OT LCD TV in Cold Storage

John T · Nov 17, 2011

Okay, somewhere (cant find it) I came across something that warned a body shouldnt leave an LCD TV sittin around where its real cold, such as a small flat screen out in my RV between now and Florida. Anyone have any accurate relative info if thats true and if so why??

Ol ever curious John T

JMOR · Nov 17, 2011

don't you just love the internet search engines?

http://americas.kyocera.com/kicc/lcd/notes/tempconsider.html

big fred · Nov 17, 2011

John,

I work on military avionics, and had to research this a few years ago. The liquid crystal layer will freeze at low temperatures, but probably at lower temperatures than you will see unless your RV is in Alaska (or Yukon, etc). Once the LCD warms up to it's normal operating range, the liquid crystal thaws out and it should operate normally. You may see effects of slow screen response if you try to operate it at temperatures below about 5-10C, but it should be fine in storage down to about -40 to -50C. That's the LCD display. The rest of the television might not be so robust, but should be no less robust than a CRT television.

Hendrik · Nov 17, 2011

John.
Very interesting question. This is high level sparkies and physics ;-)
My first guess is that, since the L in LCD stands for "liquid", that it may freeze and lead to deterioration of the fluid or the display as a whole. But I"m certainly no expert.
Did some googling and found the link below.
I quote from this web site: "On the low end, our #1 fluid can operate at temperatures as low as -55 degrees C."
So, not ALL LCD screens will suffer from low temps as in an unheated RV.
HTH, Hendrik
LCD characteristics

LJD · Nov 17, 2011

I've got several LCD tvs that still all winter in temps down to minus 25F. No problems.

Back in days of wax-paper-wound capacitors and vacuum tubes, components DID go bad in cold storage.

I would NOT try to use one at those temps, i.e. I'd warm them up first. But who the heck lays around and watches TV in the severe cold?

Now adays, most electronics will not work in severe cold, not even telephones or cell phones. Leave your cell phone in a below zero area for awhile and see what happens when you hit the buttons. Gel pads don't work below certain temps.

A few years ago, I did a search trying to find a telephone that would work in a cold barn. Finally I called the phone company and asked them how the heck pay phones work outdoors? The answer? They use 40 year-old technology with actual electric switches in each button instead of gel-switches. They also told me that all the first push button phones worked that same way, years ago. So, I found a pink Princess Phone at a yard sale for $10 and it works great. Looks a little silly in my barn, though.

Bob M · Nov 17, 2011

Hey John -

We have a several LCD monitors (several laptops/PC's and a photo frame display) at the Christmas tree farm where I moonlight. They've tolerated overnight temps down around 0 degF without difficulty.

Only problem is the displays are uselessly slow when first powered up in the morning. However once the barn's warmed up and the monitors have been powered up a while they work fine.

I see no reason to believe a flat screen LCD TV will behave any different.

Bob M

LenND · Nov 17, 2011

Surprize fellows! Those tvs aren't shipped in heated trucks or rail cars. And they are shipped year around to ALL climates.

Anonymous-0 · Nov 17, 2011

Ya just gotta add to the list of winterizin chores, for your camper, changin the antifreeze in the TV!

OT LCD TV in Cold Storage

John T

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JMOR

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big fred

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Hendrik

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LJD

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Bob M

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LenND

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Anonymous-0

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