Magnets and monitors

[bartre]

well, in my MAME cabinet, i'm planning on using an old pair of auto speakers to run the sound.
my question is, will the magnets on the back ruin my TV?
I'm using Lusid's cabinet plans and the TV is slanted back a bit, but i don't want to do anything that will damage my cabinet.

[Kevin Mullins]

Are they getting mounted under the marquee area?
(like most arcade cabinets)

The only reason a speaker magnet would affect the monitor is simply if it's too close.

[darkomen64]

HEY!!! something i can help with!! woohoo.. i am also using car speakers for mine.. and yes they did cause issues with the TV.. BUT i fixed it.. after trying to fine some decent way to shield them and couldnt.. and everything else.. i fianly found something that worked perfect for me.. this might sound a bit strange but it works great for me.. i found some metal (they have to be metal to soak up the magnetic field) oil filter wrenches
they were like 4 bucks a piece for me at the local shop.. it was kinda a pain to find metal ones.. i had one to start with thats what gave me the idea..
just have to find one that fits over the magnet.. not to big... jsut big enough to fit.. and deep enough to cover the whole thing.. i'll try and take a pic of mine later and post it =)

[ami-man]

Hi,

When we used to operate video games the main problem with monitors was they needed degaussing. ou can buy a degaussing coil or make your own.

You can tell when a monitor needs degaussing because the colours tend to bleed off on the edges and the colours are not sharpe.

Regards
Alan Hood
ami-man
UK

[Barry Barcrest]

Most of the newer monitors are self degausing. If it's a VGA screen it should be self degausing, you will hear it do it when you power up. You need to power it up with and interference in place. For instance on the JPM Proteus quiz machine the speakers are in the lid and if you power on with the lid down the picture is fine but if you power it on with the lid up then close it the magnets will effect the screen. The reverse is of course true and the screen will look odd powering it on with the lid down then raising the lid. Obviously car speakers can have far more powerful magnets on and if they are too strong then even the self degausing might still leave the monitor with afunky screen in which case using the metal shilding method like described with the oil cap wrenches should give you good results.

As for a degausing wand you can get ok results for a funky moniotor with no self degausing but using a magnet and correcting the problem. I did it using a speaker and pretty much got the screen looking ok but making cicrles with it and pulling away slowly from the screen. Also do not start off to close, it seems a little bit like an art but you can do it that way.