Broken DLP HLT5676s

[longrunner]

I recently came into possession of my cousin's old Samsung HLT5676s because it has stopped working properly. Apparantly this is the third time he's had a problem with it (the first two times it was under warranty). Apparently the color wheel and the ballast (well he thinks it was the ballast) was replaced. He was really hard on the TV watching around 40 hours or more a week. The originial lamp is still intact and was never replaced.

Anyway, when you turn it on it stays on for a couple of minutes then the screen turns off and the sound stays on, then the whole tv will turn off. The tv then tries to turn back on (I think I tested it a couple of weeks ago over thanksgiving break before going back to college).

I think it may be a lamp problem but I'm not sure, and as a college student I can't spend a lot of money replacing parts that are not broken.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[Jason1976]

ether lamp , ballast or color wheel. with the age of the lamp i would start with a new lamp. if that doesn't fix it then a new ballast. parts can be bought from http://www.samsungparts.com the lamp maybe cheaper on ebay or someplace eles.


also check to make sure the lamp still isnt lit when the video goes away. look at the back of the set.

if the color wheel stops the lamp also goes out.

[longrunner]

Thanks,

I'll try to replace the lamp, where is the best place to buy just the lamp? I've read it is cheaper to replace the lamp itself instead of the whole assembly. I've found the lamp at dlplamp.com and they have a 6 month warranty on the lamp. Is this a safe merchant to deal with? I know Discount-Merchant is good and they have it too.

-Carl

[longrunner]

I can find my bulb for about 85 dollars on ebay but its made by OSRAM not Philips, does this matter? Also there is one Philips bulb at this price should I be wary of that? Otherwise all the bulbs by Philips are 109 dollars which is the same as DM.

[Jason1976]

I hear good things about both but phillips say theirs last longer. I am sure if you ask the other company they will tell you the same thing. Samsung used phillips lamps when the tv's were new. You may have to change the kind of lamp you have in the service menu by having the tv off and hitting mute 1 8 2 power.