How to extend the life of your DLP, LCoS, SXRD, HD-ILA, or LCD TV Lamp -Intuitive Guide

Increasing the Life of Your DLP Lamp or LCD Lamp

It’s a terrible feeling… it sucks when you’re anticipating watching your favorite program and “pop,” the lamp in your projection TV fails 🙁

Why did it happen? You were just watching TV, it’s not like you were wrestling with it! Why?!?

In our experience, there are a number of factors that can contribute to a premature lamp failure. Keep in mind that there is no fail-safe course of action you can take… these lamps are consumable products… they are designed to need replacing. Nevertheless, there are a few things you can do to insure your lamp has a healthy and long life. The following list is made in order of importance (remember, there is no scientific data yet behind this, just years of experience).

  • AVOID Rapid Power Cycling

    Turning on the set, turning it off, turning it on, turning it off… turning it on… turning if off. This is absolutely the worse thing one can do to their TV. If you turn on the TV accidentally, give it a good 15-20 minutes to warm up before turning it down.

  • AVOID Excessive Power Cycles

    A power cycle happens every time you press the power button on your remote to turn it on. Think of it as your car starter. Imagine an insanely busy pizza delivery boy who has 50 deliveries a day. Every time he leaves the pizza shop he needs to activate his car starter…every time he leaves a customer’s house, he needs to activate his starter again. There is a good chance this poor guy’s starter (100 starts a day!) is going to fail sooner than someone with an 9 to 5 office job, who starts his/her car once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and once in the evening. The same concept applies here. Do not power cycle your TV set every half hour thinking you’re going to save 10 minutes of lamp life–it doesn’t work that way. You’re doing more damage “sparking” or “striking” the lamp. In short: it’s better to keep the TV on for 5 hours straight rather than watch a one hour program and turn it off only to turn it back on half an hour later.

  • AVOID Dust and Dirt

    I cannot stress this enough. Eliminating dust and dirt is another very important aspect of maintaining a healthy projection TV. Take a look at the back of your TV; there is a good chance there’s a lot of dust sitting on the back of the TV. Wipe your finger across the back and you’ll see. With so much dust on the outside of the TV you can imagine some of it must be getting into inside, and as a result, shortening your lamp life. After 5,000+ lamps replaced, I can honestly say maintaining a clean and dust free TV is essential to promoting a long life.

    My recommendations:

    • Wipe down the back of your TV once a month with a damp cloth
    • Invest ~ $100 in a ionic air purifier and place it close to the TV. This will silently attract all the dust, pollen, smoke, etc. away from the TV set. Do NOT take a can of compressed air and go nuts spray air everywhere inside your TV! In general, these ionic purifiers are practical and good to have anyway. . I use this particular one in the office 🙂
    • Clean out all of the television’s filters or use a can of compressed air to remove excess dust.
  • Surge Protectors

    These are good and bad, but ultimately good if used properly. The manufacturer’s typically recommend against plugging our TVs into surge protectors. Why? Because they are afraid customers might get accustomed to turning off their TVs this way (which is a big no no!). Most projectors and projector TVs need a cool down period after they are shutdown. Most of the time, there is a silent fan running. If there is no power, the fan stops working! 🙁

    Surge protectors are important as sudden spikes in voltage can fry your ballast and/or lamp. If your lamp made the infamous “pop” noise, recall seeing if you had a surge protector inline.

  • Ventilation and Filters

    Ensure your TV has adequate ventilation. Most sets have at least a vent or fan close by to the lamp. Some have filters. Make sure that the filter is clean. Replace or clean the filter per the manufacturer’s recommendations.

  • DO NOT Touch the Lamp

    Never touch the lamp with your bare hands. Our hands are naturally oily and body oil cause “hot spots” on the lamp which may lead to explosions, implosions, or cracks. Always use a clean, non-abrasive, lint free cloth when handling your lamp.

  • Movement and Vibration

    Ever moved your TV and noticed it didn’t fire up the first time? Have you noticed a scrambled or distorted picture when adjusting your TV Stand while the TV has been on? What about everyday vibrations of powerful home theater systems? All these can lead to the lamp, light engine, color wheel, etc, etc., from losing alignment. There’s been dozens of times when we’ve fixed a “lamp problem” by just re-seating the lamp or adjusting the lamp cover sensor. All the above recommendations are intuitive suggestions. There isn’t any scientific research behind it, but through experience we know that they play some factor in the life of your lamp. I have not mentioned anything about picture brightness or power settings because there is much debate over this. Some claim by putting your lamp in economy mode or low power this will result in longer lamp life. On the contrary, we believe these options do not promote longer lamp life!

Hope these tips help. Send us your feedback!

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52 comments on “How to extend the life of your DLP, LCoS, SXRD, HD-ILA, or LCD TV Lamp -Intuitive Guide
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  1. avatar Johnny Cage says:

    Great informational site!

    All the answers I’ve been looking for have been easy to find on your site. No other forums offer such phenominal information at your fingertips.

    Thanks again!

  2. avatar Sonja Monroe says:

    I have a question and I don’t see a place to log it so I’m hopeful this is the correct area. I have a Samsung HLR6768W which we had no problems with. We moved to a new home but I had it professionally palleted for the move because I know they are delicate. We got it home and put it on the new tv stand, let it set for a day or two before Directv was to come up and install the HDTV DVR, they cut it on, its fine, we watch the crappy little ‘how to use your directv’ film as if its rocket science, sweet picture and everything. About 3 hours later (mind you the tv was on during this whole time) the directv guy finally leaves, I go upstairs to get something, come back down cut it on and now I have a crazy picture, distorted heads, I mean WHOA like take up the whole screen with just the head. When commercials come on I get widescreen type images but instead of the black bars being at the top and bottom its on the sides. I called for service because after checking that maybe somehow we had it stuck on an unknown zoom function or something we thought we’d better have service come out. I’ve been trying to search online to see if there has been anyone with a similar problem or any suggestions. The closest I could find is someone indicating something slightly similar when they were moving and that it turned out to be the video card had been knocked loose and it was having problems synchronizing. Any thoughts, luckily I’m still 16 days within warranty but still I would like to have any thoughts you may have.

  3. avatar admin says:

    Sonja,

    While it’s difficult to say without being out there to diagnose it with a tester…it definately sounds like something is either loose or the issue is related to the move.

    A few things we can rule out:
    1) it’s not a lamp issue
    2) it’s not a color wheel issue
    3) doesn’t sound like a Engine failure

    So the three most common problems being thrown out, I would suspect a loose PCB or some sort of mis-alignment. Let me know more details!

  4. avatar Jason says:

    Great site!

    Hope you can help me out with an issue I seem to have with a 03 model V500S. I just had the LE replaced (NEW, not re manufactured, according to Hitachi) and a NEW lamp at the same time. The set has been turned on LITTERALLY a dozen times and has less than 2 hours total on the NEW Lamp and LE and the lamp is gone again.. according to the LED’s up front, anyway.

    It now also buzzes when it is turned on. It is not a continuous buzz, rather it is intermittent. Like it buzzes while something is cycling internally. I unplugged it and allowed it to sit for a few minutes. Tried to power it up and the Power, Lamp & Temp lights all cycle one by one, as they should per the manaul, and then the buzzing starts.

    The lights continue to cycle, the buzzing continues intermittently, the Power LED begins to slow down blinking, the buzzing continues, then, all LED’s, less the LAMP LED go out and the TV is powered down, on it’s own, like a safety mechanism.

    First of all, I don’t think it’s right that I even have to fool with this, seeing that a shop just repaired it. Well, it was actually repaired about 2 months ago, but I’ve kept the unit at a friends house in their spare room, since being repaired. That is, until today when I moved it to my house. Worked fine for about an hour, then as a programmed the cable box remote to control the TV, and the TV remote to control the cable box, the above happened.

    I’m at a loss and can only HOPE that this is some stupid fluke that a reset of some sort will cure. My luck simply can NOT be this bad… 🙁

    Thanks to anyone who replies!

  5. avatar nogoodattech says:

    I’m not sure if this is the right place to ask…I have a Samsung HLN5065WX/XAA. We have heard the banshee sound that everyone describes. My wife said the three lights on front started “freaking out.” I was not there and she can’t describe any better than they were flashing. She turned the tv off. About half an hour later, she turned it back on and the picture was black and white. We don’t hear the banshee sound anymore. I am thinking of replacing the color wheel. I found instructions online. Should I replace the lamp at the same time? Should I go to that lamp conversion that converts the lamp to a small one? A lot of questions, I know. My lamp code is BP96-00224C(P). Thanks for any reply–Jake

  6. avatar John H says:

    Is there any way to disable the lamp display message or reset the lamp couner on a philips LCOS tv 44pl9523/17
    other than whats in the manual. I replaced the lamp with an OSRAM and picture is fine but change bulb display keeps poping up. I’m looking for a way to reset the lamp timer with the remote or disable the message internally from a printed circut board like on you posts about LG tv’s. If not do you have the original philips bulb (part # 3122 438 7310).

  7. avatar Victor Bobier says:

    I have a Mitsubishi 57″ TV that had It’s lamp go out back in July(On the 2nd), I found out then that Mits will void the warranty If You buy Your TV from a seller on ebay(Big or Little), If their on ebay they are not authorized dealers at all even if They say they are, Their lying according to Mitsubishi, As Mitsubishi only has one authorized dealer online and that is Amazon.com, So I paid $175 for a New Lamp on ebay as I have no choice in the matter($25 for shipping from China is included in the $175), Even If Mits hadn’t voided the warranty(I bought the TV in Nov 2006 and the TV was made in May 2006), The nearest service center is 45 miles one way from where I live and Midway Appliance of Victorville CA refused to come out here(The nearest repair shop is in Barstow CA and their not an authorized service center[Russells VCR]), Midway only services what they sell, After that I guess One would be like Me, Screwed.

  8. avatar Victor Bobier says:

    Oh and I think You have a wonderful website here, Keep up the good work. Being I’m a disabled person It would have been nice If someone had come out If Mits hadn’t voided the warranty after 8 months of TV usage just cause of Me buying the TV on ebay, Samsung I’ve read will not void a warranty if a TV is bought there, So I may one day buy a Samsung after the Mits has quit or I have enough money to replace It with. 😀

  9. avatar Marcus says:

    In response to messege #6 above, did anyone ever find out how to fix that because my tv is doing the same thing? Thanks.

  10. avatar Rick says:

    My Samsung 50 inch just died; two days of it going black after 5 minutes; then tonight on third attempt to turn it back on a loud “crack” and nothing.

    I understand it needs to get fixed; but who do you call?

  11. avatar Mike says:

    Please Help. My TV makes a buzzing sound the entire time it is on. When I turn it off, you actually hear the buzzing sound ramp down and cut off. Picture and sound are still okay. Im not sure what the problem is and am about to replace the lamp to see if that helps. Any other suggestions?

  12. avatar janiejone says:

    I’m curious whether there was a solution to the problem listed above in #5.
    “I’m not sure if this is the right place to ask…I have a Samsung HLN5065WX/XAA. We have heard the banshee sound that everyone describes. My wife said the three lights on front started “freaking out.” I was not there and she can’t describe any better than they were flashing. She turned the tv off. About half an hour later, she turned it back on and the picture was black and white. We don’t hear the banshee sound anymore. I am thinking of replacing the color wheel. I found instructions online. Should I replace the lamp at the same time? Should I go to that lamp conversion that converts the lamp to a small one? A lot of questions, I know. My lamp code is BP96-00224C(P). Thanks for any reply–Jake”

  13. avatar Eddie says:

    JanieJone (and Jake),

    It sounds like a color wheel. When that color wheel goes out, it’ll make a winding or screeching noise. That noise is caused by the ball barrings of the color wheel. The reason it probably went black and white is because the wheel finally gave and stopped spinning. That can cause a discoloration or no color at all–that would also explain why the noise stopped.

    Replacing the lamp at the same time depends on how long you’ve had the lamp in the TV. If it’s still a relatively new lamp (about a year or less), I’d recommend you simply purchase a backup. Those old BP96-00224C came with Philips 1.0mm arc lamps, which are usually pretty reliable.

  14. avatar Brian says:

    I have a Toshiba 62″ that is probably 3 years old. I have noticed that in the center of the screen on the bottom there appears to be a “lighter spot”. Does anyone know what this is and can it be fixed? I don’t really notice it when watching a show unless it goes to black or an extended dark scene for 3 seconds or more. I also think I see it when the TV is off, not sure if I really do or not, but it seams to be there. Please help, I want to buy a new one anyway, but not if this is a common unfix able problem.

  15. avatar ScottG says:

    We have a Viore 46″ dlp. Probably not the greatest quality tv, but the hd picture is superior to most other tvs. Last novemember I unplugged the tv and slid it out from the wall on its stand. Plugged it in afterwards and there was no sigh no life not matter what I did. The next morning the green stand-by light was on the tv worked fine.

    Same thing again – I slide the tv out to install surround sound and after plugging the tv back in, there is no sign of life and it still hasn’t come back to life.

    I new I would have to replace the lamp on of these days, but I don’ think this is a lamp problem.

    If something gets out of alignment, will the tv simply not even show a power light at all? I would have no problem replacing the lamp, but I think the problem is something else. thanks

  16. avatar Geoff Hetke says:

    Hello
    Very good sit. Helped a lot on the lamp life. Only thing I have to say is that I do not feel you should have to replace a lamp every 3500-4000 hours of use when you PAY $2800.00 for a tv. That is like buying Cadilac for $50,000.00 and bracking down after a year. I would be mad. Thanks and thats all

    Geoff

  17. avatar hamw says:

    My Samsung HLR 6167W has developed some interesting problems. The original problem started with a “scrambled picture”, being horizontal green/pink striping slanted diiagonally to the left. I was able to fix this with some setting changes on the STB (motorola Comcast box) but it then came back and seems unadjustable. Interestingly the PIP is clear! I have checked the service menu and the TV projects the color bar pattern perfectly. I’ve tried several input variations and am neat the conclusion that there is a video processor problem.

    Now, although I still have not solved the video problem it has other issues.
    the lamp timer went off several months ago at

  18. avatar Gary says:

    I have a Samsung RPTV Model HLP6163WX/XAA. Lately when I try to turn it on I get the buzz indicating the lamp is trying to start up but doesn’t. It cycles this process a few times on its own before stopping and then going into a “Timer Lamp” (in green),and “Standby/Temp” ( in red), flashing on the center button. It’s done this in the past but evetually came on after I unplugged it and let it sit. Sometimes I have openend the lamp case and reset the lamp and it started working. Not this time. The lamp is fairly new so I am wondering if there is something else that I have over looked. I didn’t want to buy a new lamp if that is not the problem. Any suggestions? Thx G.

  19. avatar Gary says:

    I have a Samsung RPTV Model HLP6163WX/XAA. Lately when I try to turn it on I get the buzz indicating the lamp is trying to start up but doesn’t. It cycles this process a few times on its own before stopping and then going into a “Timer Lamp” (in green),and “Standby/Temp” ( in red), flashing on the center button. It’s done this in the past but evetually came on after I unplugged it and let it sit. Sometimes I have openend the lamp case and reset the lamp and it started working. Not this time. The lamp is fairly new so I am wondering if there is something else that I have over looked. I didn’t want to buy a new lamp if that is not the problem. Any suggestions? Thx G.

  20. avatar W.F Torres says:

    Dear Sir:

    Is there a practical way of testing the lamp if busted or not? Also another way to test the ballast or power supply of the lamp to test?
    I am thinking of checking the power source of the lamp socket whether
    it was the lamp supply ckt board or the lamp itself was bad. What would be the supply voltage from the ballast?. Could I measure a ac voltage comming from the socket pin of the lamp? To make sure which one is bad ? Thanks and hope to get some feedback.
    WF Torres.

  21. avatar Tony says:

    I have a Samsung DLP HLN5065WX/XAA and it’s having troubles. The power will turn on but the screen stays black and then it turns off within one minute. I ordered a new bulb and installed it but no picture, and the lamp light is still flashing. Any suggestions?

    Thanks!

  22. avatar Art says:

    Hi, Have a question and hopefully u can help, I’ve had a samsung tv , and all of the sudden the colors seem really dim, ( i’m missing red and green colors ) do you think it could be the lamp, model : BP96-01472A
    thanks.
    If it is how long does it take to get from your place to So. Cal.

  23. avatar stephanazs says:

    Interesting facts.I have bookmarked this site. stephanazs

  24. avatar Alexia says:

    I have a problem I have yet to see anyone else complain about. The three lights (lamp/temp/timer) on the front of my Samsung DLP HLS4266W do not seem to be working. The lamp light used to stay on the whole time my TV was on, but now it’s off. The TV will come on, but I’ve also discovered that I cannot use the remote to turn the TV on or off. I have to push the button. I could live with that, but I’m worried about the lamp lights not being on. And all I can find in the way of troubleshooting is when the lights blink. Mine don’t. Any ideas?

  25. avatar TiiC0 says:

    i HaVE A QUiCK BuT URGeNT QUeSTi0N F0R Y0U GuYS….

    i HAVE A 58″ WD-62725 MiTSUBiSHi DLP TV….
    iT WAS A GiFT….WiTH N0 REM0TE C0NTR0L….
    WHeN i PLuG iT iT SH0WS IT HaS P0WER 0N A LiTTLE GREEN LIGHT BuLB iN THe FR0NT…BuT THE SCReEN D0ES’NT LiGHT UP…We TH0UGHT iT MiGHT Be
    THE LaMP….0R THE BUtTONS MiGHT Be BR0KeN…
    THE LaMP D0ES N0T SEEM BR0KeN 0R BuRNED 0UT….
    BuT H0W D0 i KN0W iF iT IS 0R N0T….ANY SUGGESTi0NS
    0N WHaT i CaN TRY 0R TeST T0 SeE WHaTS WR0NG WiTH THE TV….

  26. avatar Aaron says:

    As a laser technician. I can really say that you have it correct with what you are saying about these lamps. They are not unlike what I deal with on a daily basis. In Laser Heads we use a High Voltage Krypton Arc Lamp that has to be encased in De-Ionized water just to keep it cool due to the heavy current surge that is being thrust through it to ignite and keep it lit. If there is the slightest little bit of oil from a finger durring installation, BANG!!!!! it can take itself out in a matter of milliseconds. At 300V DC @ 50 AMPs makes one hell of a Boom. Not to mention a time consuming clean up.
    I am unsure of the design of the power circuitry in this design though. Being that these lamps are blowing so constantly, under the rated useful life. If this problem is consistent..I dont think it is the lamp at all as long as it is still in proper condition. I think the actual Circuit Driving it is what happens to be the problem. Dealing with problems like this daily on much larger power supplies, I see it all the time. Either the phasing is not ballanced enough. There is too much DC Ripple on the Output Capacitor that is driving the lamp(too little filtering) or it is just pushing out wayyyy too much current than the lamp can acutually handle. Quite possibly the triggering Circuit is firing when the lamp has already created the plasma streamer. In my systems I have 28KV to Ionize the gas before the current pushes through the system to expand the plasma streamer to maintain a pathway. In that instant…well thats 1.4 Mega Watts.

    Being that i dont have access to the schematics for the lamp driver..I am really not at liberty to make a guess as to why these lamps fail so rapidly…I really wish I was able to fix the problem…Heck Maybe I could given enough time and thought.
    I just pulled this TV out of the trash today to see if i can repair it. I found out it was put out there for a bulb..LMAO. If anyone out there has a Schematic on Autocad or Solidworks for the 62HM95 or for any reason just of a basic DLP TV. I would greatly appreciate it. I have a lot of experience dealing with lamps and protection of them with Regulation of DC Power Supplies and quite a few tools and tricks up my sleves. I just want to take a crack at maybe solving the DLP Mystery any keep the money in our pockets and out of theirs. This could be as simple as a missing Bypass Cap that was intentionally left out just so the lamps would fail faster than expected by the design team. No matter what way you slice this…I want a crack at it. If you have a Schematic for Any DLP E mail it to me at electrobeastdfg@yahoo.com

    • avatar gail says:

      My mitsubishi will eat a lamp in one day, like two or three times the same week, then I will put one in and it will last over a year. I would like to know the reason for this? I’ve got so that I keep an extra on hand all all times. The first lamp I replaced cost me $125.00 , now they are down to 21.00 to 25.00. I have always purchased from Amazon. Usually I will get a warning, I will have to reset the tv. I will get voice but no picture. I think part of the problem is the seller, I’m paying .more attention to that. But there has to be a other reason . I hear the fans, and they don’t sound quite right. Maybe they are dirty? Any suggestions? Thank you!

      • avatar Shelagh McNally says:

        Hi Gail,
        If you are paying only $25 for your RPTV lamp then you are buying a counterfeit. They never last as long as the genuine lamps and over time can cause damage to your TV. If you buy from something such as Discount Merchant or any other authorized dealer you’ll be guaranteed to get a lamp that is genuine and has been calibrated to work with the specific electronics in your TV. If you have never cleaned you fans then they are probably dirty. What model do you have? Some require that you change the lamp at the same time as changing the filters. Some models you can just change the air filter but you should be cleaning them as it will help airflow in the TV and reduce the heat thereby preventing the lamp from overheating. Let us know how things work out.
        Cheers,
        Shelagh

  27. avatar 1toDV8 says:

    I had that “Banshee” comin out of my RCA DLP too. What I did was to remove “carfully” the color wheel. I cleaned it with some rubbing alcohol and a Qtip. And after being satified that it was as clean as I could get it, I put just a weee small amount of lubricant “WD40” on the bearing. Banshee is gone now. Its been about 1 year since.

    You must be careful when removing the color wheels power supply from the curcuit board though, Its easy to break it!

    MAKE SURE YOU UNPLUG THE TV FIRST!

  28. avatar 1toDV8 says:

    The buzzing is more then likely your color wheel, probably has dust in the bearing. this will cause it to vibrate when spinning, also puts and extra load on the electrical curcuit because of the dirt buildup which slows down the rpm’s of the color wheel. This will trigger the error codes. The RPM’s are not the correct speed due to dust buildup and therefore the color wheel cant project the correct light patern onto the million mirrors. A good cleaning is probably the cure here!

    JMHO!

  29. avatar 1toDV8 says:

    Dirty color wheel!

  30. avatar JohhnyDelware says:

    just got a samsung hln4365wx xaa from a friends b/c it would not stay on.
    what it does is after hitting the power switch the lamp would take a couple try to kick on then after a few secs it would and would stay on for about 15 seconds before shutting down and showing the two green on red blinking LEDs on front, could use some help thanks, great site

  31. avatar Bob Branigan says:

    I am not an eletrical engineer. Engineer yes, can someone explain the different characteristics the 150 dollar dlp lamp has over the exact same looking 100-120 watt philips lamp sold at home depot. I see the physical diference of the connections. Other that that why 150 bucks versus 7.97 ?

  32. avatar djashishb says:

    great info! Cheers!!

  33. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UHP_(lamp)
    There are a lot of difference…Research and Development being a biggie…Intense manufacturing process is another biggie…brighter luminosity that the sun is another biggie. Patented, state-of-the-art technology another biggie…do you want me to expand on all these or is this a good enough answer?

  34. You’re absolutely in luck (well, not luck, but you’re welcome in advance!)

    Schematic as requested:

    http://www.fixyourdlp.com/blog/2009/03/11/toshiba-service-manual-for-dlp-television/

  35. avatar D20 says:

    Awesome Awesome Awesome! Your like the first I’ve seen who didn’t bend to the pressure of having to spend tons of cash on a little part that probably doesn’t need replacing. Simple cleaning is always a great place to start.

  36. avatar KimKentucky says:

    WE have a 2.5 year old 46″ Toshiba DLP. It recently started going black & white after being on a couple hours, there is no noise just the picture changes. We can turn if off for a few minutes and the color comes back but goes out quicker. Is this the color engine or could it be a different fix?

    • That sounds like a color wheel. Unfortunately, I don’t believe it could be the light engine, but you can’t really be sure unless you can either post some sort of picture or get a TV repair tech out there to look at it! Sorry!

  37. avatar Audrey Houser says:

    I wish we had read these comments four years ago. My husband bought a JVC LED TV.and had to replace the lamp two years later. We had a professional repairman who charged us almost $300.00. Now we are getting the message again that the lamp needs to be replaced. Can we buy the lamp and replace it ourselves? Is it complicated (don’t touch with bare hands) and will it be cost-effective?

  38. avatar Brian says:

    Hello, I have a good question for you. I have a 50″ RCA scenium DLP that was made in 2006. I have had several issues with this TV and I’m not the most rescourceful person when it comes to TV repair.

    Every once and a while the sound will become extremely distorted for a second or 2 and then return to normal. When it does this, it does it several times before it finaly stops.

    I bought a Blu-ray player and hooked it up through 1 of the 2 HDMI ports in the rear. It worked great for a few weeks then one day it decided to stop working. I plugged it into the other HDMI port and nothing happened. The TV, HDMI cord, or the blu-ray player was never moved during this time either. So I had to forget the HDMI and used the component input.

    The bulb exploded shortley after that. I replaced it myself, following the instructions on the RCA website. Never touched the bulb, everything was put in correctly. the lamp and bulb were seated properly.

    The TV worked great for about a week, then all hell broke loose. The picture would come on slower than usual at first, I thought no big deal. Then the blue power button would start blinking and it would recycle itself. You can hear something turning off and on inside the TV. After it recycled a few times and still not come on, the light would start flashing faster and stop recycling. The TV comes on right away sometimes, sometiems it will take 5,10,15 minutes or some days it will not come on at all. I got tired of it tonight, 1 year later, and I took the lamp houseing and bulb out to inspect it to see if I could notice anything different. I saw a crack in the glass bulb housing in the side. All screws and bolts were tightened and the one thick wire going to the bulb was connected. The filament was intact also. Again, I never touched the bulb, I tightened all bolts and screws, and put the lamp back in. For the first 5 minutes when I was testing the TV to see if anything had changed, it did. The TV would consistantly turn on after it recycled once. About 15 minutes later of the TV being off, I tried turning it on again and it would not turn on for another 15 minutes of recycleing.

    The only constant I can see with this TV is that the TV turned on qicker, with fewer recycles in the winter time, and is much less reliable in the spring, fall, and summer. I do not know how temperature might effect a DLP, but that is the only thing that could be difference.

    Any suggestions or Ideas?

    Thank you,

    Brian

  39. avatar Brian B. says:

    Thanks for posting valuable info!

    I’m ordering a new bulb this evening for my Samsung DLP that managed to last for over 6 years. I feel blessed that it’s gone that long especially after seeing the massive amounts of dust and debris inside the set while removing the bulb. This leads me to my question and reason for posting.

    When you have a set with large amounts of dust how do you recommend cleaning it? I saw you mention canned air. My thought and plan was to remove the entire back cover and use canned air with my vacuum cleaner hose near the area I’m working sucking hopefully the majority of the particulate that’s kicked up through this process. Also I was thinking of carefully placing something over the quarter sized hole that my bulb shines through onto the color wheel so I don’t get any dust in there. The color wheel is recessed back a good amount and I feel I could cover the area with some blue painters tape fairly easily.

    What are your thoughts on these ideas and thoughts on cleaning a heavily dusted set like I have.

    Thanks, your help is appreciated.

    Brian

  40. avatar tyais says:

    I have a Samsung DLP Model HL-T5076S. It suddenly stopped working one day and I ran the test and it appeared to be lamp based on the 3 flashing lights and the fact it was almost 2 years old. I replaced the light carefully and TV pic is great but NOW there is a buzzing sound…a low buzzing sound..but I never heard this before. I read comments up above and am wondering if you think this is a dusty color wheel or a power ballast or something else entirely? Should I not run my TV because of this sound? What is best way for me to determine issue?

  41. avatar steve young says:

    I have a magnavox 50ml8105d/17 tv. I bought it in 2007 i have replaced the bulb 3 times in 3 years.Can you give me some ideals to why. Call magnavox they wouldn’t talk to me because ai have no warr. on it. Thanks

  42. avatar Jon K says:

    I have a Samsung DLP 67″ I purchased in Nov 2005. Model Number: HLR6768WX It has a very dark screen making it very difficult to view. Plus a vertical line on the far left side that runs top to bottom of screen and is 3-5″ wide. My main problem is how dark the picture is. Brightness and contrast adjusted to 100 still dont correct the dark problem. Is it a bulb issue?
    Thanks.

  43. avatar Charlie R says:

    I have a HLN5065WX/XAA which I’ve enjoyed for yrs. ALl of a sudden today when I turned it on…there is this Buzzing that won’t stop and it sounds like its coming from the Lamp area. The Picture and color and all are fine..but the Buzzing is driving me nuts as sometimes it gets extremely loud.
    Can someone give me an Idea wht the buzzing is?

  44. avatar Shawn R says:

    How do i clean my Samsung DLP model HLT5676sx/xaa also when do you know when to replace the lamp my tv is going on 5 years old an has original lamp.

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1 Pings/Trackbacks for "How to extend the life of your DLP, LCoS, SXRD, HD-ILA, or LCD TV Lamp -Intuitive Guide"
  1. […] The Samsung BP96-01653A Enclosure is powered by a Philips “e22″ style lamp, operating at 132W / 120W watts.  It’s a 1.0mm arc lamp and its mean life is rated between 6,000-7,000 hours.  That equates to roughly 3 to 3 1/2 years.  Remember, this is the MEAN…we’ve seen a range between 2,000 to 30,000 hours on UHP lamps.  Information on how you can extend the life of your projection tv lamp, click here: How to extend the life of your DLP, LCoS, SXRD, HD-ILA, or LCD TV Lamp -Intuitive Guide […]

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