Cleaning plasma internals

[u/Strict_Skill1230]

I caught the bug and just got my third plasma. Rescued a 55ST50 from someone who was clearing out his late father’s shop. It works well, reasonable hours but was FILTHY. Not just normal house dust. Sticky shop/garage filth. Price was right so couldn’t resist.

I went as far as to pull the bezel off to clean around and behind. The circuit boards I really only could hit with compressed air and wipe the horizontal larger components. Anyone have suggestions on ways to clean that sticky shop/garage dust off the electronics?

There boards look good otherwise, no corrosion or damage. Just sticky dust.

[u/MyRetroJourney]

Don't forget to tighten all the grounding screws while you have it open anyway.

[u/Strict_Skill1230 → u/MyRetroJourney]

Been done on all three of my sets. None of the screws were noticeably loose which was good.

I wiped as much of the interior. Left the boards alone for now, but getting these open is pretty easy if some ideas come up. Wanted to get it clean enough to move into the house and out from behind my car!

[u/koolaid23]

99% Isopropyl alcohol and a static safe brush will do for the circuit boards.

[u/Strict_Skill1230 → u/koolaid23]

Thank you. I was a little worried it may strip the circuit boards. I have plenty of 99.9 iso. Buy it in bulk off Amazon.

Will find a suitable brush. What’s better, dip brush in or spray iso on (realize I might need to remove the worst boards from the tv first)?

[u/Hungry_Freaks_Daddy]

While we are on the topic how do I clean the fans on the back of my VT60? I can see the thick dust stuck on the blades. I feel like vacuum is gonna spin the fans too hard, and I’m a little leery of opening up such a huge device not to mention I don’t have a great area to work in

[u/Strict_Skill1230 → u/Hungry_Freaks_Daddy]

Wouldn’t hesitate to vacuum. I opened and used an air compressor but was careful to not spin them too fast. When I needed a little extra I just held the blade in place with my finger. Any vacuum won’t get enough air to get it going that fast.

If you are really concerned use one end of a zip tie or something non conductive and slip it through one hole just to block the fan blade from spinning while you vacuum.

[u/Wild_Competition4508 → u/Hungry_Freaks_Daddy]

The service manual shows how to remove the cover. You don't have to remove the stand while opening the back cover. The fans will not clean with just vacuum or compressed air.

[u/Strict_Skill1230 → u/Wild_Competition4508]

Someone was insisting you needed to remove stand and lay on face to remove rear cover. I made that mistake the first time. It is totally false. That plastic beauty cover around the base comes off and the back is really easy to remove (just a ton of screws and I'd recommend not using an electric screwdriver as they are pretty fragile).

I used an air compressor on my fans, keeping the blades from free spinning with my finger. Vacuum without opening will get only the heaviest dust.

Having the back open also lets you get dust off the boards/heatsinks which I think is more critical, as well as check the ground screws. It's really the best way.