Hot take: is it worth replacing caps on an old monitor or just trash it?

I had a 10 year old Dell monitor die on me last Thursday. Screen went dark but the power light stayed on, so I figured it was bad capacitors. I spent about $12 on a cap kit and an hour of my time to fix it. Monitor fired right back up and looks fine. But a buddy of mine says I was wasting time - he insists that for $60 you can buy a used 24-inch LCD on Facebook Marketplace that's way better. So which is it - repair the old gear or just move on? Has anyone else run into this debate and what did you end up doing?

2 comments

2 Comments

karen_hart1mo ago

Honestly, I've been in your exact spot and I'd say it depends on the monitor. If it's a solid model with good colors and you don't need the latest features, $12 and an hour is a no-brainer. Your buddy's right that $60 gets you a decent used one, but that's a gamble on condition and age too. I fixed a 27-inch Dell IPS panel with caps three years ago and it's still going strong, so I lean toward repairing unless the monitor was junk to begin with.

jordan3301mo agoProlific Poster

@karen_hart what kind of monitors are you fixing with caps? anything newer than 5 years old, or just old dell panels from like 2015? i ask because ive busted open a few modern LG monitors and the caps are these tiny surface mount ones, not your standard through hole stuff. that makes the repair a lot trickier for someone without a hot air station. also, what do you do when the power board has the problem but the main board was already acting flaky? feels like sometimes you fix one thing and another breaks a month later. just curious how you decide which monitors are worth the effort.