Can magnets permanently damage CRTs?

I would suggest pulling the power on the TV for a day or so. This "might" discharge any residual magnetism within the circuit. Other than that, you'll probably have to take it in and have the unit serviced. If you like the TV enough to do this, you might want to have them perform an alignment at the same time. Sean
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When my CRT computer monitor was on during a power surge related to a thunder storm the picture became distorted and the colors (colours for you Sean) all messed up. I was sure it was destroyed. But, low and behold, turning it off and back on fixed everything. That demag at turnon really works.

Thank you guys for your advice. I did "the google" on CRTs and magnets and I will try to degauss the picture tube. I tried a tape head demagnitizer and it changed the color distortion. I think I'll just grab the next discarded TV I find on the street and open it up and see if it has a degaussing circuit I can cannibalize, and make a degausser.
Howell

I just bought a heavy duty degausser on ebay for $24.

A long time ago I set a raw car speaker on top of my television. I didn't think much of it until a few days later the picture was looking a little strange...not extremely noticeable...but different...the colors were a bit off.

When I picked the speaker up off the set...BAM...the colors were all out of wack...completely...not to mention the "stretching" of the picture.

Luckily...a good friend was an EE and explained to me that the picture had "aligned" itself with the magnet and within a few days it would realign itself.

He was right...after a few days...it was back to normal.