Sammy wrote:
On 04 Apr 2006, Sam wrote:


Thank you all for your advice.

All this now makes me think that my TV (which uses a 19 inch
glass tube) would also show an improved oicture if it too had
the dust cleaned out of it.

Is this correct? Or does a TV differ in some way from a PC
monitor when it comes to getting visible improvements from
dusting?

Let's take a survey.... How many of the professional techs,
engineers, and scientists who read this group actually do
periodic cleaning of inside of their monitors and TVs?

If you're obsessive-compulsive and have nothing better to do, by
all means clean the insides of your CRT equipment. But it's
probably more likely that something will get messed
accidentally, than any significant improvement in either
performance or life span.

The high voltage area of modern CRT equipment is generally
enclosed and or sealed with HV grease or adhesive. It's not
like old all-tube-type TVs where everything collected an inch of
dust if you turned your back.

Yes, dust does collect. And yes in principle that may affect
something eventually. But if there are no symptoms, leave it
alone. It's not likely that a gradually degradation in
performance is dust related. My approach about these things is
that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Seriously, if you're
in a dusty dirty shop floor, then there may be some benefit.
But if it's a home or office environment, don't you have better
things to worry about than to clean the insides of your 34,153
electronic gadgets????

For the record, I do not clean inside electronic equipment
unless there is a reason to go inside. My TV is 26 years old
and I've repaired it twice over that span due to defective
chokes (probably a parts problem from the supplier at the time
of manufacture). Other TVs in the house are all more than 15
years old and except one set of cracked solder joints, havne't
needed repair since I acquired them. I generally keep computer
monitors for 8 or 10 years without problems.

Let the flame wars begin... NOW! ;-)


Have you actually cleaned inside one of your monitors/TV in order to
see how noticeable (or not) the change in picture quality is?


I've cleaned a lot of them, but never for the sole
purpose of seeing if it affects picture quality.
It does not. But there is the possibility of
damaging something. If there is some other reason for
opening the monitor up, and if you are careful, you
might as well clean it while you are there.

Unless your monitor is in a "hostile" environment where
it can pick up a LOT of dust/lint/dirt/whatever, leave
the damn cover on it and clean the outside only. In a normal
residential setting, the best you can hope for is that you do
not damage the monitor/TV in the process.

Ed


It might be wrong to dismiss cleaning if you haven't seen the
benefits on your own CRTs. Once you have tried then you could say it
is or is not worth the effort.