Mitsubishi 2007 (and possibility '06 & '08) lens cleaning procedure. No more halo's. - Page 5

Green dot is the power LED on the tv. Dust on the lens was my assumption, too. Anything to beware of when removing the side access ports?

Took the round side cover off, saw the lens. I tried to reach in and give it a good blasting of compressed air with a can but to no avail. Still have both spots. Whether I couldn't get the right spot or it wasn't on the outer lens, I can't tell.

Can't see the lens well enough to see the dust on it, can't see where I'm blowing because to get my arm in far enough to blow on the lens, it's up to my shoulder.

:|

Hi all
To those of you that have tackled this project, I was wondering if you could tell us how you negotiated removing and reinstalling the tray and getting the eye properly back into the foam bag that appears to surround it when it is in place? My real concern is being able to get it back and properly wrapped around the lens/eye after cleaning.

Thanks in advance,
B

I was afraid of this....

the large lens that aims up into the tv box has a foam surround. This foam is the same grey color as the chunk seen in your pics. This surround appears to fit fairly snugly around the lens and would need to be pried up and out of the way before I could slide the tray out of the tv.

Lemme try to get a pic in here.

foam in question...

Thats the lens that has a snug foam bag surrounding it!

Not sure why my pics only post as a link, dang it.....

My issue is that if I were to simply try to pull the tray out, it would (most likely?) tear the foam that surrounds that lens. I COULD pry it up and out of the way to accomplish this but my larger concern is being able to properly set/stretch the surround BACK IN PLACE AROUND THE LENS after pushing the tray back into the tv, as there's not a ton of space to play with up in there.

Fair enough...but do you recall having to move it in any way as part of your procedure???

Sorry as I don't mean to make this difficult; it's just that I haven't seen this referenced by anyone yet this is something that must be dealt with during the process???

I fear that if it (the surround/fill/what-have-you) gets messed up, the lens will be MUCH more open to dust build-up. I was only figuring I should ask what folks have done with this before I start banging around with things!

Maybe I'm just being overly cautious.

Sorry...

BadClams,

I know what you mean. That's just a loose foam seal between the back of the set and the screen/mirror error. The unit will just pull out and there is no resistance from that foam. When you put it back in it can look a little "disturbed" so to speak, for the lack of a better phrase.

There are two ways to make it look normal again. From the back of the set, reach up there with a pair of tweezers to arrange that seal so it "sits right" around the lens. Or, you can open one of the access ports on either side that allow you to clean the mirror, or inside of the screen, and adjust the foam there. I've done it both ways. Arranging this foam will be the easiest part of the procedure you will do.

Thanks Mev...

I was going to post the same thing (about pushing the foam from the inside-out). Just surprised me I guess. I decided to pass on the cleaning for now as I only had it opened up to do my first bulb replacement. I haven't "noticed" any PQ issues and fear creating a problem when I'm not sure if one exists in the first place... Only had 2642 hours on the bulb in a smoke free/pet free house. Oh well. Boy what a surprise to see the difference in a new bulb!!! Any consensus on how long to wait on a new bulb before running a calibration setup disk??? I seem to recall seeing that you should wait a bit....

On a new bulb 100 hrs-- after a lens cleaning, I don't think there's a time.

Thanks for the tips. Maybe I'll run the disk once for its "early" phase and anticipate a re-run down the road. No sense letting things "blaze away" for so many hours before tweaking, and I don't need to get accustomed to less-than-ideal conditions.

Hey VideoBruce, I need to clean my WD 73734. Can I follow your method? I am a newbie, quite handy but never opened any TVs. Would this be too much for a newbie?

Kinda handy at fixing stuff around the house, pretty good at reading and following instruction etc., But you are right, I have no electronic experience at all. Would this be too much for me? I don't think that I can hire a tech to do what you recommended, they will most likely just recommend a new light engine.

At the beginning of this thread, you mentioned that your cleaning instructions are for 2007 models. I am not sure if my WD-73734 was a '07 model? As I brought it in '09 from Fry's as a floor display unit.

3820 hours and my first lamp went out. Figured it was time to look at the lenses while the set was pulled out of the cabinet. Made sure the new lamp worked first!

The lens in question () appeared to be smudged in the center 2/3 area by either lightly smeared thermal grease (heat sink compound) or out-gassing of thermal grease (heat sink compound) from somewhere. It was a mess. Think about trying to remove thermal grease (heat sink compound) from a precision coated optical glass lens buried in a barrel. Took over an hour to cleanup.

There was also a fingerprint on the final output lens (not from me) that was noticable when I pulled the LE. I pulled the shield and cleaned that also.

WARNING: The lenses are coated and can be ruined if you apply strong chemicals or rub them too much.

After the cleaning and re-assembly, only had to tweak the rotation slightly and adjust VERT and HORIZ position electronically.

YEP, it's like new. Major improvement in brightness, contrast, resolution, sharpness. Looks like it did on DAY ONE.

KUDO's to videobruce for gathering all these pics, posts and info in one place and for including the pictures/service manual extracts for those less AGREEABLE TO THE TASK(up to the challenge).

Could it be out-gassing of thermal grease from behind the DMD chip or used as a lube for the iris/shutter?

Easiest way I found is to open both side access ports, insert a light (like a trouble light) in one side (with someone or thing holding it), while you peer through the other side and use your fingers to push it evenly down around the final lens. Really not that hard. Hardest part is getting enough light to see what you're doing, seeing what you're doing and doing it. Those of you that service cars know exactly what I'm talking about. Under the dashboard by the early-light.

Can anyone recommend someone to do this procedure in the South Jersey/Philly area? I'm not crazy about the idea of tackling the cleaning myself. More than happy to pay someone.

Thanks.
Larry

If you get no replies, I would suggest contacting an authorized Mitsubishi Service Shop near you, provide them with a link to this forum and explain that you want them to clean the lens in question. I does take some time and is not for the feint of heart if you have no experience with electronics/optics. A good camera repairman could do it if they were presented with this info and you handed them the assembly with the lens. The problem is that the lens is in a barrel (with an iris in the way) and coated with a greasy substance, so requires patience and/or knowledge to remove said greasy substance.

Will do, thanks! What would you consider a fair price to do the job?