TV/display in workshop and fire safety?

[hdv]

On this forum, the other FOG, and Youtube I've seen several people that have a large screen in their shop. That seems like a great idea for displaying notes and drawings during a build. Now I am considering to add one to my shop.

But how much of a fire hazard would such a device pose in a workshop, where fine dust is unavoidable? You can't keep it from getting in the display, without hampering the cooling of the device. But on the other hand you would think that such fine dust is not something that should be in contact with hot parts in a display. What are your thoughts? Are safety measures needed? And if so, what measures would/did you take?

 

[MikeGE]

Unless I was using my grandfather's magic lantern as a display device, I wouldn't worry about the heat generated from modern displays or electronic devices.  I think the amount of heat required to flash any dust would cause other problems that would be seen sooner.
However, if I put a computer in my shop, I would definitely clean it more frequently than a home or office computer.  Where I used to work, we had a team that would go through all of the offices to open the cases of the PCs and vacuum the accumulated dust.  This was usually combined with the 10-percent monthly cyclic inventory, so over the course of ten months, all of the equipment had been touched and cleaned.

 

[RKA]

I would agree with Mike.  At worst, it would cause the premature demise of electronic equipment as components overheated from accumulation of dust.  I would tend not to be too concerned about it, not only because they cost of these sub 40” TV’s is less than a Festool sander, but because many of us tend to have older TV’s lying around the house waiting for an excuse to be upgraded.  Repurposing a TV in the shop is a valid excuse...errr...reason.  [wink]

 

[hdv]

I figure there are no high voltage components inside modern displays. Unlike the cathode-ray tubes of old...  [huh]

Maybe I am just too cautious with these things.  [embarassed]