do flat panel monitors 'pop'?

[JohnO]

oh it's the dust! i usually dust every week. so the room's pretty clean,

but
i understand if it's still dusty inside the monitor.

It is, I gar-on-tee...the high voltage system creates a situation that
attracts dust. Negative ionization, or positive, I forget which. Your
regular dusting routine stirs things up, and as the littlest particles float
down in an hour or so they are attracted to the innards of the CRT by that
ionization and the air movement from the heat in the monitor. That fine dust
grabs on pretty tight, even the air nozzle from a big compressor needs to be
pretty close to get it off.

i just ordered a flat
panel so i won't bother with taking of the cover. but if somebody else is
reading this...maybe you could clean the dust out without removing the
cover
with one of those compressed air spray cans? the same as the can people
use
to clean keyboards.

That'll get the big stuff, maybe, but you can't blow out much of the
important dust with the cover on. Turn it off, let it sit for a week
unplugged. Yes, a week. Then it'll be safe---unless a highly static-charged
person brushes up against the face of the CRT. This can generate a nice
charge on the anode...not a fatal one...but enough to create a secondary
injury such as banging your hand or head after the discharge.

i've had two CTR monitors now. both popped loudly when they got around
three
years old. i kept them off when i wasn't using the computer. i'm hoping
my
flat planel won't ever pop.

It shouldn't.

-John O