It isn’t enough to just have the latest and greatest home theater equipment. You must take good care of it in order to pull out the best performance, and have an overall functionally and aesthetically appealing room. In addition to maintenance and AV tweaking, you’ll need to keep your gear clean if you want the top-performance possible.
You’ve got to understand proper AV equipment care in order to preserve the life of your devices. You can’t just go in there with a rag and some cleaner and swipe away the grime – you could end up irreparably damaging the surface, the finish, or even the inner mechanisms of your device. So, if you’re proud of how well all of your equipment shows off your flat screen TV frame, you’ll want to keep it clean to keep it looking and performing at its best.
There are some basic cleaning rules for all, or at least most, AV equipment. Be absolutely sure that the device is in “off” (not just standby) mode before tackling the dust. If you can, unplug it to be doubly sure. Furniture polish or wax is meant for furniture – not for your gear. Keep it for the mahogany coffee table and the traditional wood flat screen TV frame, and never use it on electronics. When you do pick a cleaner, don’t spray it straight onto the device. Spray it onto a cloth to protect your delicate home theater components. And finally, after reading this article, go check out the user’s manual for your equipment. If you don’t have a hardcopy, many manuals can be found online. There is usually a section on care and cleaning, and it’s best to follow the manufacturer’s guidelines when it comes to the delicate operation that is cleaning your home theater.
So now on to the specifics. We’ll begin with tips on cleaning your plasma or LCD HDTV, as this is usually the central unit of a home theater. Before you begin, keep in mind that you can keep your flat screen TV frame mounted, or you can remove it with a few easy snaps. An LCD TV screen will be damaged by common household chemicals like Windex, so purchase a cleaner specifically designed to be gentle on screens. The cloth that you use should be soft and either dry or nearly dry – most LCD screens get damaged by moisture and too much rubbing, so treat this delicately. If you must use a cleaner for that stubborn dirt, try a small amount of water first.
Your TV might not be the dustiest thing in your home theater. In fact, the nature of Blu-Ray players, DVD players and gaming consoles make them highly susceptible to dust and dirt collection. The fans that are used for ventilation often make dust settle on the back, around the cables, and when you’re doing your general sweep of the room with a duster, you will often miss those areas around the buttons and underneath the devices.
In order to do a thorough job of cleaning these devices, you should pair your regular cleaning with something a bit more rigorous. Try using that same soft, dry cloth that you used for your TV. You’ll want to start with the device that is on top of the stack and move downward, because dust will likely fall from the top down. On the chassis, keep the dusting motion designed to dust away from the vent holes to preserve the delicate inner workings. When you move to the front panel, you might want to use a soft paintbrush, as this will get you precision without being so rough as to knock around your settings. For the inside of your device, keep an optical lens cleaner disc handy. These are versatile little discs that spin and use small brushes or holes to pull away the dust and dirt.
Cleaning your home theater properly will not only make it look great and highlight your modern flat screen TV frame, but it will also prolong the life of your components. The tips above are all great to follow, but just to reiterate an important point – because not all devices are created equal, check out the cleaning section of the manufacturer’s manual before diving in to your home theater dusting day.
Tags: audio/video, Cables, Decorating, Home Theater, Layout
