I have a rear projection TV that is about 2 years old. Earlier today, my wife noticed a spider crawling across the screen. I got a tissue and went to grab it, and it was on the inside. :eek:
I changed channels to make sure it wasn’t coming in with the broadcast, and it was still there. It walked off one side of the screen, but came back a little later, then disappeared again.
Are RPTV screens sealed? How did he get in there. Is it going to hurt anything? Any ideas of what I should do, if anything?
Get a can of compressed air and shoot in from the back of the TV in the general direction of the two front corners. This should mess up his web. If he comes back, do it again. He will search for another home eventually.
Do not spray bug spray into the TV. It could prove flameable!
Does anyone know if a room fogger will do any damage to such a TV? If not, just close the room and fog the sucker out. Even if direct spray doesn’t get into the TV, I’m sure the fumes will take care of it.
I’ll let someone more versed in TV architecture answer whether RPTV screens are noramlly sealed like older model TV’s. Obviously, yours isn’t completely sealed or the spider would be long since dead. I can’t imagine that it will do any harm other than messing with your viewing. Unless, of course, the magnetic fields in the TV mutate the spider into a 20’ blood thirsty beast.
Genius! Pure genius! I’ll bet I can save a ton of money on my electric bill by air conditioning my house using the same method! moriah, rest assured that I will send you a check every month for 50% of my energy savings. This board really does pay for itself.
No, no, a bird! And if the bird doesn’t come back in, send in a cat. And if the cat won’t come out, put a dog in your tv. And to retrieve the dog, a horse!
Yes, you should be worried. Or at least concerned enough to investigate.
If the spider decides that this is a good place to stay rather than deciding to eat its web and set up shop elsewhere (and thrives, rather than dying) then clearly something edible is climbing into the set. Get rid of the spider, and you may still have assorted vermin crawling across the screen. Consider the spider a warning to check out the situation. It might be a temporary thing, but it might not.
You should also consider dusting the insides (yourself, or hiring a pro) and using a screen or filter on your vents (without blocking airflow too much, of course), This thread discusses one amateur’s experience cleaning and dusting the inside of his set; a fellow spider suffer reports in. Another spider hunting expedition report and another (using a shop vac)
Be glad you don’t have a Moth in your DLP
Though I can’t point you at a specific example, I’d be cautious about using a fogger or bug spray. Back when I was doing the backround research for my Home Theater, fogging of the front coating on the high-intensity CRTs inside the set was a not uncommonly reported problem. Then again, a lot of the guys on the forums I hung out on were ultrapicky. (I personally went with a front projection system, and you’ve just given me another reason to be happy with my choice)
I had a rear projection big screen for several years. I used to clean the inside from dust and webs every year or so. You may also notice that after you clean the lens and mirror that your picture is brighter. The tv’s are not sealed, because then need a means for heat to escape from the projection unit.
In my TV (it was a magnavox), there was just a large panel that would come of and leave the whole backside open. There were probably a dozen screws to remove, then it just came off and I could just the lenses, the mirror, and the inside of the screen. I used a vacuum to collect the dust to remove as much as possible. Use something soft that won’t scratch the lenses/mirror/screen to dust with. Unplug your TV first, obviously, and let it cool down before you do this.
Not much to it really. If your TV is like my TV, anyone with any mechanical skill could do it. You will be surprised at how much dust and stuff gets in there. When you are done, just put the back panel on and you are good to go. This is a pretty typical procedure, and I would do it every so often.
I’ve some kind of a little bug in my pc’s flat screen monitor for a couple of months now. At first I thought it was part of an old sneeze or something but when I got round to wiping it off it was sort of inside the screen and it moved.
It hasn’t been around for a few days but I wouldn’t say that I’m worried. Concerned maybe but definately not worried.
Actually I am starting to worry now. Do you think the little guy is ok?
