Do Speaker Magnets Damage Crt Displays?

2003-07-06 03:21:30

I have a realtively large pair of monitor speakers distanced as far away from my computer monitor as possible while still remaining on the computer desk. They still distort a very small portion of the display, but not enough to be anything more than a slight annoyance. My question is, will this cause later damage to the display itself?

Do Speaker Magnets Damage Crt Displays?

Reply #1 – 2003-07-06 03:48:13

if the distortion is gone if you move them away, then chances are the only thing being affected is the electron stream on its way to the grill.  If the grill itself becomes magnetized then you get something like permanent damage.  I say 'something like' because if it isn't too bad you can more than likely correct it simply by using the monitor's degauss cycle.  If you can't get rid of it that way because it's too strong, then a more industrial degausser may get rid of it.  You could always place a piece at the side of your speakers to block the magnetic field if you aren't interested in shelling out money for speakers that are shielded in the first place.

Do Speaker Magnets Damage Crt Displays?

Reply #2 – 2003-08-11 13:58:14

I had a similar problem where the degaussing button only fixed it partially but turning the monitor off for a while did the rest.  For a month I had been working with some bookshelf speakers near the monitor and having (unknowingly) adjusted the monitor to display properly with them near.  When I moved them to the other room the monitor looked odd and to had be re-adjusted after the degaussing.  If it is only effecting the squareness of the display it shouldn't be as severe of a problem as say..."Gee everything is pink and green today!"

[Mischevious youth that walked by TV with large magnet]

Do Speaker Magnets Damage Crt Displays?

Reply #3 – 2003-08-11 14:12:40

I don't know for sure about computer CRT's but I know for a fact that television CRT's can be wrecked this way.

It can permanently magnetize the mask in the CRT and even professional degaussing will not help.

Do Speaker Magnets Damage Crt Displays?

Reply #4 – 2003-08-11 14:28:26

Unfortunately, there's no way to completely escape the effects of magentic fields on CRTs.  Even the orientation of your monitor relative to magnetic north has a small (but noticeable) effect on the image.

Degaussing circutry usually has safeguards built in to prevent you from degaussing too much (usually you get a "wimpy" degauss if you degaussed recently).  Turning it off for a while gives the degauss circutry time to "reset."  Almost all modern monitors do a degauss when you turn them on.  It is possible to degauss a monitor manually with a variety of different tools (the coil from a soldering gun for example), but I don't recommend trying it.

The worst case scenario WRT magnets and monitors (from my understanding) is that a strong enough magnetic fields could permenantly deform the shadow mask (which is ferrous).  The proper technique for correcting that issue requires about 60g of force (two stories ought to do it).

Do Speaker Magnets Damage Crt Displays?

Reply #5 – 2003-08-12 02:17:48

Simple answer:  ANY MAGNETS DAMAGE CRT DISPLAYS.  Speakers don't nessecarily as some are shielded (mine are).