Can I lay a plasma flat to remove the stand?

Laying it flat is fine as long as you protect the screen (blanket, carpet).

Are you able to install the bracket, while it is in its stand? That would be the most favorable way. Also, depending on the size of the set, it may be easier to have another person help you lay it flat, along with helping to stabilize it while placing it up on the wall, once you get the bracket attached.

BTW, how large of a set are we talking about?

If you lay it flat you're gonna have to wait at least 24 hours, but to be safe I would say 48 hours before turning the TV on. Need to let the gas settle or very bad things can happen....

If you read the owners manual they have you lay them flat to install the stand or wall mount. It is perfectly fine. I've laid 5 in a row down the past month without issue. (returned them for different reasons). If there was a wait time it would be stated in the manual, not instructed to lie flat. Don't worry about it.

The Pioneer KRP-500M manual says to lay it flat on it's face on a soft surface to attach the stand. There is no caution about not powering it up for any period of time after doing so. I attached my stand this way, 2 years ago and have had zero issues.

When I received my 42UT50 on Monday, that's how I did it. Just be sure that nothing is on the surface in which the face is going down on. I put it on my bed, and made sure that there was nothing on it. You do not want to accidentally damage your screen by not taking this precaution, especially if this is a brand new set we are talking about.

You must either work at Worst Buy or Scares. That is the funniest thing I have ever heard from people, since Plasmas started to become mainstream over ten years ago.

May want to correct what you stated, because none of it is true conan48.

I would not lay it down to remove the stand - i don't want carpet (or even a soft blanket or comforter) touching my screen. People here have accidentally cracked their screen when laying the TV down on a bed or table.

I'd get a helper to lift the TV off the stand, and sometimes i'll turn the TV onto it's side and either gently lean it against a wall (screen side out) or have a helper hold it in this position while i install/remove the stand from the side.

That is completely and entirely false information. Where the heck did you get that from?? You can twirl the TV like pizza dough and turn it on immediately with no ill effects.

WTF, iv'e never heard this before, when i swapped the board out of my PIONEER KURO 5020, to the Elite board, i powered it right back up, with zero problems.

If you are going to try laying it flat, you can also try using small rectangles (about 3"L x 2"W x 1" thick
) of packaging foam placed on a large coffee table or kitchen/dining table. The foam I'm talking about is the stuff often used inside boxes or audio, video, and computer equipment. Depends how wide the bezel is around the screen. These days, there isn't much there on many TVs. But I've worked on 46" to 50" flat panels this way by carefully and evenly distributing the weight around the edge of the bezel so that nothing touches the screen itself and applies no pressure to it. They actually have jigs in some repair shops that do this very thing. They have to remove the back panel to replace power supply units, main boards, and what not. Once you take the back panel and/or stand off there is nothing else you can use to support the TV.

Couldn't help myself. Sorry. I used to hear that kind of BS from people for over 7 years working at an electronics store. I guess people are a little more educated today. LOL.

Well if it was a joke then you should have stated that in your post. People and newbies looking for information will see your post and could genuinely think it's a serious concern, which is why we jumped on it to immediately dispell it.

I don't see why you need to lay it down though. I would put the mounting brackets on the back of the TV while it's on the stand and then remove the screws on the back for the stand. Then you would just lift it up and the stand would come out and you can mount it straight up to the wall. I mounted a 55 inch LCD and I'm glad I had someone helping me. The ST30 is even heavier so I would get a buddy to help with the job just to be safe.

mjpearce has the best solution. You don't want to do this yourself because the tv is heavy and you may twist the panel a bit, not good. Much easier to get someone to help. The panel isn't very heavy but the leverage that long mass has over you can push your limits. Still with two people on my 50ST30, it was a bit hard to get it up on a high mount, for my short wife anyway

I wouldn't want Anything to touch the glass panel's AR coating for fear of scratching or any marks like swirls that can only be seen in certain light. I don't want a chance of uneven pressure points across the front either. I'm being a bit anal but hey why not.


I thought conan's remark was pretty funny, thanks for the laugh I have to say Randy made a good point about the newbies.

I agree also, that two people should handle and position any large flat panel TV even down to 37" or so. Like you say, not always a lot of weight, but any twisting or uneven pressure could spell trouble.

You handle the TV just like a sheet of glass. If you lay it down, you want to do so on an even and flat surface. Use two people and place it on something that won't scratch the screen, do that and you're all set. These things are assembled and serviced laying down, and they make it through a gauntlet of shippers who sometimes aren't so keen on following directions, so don't worry too much.

Glass can break if you place uneven weight on it while on the flat side, basically anything that would cause it to flex is bad. So no lifting by yourself on one side or something like that.

I simply mine on top of a very clean kitchen table, with a clean comforter on top. It just rests on the Bezel this way, so you are putting no pressure on the glass.
As to removing the stand, at least on my Pioneer, the stand mounts to the same holes as the wall mount.

Geez so much paranoia. Maybe I just got lucky but when I got my plasma I laid it gently on the living room floor to install the mounting brackets on the back before hanging it on the wall. Didn't have any issues.