ballast issue

[dougvickie]

i just talked to dm and they told me it sounds like i have a ballast issue. i have a hls5087, when watching tv it will turn itself off. this happens maybe 1/2 times a day. then won't happen again for a few days/wks. is this a ballast problem? or could it be something else? i changed the lamp 13 months ago. thank you for any help you can give me. if it is the ballast can i change it myself w/o much difficulty?

[Kreator75]

Something could be overheating... check all fans. If the lamp lights, then its fine. Clean out all dust that may have accumulated in the set. I personally wouldnt think its the ballast but it is not a difficult item to change at all. Depending on the model, all you should have to remove is the lamp to get to it.

[techmaster]

The life-span of most lamps is 5000hrs., please do the math based on the number of hours your set is actually turned on per day and multiply that by the number of days since the lamp was last changed. If you are at or are exceeding the 5000hrs., then perhaps your lamp is on its way out again and you may want to try that again first. Hope this helps.