Samsung HL-S5687W noise - please help diagnose!

[millertime]

I have a Samsung DLP HL-S5687W that I bought new in September 2007. It was in storage for about a year of that, but otherwise has seen fairly heavy use to an average of 5-6 hours a day. Up until tonight it has never given a problem, so nothing has ever been replaced on it.

Earlier I noticed the picture would dim briefly and then flash back to normal. Some time later I noticed the noise coming from the unit. It's a hard sound to describe so I created a video hoping that would help. It sounds like interference coming through a speaker, but the TV's speakers are on internal mute and pretty much always have been - they are never used. The odd thing is the noise seems to vary in intensity according to the display, for example when a commercial comes on and the brief moment of total black screen will cause the sound, and if the displayed image changes it affects the intensity of the noise. I tried turning the internal speaker on to see if that could be the issue and it plays audio fine.

Link to video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9On4MrGWmo

You may need to turn the sound up a bit to hear it well. Note that all audio from the TV and home theater are muted here, so all the noise is mechanical/electric in nature and not intentional audio. You will hear the creaking as I move the camera around but I think the noise issue can be heard clearly here. Toward the end of the video I move the camera to the rear of the TV and point to the base, which is where the noise comes from.

Any ideas on what it could be and where I should start? I'd hate to have a service call made if it's something that I could fix myself, I'm reasonably able to do minor things :)

[Jason1976]

It's hard to say. it could be a color wheel. If the sound is coming from the speakers then it's not the color wheel. You can open the tv up and pull the plug for the speakers and see if it still makes the sound. If it does. then it could be color wheel. or a fan most likely. If it's coming threw teh3 speakers then its something wrong with the board you pulled he plug from.

[millertime]

Update on this. I replaced the bulb and ballast to eliminate those possibilities, but it's still happening.

Does anyone have a parts list/spec sheet for the internals, or a link to one?

I was looking for a way to disconnect the speakers as suggested above but I don't see anything labelled as a speaker plug.

Thanks!

[johnrot]

hi millertime ( nice nick name jejej) ok well im concerned about the noises, i mean the lamp, ballast and colorwheel are consumable parts in a DLP, so in this case the ones that only make noise is the ballast, which could be a buzzing sound ( like electricity) or rappidly clicking, the other is the colorwheel. The colorwheel spins at very high speed so imagine the sound of a bad colorwheel it could be a winding, whirling or screeching noise or humming basically it is a mechanical sound so i assume that if you already replaced a new lamp and new ballast then is the colorwheel. :ugeek: hope this helps.

[Jason1976]

[00whtlightning]

I have the exact same noise from my HL-S6187W. I replaced the color wheel, no help at all. Other than the noise, the TV works fine. Any help will be very appreciated.

[00whtlightning]

I found the source of my noise. It was coming from the end opposite the larger fan , from under the lens. I found a mention on another forum. The noise comes from the approx. 1" square cube under the lens assy. For lack of a better term it is sometimes called a 'wobulator'. It moves the mirrors 1 pixel every other (I think) scan and sharpens up the picture. It is NOT available separately. You have to buy the entire lens assy. I did what the other guy did and just disconnected the thing. My picture, if not quite as sharp as before, is at least 85-90% as good. The best part is that the set is now quiet, very quiet.

The moral of this story is that there is more stuff moving around a DLP than just fans and a color wheel.

[johnrot]

Thank you for share that kind of information, i really appreciate it, never heard of that before :)