I bought an Optoma RD65H in 4/05 from Visual Apex. About 2 weeks ago, the following started happening:

At power-up, the normal warm-up process works fine. Next, the picture and sound appear as normal. After 10 seconds (give or take) the picture disappears completely (lamp off). After another 10 seconds, the sound stops as well.

The whole time (after warm-up), the Power Light is solid green & no other status lights are lit.

Does anyone here have any ideas on how I should approach this? Here are my thoughts and what I've tried already:


If it is the lamp, I wouldn't think that I could see a gorgeous picture for 10 seconds.
If it is the ballast, then why does the sound go out 10 seconds after the picture dies?
If it is the power supply, why does it run perfectly for 10 seconds or so?


I called Optoma who told me that I had to contact TSC since the unit was out of warranty. After 2 weeks of fighting with TSC, they sent me (according to the packing slip) a mainboard, power supply & ballast + 3 cables(for $612 + $400 labor - They waived the labor and said that I could return any parts I didn't use for credit). I don't see a ballast. (FYI: although noone mentioned it, the mainboard was used/refurb - I could tell by looking at it. Plus, it was a REV A board, mine was a REV C)

I swapped out the mainboard last night, and there was absolutely no change in behaviour from the RD65H. I'll try the power supply tonight, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

Inside the RD65H, I see what appears to be a ballast (see attached) riding piggy-back atop the power supply, but I do not have anything like it in my shipment of parts. If someone can verify that this is indeed the ballast, I'd appreciate it.

Does anyone know anything about the 2 daughter cards that ride shotgun on the mainboard? (The back input panel card & the NTSC tuner card). I am assuming thos boards couldn't cause the problem.

I would appreciate any and all thoughts & suggestions. Thanks, guys.

Vince,

The shiny part atop the power supply is the ballast, as far as I've been able to determine. It is remarkably similar to what is in my RD-50, except labeled for the 120 watt bulb (image 1).

I would think if it were the bulb or ballast, the light would never start. After you lose light and sound, what happens? Are you able to power it down normally and then start again? I'm wondering if it is suffering from some kind of thermal shutdown? When you started it with the covers off, did you see all the fans spinning? If you can get into the service menu before it shuts down, (menu, 6, 1, 9) there is a screen for temps and voltages of fans. It may be worth a try putting a fan blowing onto the back of the system and see if it stays on longer.

If the power supply were bad, I could sort of see it running for a bit, then shutting off power completely. Of course, it looks like it delivers multiple voltages 3.3, 5 and 12 VDC, and maybe one of them is not working and it is causing the system to shutdown.

I always thought of the entire mainboard assembly as 1 unit. I didn't know the back panel could be separated. At the front of the mainboard is what I believe is the sound processor card because that is where the speakers plug in on mine. I wouldn't think either would cause the problem. (image 4)

I think the DMD board also provides signal back to the mainboard, again temp. There aren't a lot of other components after the power supply, ballast and lamp, main board (video input, sound), the DMD board, and the color wheel.

Hopefully the power supply solves the problem.

I'll scratch my head some more to see if I can figure something else out.

Miner

The shiny part atop the power supply is the ballast, as far as I've been able to determine. It is remarkably similar to what is in my RD-50, except labeled for the 120 watt bulb (image 1).
You are correct - That is the ballast. The replacement arrived today and, as usual, was just a circuit board. After removing the power supply and opening the ballast enclosure, I replaced the circuit board and re-installed everything back the TV. No dice - exact same behaviour.


After you lose light and sound, what happens? Are you able to power it down normally and then start again? I'm wondering if it is suffering from some kind of thermal shutdown? When you started it with the covers off, did you see all the fans spinning?
After loss of light and sound, it just sits there doing absolutely nothing, except the power light is still a solid green. I can hit the power button again and the lights go through the cool-down cycle, but there is no activity inside the TV. When it is running normally (for 10 seconds or so) the two fans are spinning. I can't tell if the fan inside the power supply is spinning because when it is mounted back in the TV (which it has to be due to short cable lengths) the fan cannot be reached.

They (TSC) sent a replacement power supply that had a different part number and was rated for 300W, not 400W like the original. The new supply is smaller, much lighter and does not have a fan. When I asked, TSC assures me this is the replacement part for the power supply. The cables don't match up, though - different molex connectors. I sent another email to TSC about this, but I don't expect to hear from them for a while.


If you can get into the service menu before it shuts down, (menu, 6, 1, 9) there is a screen for temps and voltages of fans. It may be worth a try putting a fan blowing onto the back of the system and see if it stays on longer.I can't seem to get through the menus fast enough to get to the temp info screen before the lamp shuts down (It's about 6 seconds now).

If the power supply were bad, I could sort of see it running for a bit, then shutting off power completely. Of course, it looks like it delivers multiple voltages 3.3, 5 and 12 VDC, and maybe one of them is not working and it is causing the system to shutdown.

I tried testing the voltages coming out of the power supply but there's some sort of electronic switching mech(I think) on it. I can plug right into the power supply (bypassing all the switching so there's unswitched power directly to the Power Supply, but I get nothing... on any connector. I tried connecting (my best guess) the wiring harness that goes to the side switch, and I still get nothing. Without a diagram, I could be here all day.

I am wondering if one of the voltages +/-5, +/-12 & +/-20 VDC on this power supply is not working properly and some other circuitry somewhere is shutting it down because of that particular voltage being faulty.

I always thought of the entire mainboard assembly as 1 unit. I didn't know the back panel could be separated. At the front of the mainboard is what I believe is the sound processor card because that is where the speakers plug in on mine. I wouldn't think either would cause the problem.

See attached images - they show how the mainboard assembly comes apart. The things that hold the 3 pieces together (other than an edge connector and some pin connectors) are the 2 nuts on the cable F-Connectors and the two 3/16 screws/thumbscrew sockets that are on boths sides of the DVI connector that you would screw-down your DVI cable to.

Vince,

Any word on getting the correct power supply? If TSC says the smaller p/s is a correct replacement, perhaps 300 W is sufficient. I don't know what the power consumption is for the TV, but it may work, especially for troubleshooting.

Miner

Vince,

Any word on getting the correct power supply? If TSC says the smaller p/s is a correct replacement, perhaps 300 W is sufficient. I don't know what the power consumption is for the TV, but it may work, especially for troubleshooting.

Miner

No response from them whatsoever. I received an email from them at 6:45PM Friday Dec 22nd:


Vincent,

The power supply we sent is the new version. Please give as a call so
we can help you how to install it.

Thanks,
Lilibeth Santos
Customer Service Representative
Technical Service Corporation
725 Sycamore Drive
Milpitas, Ca 95035
Ph: 888 - 942 - 2929
Dir: 408 - 435 - 3971
Fax: 408 - 383 - 3711

I called as soon as I got the message (no answer) and sent off an email message but have received no response whatsoever. I guess nobody is working until the 1st of the new year.

I can see how a 300W PS could work, but the connectors are all wrong - if I'm supposed to pull & replace 3 different sizes of Molex pins and use the old connectors, I think that would be excessive.

It's now been 3 weeks since my first attempt to contact Optoma/TSC. I am getting very tired of this. I can only imagine what hoops TSC is going to make me jump through to return the unneeded parts (which they said I could do.)

I finally figured out how to install the new power supply. I had follow all of the wiring connectors back to their source and remove them so I could replace them with the cables sent with the new power supply. These were completely different connections and did not have any disconnects to make it easier to install.

Also, the new ballast gets installed on top of the new power supply WITHOUT its metal housing/enclosure. There are 4 plastic motherboard type standoffs/connectors that go through the screwholes on the ballast PC board to secure it to the power supply.

After all of that --> Exact same problem!


After swapping all of the parts out that TSC sent me, it was decided that they would swap out my RD-65H for a refurbished one (and charge me to repair mine, of course). The new one arrived this week with only some minor dings in the chassis, but all in all was acceptable... Except...

The picture on this RD-65 is washed out. There's even a little green emphasis that I find rather annoying. the AVIA & DVE DVD's and altered my settings accordingly, but the picture is still a little washed out & green.

I remember that I had set my Service Menu settings according to an AVSForum user's advice/settings (I think he had an RD50 but he settings were great) when I originally got my RD65 and THE PICTURE WAS FANTASTIC!

Does anyone know where that post has gone? I've been searching for it for about an hour & see references to it, but not the actual post.

Can anyone help me with the Optoma Service Menu settings? Please?

After some more tweaking, I managed to get the picture to be decent, but not nearly as nice as my original RD65.

Does anyone know where the Optoma service menu settings that were posted here a year ago have gone??

Would someone please share with me their Service menu settings? I would greatly appreciate it.

I am having a problem with my RD65 that involves a failed light tunnel. What advice can you give me about replacing or repairing the tunnel? I have a background in computer repair so am not afraid to get into the guts. Just don't want to do anything stupid!

I'd like to see that post on setting up the picture as well.

Actually, the light tunnel is about the only part of the guts of the RD-65H that I did not dissect. I can probably help with most of the other disassembly, though.

Also, I got into the service menu, but I didn't want to screw with any of the settings without knowing what I was doing. I searched again for the old post with the service menu settings, but I still can't find it.

Anybody knows what universal remote codes to use to control Optoma RD65H?
I want to be able to control the TV using my universal remote from COX cable.