I count any class where I am an instructed to tear something as a good class. Tragically, most teachers don’t seem to think tearing things apart is helpful for learning their subject matter (I for one would enjoy history classes a lot more if we were tearing the texts apart rather then analyzing them). Luckily this last Thursday was one of those classes where we got to take stuff apart for education!
Our Samsung monitor before deconstruction.
For our object, Josh and I ended up with a relic of a Samsung computer monitor. The first step of our deconstruction was to remove the base of the computer. This was relatively easy as the base just slid off with minimal work. From this, we concluded that the base was definitely designed to be easily removable. If it wasn’t design to be easily removed, Samsung really needs some better engineers.
The monitor base.
Once the base was off, we moved to removing the plastic casing to allow us to access the rest of the device. Removing the plastic casing was much harder than removing the base although it probably shouldn’t have been as hard as it was for us. There were two steps need to remove the monitor.
The first step was to find and remove the screws on the back. This step we completed easily. We actually removed the screws before we removed the base.
The second step was to pop the tabs on the sides of the computer. This step is where we ran into some trouble. Although we found the tabs fairly easily, that didn’t mean that was the end of it. Either because the plastic had deformed a bit since it was first produced or because the makers didn’t want the plastic casing to be too easy to remove, the tabs required a lot of force to pop. When we first tried the tabs, we stopped working them after a couple moments because we were trying to break as little as possible. We then searched around the computer to see if there was actually some other attachment we weren’t seeing. While doing this, we thought that maybe this blue plastic strip along the top would be removable. After a good ole’ college try, we concluded that the blue strip was not at all removable, so we went back to the tabs. After trying the tabs with more force than the previous time, we once again gave up and looked over the computer for other attachments. After concluding there were no other attachments, we went back to the tabs and tried again with a lot more force. With Dr. Wettergreen’s, we finally popped one of the tabs, proving that we were in fact supposed to remove the case that way. Then with a smaller screwdriver than we had been using, we managed to pop the second tab. There was a decent amount of broken plastic involved in popping the first tab, but we managed to pop the second with minimal damage.
The part of the tab attachment on the removable part of the casing.
The tab that attached the removable casing.
The removable plastic casing.
The computer once the plastic casing was removed.
Next we moved onto removing the metal enclosure to allow us to get to the insides of the computer. This part was actually quite easy. The metal enclosure was held in place by a couple screws and tabs that were easily identifiable and easy to remove or pop.
The removed metal enclosure.
The metal enclosure appear to have been made by stamping a single sheet of metal and folding it into the desired shape. Attached to the inside of the metal cage was a plastic piece that appears to have possibly served as both a insulator and a heat shield because it sat right over a high voltage area. The plastic piece have scorch marks on it. The metal cage likely served to provide some protection for the interior components and protect the outside from the charges inside the computer.
The computer once the metal enclosure was removed.
Once we removed the metal cage, we began messing around with the black part that formed the back of the screen part. A magnet along with some other assorted components were attached to the black part with what appeared to be fancy tape. After messing with the black part for a minute or two, Dr. Wettergreen told us to not mess with it so that we didn’t accidentally electrocute ourselves. Not electrocuting ourselves sounded good, so we stopped messing with it.
We then pretty easily removed the chord coming out the back. All it took to remove it was some wiggling, so we think that the chord was designed to be removable once the casings were removed. After we removed the chord, we disconnected the wires that connected the circuit board and the big thing coming off the back of the black thing. Once we disconnected the wires, all we had to do to remove the circuit board was pop some metal tabs that connected the circuit board to the monitor. Unfortunately, the metal tabs really did not want to be popped. Ultimately, with two screwdrivers per tab and a lot of leverage, we were able to pop the tab a remove the circuit board.
The removed circuit board.
The monitor once the circuit board was removed.
Once we removed the circuit board, there wasn’t much left to do and class time was up, so we tossed our various pieces into the appropriate dumpsters.
Fin!
-Nick
