LCD TV & cold temps

I have a 22" LCD TV on my back porch and was wondering if I should bring it in for the winter. I am in western NC where the temp sometimes can be dip into the teens during the night, but not very often. Will it hurt the TV to just leave it in place? BTW, in previous years, I've always brought it in because it was used for another purpose during the winter, but now I have an extra TV, so it won't be needed until springtime. Thanks.

Reply to
Art Todesco
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I would say yeah just for protection purposes. It is a liquid crystal display and thus at least theoretically possible to freeze. The link below has some information thta might be helpful.

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Reply to
Kurt Ullman

Aside from any freezing issues, it's probably more humid there, more chance of condensation, etc. Not a good place for electronics not designed for that, especially when it can be easily relocated.

Reply to
trader_4

And I must respectfully disagree with Kurt.

My understanding is that there is no liquid in a Liquid Crystal video display; and certainly no WATER which could freeze. My understanding is that LCD's are just like Plasma video displays in that they contain crystalline solids that change their crystalline structure very rapidly when a voltage is applied to them, making that material either opaque or transparent. This is why plasma displays like you see on car stereos or even on the car dashboard will always have a coloured background and segments which are either black or very transparent (so that they're darn near invisible).

Samsung says that their LCD TVs can be stored safely at temperatures between -4 F to 113 F or -20 C to 45 C.

'Will Very Cold Or Very Warm Temperatures Affect My LCD TV? : LCD TV | Samsung'

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And, it says that storing their LCD TV's at temperatures above or below that range "can" damage the TV set, not "will" damage the TV set, so you've got some wiggle room on each side of that range.

And that kinda makes sense when you consider that lots of cars have LCD video displays on the back of the front seat headrests so that the kids in the back seat can watch TV so they don't get bored and start kicking the back of the seats dad and mom are sitting in. And, those cars are parked outdoors here in Canada in places like Yellow Knife in the North West Territories where -40 C to -50 C temperatures are not uncommon in winter. Also, lots of police cars have laptop computers in them with LCD displays so the cop can check a car's license number to make sure it's not stolen or check for any warrents for the person driving that car, and those police cars can be parked at a crime scene for long enough that the interior of the car gets very cold. GPS systems in cars also use LCD video displays just like laptop computers.

But, if you do keep your LCD TV outdoors, you want to anchor it down some way so that the wind doesn't knock it over or it get stolen. You also want to cover it to keep the rain or snow melt out of it, and to shade it from intense sunlight during the summer . Also, if you bring it indoors during the winter, you want to give it a few days to warm up to room temperature before plugging it in or turning it on. That's because condensation forming on the cold circuit boards inside the TV might cause electrical shorts which could wreck the electronics on those boards. And, you want to wait long enough so that not only do those circuit boards warm up to normal operating temperature, but any condensation that might have formed on them also evaporates.

So, I expect that if you use your common sense, and you don't live where outdoor temperatures don't fall too far below -4 F or too much above 113 F, then you can safely store your LCD TV outdoors. But store it so that it's out of the Sun, out of the wind, covered so that rain or snow melt can't get into the TV and anchored down so that it can't be stolen.

Reply to
nestork

Feel free I was just posting what they said on that site I suggested he look at. ;)

Reply to
Kurt Ullman

A good question. Will you end up with an FCD TV, a frozen crystal diode TV. There are probably big differences, but you could buy an LCD watch at the dollar store and put it in your freezer, especially one a little colder than your winter nights get, and see how it works at that low temp, and when warmed up.

I would love to know.

Reply to
micky

What!!? I wuz robbed!!

Reply to
micky

Not to pick on you who went to trouble to find a relavant article, but the second half of this line caught my attention: "Some are rated to handle temps as low as -15F to -20F below zero, while others are barely rated to be stored anywhere near the zero mark."

What could "barely rated" mean? It's rated to zero and not to =1?? Either it's rated to zer or it's not. And what does "anywhere near the zero mark" mean. How near is near, and what does "anywhere" add to this? If he found what the manufacturer said, just give us the number instead of this vague description.

Reply to
micky

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