Fixing Monitor/Amps Buy Soldering Station or Get Professional Help

[chesebert]

I am conflicted whether to find a local electronics repair person to fix my LCD monitor and headphone amp or to pay $150ish for a proper solder station and a few tips.

LCD is flickering when turning on/wake up (will settle down after 3-5min) and I think it needs its caps replaced.

Amp has a stepped pot and the mechanical linkage in the pot is failing. I will get a new stepped pot and get it installed.

I think the soldering station together with the raw materials will cost me probably $300-500 (stepped pot is expensive). What is the going rate for a tech located in downtown Chicago to replace a few capacitors and a volume pot? If less than $200, I might consider getting it professionally done.

I rate my soldering skill as 2/10 when I did it back in school (era without youtube help). I would have to watch quite a bit of youtube and may even need to buy a few caps/resistors and a blank dev board before attempting at any repair work - so that's extra time and money spent. The "practice parts" should cost less than $10 all together.

One additional consideration is I have no real work bench, and will have to perform the repair on my computer desk in the living room...

[aFrugalFather]

Must be a nice monitor?  Otherwise I find some 24" displays at garage sales for about $15 fairly regularly.  Headphone amps though are pretty rare.  Sounds like a fun project if you would enjoy it, otherwise probably not worth the time and effort. 

[chesebert]

Upon some googling I have decided to clean my stepped pot first before replacing them. Just checked the price and one of these parts is over $300...I am sure it didn't cost this much 7 years ago.

The monitor is an old IPS screen and is probably close to 10yrs old, but the capacitors are like $5...and I can fix it, if I only have the tools.