Removing the anti-reflective coating from a CRT

I have got an old high quality CRT monitor which is still perfect except for one thing. The anti reflective coating has been partly removed in places (drink spills, cleaning product .. I don't know). If I could remove the rest of the coating the monitor would be usable. I have tried regular soap and detergent and window cleaner. I got more of the coat off, and the result is promising, but it takes a lott of work to even get a small patch cleared. Any ideas which product would do the trick?

Just me (Sir to you)
Wednesday, June 16, 2004

Sir,
I would search around on sci.electronics.repair: http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&group=sci.electronics.repair

Matthew Lock
Wednesday, June 16, 2004

Sand paper. No, really! Just be careful. Or maybe sticker removal products. Alcohol? Aggressive scrub cleaner? Good luck.

Chemist around the house.
Wednesday, June 16, 2004

It is common practice to clean glass with a razor blade.  Maybe you can "shave" off the coating...?

Caffeinated
Wednesday, June 16, 2004

if you do that, take care not to "shave" off your fingertips/fingers/hands in the process..

sheez.

muppet is now from madebymonkeys.net
Wednesday, June 16, 2004

Second vote for the razor blades - should work fine and fast. Get some of the 'classic' two sided types and cover one side with a fabric tape to protect your fingers. As long as the blade has no dints it can't damage the glass, so you can press quite hard to scrape off the coating.
There are also 'special' tools working on that principle, usually for scraping off color from (real;) windows after painting the (real;) frames. They give you better protection - if you choose to get one of those, make sure that the blade is still flexible enough to follow the curve of the screen.

HTH

HeO
Wednesday, June 16, 2004

I would think that a super fine grit sandpaper would do the trick as well, or maybe some rubbing compound.

I avoid razor blades due to my inherent clutziness.  I like my fingers where they are.

Steve Barbour
Wednesday, June 16, 2004

Back in the 80's I saw the results of a lady in accounting attempt to "clean" her VT-100 terminal screen with some Formula 409.  Within a few seconds of the spray hitting the surface, it had a reaction with the anti-reflective coating and it looked like someone took a honeydipped donut and smeared it all over her screen.

After much fretting, they decided to just let her finish the job of stripping off all the coating that she accidentally started.  Not sure if newer monitors use the same coating though.

Mr. Clean
Wednesday, June 16, 2004

Very fine steel wool perhaps?

sgf
Wednesday, June 16, 2004

Lighter fluid (aka naptha) usually works dandy for removing reside from stickers/price tags- maybe worth a try.

Other things I've used successfully at one time or another for de-gunking:
- nail polish remover (aka acetone)
- WD-40

Post back if you succeed and let us know what worked...

- former car owner in Queens
Wednesday, June 16, 2004

forgot one:
- Easy-Off (the original stuff in the yellow can - it's basically aerosol lye)

- former car owner in Queens
Wednesday, June 16, 2004

I can't believe people suggesting sandpaper or steel wool! It's an optical surface for heaven's sake! You want to cover it with scratches? Sheesh!

Go to a hardware store and buy some of the universal solvent designed for removing adhesive residues, gunk and other stuff. It is very likely to work, especially if combined with the razor-blade-type scraper idea. Be careful of the screen surround though--strong solvents are good at messing up plastic.

Ian
Wednesday, June 16, 2004

Thanks guys. I think I will give the aceton/razor combo a try.

Just me (Sir to you)
Thursday, June 17, 2004

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