Sony GWIII Owners thread - Page 119

has anyone got anywhere with that class action lawsuit that was filed against Sony a few years back? The lawsuit was about the constant problems that the rear projection LCD TVs from Sony where having? I found the link in thei tread I think or one similiar and filled it out. I know it was a while ago but I just wanted to know if anyone has got anywhere with it/

I already tried for the purple and yellow splotches on mine, I even got as far as them giving me a complaint number and told me to contact the local offical sony repair guy, he told me for my model the only thing they did to extend the warranty for mine until 12/31/08 if you get some severe sony blue dot symptoms like on the sony page for the problem. He said my problem is not covered and said it is probably dust, if he were to come out and check it, it will cost me $150.00 that sony does not pay upfront and if its not the problem they extended the warranty for, sony would not pay the $150.00, so I cancelled him and started reading in forums.

heres what covers ours:

http://esupport.sony.com/perl/news-i...mdl=KDF50WE655

forgot this link read it

http://splinke.googlepages.com/sonyr...v-opticalblock

After reading the warranty stuff go down in the page and look for "Self-repair" then click on changing/cleaning the optical block he has some pictures. Also at the bottom of this first page there are pictures of his optical block and he shows you how hot the bulb gets and what it does to the plastic on the tv

Make sure you don't have the back of the TV too close to the wall when the guy gets there. He'll certainly use that as an excuse for the overheating since it would interfere with the exhaust fan's air flow. Good Luck!

I've searched this thread up and down, but can't find what I'm looking for.

I'm trying to find out if there is any way to identify on screen what resolution is being fed to the tv.

Thanks,

One more thing:

After around 10 minutes of the tv being on, there is a sharp, instantaneous drop in brightness.

I have not found any posts in this thread that indicate the same behaviour.

Does this sound like the makings of bulb failure?

I have around 7500 hours since June 2005.

Thanks,

Can't say for sure, but that is around the number of hours that these bulbs tend to start dying.

That's what I thought, but no one stated they experienced the same problem.

I have a tech coming tonight.

BTW: my in-laws replaced their lamp last month having almost 13,000 hours (but with less power cycles most likely)

I will try this post here, copied and pasted from a email i sent:

Here is my story, I have had my Sony Grand Wega for ~3.5 years now, I have moved it cross states, multiple times without any trouble and loved every moment of owning this TV. I did have a problem with it after my first move were the power supply had been a problem, this was fixed under warranty. Now what has happened is, I was watching TV last night and I heard a pop and then the TV screen went black, but the power light was still green. I turned off the TV and then turned it back on, at this point I heard a noise like something was moving or powering on, then off, then on, then the TV would blink red (not the lamp light). After unplugging the TV and plugging it back in then trying the power button the lamp light comes on, at this point I was quiet certain my bulb had expired its 4 year life cycle, so I went looking online for new bulb prices. I found a few sites to buy from but wanted to make sure I could open it and replace it before I ordered it. I found instructions to install the bulb and went about removing the old one, what I found when I did was shocking.

The bulb housing was melted, the tracks it slides in and out on was melted and the filament was destroyed. Here is some pictures and I will explain what I saw and my concern in each one (these are large pictures (7mega pixel)

http://www.bravuranetworks.com/images/tv/DSC05231.JPG
This is a picture of the bulb itself (still in the housing) as you can see the filament has busted and is floating around in the bulb, not too concerned with this as I was expecting to buy a new bulb, but wait till you see what's next

http://www.bravuranetworks.com/images/tv/DSC05230.JPG
This is a picture of the bulb housing, as you can see it has cracked from the heat, I am now planning on ordering a new bulb with housing as a replacement for this one, assuming in your opinion (after seeing these pictures) a bulb would fix the problem.

http://www.bravuranetworks.com/images/tv/DSC05228.JPG
In this picture there is a few concerns, number one is the track on the right that the bulb housing slides on has been warped and melted, I can still slide the bulb in an out though, another is the glass square in the back, the lower right hand corner does not have glass (nor the lower left) I do not know if it broke or was not supposed to have glass. Either way as you can see my the picture, the glass in the back is dirty with white burn marks from the heat and there is other obvious burn marks inside. Would a new bulb at this point be worth it? Here is some other pictures of that area:

http://www.bravuranetworks.com/images/tv/DSC05227.JPG
http://www.bravuranetworks.com/images/tv/DSC05226.JPG

If you have read through this much of the email thank you very much, I don't know who else to turn to right now as your site seemed to have the most information on these tv's I thought you could help. Any input would be great, at this point my main concern is spend ~$150 bucks for a bulb or throw it away and go for a new TV? Your opinion would be greatly appreciated.

now have about 3 blue dots and one green one. is this the dust problem instead of the blue blob problem?

BOTTLEDZ28,

I have pictures of my KDF-55WF655 on my Sony Optical Block Problems web site (see link in my signature). The class action lawsuit is in the process of being settled, but it only covers SXRD models.

dallan,

It may depend on your specific model of TV (you did not state which one you have), but you should be able to check the current incoming resolution by just hitting the "Display" button on your remote. The resolution and aspect ratio of the incoming signal should be displayed in the lower-right corner of the information that comes up on the screen.

tipoo,

If the blue dots are bright, pixel-like dots, they tend to appear as the blue blob issue gets progressively worse. See these pictures on the Sony support site. The blue blob/dot problem should be covered by Sony.

I had a problem with the blue stars on my KF-60WE610 (originally purchaced in Nov 2003) and had the optical block replaced under the additional service coverage warranty yesterday. I reproted the problem to Sony two weeks ago and they provided phone numbers for local repair tech in my area. I called the tech and faxed over my original receipt and he sent it in to Sony to get authorization (took about a week). It took him about 30 minutes to install the new optical block.

-James

Just adding my kudos to Sony for standing behind the blue blob and stars problem. Local Sony fixits changed out the optical block on my KF-50WE610 today under the Sony extension of the warranty. Took a bit longer than previous poster, but who's counting.

ok, now there is a bigger problem than the blue dots on my screen. when i turn it on, it just turns bright white, nothing else displayed. sound still comes through. any ideas on this one?

I am considering buying a used KF-60WE610 from someone who has said the set has never had a problem. However, reading this thread has made me extremely gun shy what with all these problems with defective bulbs, optical blocks, green blobs, melting plastic, etc., etc.

The set I'm considering has a Jan 2004 or Feb 2004 (I forget which) build date.

Would buying this set be imprudent? I don't want to end of with an expensive $1000 door stop. I'm thinking maybe I'd be better off spending more and getting a new set with a better history.

Any advice.

Thanks.

Yes, buy a new set and be sure to get the extended warranty.

I love my TV, but I'd agree: get a new TV with a warranty and piece of mind. My TV has been trouble-free since I had my bulb replaced under warranty (October 2003 build). Still, with the advances and price reductions in plasma / LCD TVs, it doesn't make much sense to buy a used LCD projection unless you can get the 60" at 500-700. 46" LCDs at Costco are running around $1000 and I expect that to drop even more.

G/L on your purchase decision.

I own the 50 inch version of this set. I would not buy it for even 100.00.

If you want to know why or have any other questions, PM me.

I have what I think is a different issue. This is an intermittent problem on my KF60WE610. Sometimes (1 out of 10 times) when I turn the TV off, the faint illumination which usually turns off after a few seconds stays on for good. The red light is on, and it looks like it is turned off. However, in a dark room, you can see the faint background light. When it is in this state, if I try to turn it on, the green light blinks without stopping, and there is no picture whatsoever. I can turn the TV off again, but it stays in the same state. The only solution is to unplug the unit. After a moment, I can re-plug it back in and then it will turn back on normally. After a few more cycles of watching, I will run into the same problem.

I have had the TV since November 2003 (with a 5-year warranty) and was one of the lucky ones -- my original bulb survived until last year when I replaced the lamp housing with a new bulb.

I think I have the slightest green blob issue emerging, but it is not noticeable except in very dark scenes.

Anyway, does anyone have an idea of what may be going on with my set?

Thanks in advance.

Nick

I had the same problem with the back light. They came out and replaced the light engine but I still had the problem. They then replaced another major part but I don't remember the name of it. It was another expensive part, I understood it to be a main computer part. (This all started happening as the warranty expired of course). Fortunately since the second part was replaced it has worked fine. I've searched all over the house for the slip they left so that I could tell you the part.... I will say that Magnolia Hi Fi rocks in regards to standing by their extended warranty.

Don't know if any one can help but I got tired of searching.
Just had my OB replaced under warranty and the picture looks great except...
On my black/dark screen I get a dark blue with some large patches of dark green. I only notice this on a completely dark screen but it must mess with the overall colors. I'm I nitpicking or is this something, oh yeah my warranty still has a few months.
Thanks

Bump

What you describe sounds like light scatter within the dark reached of the box. Could be dust buildup. You will probably have to demonstrate that it affects the picture to get them to do anything. Cleaning the inside is probably not covered by the warranty.

Thanks for the reply.
I did have it professionally cleaned a few months ago.
It looks like my black screen is blue and green. I'm getting some green spots now. It looks as if they replaced a blue problem OB with a green problem OB. I have to see what they say.

The replacement OBs they use are likely refurbs of various quality. I'd get them back out there. I've seen colors on a pure white screen but not on a black screen. When my TV was new the screen had an overall redish tint (for a few seconds) when I turned it off.

After four-and-a-half years of trouble-free performance -- not even an expired bulb -- I turned on my KF50-WE610 tonight and had what can best be described as a snowy blue screen on start-up and then some sort of psychdelic effects in the picture from all sources. Best way I can describe it is that it looked like a color film negative. Anyway, I unplugged the set for a minute and when I plubbed it back in and turned on the set again everything was fine.
What was that about??

Hey guys, I myself have bought the KF-60WE610 back in April of 04 and had to replace the bulb about 6 months ago. My replacement bulb just blew out yesterday. The darn thing didnt even last 6 months. Of course my extended warranty is finished and the phillips bulb is going to run me around 200 bucks. I called sony because I heard of this new "warped lamp door fix" that they are offering so I decided to call them. I guess they have people in India answering the phones during certain times but they hardly helped me out. My lamp door is also melted, and the wires that connect to the bulb are charred. Im pretty sure Sony will cover the charges, but they refered me to my local technician. I did tell them that I have a fire hazard on my hands and that I want somoene to come to my house and look at it. There should be no reason why the area around the bulb is brown and melted. Looks like someone took a lighter and decided to burn it. Now I have to deal with some technician who is supposably an "authorized service tech". The last thing I need is for him to charge me 150 bucks just to look at the thing when I know for sure that there is a problem.

I'll keep you guys posted on what happens.

Splinke, I have visited the website in your signature and have read several of your responses. Can you answer of a question of mine?

I have a Grand Wega as well. My model is KF-50WE610 and I have recently begun to experience the OB symptoms outlined here and your website.

Since my model is a 2003 and we have passed the June 30, 2008 deadline. Do I have any recourse available or am I totally out of luck?

Hey All,

Fot those in the U.S. I hope that you are enjoying your Labor Day holiday, and are safe from the perils of Gustov.

I know that I should use a search - but at this point my patience is running short. Here' the history

Set is going on 5 years old - and THANKFULLY, I got a 5 year maintenence plan with Sears. I'm not real electronically inclines to do the work myself, and have 2 left thumbs. So - the bulb has already been replaced twice, and the ballast (or engine?) once.

Saturday night starts with the dreaded buzzing, and then the red blinking lights start. $%^#. After about 4 tries (not in a row), I got the buzzing, but it came on. Cool!

Last night - I get home from work - same thing. I call Sears, thinking that it's the buld. They said that they can ship me the buld, and the service guy would be here on the 18th. I guess the way he was talking that I should be happy it was the 18th of September.

Anyway - I turn it on this morning - and it starts up - no buzzing, no problems.

If I have to wait until the 18th for Sears (obviously has more work than the Maytag Repairman :-)) I want o be sure that it's fixed, and that I have any parts that might be needed on-hand.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks all!

faceoff

We have a kdf-55wf655 for about 3 years now. Starting today, it has started to show a strange problem. After about a minute of turning it on, the tv would turn itself OFF... and then a minute later ON again ... and so on. Has anybody else experienced this?

Could this issue of turning itself off and on repeatedly almost every minute be because of the bulb?