Debugging CRT monitors (Philips CM8833 Mk2 / Acorn AKF17)

I don't think I've got anything less than ten years old. I can't remember having cause to replace more than an occasional electrolytic here and there except in the case of a television from the 1970's which has required about five or six over years of heavy use. I'm sure if I checked everything with an ESR meter it would show up a bunch that are below par. However, many applications for electrolytic capacitors can tolerate very large variations and they may well have years of usable life left in them even though the meter condemns them. There may be a case for checking critical capacitors in power supplies etc which may be at risk of overheating or leaking, however there is no reason to check every electrolytic. I think replacing large numbers of electrolytics is likely to be be more trouble than it is worth and may even introduce new problems that weren't there before, particularly on old pcbs where the print was never well stuck to the board, even when new. Far better to look for a schematic if available and wade in with the scope looking for the problem with deductive reasoning. I will agree there. Regards, Peter Coghlan.