Hey folks, just fixed an odd problem with my Samsung DLP, HLR7178. I'm sure that it applies to all of the HLR's and haven't seen this problem mentioned up here so thought I'd share.

About a month ago my stepson reported a loud pop while watching TV. I checked it out and the colors were wonky. I shut it off, waited, then powered it back on. I got a low frequency hum and the 3BL indication (three blinking LEDs). I was pretty sure the color wheel had shattered and what I was hearing was the out-of-balance color wheel trying to spin up.

No need to diagnose any further so I ordered a wheel.

I'll spare you the details on ordering the wheel, but summarize by saying that I ended up ordering from one place, canceling, and ordering from another place. In both cases they happily accepted my order for the part and one-day shipping. Both places ended up having this part on backorder. I eventually got it about 3 weeks later. (long time to go without a TV!)

After I got the new color wheel, I pulled out the old one. Sure enough it is broken:

http://fly.hiwaay.net/~jcmccorm/IMG_2815.JPG

I was happy to replace the old wheel with the new one and have my TV back.

After getting everything back together, it wouldn't fire up. It tried three times and ended with the 3BL.

I removed the color wheel and reinstalled, same problem.

I consulted the service manual. The 3BL is an indication of a bad lamp. I replaced the lamp (I had bought a spare about a month earlier as I was approaching 6000hrs on the original lamp). Still no go. I followed the service manual's advice of removing the lamp and inspecting the ballast at startup for a blue arc. There wasn't one so I suspected the ballast.

I did not know whether the lamp would attempt to start up if the color wheel was not spinning though so I tried something unusual. I removed the color wheel but kept it connected. I put everything back together but kept the color wheel hanging out the back by it's two cables. I made certain that the wheel was free to spin.

This time, the color wheel spun up fine (I could see it) and the lamp fired up. All was well.

I put it all back together and it didn't work. Pulled the color wheel out again and it all worked fine. I did this routine two more times and determined that it must be a mechanical problem. The wheel was not spinning when installed.

I compared the new color wheel housing assembly to the old one. They looked identical. The new one even fit perfectly. The only difference between the two was that the new one had a "#3" at the end of the stamped-on part number where the old one had "#2". I could not see any difference between the two, nor could I determine how or why the new wheel was being mechanically restricted from spinning.

I then removed the old color wheel from the old housing and put the new color wheel into the old housing.

The TV fired up just fine and is now working perfectly.

So, if you've replaced your color wheel and still get the 3BL indication, don't give up yet!

Cary

Did you have to recalibrate your set after replacing the color wheel?

I will be doing mine tomorrow as well as a light tunnel. Any suggestions in doing the swap?

Thanks.

hlr6178W

I had my set calibrated a year ago (for color temperature) so I'm sure that's not accurate anymore with the new color wheel. Or at least, it's only as accurate as much as the new color wheel matches the old one.

After replacing the color wheel, I went into the service menu to adjust the index delay. Something I had needed to do when I first bought the set. I got the index delay adjustment up but I couldn't find the test pattern that I remembered seeing so I just exited and vowed to come back to it if things looked off.

Everything looks good and I don't see the need yet to adjust the index delay. I attribute that to the fact that I'm using the old color wheel's housing which still has the old hall-effect sensor (which signals the wheel position during rotation).

My only suggestion for you would be to go slow and careful at first and take note of where everything is. It's a much easier operation than you would think, but you need to get a little familiarity with it.

Good luck!

Cary

So I got my color wheel and light tunnel in today. I opened the package with much anticipation of having my tv fixed tonight and the ****ing color wheel that was sent to me was broken. I was so upset I called J&J right away and got the stupidest person in the world on the other end of the phone. She told me she had no problem returning my part but I would have to pay to ship the broken part back to them and then they would ship me another one. What? I just paid an extra 50 dollars to have it shipped overnight and now I have to pay more to get the part I paid for in the first place. I am currently waiting for a manager to call me back. I'll keep you updated.

Bummer! I was worried about the color wheel myself - pretty delicate thing. Did it come in a clear plastic clamshell inner package?

Cary

Yes it did but it was broken anyway. I just hate that companies don't want to HELP their customers. I spoke with the manager and he said sorry nothing he could do to help the situation. Looks like a nice big fat dispute with the CC company.

Ok so I got my parts in finally. I replaced my light tunnel and color wheel on my set. I experienced the same problem you did with the colorwheel not spinning up the first few times. I then realized that the small PCB inside the colorwheel had a different voltage regulator on it than the old one. So I swapped out the small PCB and Voila. My set fired up but to my dismay the vertical shadow that was on the left is now on the right. I adjusted the small screws on the light tunnel to try and see if tat was a problem but it looks like a defective light tunnel out of the box. Thanks for everyones help here for getting me get my TV back.

Thanks Norman! So it was the hall-effect sensor PCB? Hmmm, I should've thought to change that. When I changed the color wheel housing back to the old one, I changed the PCBs with it, so that was surely the problem. Good to know.

Is a mirror actually loose on your new light tunnel?

Cary

Well I didn't feel like tearing back into the light engine after getting everything back together. If it is not a loose mirror what could it be? I adjusted the set screws on the tunnel housing and got it right where it should be. I also adjusted the DMD board and got it lined up perfect with the crosshatch pattern. I then went through with a Eye1 color calibrator and calibrated all the colors. The set looks amazing better than it ever has. I just have the shadow on the right side now. It is not as bad as when it was on the left though. But I do want to let everyone know to go buy a good box of latex gloves when working on all this stuff. No mater how carful you are you end up having to touch the glass inside of the unit. It makes for a lot easier time when not having to worry about getting fingerprints on any of the glass surfaces. Also when purchasing a new color wheel go ahead and order the new rubber dampening as well. It makes things a lot easier as well.