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My Samsung HLP5067W is about 5 years old. I replaced the lamp about 4 months ago, had no problems.

A few days ago, I had no sound, I turned the TV off and on again a few times. Then I lost the picture. The 3 LEDs on the front came on after a while. Had repair guy check it out and they said the lamps & ballast seems OK, but must be a color wheel problem. (I was sceptical, no grinding noises) I ordered new color wheel and installed it yesterday, the old one did feel a little rough. However, I still have the same mixed up symptoms:

Clicks a few times, sometimes lamp comes on, color wheel spins up, lamp light flashing on the front. No picture, later all 3 LED lights stay lit on the front. The symptoms seem to be inconsistent each time I unplug and replug the TV. Sometimes the bulb comes on sometimes not. It seems to be going through some boot up process, but never gets done.

I also put a jumper in the rear cover switch to be sure it is not giving problems.

I need some kind of method to eliminate other parts one-by-one. I spend money on color wheel, and don’t want to waste any more on non-faulty stuff. :(

Any suggestions welcome.

Hey there.

Sorry to say that techs can't always check the ballast and lamp combination. Some say they check it, but you have to be aware of how they check them. You can't check the lamp without a ballast, and a ballast that simply arcs doesn't necessarily mean it's working. The ballast is a very sensitive component and if it's clicking, it sounds like that may be the culprit. The only way to test the lamp is to use a proper ballast. The best way to test the ballast is with a working lamp. If you've recently replaced your lamp, just visually inspect it for cracks, fissures, bubbling at the base... most likely the lamp is working. The ballast sounds like the faulty component to me.