Entertainment Center: TVs, Stereos, VCRs and DVDs - JVC tv kaput?

It is a 27" JVC that is 6 years old. Yesterday the picture changed on us. The screen is very light and has horizontal lines through it. Sounds works fine. The cabinet is fairly warm. Don't know if that is usual or not. I'm sure there is quite a bit of dust within the cabinet. Does this sound fixable?

What happens if you unplug the set for an hour or so and then turn it back on? Does the picture come on normal and then glitch to the washed-out picture? That's usually a sign of a heat-related failure.

How does it look with a VCR or DVD connected to the A/V inputs? If it looks good with them but horrible with the cable input, it could be a bad cable.

I'll try unplugging it for an hour or so and see if that makes any changes. Same bad picture with the dvd player. Cable is good. Do you think blowing out the dust would help?

It couldn't hurt to vacuum -- not blow -- the dust. It's usually the start of heat related problems in electronic circuits. Especially if there are smokers in the house.

Blowing the dust out with compressed air only changes its position. Much better to remove dust altogether.

I use a never-used-to-paint 2" paint brush to loosen the dust, and vacuum with the upholstery attachment to suck it off the components and board. A soft touch is necessary on the paint brush, and the plastic vacuum never touches anything.

Please read the TV Safety sticky (http://forum.doityourself.com/showthread.php?t=309110) at the top of the index for this forum.

Unplugging it for a couple of hours didn't change a thing. It came right back on with the very light picture. I'll try dusting the inside when I have some time to spare. And I will follow all of the safety precautions. Thanks for the tips.

One last question, which is probably a stupid one.......Do I have any hope that getting rid of the substantial layer of dust within the tv will somehow miraculously make it better? If not I won't bother dusting within.

Oh, one more question. I thought of this some time ago but didn't know if it would be a good idea or not. We have 2 amazon birds in our rec room with this tv. The birds produce their own dander which just like dust. I thought about putting a loose filter type product over the tv vents to help keep this dander, and dust, out of the tv. It could be replaced or cleaned as necessary. Would this be a good or bad idea?

There are several heat sinks inside the TV that carry heat away from the components. Dust reduces the air movement to the sinks and causes a buildup of heat. Heat affects the components and eventually leads to failure.

With enough humidity, the dust can also become an electrical conductor and partially short the exposed leads on a circuit board.

Removing the dust may fix the problem. If the components are just running hot and haven't been damaged, you might get lucky.

If you do put a filter over the vents, make sure it's loose enough to easily pass air. TVs use convection to move air through the case, usually drawing air into the lower vents and exhausting it through the top. It's just as important to cover the lower vents.

I think it is all a moot point now. I was playing around with the brightness adjustment with the remote. When it reached the high end the screen went black and the sound disappeared. Looks like it will now go to the graveyard.
As far as the filter thing goes, I thought it might help capture allot of the dust before it enters the tv and creates overheating problems. I noticed that the bottom vents were the ones that had the most dust accumulation. They were the ones that were least likely to get dusted because they are somewhat hidden from view. I've got this filter stuff that is for our old furnace. It is about 1" thick and loosely weaved to allow airflow. I am thinking that it would make a great pre-filter that can be used, cleaned and replaced. But in the meantime I will be shopping for a tv.