My old computer’s monitor has begun to give a sparky “popping” noise with alarming regularity, wherein the screen contracts briefly while losing tint, then recovering in a few seconds. Last week it was doing it once or twice in an hour, but now it’s doing it up to 5 times a minute.
It’s somewhat entertaining, but is she gonna blow?
A CRT? Yes is the short answer. It might be the degaussing circuit enlivened constantly or something. I suppose it might be fixable but no-one ever likes mucking about inside a monitor.
ETA it’s probably easier just to get a new one.
failed capacitors lead to sparking
I had the same problem and it was mitigated by a very hard open hand strike on the side. Repeat if necessary.
It’s probably not either the degaussing circuit or bad caps, but something in the HV circuitry. It could be worn or cracked insulation on the high-voltage anode cable or a failing flyback transformer. It could even be dust and dirt creating an unintended pathway for HV discharge either on the flyback or around the anode cap on the back of the CRT body. Give the symptoms that occur along with the popping noise, it’s most likely a failing flyback. Time for a new monitor.
Thanks, all. I’ve a couple old monitors laying around, I hope I can press one back into service. The damn thing is a decade old anyway, and is on our backup computer.
Any harm to the system if I use the current monitor until it fails?
Probably not. Although, you might want to keep a fire extinguisher handy. Just in case. 
Silly question: Is the mains power cable plugged in all the way at the back?
Heh, ten years is a good shift from a monitor. Give the thing a pat on the back as you consign it to the recycling folks.
Almost certainly something in the high voltage circuit is arcing from time to time.
Come on, stop using it. You really need a new flat panel monitor anyway.
David Simmonshas it right, this is an accident waiting to happen. There is a real risk of fire. dispose of the beast asap. During the last few years flat panels have become quite affordable.
OK, monitor is powered down. I was planning on replacing soon anyway. The thing is old, and runs on Win98, for gosh sake!
And in trying to trouble-shoot the zipdrive (click of death, I tried to do the Charles fix) I seem to have lost both the zip drive and the CD drive from it. :smack:
How about just a flyback?
BTW, had one failing flyback that came in handy as a cigarette lighter. Turn on the monitor and a small flame would pop up out of the flyback.
U sed to have a television that would do just this when the humidity was high. I called it “flyback weather”. From the symptons I would agree with the posters who have already suggested that.
Well, the monitor is dead today, and replaced by another one I had laying around. The whole system be upgraded in a few weeks.
But it must have died while turned off, or when turned back on. So, we didn’t burn down the house.
Heh, I wonder if it was actually a failing On/Off switch?
If it was arcing in the high voltage circuit it probably failed when you turned it on or off. Very interesting transient voltages can result from those operations.
He’s a doctor, not a TV repairman, Jim! 
Might–and I stress might–be worth it IF you’re fairly sure that’s the problem and IF you’re also pretty sure the flyback failure hasn’t damaged anything else and IF you can do the work yourself. You and I can, and a handful of others here, but most people are going to have to pay someone, and that ain’t cheap. Factor in the fact that monitor is ten years old, and even I would toss it.
So would I. And having grown up during the great depression, I’m tighter than the skin on a grape.