I used to be really scared of CRT tubes - I first encountered them with an old eMac I over clocked to keep alive and got really scared every time I went near it. Eventually I faced up to my fear and found its very easy. So long as you don't bodge it too much.
I made an 'earthing screwdriver' using an old ironing flex. I have stripped the live and nutral cables so only earth remains, connected to the earth pin on my plug. The cable is soldered to a long handle, flat head screwdriver, and the whole thing is wrapped in insulator tap from the handle to about 2 inches from the tip. When I use it I put on my wellies and workmans gloves and plug the cable straight into the wall socket. (I don't turn the socket on! Even though there's nothing connected to live or neutral, neither is there any reason to turn it on) I double check there's no part of me touching the Mac, and slide the screwdriver under the suction cup to discharge, usually I remove the cap with the screwdriver and discharge it again.
Once you've done it once, it's not much to worry about. It's ironic that to begin with we are all really scared of crt's so try to avoid them, when really we are working right next to a massive charged capacitor ready to discharge if we make a mistake. Actually making the crt safe is pretty straight forward and once you've done it you are infinitely safer than if you just tried to avoid it in the first place.
Don't forget basic electrical safety - unplug the Mac and flick the power switch a couple of times to drain the capacitors. Also do NOT wear a wrist strap or earth yourself at all until the crt is drained, then make sure you are earthed before touching components.
I made an 'earthing screwdriver' using an old ironing flex. I have stripped the live and nutral cables so only earth remains, connected to the earth pin on my plug. The cable is soldered to a long handle, flat head screwdriver, and the whole thing is wrapped in insulator tap from the handle to about 2 inches from the tip. When I use it I put on my wellies and workmans gloves and plug the cable straight into the wall socket. (I don't turn the socket on! Even though there's nothing connected to live or neutral, neither is there any reason to turn it on) I double check there's no part of me touching the Mac, and slide the screwdriver under the suction cup to discharge, usually I remove the cap with the screwdriver and discharge it again.
Once you've done it once, it's not much to worry about. It's ironic that to begin with we are all really scared of crt's so try to avoid them, when really we are working right next to a massive charged capacitor ready to discharge if we make a mistake. Actually making the crt safe is pretty straight forward and once you've done it you are infinitely safer than if you just tried to avoid it in the first place.
Don't forget basic electrical safety - unplug the Mac and flick the power switch a couple of times to drain the capacitors. Also do NOT wear a wrist strap or earth yourself at all until the crt is drained, then make sure you are earthed before touching components.
