Official Sony XBR2 (60" & 70") Owner's Thread - Page 397

I just emailed them, they will tell you to fill out the shipping form on the website and send it in. SRXD Repair 299 is on the main page, but like you i could never find a sku.

Have a quick question. I've owned my kf60xbr800 since they first came out and have had zero issues. Now I'm getting the following: will not start and service light blinks 6 times. (However, after several tries the set finally does come on. Picture still looks bright, BTW). So, who can tell me what's up.

Thanks

Hey guys, read a lot here and good information but wondering about extended warranties if we decided to pick up one o the XBR units. Sony's warranties are kind of expensive, any other good companies? My concern is if you get it for 50% of MSRP the warranty company wont cover or pay what they should if something happens right, only that 50% price you paid? Thanks for any advice!!

Not seeing el.warranty.com as a real website, can you give more advice on this? Sounded like you had similar concerns to me with Sony warranties, did this company offer replacement?

Edit - NM figured it out, electronicwarranty.com - has good reviews from what I can see and pricing seems good as well. Basically someone mentioned you buy $5000 warranty and make sure to screen grab the purchase price, etc from the Sony website should you have issues and need to collect.
Edited by ciner - 11/5/12 at 4:17pm

Hello, I own a KDSR70XBR2 that has finally turned green. I received a quote from a local repair guy of $1800. When I told him I could get the optical block from Tristate for $341, he told be to stay away from Tristate as he has had problems with their quality in the past. My local A/V store referred me to this guy and told me he is the one to go to regarding these TV's. He is getting the optical block from Sony, and he told me that he thinks Sony has fixed the previous problem with these parts. Does this mean that an optical block purchased from Sony has glass filters? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Ciner

There are different risks with each warranty company, including through Sony. The advantage with Sony is you'll get a Sony offered if a replacement is the scenario. Other warranty companies will try to replace with DLP (think low cost Mitsu) if they can. Either way, most/all limit the upper limit on value less repairs relative to price paid. On my XBR- 65HX929, I went with Electronic Warranty for various reasons. On my 70XBR2, I had to work the warranty company, which was the same one Sony uses if you look into it and it's that company's contract terms & conditions that apply. So, there's more to it than if a warranty offers replacement...it's also how they determine the value to base a replacement offer and also documenting with them other offers they've made for replacing the same model & size. You actually need to read any warranty's 2-3 page contract prior to buying it. And on your comment, yes grab all the info. including screen shots to protect yourself on MSRP, price paid, etc.

Hope that helps. If not, get back to me!

ChuckBuster

Hi Wensink18,

Sony has never fixed the OB problem. For years, repair experts have told customers Sony fixed it. It's not that most are trying to mislead you, it's just they don't see enough of the exact same set or they just don't know like we do from seeing customer experiences on AVS Forum. Heck, I had 2 back-to-back replacement OB's from Sony on my 70XBR2 in January 2012 that were defective out of the box. You might get better luck on a remanufactured OB from other sources (e.g., Tristate - except I think this is what Sony uses ... or John Breton in CT), but it's still a roulette bet.

On a related note, see if you can find a better repair cost than $1,800. You now know the parts cost. The labor only takes 1-1.5 hours, but should be 30 minutes if the tech has done a few.

Let me know if you still have questions. When the XBR2 is working, it is still one of the best HD sets out there.

I have not got the OB back from Tristate yet, but I will post all the gory details as soon as I have it. They say there is a 6 month warranty and the forum is not loaded with "tristate sucks" posts (Edit Dec 19th, my experience with them has not gone so well to date) so I'm still quite hopeful. Reading your post thinking about the other repair guy, it sounds like a hard sell for an $1800 optical block, I would ask at that price if there is a 6 year parts and labour warranty from Sony. I have to say as nice as these TV's look when they are working properly there is no way I would ever spend that much cash on a repair. It's just not worth it, I would find a nice 70 inch flat panel with 3 years warranty instead.
Edited by jrock99 - 12/19/12 at 8:35pm

For $1800 just pick up a new flat screen set.

Parts and labor really should be $300-400, not $1800; and any fix is temporary because ultimately the issue is a hardware design problem. The blue organic dye goes bad from the UV light and heat, and it'll happen at some point again. It's worthless to throw that much cash at something that is a temporary fix at best. Hell, the procedure would a relatively easy DIY if you didn't need to dial in the convergence of the OB.

To all who responded, thank you very much. All of your input is greatly appreciated. Thanks again.

Hello, would it make sense in your opinion to purchase an OB from Tristate, pay a local repair guy to swap it out, and then send the bad one to John Breton and have him rebuild it, which woiuld then leave me with a spare OB?

Wensink18, I believe the price for an OB from Tristate without sending them your bad one is usually prohibitive...but, I don't profess total wisdom on this without checking my files. John Breton might be your better option as he's more likely to do a better job than Tristate...you'd want to search through this forum to verify that though.


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Hello, would it make sense in your opinion to purchase an OB from Tristate, pay a local repair guy to swap it out, and then send the bad one to John Breton and have him rebuild it, which woiuld then leave me with a spare OB?

called tri state they do not have any OBs in stock hoping to get one asap

Thanks DieselDan

Well I got my rebuilt block and it's not good news, it's got me seeing red. It has a blue blob and blue streak in it as well, so I'm pulling it and sending it back. We will see how round 2 goes, one thing I did notice is that this is not my originial block repaired, which makes sense why Tristate could turn it around so quick.


Edited by jrock99 - 11/16/12 at 8:17pm

does anyone know if sony is still dishing offers for the xbr2s? i had found a pretty good website before that outlines which models were still included (seemed current), and what the common offers were, but i can' t seem to find it.

Hi Bull,

Thanks for the awesome write up. I just had my OB repaired by Tristate and put my tv back together. Everything looks amazing but the picture is not centered verticaly (there is a thin black lIne on top as if the picture is too low). I followed your steps to adjust it in the service panel but once I got to adjustment 30 the picture no longer moved up and the picture is still too low by about 1/2 inch. As a result Im thinking this is a physical issue with the OB being off? Does that sound right? I wanted to be sure before I went through the pita of taking it all apart again. Any assistance would be appreciated.

Stealthmidget

Sorry, to hear about your misfortune. Unfortunately, I've passed on all of my knowledge in the previous posts and don't have any definitive help for you on your particular issue (it does seem weird though). Before doing the tear-down, I would suggest calling TriState - I've called in the past and the tech was helpful.

Maybe someone else can chime in here?

Good Luck!
Keep us updated.

I had an OB replaced 2yrs ago, and had an issue with the picture fitting the screen correctly. After a couple of visits/attempts to correct, the service tech advised another OB was required. He replaced, and all was well until 2 months ago when the green issue appeared.

See the link in my signature for extensive information on optical block problems. See the Optical Block Removal/Rebuilding page for details on rebuilds. I don't check the AVSForum threads like I used to.

If your picture is too low, this is sometimes caused by incomplete tightening of the screws that attach the optical block to the TV chassis. Is it tight, or does it rock up and down a little if you push up on the back? Of course, do not overtighten or cross-thread. There is also a wedge-shaped device with some screws on the back of some models that apparently can be used to adjust the angle.

John Breton often has a backlog of work, but I think he does good work and stands behind the quality. I had my 3LCD-based optical block rebuilt by him a few years ago (after two previous failures). It lasted about twice the number of hours as the original Sony optical blocks but recently failed. He now thinks he has some parts that are likely to last a bit longer than the ones he was using a few years ago, so I am having him rebuild it one more time (I shipped it to him a few weeks ago).

Meanwhile, I have moved to a non-Sony LCD flat panel and will use the Sony rear-projection as my second TV, so it should accumulate hours much more slowly.

Hi Bull,

Thanks for the awesome write up. I just had my OB repaired by Tristate and put my tv back together. Everything looks amazing but the picture is not centered verticaly (there is a thin black lIne on top as if the picture is too low). I followed your steps to adjust it in the service panel but once I got to adjustment 30 the picture no longer moved up and the picture is still too low by about 1/2 inch. As a result Im thinking this is a physical issue with the OB being off? Does that sound right? I wanted to be sure before I went through the pita of taking it all apart again. Any assistance would be appreciated.





Reply

When you say "adjust in the service panel", did you mean the front physical panel below the screen? If not, fyi that there are screws to adjust vertical and horizontal alignment. It is in the service manual with a picture of it. The last OB installed in mine (3rd OB) was tilted and needed this adjustment (vs. reinstalling the OB).

Based on what Stealthmidget wrote and based on what I wrote in my instructions, I assume he meant the Service Menu adjustments.
I had initially attempted to make adjustments via the front panel - however I saw no differences with any change and therefore never mentioned anything regarding its use. YMMV.

Tri-State sent me the OB for $341. I then had a guy install it for $125. Total of $466 for what is probably the best HD 1080p tv ever made. I still to this day get people telling me that they have NEVER seen a picture that sharp or clear. The guy who installed it said it should last probably 3-4 years depending on "heat".

Pay the $341, pay a guy to install it, you cannot find a tv with that picture for that $$.

Now, I have the old OB, and from what I understand the other two lenses are good and those are used for the OB repair. So, anyone have any advice what I can do with this old ob?

When you bought the rebuilt one from Tristate, didn't they have some kind of 'core charge' on the bill for $341, meaning that you get $50 or so back when you return the old one to them?

If not just ask them if they want to buy it.

Is it a 60" or 70" OB. If anyone has a 70", I would be interested in it.

Hello, I was wondering if anyone had a recommendation for a trust worthy website I could purchase a projector lamp for my green blob tv, I mean KDS-60XBR2. I found Sony sells them for a whopping $299! I've found other websites, but don't know who to trust! I'm looking for the XL-5300 OEM with housing. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

There's a good page of recent posts here on lamps: http://www.avsforum.com/t/584936/official-2005-sony-kdsr-50-60xbr1-sxrd-owners-thread/23850#post_22548077

I have 3 new in box - Sony Box - XL-5300 I purchased several years ago that I don't see myself ever using that I would part with for less than that!

i too have a new in the box xl-5300 that i'd sell for a lot cheaper.