No matter how big an audiovisual system might be — from personal AV systems for homes to commercial ones meant for theatres and offices — all of them require timely maintenance. While everything is well set up and configured during commercial audio video installation by professionals, it is advised to have routine checks done for the same.
Although, even if you have fixed or signed a contract for scheduled routine checks for the AV systems, it shouldn’t stop you from doing timely checks by yourself to avoid any last-minute disasters. Keep reading to know a few things that you might be missing out while checking up on your AV systems.
- Check those unused sources
Unused sources in AV systems can lead to functionality problems if remained unchecked and attended. These unused sources often include on floor boxes, wall plates, floor plates, and more.
You must check connectivity in these sources at regular intervals of time. You can do so by connecting a source to any port available or idle. If you’ve hired an av integration company, they would do this for you. However, by doing this regularly, you will know beforehand if there is an audio or video issue in your system and will save you from breaking a sweat right before a big event or meeting.
- The back of the display monitors need attention too
Displays — touch screen or not — need constant care too. Often when people clean the AV system and surrounding areas, they leave out the back of the display system, especially if it is mounted over a higher structure or furniture. If the vents at the back of the display system, since they radiate heat too, are blocked with a layer of dust, the air wouldn’t be free to flow through. This, in turn, would cause the display to heat up to a higher temperature. Hence, it is very important to keep the back, front, surrounding and sides of your display system clean at all times.
- Clean the touch panels regularly
If you use just a normal piece of cloth and some screen spray, you might damage your control panel. The thin film, that often goes unnoticed, on the touch panel can be cleaned effectively using a microfiber cloth. They are designed to make sure no speck of grime remains on the surface.
- Give access to an AV specialist only
Often, people give access to others who might not know how to handle an AV system or perhaps, not the one you house. At times like this, it is best to make use of the “authorized personnel only” card around your equipment.
Additionally, it is always a better choice to have a specialist to handle your AV system and the equipment you use with it. It can help reduce the chances of your system failing by half. That’s because professionals know how to troubleshoot and handle system problems better. Instead of a specialist, you can attend crash courses and have anyone do it for you by watching youtube tutorials.
- Don’t overrun your system
Often, people fail to realise that while these systems can handle long hours of use, they can be overridden while it leads to breaking down of the systems. Make sure that you avoid signal clipping all the time since it affects your amplifiers and speakers. Additionally, you must power cycle your equipment at regular intervals to clear the cache memory for optimal performance at all times.
While maintenance of AV systems is difficult and should be left to professionals, it is also advised to take some preventive measures personally, to avoid system failure at important times.