Panasonic PT-50LC13 - How many hours on your bulb? - Page 7

I bought my 50LC13 on Jan 2004 from Circuit City with a 4 year warrenty. Something happened (still unknown) on Sept 2004, at which point, a tech came over to diagnose the problem. He swapped the lamp, then tried the ballast repair kit, and tried swapping the whole ballast when it did not work. All these took about 3 month, since each part had to be ordered separately. These so called manufacture autherized techs don't carry parts.... Also, Circuit City's customer service proved 100% incapable to actually serve their customers. They NEVER called back within 24 hours when they said they would, and when I called them back, the rep I'm talking to does not understand my situation because it is not logged on to a centralized system. Every call is back to square one. Anyways, replacing the ballast failed, I made Circuit City honor the no-lemon policy to get me a brand new set. That was Jan of 2005.

Last month, mid Feb 2006, my 2nd 50LC13 died again when my girlfriend was using it. She says she heard a "pop", so I'm guessing it's the lamp. I understand lamps have limited life, but let's do the math. We watch 3-4hrs of TV at MOST every day. That's about 1500 in a year, at most. From reading the posts here, how in the world can Panasonic claim 10,000 hours?

As much as I enjoy my 50LC13 (when it is working), I do not want to go through another 3 month cycle of parts swapping and waiting, not to mention leaving work early in the middle of workday to meet up with the service tech. Even if this new problem is indeed just a dead lamp, there is no way I can be comfortable with the thought of a part dying so soon. (1500hrs!?).

I'm currently in the process of yet another replacement with Circuit City. The sales manager is luckly very understanding of my situation, but again, even he is having some major issue with communication through the corporate office. I just don't understand why a sale manager of a store is actually having to stay on hold for 1 hour to talk to their own freak'in corporate customer service center.

I'd love to say I have 6000+, 3000+ or even 2000+ on my lamp. All I can say is I will never buy Panasonic again.

If I know I have to get the extended warranty on something these days, which is extremely rare (especially if I can't just buy it at Costco), the last place I will buy from is CC or BB. I've dealt with their horrible service departments many times before, many years ago.

As to the lamps, there are a few threads floating around that discuss the lamp issue at great length. Not only in the Panasonic sets, but all the lamp based sets. I haven't experienced one blowing yet, but fully expect it to happen. But, I was also very aware of the lamp replacement issue when I first purchased my set. I didn't want CRT RPTV & couldn't stand the claymation issues with the DLP's at that time, so it was down to the Sony LCD, Hitachi LCD & Panasonic LCD.

I know this won't help, but just to be clear, Panasonic states that their lamps can last up to a maximum of 10,000 hours. No manufacturer has any kind of explicit warranty stating a lamp will last X number of hours. I'm too lazy to pull up the threads, but do a search for all the various "bulb" and "lamp" problem threads.

my PT-60LC13 stopped working/wont turn on at just over 18 mo. ( which is the bulb/lamp warranty) after calling panasonic whose # was busy the first 10 tried till finally getting through at which point they had me look at the bulb and describe it and the guy told me what it would look like if it was done and it didn't seem like it. He thought it wasn't the bulb.

He gave me a name and number of local repair service and thats it. After reading some other posts it seems like it may be the ballast.

I turn on the set and the green light starts blinking like normal to turn on the set. The picture never comes on however and then light reverts to blinking red like it is shutting down and the Lamp led blinks every 5 sec. or so which is why i initially thought it was the lamp.

Either way it is going to cost something and I heard of ppl waiting 3 mo. for lamp and ballast part replacements. So in the meantime i got another tv to be delivered in a day. I think my best bet at this point is to try to sell it back to the local dealer I bought it from if they will even give me anything for it. But considering they initially sold me what was supposed to be a new 50lc13 but had something like 8,000 hrs on the lamp (called selling used goods as new and considered fraud) and other dirt I have them through the proceedings of that ordeal maybe they will do the right thing and buy back the set from for some reasonable price at which point they can get it fixed themselves and resell it as a refurbed tv or whatever they want.

I think I read it somewhere but I can't find it...

Can someone tell me how to reset the counter? I put the 2nd bulb in, and it did not reset automatically.

My 1st bulb only lasted 1700 hours, btw.

Thanks in advance,

It's in the service menu, although I don't know if it's the same one you pull up to get the bulb count, or the real service menu. I think there is probably a post in this thread about it.

just to follow up on my previous post. It was in fact the ballast that went. Just so everyone knows, supposedly they do not make this part anymore to replace but they do repair your existing ballast. Many techs will have to send it out to Panasonic to have it repaired but luckily my local panasonic authorized repair guy had both a new lamp which he tried first just to see if it might still be that and it wasn't and the ballast repair kit and knows how repair it.

He used a visor with magnifying lense on it and sodering and desodering tools and the ballast repair kit contains a few diodes and other small parts on the ballast that he basically replaces.

I have 1759 hrs on the lamp. So I guess I did ok so far but have heard that they really only last up to 2000 hours so I should expect that to go next but again luckily my local shop has them in stock but will have to see how much if it is worth getting instead of just a new tv. The ballast repair kit was only $30 but they charge $200 just to come out for the labor, so if the bulb is 200-300 that is not going to be worth it on top of the $200 for another visit.

Also, a quick question. What is the LON count on the service mode 1/3 screen that shows hours on the lamp? Mine says 766.

As far as resetting the lamp that is a good question and I will figure that out when i replace but it might be in one of these other menus.

To enter "Service Mode": With TV OFF, press and hold "VOLUME DOWN" on
the front of the TV AND "TV/VIDEO" key on the remote for 5 seconds or
more, TV will turn on in Service Mode.
(This is the mode we know about and where you see the hours on the lamp. below is 2 other modes which be where you can reset the lamp counter)

To enter "Work Mode": With TV ON, press and hold "VOLUME DOWN" on the
front of the TV AND "RECALL" key on the remote for 5 seconds or more, TV
will go into Work Mode.

Once in Work Mode, press and hold "VOLUME DOWN" on the front of the TV
AND "MOVE" key on the remote for 5 seconds or more, TV will go into
Factory Adjust Mode. This is the "money mode", where you can do lots of
things. The only thing I have been brave enough to mess with is horiz.
position, moved image to the left about 5 clicks.

Once in, "ACTION" key to select a menu item, "RECALL" key to return to
previous menu.

A new lamp will be somewhere between $250-300. Interesting news about them not supplying new ballasts.


That's the number of times you have powered on your set.

oh thats what the LON count is, ok. thanks.

yeah supposedly Panasonic doesn't make the ballast for the LC13 anymore and just repairs it. guess its the same for the 50 and 60lc13 not sure about the lc14. I guess once the ballast is unrepairable thats it your done. time for new tv.

I'll start with the ugly
I logged just over 1300 hours when my bulb bit the dust.

The bad
Panasonic states they will warranty the original bulb for 18 months from date of purchase (up from 90 days as stated in original warranty).

the good
After talking with my 3rd party extended warranty (purchses from Ultimate electronics), i learned that they received some sort of notification last October 05 from panasonic stating a defective part or recall on that bulb. they had me then work directly with panny as my warranty didn't cover bulbs.

After reading all the various threads about the way way below published life of these bulbs, and the terrible customer help form panny, i called them expecting to have to yell and scream to get something done.

to my surprise, they shipped me a new bulb (overnighted actually) within 5 minutes of calling.

when talking to the person, I was careful to reference all the talk on the forums about bulbs blowing way to early, and mentioned this 'recall' my warranty company received. the guy all but admitted they had some issues with original bulb. he told me it was because the bulbs may have been off center. anyway, i thought i would share this info that panasonic is handling it case by case, and they will send you a new bulb (which they warranty for a year), even if your outside the 18 months. If this next one blows after a year is up, I will just start demanding a tech to come out and tear the thing apart as it's something other than the bulb that's causing this.

hm, well I've been meaning to call them to follow up the ballast repair I had done but the actualy ballast repair kit was only $30 and the labor charge just for the guy to come out was $200 but in this case he did actually do some work but its that much just for them to come even change the bulb which hopefully I can do myself when it happens.

I wonder If I should just call Panny myself and get them to send me a bulb ahead of time because I'm sure its going to go any day now as its over 1700 hours and i thought 2000 was like the high end to expect.

Last time I called though they wanted to see my receipt and I couldn't find it anywhere. Being that my receipt will show the 50" I originally bought and not the 60" the retailer exchanged it for to me for free since they got caught selling a used unit with something like over 800 hrs on it as new which was fraud.

So do you think panny can send me a replacement bulb ahead of time before it goes based on the serial # of my 60lc13 i i give them and # of hours on my bulb? Last time I called they said I was past the 18mo warranty and that was it.

That's not going to happen. You have to send them back the bad lamp. Otherwise, everyone & their brother would call and just ask for a new lamp whenever they wanted to.

Did you happen to get his full name? I've spoken to Panny support many times, and each time ended up with a different rep. It would be nice to call one who is easy to deal with, as far as replacement lamps go.

Is picture quality of a high level or just so so. My bulb never blew but pic quality was poor before I replaced it.

You should change your handle to LuckySOB. Hope this is things to look forward to our replacement bulbs doing the same as your original. Maybe if you buy a new snowblower you won't have snow for 3 years also. Thanks for sharing

how did you get a new bulb without sending in old one?

I'm worried mine could go any day and about the down time in getting a new one so I was hoping to have a new one ready. Also I'm worried about having to deal with Panny in getting a new bulb free via extended warranty they inititated as i'm past 18mo.

so when it goes I have to call them and see if they will honor that extended lamp warranty? what are the terms of that? then i have to send them my dead bulb before they will send me a new one.

sounds like it will be easier to just have local repairman who has them in stock come out except they charge $200 just to come out and then for the lamp as well which is what another 200 or more? already had them come out to repair the ballast. the ballast repair kit was only $30 but $200 just to come do it which wa at least a little more worth it since it was more invovled.

never got a chance to deal with panny on that and figured it wasn't worth it as the most they'd reimburse is the $30 part being the ballast repair kit.

maybe for the bulb i can just pick it up at local authorized repair shop and do it myself saving the $200 visit.

Help. I've got a 2.5 year old Panny PT-50LC13 and I'm experiencing what appears to be the infamous ballast issue. The set will not turn on and the lamp light blinks red every 5 seconds. I've checked the lamp and it does not appear to be burnt out. Research on this forum and others appears to point to the ballast.

The set is out of warranty, so I'm trying to figure out what to do. Has anyone had any exprience replacing this on their own? I've got the back of the TV off and can see the power supply, but am not sure exactly what I'm looking for. Can anyone point me to what the ballast looks like exactly (photo would be wonderful). Is this something I can replace myself as a service part from Panasonic? I've also read that some have fixed this issue by just replacing a simple fuse. Again, I"m not sure where this fuse might be and how I can tell if its blown.

Any help is greatly appreciated!
Dave Z.

I'm not sure Panasonic will sell this part to a consumer. All you can do is give them a call and see what they say. I'm betting that the only parts available to us would be the lamp & remote.

Maybe we need to look at other explanations as to the longevity of your lamp. Are there any daily rituals you perform? What about your thermostat setting, humidity levels, etc? 10k+ is pretty amazing.

Checking in again... it's good to see that some are doing very well on bulb life, but disturbing to see others having problems.

On my set, purchased Sep 2003 --

Lamp Operation Time: 7282
LON Count: 1434

Still on the original bulb, with no picture degradation that my eyes can discern.

I had this problem on my 60-lc13 and after seeing what repair man did I wouldn't suggest doing it on your own. He used a magnifying visor and sodering and desodering tools and it was many little diodes and fuses on a small mother board looking thing which supposedly is the ballast.

I dont think even he knew exactly which diodes went dead/bad but there is a standard ballast repair kit which only costs about $30 and includes replacments of all the neccesary parts so basically I guess he just does them all which is good so another one doesnt' go later.

I called panasonic, they gave me closest local panny authorized repair shop and then set up appt. my local guy has bulbs on hand and ballast repair kit. Charge $200 just to come out and do the labor though even it was bulb change, while still not worth 200 at least what he did was more time consuming and expertise needed to do so yeah. But for the bulb I will try to get it myself and change myself when that goes.

the repair guy did say not all techs now how to repair the ballast and most just send it to panny to have it repairsd which obviously could be some to get it back and in and he said that Panansonic no longer makes the ballast for these tvs so it can only be repaired not replaced.

hope this helps.

I didn't know this thread was still active so i'll update my statistics, and it was a floor model when I bought it.
Aug. 13, 2004

LAMP OPERATION TIME
TOTAL : 10619h
CURRENT LAMP: 10619h
OSD DISPLAY : ON
LON COUNT : 1950
Still on the original blub

Found this thread after reaching the frustration point with the PT-50. Purchased mine in 2/04 and just replaced my second bulb. Here are my numbers:

Total: 2818
current: 1999
OSD: ON
LON: 766

This means my first bulb lasted 819 hours, replaced 9/04, and my current one went out at 1999. Soooo, I am done with this POS, If a bulb fails within a year, I'll let Panasonic replace it under the bulb warranty, but as a year from now approaches, the set will be replaced.

Mike

Being on my first bulb at 27 months and counting, I consider myself one of the lucky ones. But now it sounds like some may be luckier if they've had 3 or more burnouts. I gather you've all seen the Panasonic Class Action Lawsuit Settlement threads? [oops, can't insert URL until 5 posts!] Just received my letter yesterday.

Anyway, as of 1+ months ago:
TOTAL : 3082h
LON COUNT : 1286

Probably 3300 hrs now and still on the original bulb.

I'd like to know that thread about the law suit, because when I Google it I just see rumors about it. Can someone post the official site? Thanks.

www.tvlampsettlement.com

4572 hours after 19 months with LON of 1337. No problems yet.