The Defective Mitsubishi DLP TV Owners Thread - Page 7

A big Kudos to everyone who has done the legwork on the DMD replacement issue. I started seeing spots (white and black) about 2 weeks ago and I am very pleased with the response from mitsubishi. Used the 800 number listed above and got the same deal everybody else did, but fair enough by me for my May 2008 set.

Only problem is I'll have to stop lusting over the 75" LaserVues now, as my excuse to replace my 73835 will be gone in a couple of days...

Thanks

My Mitsubishi WD 52631 DLP tv quit very suddenly 2 days ago. I assumed after 8 years of use I just needed to get a new TV. I went to Costco and bought a very nice 55inch Panasonic for $950 plus taxes. I installed the new TV at home and watched a beautiful picture with the internet built in, etc.., The Viera program is great +++. A great time to get a new TV with the prices so reasonable.

However, now that I had time to look at the old TV (9-16-2006) and after having no satisfaction from the Mitsubishi tech help, I decided to install the new projection lamp I had purchased from Mitshi in 2007 as a backup. I also had purchased an extra TV remote control as I know from experience that when they go bad your TV watching experience can be less than great. Imagine my surprise when the TV is now back to perfect. So I have an extra TV with no additional expense (for the moment).

At any rate I am taking the time to post my comments so that someone else out there doesn't throw away a good TV because the information regarding the effect of a bad projection tube was not made available. When my TV quit, it had no picture, no sound, and no light of any kind on the screen. The troubleshooting info from Mitsubishi did not indicate the bulb failure as a reason for my TV to simply quit. What a surprise. I hope this may help someone else experiencing a problem with their Mitubishi DLP TV. Have an extra bulb on hand. The bulb is now $175 from Mitsubishi. I paid $275 in 2007. Any one want to buy a used 2006 DLP in perfect condition??? Ha!!

Hey Fellow Mits DLP TV Owners!

Just thought I'd share my experience calling Mits about my WD-73833 (manufactured February, 2008) which will hopefully encourage anyone else with the issue to call. A few days ago I noticed at least 1 bright white pixel on the left side of the screen (there may be more than 1 stuck open pixel in a cluster as it is very noticeable but it could also just be one at this point). I took a closer look (always dangerous as you may see things you never noticed before) and I found 5-7 dark pixels (stuck closed).

After finding so many posts with the same problem and reading enough recent positive responses from Mitsubishi, I called them about the issue. It took about 10 minutes total. They offered their "good will" replacement program to me right away for replacing the DMD chip. As I've read, I would have to pay the negotiated replacement service of $200. I was sure to ask if this replacement actually was an improvement over the original. He told me that Mitsubishi had identified the issue and the replacement would never have this problem. Of course I know there's no guarantee but it was good to hear that anyway (true or not). My service call is schedule for Friday with a local service shop whom I've already spoken to. The guy at the shop who answered (who is not the tech who will be doing the replacement) wondered out loud what Mitsubishi would do if there was something wrong with the light engine. I told him I actually raised that question when it was clear to me that the replacement was for the DMD only (I read earlier posts in some forums stating that Mits was replacing the DMD and Light Engine but apparently not anymore - at least to start). Mits told me that if the tech determined there was something wrong with the light engine, then they would cover that too. I wonder how the tech would determine that. Does anyone who has gone through this know if there is some kind of test they can do to determine the health of the light engine?

Not sure if it's related or not but one problem I have had with this set over the last couple years is that on the energy savings setting for the bulb, the picture will eventually start to flicker. Under bulb warranty, I had the same service company come out and replace the bulb back in 2010 but about 6 months or so later, the flicker was back. The way around this is to set the bulb on the normal setting and it never flickers - it's just a bit brighter and I suppose will shorten the life of the bulb. Not sure if this is a reflection of a problem in the light engine circuitry or something else. Does anyone know?

Anyway, it was really very encouraged by the call. I told the Mits customer service guy that it's great that Mitsubishi has acknowledged the problem and started this program which encourages me to keep buying Mitsubishi products in the future. Of course thanks as always with these things goes to the early pioneers in the first year or so that had to suffer through what was most likely lack of acknowledgment of a real widespread design issue. Probably this explains a lot of the early negative posts I saw.

Anyway, I just wanted to pass this along. Hopefully the replacement and results go as smoothly.
Thanks all!

Thnak God for this thread. I also have the issues with the tiny white dots on my Mitsubishi DLP 65" WD-73833. I noticed one little dot and thought maybe something was stuck behind the top screen. Within the next week or so I had several little white spots come over the TV. Turns out it's the DMD chip as with everyone else. I'm so glad I decided to do some research before calling out the TV repair guy, who told me over the phone he gets a lot of calls for this exact problem with these type TV's. He also stated the cost would be about $1000.00 (including labor). That's crazy when I didn't pay much more than that for the TV. So grateful for this thread and all of your post.It's been so helpful.

One last thing, I contacted Mitsubishi and they also offered their "good will" replacement program. I am soooooo very happy:) Thanks again!

I have a Mits WD73833 that is 4+ years old. The dots have started and I will call Mits soon and I expect the same replacement solution others have gotten. Since I will be paying a service person to be here does it make sense to be proactive and replace my bulb at the same time? It seems fine and has never burnt out and therefore has never been replaced. I would say the TV has been on an average of 4 hours a day since we bought it. I assume I would buy it on my own to save on the cost and then have the service person install it. I am guessing I am handy enough to do it myself at some point when the bulb goes but not having done it I have no idea if it's a pain in the ass or not.

Thanks!!!

If you purchase the "LAMP" in the plastic housing there is absolutely no reason to pay someone to install the lamp - it is designed for the consumer to replace and is very easy. Check your owners guide for instructions. If you lost the book, it can be downloaded from the Mitsubishi web site (no charge).

If you purchase the bare lamp you have a high chance of getting a poor 3rd party lamp and if you pay a service tech to install that lamp into the plastic housing you would not save any money. They will not replace the chip AND install the lamp into the plastic housing for the $200. The $200 rate appears to be a special rate Mitsubishi negotiated with the service companies.

Thanks for your quick response! Based on your reply and a touch of research I will wait on the lamp.

I called this afternoon about my Mitsu, no questions asked, part will be shipped to repair shop for free, I cover a straight $200 labor fee.

I have a WD73833. Same problems as everyone else, same response from Mits. Contacted the authorized tech for appointment, he said my part just came in and came over next day. As TV is five years old, I purchased a new OEM bulb and housing on internet for $139. I asked the repair man for a quote in installing bulb and he said no charge, just the $200 for the chip replacement. TV is good as new for less than $350. Hoping it lasts at least another couple of years because there was nothing out there that made me feel I would get a much better picture at 70+ inches ....except the Sony 4k 84" caught my eye but couldn't figure how to get that one past the wife at $25k.

Got my first white dot on my 65734 today. Worked fine yesterday. Any recent experiences with Mitsubishi providing replacement DMD's? Is self-install an option (I'm EE and have taken apart lots of stuff for self fixes, although I'm not sure if the DMD is a precision alignment type of thing or what).

I think self-install is an option. I've read that if you can assemble a pc, you likely have the skills to replace he dmd yourself. Let us know how it goes.

Replacing the DMD is very easy...I recently did my own. Its no different than putting a new CPU in a PC.
If I remember correctly I purchased my chip through ShopJimmy's website.

There are youtube videos showing step by step instructions. Probably took 30 minutes
total time.
Any questions post them here and I'll check back.

I emailed mdeaservice@mdea.com about a replacement chip but the response only said I had to call. So I called Mitsubishi just now on the 800-332-2119 number and they offered the free chip + $200 installation through service provider. I asked and begged to just give me the chip but they were firm on that not being a possibility. A cousin of mine has the same TV and got the white dots problem and somehow convinced them via email to just give him the chip about a year ago.

Any ideas or experiences out there? Has anybody else gotten the chip for self-installation? How did you make contact with Mitsubishi?

YOU DON'T need a light engine ! you only need the DMD or DLP chip and it takes anywhere from 10 to 30 Minutes to replace. for around $200.00 and your good to go for ABOUT another three years. OR throw the JUNK Mitsubishi in the TRASH where they all belong and buy you a good LCD set and try to put the stress of mitsubishi behind you. I had one and I was outraged they won't sell the parts directly to you as the OWNER. YOU have to HIRE a tech to do what YOU CAN DO YOURSELF and they KNOW IT. I will NEVER buy MITSUBISHI ANYTHING EVER AGAIN ! GOOD LUCK and I hope it helps.

Ok guys, I had the white and black dot Issue on my 2007 WD 65734 which started this year. I got the DLP chip from shop Jimmy and fixed it myself. no biggie for under $160.

But what has been bothering me is the color wheel bearing is going out.
I have been trying to find the correct color wheel for this unit as it seems like the part number going around has a few variations.

There is 938P137010 and several others.
saw this but no part number:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MITSUBISHI-WD65733-WD-65734-WD65833-WD73733-WD73734-WD73833-WD57733-COLOR-WHEEL-/261004834426?pt=US_TV_Boards_Parts_Components&hash=item3cc519b67a

any help from someone with this TV and has replaced their color wheel?

As soon as I posted someone on another forum got back to me. And apparently it is hard to find this one too:

Part# 28S559B050

65734
65733
57831
57733
covers those ranges

I feel your pain I've bee drooling over the 92 inch DLP, now I found out my 65" might be fixable,(white spots)

I have a 2 1/2 year old Mitsu WD-73C9, don't know how long it's been having this problem as it was initially only noticeable when the room is dark. I first noticed the problem about a month ago and it seems like it's been getting worse.

The best way to describe the issue is, it looks like light is bleeding in from around the sides of the TV, it's worse on the bottom, but it's happening around all the edges.

From what I've found on the forums I'm thinking it might be dust, or some other build-up on the lenses in the light engine, but wanted to get a second opinion before I started taking things apart.



The problem is more noticeable in person, but you can see how the bottom and side edges are lighter, when they should be black.

Thanks.

It is most likely just dust on the lens of the light engine, not inside the light engine.
If yours has the ports on each side, just remove one and look in there with the tv on - you will see the dust.

The mirror on the back is most likely clean so don't touch it.

If you don't have the ports you have to remove the screen to get to it.

need help with my tv .missubishi dlp chip
wd-60735

what's wrong with it?

Thanks pacofortacos, I do have the ports on mine, the lens was pretty dusty. I've got it all cleaned off now, but the problem still persists.

So, inside the light engine now.
Edited by TechnoSwiss - 1/12/13 at 10:40pm

Started on the light engine, then had to go back to a couple of the light engine threads, and realized I was attacking it from the wrong end.

I found the problem, however it's not something I can fix without parts. There's a haze on the DLP chip itself, I've included a photo that shows is pretty well. It's not a reflection in the photo, and matches right up with the light areas on the picture.



After putting the set back together, my picture is shifted down, so as careful as I was trying to be, I've got something tilted down. I also apparently managed to leave a few streaks on the lenses/glass (tried using q-tips and IpA (isopropyl alcohol), and lens wipes). Looks like I can get a new DLP chip aftermarket for about $150, so I think I'm going to order one up and try it out. Does anybody have an suggestions for better cleaning tools than q-tips IpA and pre-moistened lens wipes?
Edited by TechnoSwiss - 1/16/13 at 11:28pm

I've got the new DLP chip in, and the TV looks great. Should have taken a picture of the new chip.

One thing I noticed is that the hazy area on the old DLP chip seems to line up with the heatsink pad. Anybody know if the chip not getting cooled properly was what caused the hazy area in the first place? I cleaned off the old pad and put down Arctic Silver and covered the whole chip, so if that was the issue hopefully the new one won't develop the same problem.

Also, I noticed AFTER I had cleaned off all the lenses, that I'd picked up anti-fog lens cleaners with SILICONE in them, which I also just found out you're NOT supposed to use to clean coated lenses. Anybody have any idea what the damage might be, and if that move might have damaged the UV filters? UV light meters run pretty expensive so I was going to pick up some of those UV beads they sell for kids science projects and do a quick test to see if any of the UV light is making it through the system.

Thanks for the forums guys/gals, never would have taken this project on without the information here, and it's SO nice to have that light area on my screen fixed.

Looks like my Main Board went out (after a while using the tv, sometimes hearing a sound like rock on glass followed by an electrical POP and the tv shutting off). Thankfully, it is being replaced and I should be good to go. The bulb may or may not be bad; the tech thinks that the little bulbous part at the end of the glass is larger than it should be, but I'll wait to see if I need a new bulb after the main board is replaced. I would definitely suggest what has been suggested here before - asking to speak to someone in the USA, then going from there. Once I got out of the Philippines and into USA, it's like all the lights went on. She got me a call back from someone who knows my tv (WD-65735) and took my concerns seriously... even called their authorized center where I took my tv and got the diagnosis from them, and offered great support. I'm so pleased that I took the advice of someone on this forum and didn't give up when the foreign call center said their policy was to do nothing for me. I pressed ahead and was blessed. I made sure to thank her profusely and asked for her supervisor and told him how well she did communicating to me and the repair center. Hope this gives you hope for your situations. There is always something else you can try. Tell your story. Ask for any help they can creatively come up with on your behalf. Initially, she was going to give me a replacement lamp at no cost. I thanked her, kept discussing my issues and she went all in and got the part I needed and is shipping it out to our repair place here in town. So I will be paying labor only! FAR BETTER RESULT!

Is there anything I can do to still take advantage of the class action lawsuit? I have a 62525 that has had problems since I bought it in 2005. As it stands now and has been for the past 4 years after replacing countless lamps is that (i think) dmd chip or something similar are bad because the last time I check 2010, I bought my last new lamp and housing, cleaned the filter and secured the door. It sounded as if the tv was trying to warm up and kick the lamp on but that it just couldn't. the green light would keep flashing until it would inevitably turn orange/yellow and remain..

I've been away from my address in FL for majority of this year due to personal circumstances and didn't received the settlement letter until late last year(november). With the 2012 holiday season I completely forgot about making a claim and now after calling the cust #: 800-332-2119 they are telling me I missed the chance to make a claim. I don't wan't to pursue the deal to get a new MTV at dealer cost, but rather fix my darn tv that's been sitting here for ages. I'm curious if anyone would have any insight in the matter. Maybe I can make an appeal to the courts? They said they extended it one before from july2012-nov/dec2012 so perhaps they could extend the matter again?? Not sure.. deciding whether to junk or not. this is the last straw for this tv.

May parents have one of these and it’s BAD! They were considering taking it to the dump; is the fix still available and it is worth throwing another $200 at this set to get it? Will it just do the same thing or is it verified to be a real fix?

It sickens me that it would be dumped – it’s a pretty expensive television. It has a beautiful picture when it works right.

My WD-65736 purchased in July 2008 started with the black/white dots issue a few weeks ago with a single one dead center in the picture... now I have 2 with another one "flickering". They seem to flicker for a bit then lock in the "off" position. I also have the "haze" another person reported.

I guess I'll call Mitsu and see if they're still doing the $200 labor replacement program... if not I guess I'll have to buy the replacement part online and do it myself.

I can afford a new TV but I'd really rather wait another few years for 4K to go more mainstream... I'm a little annoyed since this is after I finally forked out for the genuine Mitsu lamp because all the after-market ones developed an annoying flicker/pulsing after 3-4 months of use.

You can get the chip at ShopJimmy. They also have installation videos. The DMD board is mounted in a metal frame and is held in place by 6 or 7 small screws -- just like those that hold a PC motherboard to a motherboard tray. It helped me to take some masking tape and put it on the four sides of the board. You'll just need 3" strips and make sure they are taped real good to the metal frame. Take a thin sharpie and make a mark that goes across the "gap" from board to metal frame. Take an Exacto knife, or other precision knife, and cut the tape where the gaps are. This will give you alignment marks when you put the board back in. No way the alignment is going to be perfect but it being a little bit off is much easier to correct in the Service Menu. Access the service menu with the TV's remote by pressing -- MENU + 2457 + 0. The "0" brings up a menu. Use up/down and select/enter to choose the Manual Adjustment option. You should be able to adjust 16 points for keystone and then there are several options for 4:3 pillarbox.

The DMD chip has a glass cover and the mirrors aren't actually exposed. The haze builds up on the surface of the glass and can be wiped off with a microfiber cloth. I didn't have any on my DMD when I replaced it, so it might be due to something from the outside environment ( like cigarette smoke ) getting into the TV. Maybe a leak in the seal that is supposed to cover the DMD and board.

You might as well get ready to buy a lamp every year and a half or so. I have bought three already. which @ 156$ a pop is better than getting a new set every year.