing identically within the same time frame in the same fashion is one thing. One turning amber and... The other two simply dying(no description of the the way they failed but there is a distinct time difference). I think more information is needed before one can say they died the same way. Wouldn't it stand to reason if there were an electrical issue that would also be present and show itself with the PC as well?

 

[ptmarshall01]

I disagree. New or old, three monitors don't all fail the same way unless something is wrong.

Are you connecting these via hdmi, dvi or how?

Get rid of the powerstrip first. Even 20-50 dollar "surge" types are worthless and often cause more harm than help.

Them failing identically within the same time frame in the same fashion is one thing. One turning amber and... The other two simply dying(no description of the the way they failed but there is a distinct time difference). I think more information is needed before one can say they died the same way. Wouldn't it stand to reason if there were an electrical issue that would also be present and show itself with the PC as well?

I am connecting by the standard 15 pin VGA cable. The first monitors led was switching between green and amber as if it was trying to get the signal. The other two monitors leds stayed green and the pc boots as usual. I can very faintly see the desktop on the screen if the light in the room is bright enough. I really hop it is coincidence but three in a week made me worry. I appreciate your help

 

[aquielisunari]

I disagree. New or old, three monitors don't all fail the same way unless something is wrong.

Are you connecting these via hdmi, dvi or how?

Get rid of the powerstrip first. Even 20-50 dollar "surge" types are worthless and often cause more harm than help.

Them failing identically within the same time frame in the same fashion is one thing. One turning amber and... The other two simply dying(no description of the the way they failed but there is a distinct time difference). I think more information is needed before one can say they died the same way. Wouldn't it stand to reason if there were an electrical issue that would also be present and show itself with the PC as well?

I am connecting by the standard 15 pin VGA cable. The first monitors led was switching between green and amber as if it was trying to get the signal. The other two monitors leds stayed green and the pc boots as usual. I can very faintly see the desktop on the screen if the light in the room is bright enough. I really hop it is coincidence but three in a week made me worry. I appreciate your help

Let's just hope I'm right. I saw a cable change which led me away from the cable. The the two rocks left are your GPUs. Have you tried different GPUs? Without your specs. I've no way of knowing if you have 1 or 2.

 

[ptmarshall01]

I disagree. New or old, three monitors don't all fail the same way unless something is wrong.

Are you connecting these via hdmi, dvi or how?

Get rid of the powerstrip first. Even 20-50 dollar "surge" types are worthless and often cause more harm than help.

Them failing identically within the same time frame in the same fashion is one thing. One turning amber and... The other two simply dying(no description of the the way they failed but there is a distinct time difference). I think more information is needed before one can say they died the same way. Wouldn't it stand to reason if there were an electrical issue that would also be present and show itself with the PC as well?

I am connecting by the standard 15 pin VGA cable. The first monitors led was switching between green and amber as if it was trying to get the signal. The other two monitors leds stayed green and the pc boots as usual. I can very faintly see the desktop on the screen if the light in the room is bright enough. I really hop it is coincidence but three in a week made me worry. I appreciate your help

Let's just hope I'm right. I saw a cable change which led me away from the cable. The the two rocks left are your GPUs. Have you tried different GPUs? Without your specs. I've no way of knowing if you have 1 or 2.

Since I have no monitor I can only tell you that the pc has an AMD dual core processor (2600 I think) and Radeon HD 6670 Graphics. Though it does have some very basic on-board graphics that I could use to trouble-shoot. Is it possible for a graphics card to damage a monitor?

 

[aquielisunari]

Damage it? Not likely. Make it lose signal? Absolutely.

 

[ptmarshall01]

Damage it? Not likely. Make it lose signal? Absolutely.

If I shine a light at the screen I can see the image so I think its getting the signal. It seems I'll just have to get a new monitor and hope for the best.

 

[aquielisunari]

Damage it? Not likely. Make it lose signal? Absolutely.

If I shine a light at the screen I can see the image so I think its getting the signal. It seems I'll just have to get a new monitor and hope for the best.

Please keep us updated.

 

[ptmarshall01]

Damage it? Not likely. Make it lose signal? Absolutely.

If I shine a light at the screen I can see the image so I think its getting the signal. It seems I'll just have to get a new monitor and hope for the best.

Please keep us updated.

I will do. Thanks

 

[Darkbreeze]

Sounds almost as if the backlighting is failing. Any type of failure or problem that can occur with any hardware component can potentially be attributed to a power issue, but with a GPU card as old as yours is I am highly suspect of the graphics card except that poor video output is unlikely to permanently damage a monitor and you say these monitors fail to work when connected to another system so that leads me back to something related to power having damaged them.

I would change or eliminate the power strip and plug directly into the wall. Faulty power strips can imitate seemingly unrelated hardware issues much as a faulty power supply can do.

Additionally it would be good to know what the exact model of your power supply is. There should be a label or placard on it somewhere with its model and specifications.

 

[ptmarshall01]

Sounds almost as if the backlighting is failing. Any type of failure or problem that can occur with any hardware component can potentially be attributed to a power issue, but with a GPU card as old as yours is I am highly suspect of the graphics card except that poor video output is unlikely to permanently damage a monitor and you say these monitors fail to work when connected to another system so that leads me back to something related to power having damaged them.

I would change or eliminate the power strip and plug directly into the wall. Faulty power strips can imitate seemingly unrelated hardware issues much as a faulty power supply can do.

Additionally it would be good to know what the exact model of your power supply is. There should be a label or placard on it somewhere with its model and specifications.

darkbreeze, yes my first thought was something 'electrical' was happening. A power strip is necessary but I will replace the old one as a precaution. I will also remove the graphics card and see how it goes. It will be a few days before I can get a new monitor. I'll keep updating. Oh the psu is a 'Atrix AX500EXB' (500w). Thank you. Hope your shoulder is healing well.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Thanks for that info, we need to discuss that power supply because it's horrendous, but if you would, please list out your FULL hardware specifications as follows:

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2299418/obtain-basic-advanced-system-information.html




That power supply lists 18A on it's single 12v rail, which means that rather than a 500w unit, you're looking at only a 216w power supply and I HIGHLY doubt that unit can even sustain THAT level without damaging amounts of noise and ripple. No matter what else you end up doing I would HIGHLY recommend that you replace that unit with a much better quality power supply and also, I'd figure out a way to at least plug your monitor and power supply directly into clean wall power with no power strip in between.

If you need to install an additional two outlets on that circuit then I'd do so. At the very least, I'd try to find a high quality power strip made by a reputable company like Tripp Lite, Leviton or Eaton.

Some good information here, just disregard the pointed discussion regarding surge protection as that's probably not the problem at hand in this situation.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2502762/surge-protector-ups-gaming.html