Cleaning a Sony Trinitron CRT?

[Bixler]

Hey folks,

 

I grabbed a Sony Trinitron for free at the end of my college academic year when everyone is dumping unwanted items into various "rescue boxes." Here are some photos: http://imgur.com/a/CyyKH

 

Any ideas for cleaning the gunk off and polishing the screen? What specific materials/products should I use? I don't want to damage the plastic casing or the screen.

 

Thank you!

Edited May 20, 2014 by Bixler

[Osgeld]

goo gone, soak time and lots of elbow grease (goo gone the orange stuff, not goop off the stuff that melts plastic instantly)

[BigO]

The screen should be glass. Unless there's tape residue, standard glass cleaner and paper towels should do the job. If it's not really filthy, you might get by with just a damp cloth followed by a dry cloth.

[Bixler]

goo gone, soak time and lots of elbow grease (goo gone the orange stuff, not goop off the stuff that melts plastic instantly)

Thanks, I'll pick some up from Wal-Mart.

 

The screen should be glass. Unless there's tape residue, standard glass cleaner and paper towels should do the job. If it's not really filthy, you might get by with just a damp cloth followed by a dry cloth.

There is only a tiny bit of tape residue on the bottom of the screen. Would a microfiber cloth and some screen cleaning solution I use for my laptop work?

[Keatah]

If you're using an unfamiliar chemical, simply test it on small hidden/bottom/back area to see how it goes.

[BigO]

If it's plain, smooth glass with no sort of anti-reflective coating (which I've never seen), the goo gone should be perfectly fine for removing the tape residue.

 

For all of its brittleness, glass is really pretty tough. You could even use a single edge razor blade held fairly flat to the glass to scrape the bulk of the tape off of the glass.

 

WD-40 works to remove tape residue, too. I've never tried it on plastic (try completely at your own risk) but it will do the job on glass.

 

With WD-40, Goo Gone or any other petroleum distillates, you'll need some other kind of cleaner/mild detergent or such to get rid of the residue.

 

Definitely avoid the aforementioned Goof Off product for this use. It's pretty hardcore stuff. I ruined the finish on my dining room table by accidentally spilling some on it.

 

In my experience, De-solv-it works about the same as Goo Gone.

[Bixler]

Thanks for the help; going to grab some Goo Gone for the tape residue and use my microfiber cloth + screen cleaning solution to polish the screen. I'll use some q-tips and some cleaning solution of some sort to clean out some of the dusty vents on the back.

 

Thanks!

[Keatah]

If you're time traveling have yo'momma sit on an old-school fireplace bellows and blast out all the dust. Maybe you prefer a 21st century solution like canned air or a compressed air tank. If you're feeling devious and angry at the neighbor, hook an air hose to the car tire and use that in place of a bona-fide air compressor.

[Hatta]

That looks exactly like my screen. It's fantastic, great score even if it needs some TLC.