Official JVC HD-xxFH97 HD-xxFN97 HD-xxFC97 Owners Thread - Page 219

I posted the above in 12/09. 2 more years have gone by, so time for another update.

1. Model: 56FH97
2. Date manufactured (on back of TV): Aug 2006
3. Length of ownership: 53 months
4. Total hours viewed: 3624
5. Average hours watched per week: 17
6. Bulb replacements: None
7. Ventilation: Sitting on a tabletop, so open air on all sides
8. Climate: 45 months desert (warm and dry). Last 8 months west coast (moderate temp and humidity).
9. Issues experienced (If any): No problems or repairs, but picture is noticeably more dim and dull than it used to be. Even though I only have 3600 hrs on the lamp, I plan on buying a new one to see if it improves the picture.

Figured I'd bump this thread...I started getting this on my set. I'm on my second bulb that was replaced in Nov. Its an amazon bulb so I'm guessing its an OEM like bulb. Before i go buy another bulb (this time an actual Philips unit), just want to see inputs if it is just another bulb going bad...



This is on a HD-61FN97, had it since mid 2007....

From the pic --- looks like a light engine failure. Lots of talk about it in this thread.

Yea I think when the bulb is going bad the picture just starts getting dimmer. I've replaced my bulb once in the 5 years since I've had the set and it's on for 5-6 hours a day. And it's an Osram bulb.

Question is, is it worth fixing? From what I've gathered so far, all XXFH97s uses the same light engine so I could use a light engine from a 56FN97? I found a couple of them for sale from Discount-Merchant.
http://www.discount-merchant.com/JVC...-p/1189211.htm

Just a matter of how tedious it would be to replace it...how many folks have done this themselves?

I haven't looked into this light engine yet, but as discussed in another( or this) thread about jvc dila's ,someone pointed out that this le description speaks of a color wheel, which these sets don't have, let me know what you find out if you look into it more.

I have no idea.... Never tried to order/replace one myself. I did have 4 different light engines (counting the original) put into my TV though. The last one was put in a few months out of warranty, JVC helped me out one last time since I had the damn thing replaced so many times.

I'm surprised yours lasted as long as it did.... though for the last LE that was put in, I got a new service tech company and that has lasted for several years now (unfortunately, now the power board is failing, lol... so I had to just buy a new TV).

It's a shame about the light engines... My 61FN97 from mid-2007 has a much nicer picture then my 2011 3D-DLP.... when the light engine is working, that is. Just wish they could have shored up that problem.

Well, I cant say it was 100% without issue. A year after having it, I just suddenly wont turn on. The lil orange light would blink (cant remember the sequence) but we had JVC service it. They had to make a couple service trip due to it recurring. Finally, decided to replace my TV guts with another so they can bring my components back to try to replicate the issue. Took them 3 months before they put my parts back into my TV. I'm pretty sure it wasnt the light engine, if I remember, it was more like the motherboard/cpu itself. The only thing that really saved my ass about this TV is that I was military stationed in Japan. The Base Exchange had an agreement with JVC that they would fix TVs bought from them no questions asked.

I guess 5 yrs with this TV is a good thing...Now I'm just iffy on paying over $2k for another big screen.

Fingers crossed...mine is still rocking along. (61FN97) Just cleaned out the bulb area, then removed the screen and cleaned the interior, mirror, lens and back of screen. (lots of dust and cat hair, SoCal in Hill country)

19,015 hours so far. On my 3rd bulb I think....

Cleaning is good, "Pop" is back!

Well, the dark spots getting bigger...so from what I've read on here, basically a burnt up filter that's delaminating inside the light engine.

So now the question is...what are people's recommendation for a replacement? Been a while since I looked up the whole Plasma vs LCD TVs. I'm slowly reading around here...

I was debating a Panny 65" plasma vs a Mits 73" DLP (2011 models). Ended up with the Mits, and I'm very happy with it. Had to fight like all hell to get a firmware update to fix an issue with it, but the problem has been solved and the TV is pretty awesome.

From what I know... Panny and Samsung both had auto-iris problems in the 2011 models, but Panny was the only one to fix it with a firmware update last time I looked... so if you go with plasma, Panny seems good.

I've never been a fan of LCDs in general, so I can't really comment on any of those.

Good luck with your TV hunting.

For me, anything over 47" needs to be Plasma. When mine dies, unless there is something better in the 60"+ class I'll be looking a Panasonic Plasma's...probably in the 65" size.

Wonder what is causing the burning of the filter? I'm coming up on 20K hours on mine, no issues outside of rapid dust build up cause this is SoCal with hills nearby.

I believe the death of these sets has to do with loss of power and an inadequacy in the cool down of the light engine@ shutdown.

Dust buildup is a big part of it. Dust builds up in the fans and degrades their performance.

Dust also builds up on the optics. When all that intense light goes through a perfectly clear and clean piece of optics it doesn't heat up much. When that piece of optics gets dirty, the dirt absorb heat and starts to cook the part.

The other damaging component is UV light from the lamp.

Well I can't imagine anyone getting more dust then I experience here, but I do have a EPS unit so mine always gets proper shut down even if we lose power. A must have for any set with a Bulb.

Well, I went out and got a replacement. Ended up picking up a Panasonic 55ST30. So now I'm debating if I should even mess around with the JVC and open up the light engine to see this damn filter. I remember kinda flipping thru one of the pages in here where somebody talked about how they fixed it themselves. I might just attempt it...if I screw it up, its getting tossed anyway.

But before that, anybody need parts off this set? Just in case I decide to toss it all together?

Good choice. I recently upgraded my main TV to a Panasonic 60ST30. My JVC is still working great, it has just been moved to another room. The plasma is definitely an upgrade in picture quality -- and an equally big downgrade in sound quality. These JVC TVs really have an excellent speaker system, essentially a built-in sound bar. Any flat panel TV will have horrible sound in comparison. JVC, you spoiled us.

My lamp timer warning has appeared now on my 56FH97 (original lamp). Am I at greater risk for developing the light engine failure "yellow blobs" problem if I replace the lamp? Looking at the pic posted above I think I might have a small yellowish tinged area in the extreme upper left corner, white backgrounds just seem dingy in that area of the screen from time to time

I have the JVC 56" FC97 since new.
1st year was great. Then light engine had to be replaced, then the motherboard- all under warranty. This set eats bulbs. I think I'm on my 7th or 8th now. They don't last long enough for the warning- they just pop. I've used Philips or Ostram bulbs only. Replaced the bulb in November 2011 & guess what? I need another bulb now! For several months now- the screen background has a blochy cloud-like look. Just dark clouds that show up w/ a light background in a random pattern- like clouds. No colors like green or yellows- just a dark grey look. Set is not as sharp as it used to be- just an overall dull look. Last year- one of the HDMI connectors (thank god there were 2 HDMI inputs!) died. Won't pass a signal.
I'm pretty sure I'm done with this set. Not very pleased with it at all.
I'm shopping for a new TV today.

The 'clouds' issue could just be dust, easily solved by opening one of the side ports of the tv and dusting off the lens.

But I here ya... its too bad these sets are so fragile. The image, when working as it should, is beautiful.

Wow that's a lot of lamps. I wouldn't be too pleased with that experience either. Do you know how many hours you have on the TV?

Be sure to check out the Panasonic plasmas in your search for a replacement.

We had it serviced & cleaned recently- clouds weren't dust.
Have no idea how many hours I have- how do you check that? Right now- it's 3 bulbs a year. Last service guy for the check & clean said bulb issue is probably power supply or board. We made it about a year before the 1st bulb popped. BTW- they all pop on this set- breaking the glass.

I'd love a plasma but the wife loves to freeze frame the DVR while she gets distracted w/ phone call, dinner or whatever. I'm worried about burn-in. We don't do video games BTW.

You can check the lamp hours in the service menu. The instructions are below. However, I think this value gets reset if/when you reset the lamp timer in the regular menus, so if you have done that, then I don't know of a way to see the total hours on the TV.

3 bulbs a year seems crazy. That's a lot of money right there. Sound like like you've got a couple of good reasons to retire that set and find a replacement. Sorry to hear about your bad experience. On the bright side, you get to upgrade.


--------------------------------
To check lamp hours:

1. Set switches at top of remote to "TV" and "VCR"
2. Press Sleep, it should show zero on screen
3. Press Display and Video Status simultaneously to display the service menu
4. Press 2 to select the Self Test submenu
5. The lamp hours will be displayed in hex on the lower left
6. Convert the hex value to decimal

Haven't checked in for a while. Hope I don't curse myself. I bought my 61FH97 in November of 2006. Original bulb still working, picture is still great. I did do a thorough cleaning (screen, mirror, lens, etc.) about two years ago. I bought a spare bulb about three years ago, and haven't needed it yet, although I suspect it might make a difference if I installed it. I had a UPS on it for the first five years (we get a lot of power outages), and that just died, so I need to get another one.

We probably watch it 20-25 hours per week, so if my math is correct, that's about 6000 - 7000 hours.

/crosses fingers.

I reset the timer when I changed bulb last time. So- no accurate hour count.

Well- now I've done it. Pulled the trigger on a Panasonic TCP55GT50 Plasma tonight w/ 4 yr warranty from Pauls. Delivering it tomorrow. Divorce papers coming soon.

Wish I'd seen this earlier. If you do end up having to toss it, I need a new front screen, mine has a small star (several cracks) for years now in the bottom most l/h corner (kids) and would be nice to replace it. Not a big deal though..it doesn't bug us we've gotten so used to it.

I recently purchased a 56fh97 used for $100. I took a chance on it after seeing it in operation. It was dim with a slight greenish tint. I assumed it just needed a new bulb. Great deal I thought. After getting it home I noticed how unbelievably filthy it was around the air vents. I decided to open the back and do some serious cleaning. I went all out and cleaned all the fans. With the the entire insides slid out I plugged it in and turned it on to see the fans operate. I then unplugged it and put it back together. Now when you turn it on you hear the fans turn on and the lamp starts up for about 5 seconds before shutting off. The power light and lamp light then start flashing alternately. The owners manual says that means a fan is not working but I've checked multiple times and they all work fine. Now i have a 56" paperweight. Any ideas?

First, search the internet for a Service Manual. Should be available free. The trouble indications in the Owner Manual are just for consumer-level users and the SM will give you further information on what to check for to resolve the indications.

Likely the fan indication means bad fans as well as temperature shutdown and maybe other problems. There are probably a couple of those, the SM will lead you to their locations.

It is possible to reconnect fans wrong, the typical three-pin connectors can be put in backwards with a bit more effort. Check them closely. There are at least three on that set.

If when the tv worked you saw violet and yellow cloudy areas, you may have the typical burned optical element problem. Search the Rear Projection Forum here for "JVC Optical Block Science" and "JVC Color Engine Melted". Different JVC models, but technology all the same. Solutions, or lack of, discussed there.

I've had a JVC HD-56FH97 for a little over 5 years now. I really like it, it's been great for me. I changed the lamp at about 3 years just because I felt it was time and I had a friend who worked for JVC who gave me a couple extra.

Today I came to a problem, tho. This is all my fault, but I could use some help fixing it. To start at the beginning, I never liked the fact that you had to scroll thru all the inputs to get to the HDMI input, I remember people here complained about that a while back too. So my friend got me a remote that had a button that took me directly to the HDMI input. One other difference between the stock remote and the one he gave me was that the one he gave me did not have a button to switch between digital and analog tuners. That never mattered to me because in all these years I just left it on digital tuner (I use an antenna for TV) and it never changed. Over time I lost the stock remote, I have no idea where it could be or if I still own it (I've moved twice since then).

This morning I decided to run the automatic channel scan just to see if there were any new channels, but when it was over it left the TV in analog tuner mode

So now I am stuck with the TV in analog tuner mode and no remote that could change it back to digital

Is there any other way to change it?

I saw a HD-70FH97 at the put and take area at my local landfill. It looked like it was in decent shape, so I borrowed a pickup truck, and got it home. First was the broken lamp. I found one relatively inexpensive, and got that installed. So that let's you know about my investment so far.

The picture came up, but it was dim and pink. It looked like all RGB colors were there, but not at the right levels. Adjusting tint, color levels, iris, and brightness didn't help. Resolution looked good with OTA television. However it was really not something I would want to watch. I didn't see much help searching for other people with a similar problem, so I found the service manual, and the JVC HD-xxFH97 Training Manual. Even though it says the light engine should be exchanged if there's problems with it, I opened it up to try to find the problem. Well, I found the problem. (Getting it back together again will be a later problem.)

Just before the DILA prisms is a rectangular piece of plastic about 1-1/8" X 1" with a big burn in it. My question is what that does that plastic do? The training manual shows the breakdown of the light engine's lenses and filters, but doesn't identify this one.
The sections without the burn are clear, it's not polarized, and it doesn't magnify.

I'm wondering if it's just a sacrificial piece of plexiglass to protect the prisms from heat.

Thanks for any help.

Edit: I originally searched this thread for pink and burn, but didn't find much. I see that on this page, posts 6542, 6550 and 6567 have this problem. It must also appear as green for some people. I thought you'd like to see what messes these things up.

Edited by pauldow - 8/19/12 at 6:16pm