The computer monitor before disassembly.
We were tasked in class to take apart an electronic device with a partner. My partner was Tori and we tore apart a Gateway2000 computer monitor. We began the disassembly process by trying to get the base off of the monitor shell. The base was held to the monitor by a snap joint.
A disassembled view of base the of the computer.
After that, we took the unscrewed the shell to the rest of the internal components of the monitor. As we went through components of the computer, we found that everything was screwed together.
A view of the internal components after removing the shell.
The first thing we had to do was disconnect the frame that held all of the circuit boards in place. Again, these were connected entirely via screws, including screw that were screwed in the opposite way. Once we got frames of, we began to examine the circuit boards they were held in. The 2 circuit boards we found were connected pretty intricately with each other and the physical monitor. The wires were also bundled up together by zip ties and tape.
The first circuit board, unscrewed from the monitor and screen but still connected via wires.
Once we cut the bundles of wires off each other and started ripping the wires off the circuit board entirely, we could closely examine the two circuit boards separately.
The first circuit board once we decided to disconnect all of the wires in the way.
The next disconnected circuit board.
There were two things I noticed on the circuit boards. Firstly, they had green screws that felt made of plastic, that I had never seen. Second, and more importantly, we saw there were some places labeled on the board that had no part there. The most likely explanation for this phenomenon is that this circuit board was created generally for a large number of types of monitors, and this one didn’t require some of the components labeled on the board. This would lead once to believe that, given the right equipment, the board could be recycled into another computer made by the same guys. Once the circuit boards were examined and reviewed, we were left with only the physical monitor.
The monitor of the computer, disconnected from the base and all the circuit boards.
However, class was over at the time, so we gathered all of the components, took the nice photo you see below, and sent all of the components out to the electronics dumpster.
A final view of all the components from the monitor and the tools we used.
Upon reflection, while the monitor wasn’t necessarily designed to be taken apart, it was connected via screws, and until we had started indiscriminately ripping things out of circuit boards, had not done any irreparable damage to the monitor. This leads me to believe that the computer was designed such that it could survive being disassembled, and if done by a professional could be fixed with relative ease.
One of the main thing I learned was how far technology has come. This monitor, less than 20 years old, is ridiculously sized and would be considered a relic by today’s standards. It really shows how the design and manufacturing process is always improving and makes you appreciate the small computer screens we have now.
