I cannot be held responsible for any damage or injury that may result from attempting the procedures on this page. You do so at your own risk!

 Arcade and computer monitors store a charge even when the monitor has been unplugged.  There is enough electricity stored in there to KILL you.  If you’re not sure of what you are doing, consult an expert.

Now, with that out of the way, we may proceed. What you will need is:

A plastic or rubber-handled flathead screwdriver.

Some lamp cord.

Tape or solder.

Alligator clip (optional).

Now it really is quite simple. You strip the two ends of the lamp cord, and twist the two exposed wires to each other (on each end). One end will be taped or soldered to the shaft of the flathead screwdriver, and the other end will be left bare, or connected to an alligator clip.  The completed piece of high-tech equipment should look something like this:

With our thingamajig in hand (no pun intended), we proceed to our work area. Be sure the monitor is completely disconnected.  If you don’t know why this is so important, type "amperage" into a search engine and see what you come up with. We are talking about tens of thousands of volts here. Carefully connect the bare end of this cord (or the alligator clip) to the metal housing on the monitor (it usually has a hand-hold of some type.) Make sure the connection is very solid.  Check again.  Now locate the red rubber suction cup kind of thing on top of the monitor. There should be a red wire coming off it to the flyback.  This is what carries all that current.  Don’t touch it.  We now have what we need to discharge the monitor.

This is where it gets tense. Don’t sweat it though, sweat conducts electricity :)

Take the screwdriver handle in your hand.  Do not touch the metal shaft. Place your other hand in a pocket, where it is unlikely to be waving near a ground source. Rubber soled shoes wouldn’t be a bad idea either. Rubber gloves can be worn, but they are not needed if you do this correctly. Without leaning against the housing, slide the screwdriver blade under the red cup towards the center. The monitor is made of glass, so try not to scratch it.  Slide it up and under until it reaches the metal clip in the center (you can’t see it). If there  is a charge there, you should hear a small "pop". That’s it! Wait a few minutes, and come back and do the procedure again, and continue until no sound is heard.  That’s all there is to it.  It really is that simple.

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