Samsung DLP HLS6187W

[Cativo]

Hello all,



Newbie here and hoping to learn some things and also contribute what I can.



My daughter just moved out on her own and her grandmother gave my daughter her old 55"DLP TV (~8 years old) for her and her roommate. Very nice first TV for a first TV.

The TV was originally grandma's and always worked great. I changed the lamp a few years ago, but other than that, the TV has been great. The kid used the TV for about 10 days, and then calls me to say it won't show any channels. Basically, the LAMP led blinks, and no picture is showing. I went over and noticed the lamp was on, but figured it was probably getting old so I replaced the lamp with a new OEMstyle Phillips lamp. The issue continued. Last night I pulled the back cover off and vacuumed up any dust, and took a can of air and blew all the pcb's; trying and dislodge any possible dust causing an issue. Still no picture. Since the cover was off, and the little safety toggle switch was taped down, I figured I would power the TV on and watch to see what was working and what was not. Both fans run, and are moving smoothly. The lamp comes on to full brightness. Since we cannot find the original remote, I can only power the TV on & off via the front push button. I still could not get a picture; only the blinking LAMP led. Then, the TV shuts off after a few minutes and goes back into Standby mode. After staring at the internals of the TV for an hour, and looking for something that looked damaged or burnt, I unplugged the TV for a bit and then plugged it back in. This time I heard sort of a buzzing sound coming from deep inside the TV. Maybe the color wheel? Maybe it wasn't spinning before? I unplugged the TV again and plugged it back in. This time I didn't hear the sound. I know this is bad to power cycle the TV like this, but I wanted to repeat that scenario. After the fifth time, I heard the buzzing sound again, and about 30 seconds later.....BAM the picture came back on. I the kid watched TV until late last night, and then turned the TV off.



Well, this morning she went to turn the TV back on and back to the same problem. No picture. Of course, I am not there to look at the issue, but the symptoms are the same.



Any ideas? Could it be the filter wheel is not getting the signal to start? Or could there be something else not starting up? I work on all sorts of electro-mechanical stuff at work, so I want to believe I can fix this without throwing too much money at it. Plus, I would guess most of the boards are probably obsolete by now???



Thanks for your help in advance....

[ChubbsTech]

If this buzzing sound is like an electrical type sound the problem is gonna more likely be the ballast. This is what powers the bulb. You mentioned that the bulb was on, while the lamp was on was there a picture ?

[Cativo]

Whether the noise was happening or not, the bulb is always ON.

[ChubbsTech]

The bulb was on yet no picture correct ? Now when you did get a picture did the bulb get brighter ?

[Cativo]

Not that I could tell. The lamp always seems to be the same brightness. Yes, the lamp was on and still no picture.

[treborzp]

I have the same model TV HLS6187W.



Problem started happening a few days ago when upon powering up, I heard a loud pop. Followed by the blinking standby, timer, and lamp lights.



I received a trouble shooting tip that asked me to push the blue toggle switch by the door DOWN while somebody powers the TV on and check if I see arcing in the lamp.



After removing the door, I noticed that the toggle switch seems to be spring loaded. You can push it UP or DOWN but it will always settles in the neutral position..



It appears that closing the door moves the switch UP. Can somebody please explain the function of this toggle switch?



I also notice that it may be difficult to detect arcing in the lamp if the lamp duct is installed. The duct is the part between the door and the lamp.



I might have to remove this to do this test.



What conclusion can be arrived at if arcing occurs or not?



Thanks

[treborzp]

A miracle just happened today.



You won't believe what happened.



After doing the arcing test per my previous post, I heard the familiar loud pop and found that the lamp was not arcing.



But I noticed that the three lights were still blinking even after a few hours have passed.



So I reinstalled the lamp vent and the door.



I then clicked on the power on/off of the remote to turn the TV off to get rid of the blinking lights.



Instead of turning off the TV, I heard the familiar Samsung chime and I got my picture back!



What in God's name happened? Crazy isn't it?



Looks like I just saved a couple of hundred bucks. And I am not complaining! :)