Mitsubishi WD-Y577 bad bulb?

[TaleChaser]

I've had my set for 8 years. The factory bulb lasted 5 years; the non-OEM bulb I swapped out lasted a bit over 3. Just went to swap it out, and now the screen is wonky. There's a discolored bar at the top of the screen a few inches tall, then a thin colorburst line, then the rest of the screen is completely fine.



Is this a bad bulb, or did something get misaligned inside the set? I've taken the bulb out and put it back in a few times to make sure I installed it straight.



Help!!



[img]http://i58.tinypic.com/244u14g.jpg[/img]

[grayfox]

Hi there,



Most of the times this is due to a poorly built, cheap knock off lamp, sadly the market is saturated with them...



I would first verify its authenticity, it might not be shinning in the correct spot due to a manufacturing imperfection. Mitsubishi uses Osram brand lamps, but everyone in the business recommends Philips because they last longer and are brighter. <<< if you do not have an OEM lamp I suggest you try one first.



Sometimes, if your lamp is an original Osram or even a Philips, you can still get this band if:



1- the lamp is not installed properly inside its enclosure or the enclosure is not sitting flush in the TVs lamp tunnel.

2- the optical block might be misaligned, if the TV was moved around alot during replacement or transport, the Light engine might need some calibration.

[TaleChaser]

So, this is odd, but I was afraid I was damaging something, so I left it off until a repair guy could come to look at it.



When I turned the set on next, the bar was still there, but smaller. He tinkered a bit, also not sure what it was, though the bar shrunk a little more after he was gone.



After a day or two of on-and-off use, the bar was even smaller, and now, a couple of weeks later, it's gone. Fixed itself.

[grayfox]

This must have been the lamp? do you know where you got it?

[TaleChaser]

It was one of the well-rated suppliers of non-OEM bulbs on Amazon.



On it's own, the problem has completely fixed itself. Weird.

[grayfox]

Sometimes the generic components, like say the ceramic that keeps the burner centered, is poorly calibrated. This could have taken time to set, with the heat and use....



Either way, even if the life span is not as long as an OEM, IT WORKS! YAY!

[TaleChaser]

[grayfox]

Hello again,



Overall I think it all depends on the TVs condition. I install these almost daily and the economic lamps have a high DOA rate but once they are on will last around 600 to 1000 hrs maybe more with proper ventilation. I notice these things when I am replacing the generic bulbs with OEM and have to reset the lamp hour timer on those with that option. The Original Philips or Osram will normally last over a thousand, Philips are hardly to go out before 2000 hours. And there's the price difference!



As long as the TV is clean on the inside and gets proper ventilation you should be fine for as long as can be. =)

[appleads]

I think 2000 hours out of a Phillips bulb is quite a bit on the low side. The one's I've encountered are most often failing closer to 6,000 hours than 2,000. The brightness of a Phillips or Osram VIP bulb is also noticeably better than a generic bulb. Shop around and buy a bare bulb. it's 5 minutes to install it in the holder, and you can get the price down to $70 from the major suppliers. I even got one supplier to match a competitor's price on a Phillips bulb when I pointed out the 7 dollar difference the other day.