Old CRT monitor tech swore by degaussing, I thought it was a myth

So I got this free 2001 Dell CRT from a guy on Facebook Marketplace in Columbus. Picture was all wavy and had weird color blotches in the corners. My buddy Tim, who repairs arcade cabinets, kept telling me to hit the degauss button. I figured it was just a placebo thing, like shaking a cartridge. Finally pressed it yesterday after 3 days of frustration. The screen did that little wobble and just... fixed itself? Like instantly. Colors are clean now. He also said to keep magnets away from the tube, which I get now. Has anyone else had a simple fix they ignored for way too long because it sounded too easy?

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willow7321mo ago

The degauss button sounded like one of those fake features they put on stuff just to have more buttons. Tim swore by it for years and I always figured he was just stuck in his ways. Then my old monitor started acting up last month with the same color splotches and I finally caved. That little wobble and sudden clean picture was wild, it felt like magic. Now I get why old tech guys treat it like a sacred ritual, sometimes the simple fix really is the fix.