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Shadow on left of Samsung DLP screen - Page 3

post #61 of 2602
1/5/07 at 4:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mgreen200 View Post

How long was your LE on order before the tech came back and put it in?

That is a good question. You read my mind, as I was going to ask the same thing.

Also, was your LE on backorder as mine is?
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post #62 of 2602
1/5/07 at 9:05pm
I called in for service on 12/8/06. Looking at the UPS sticker on the box, the service center received the LE 1/2/07 and installed it today 1/5/07. The 6768 LE is a BP96-001198D

Do you have any idea when you will get the light tunnel?
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post #63 of 2602
1/5/07 at 10:34pm
Thanks for the information.
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post #64 of 2602
1/6/07 at 6:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ccouper View Post

First off Sammy would generally only replace a TV when it cannot be fixed. This is almost impossible since most of the workings are in the light engine unit. There have been very few cases of people getting new TV's from SS. Generally when they have swapped every part in the TV and have not been able to resolve the problem, or in cases where they keep having to replace the same part over and over again.

If you did get a new TV it would not solve anything since the problem seems to be in many of the LE units. So you would just end up with the same problem later or would have just the same odds in getting it fixed with replacing the LE.

I would suspect that they have a huge backlog of LE's because they never expected this many to be returned at one time. They can only repair so many per month and clearly more are breaking than they expected.

I think we are going to have to wait this one out and see what materializes in terms of a fix for this problem. All of us thought we had a fix last summer, but now a number of us are seeing a return to the problem and we are seeing it show up in the HLS units too, because they are now reaching about the same use time that the HLR's did when they first had this problem early in 2006.

It seems that in my case a new unit would be beneficial for all involved. Samsung will have to contract with a repair shop to drive 200 miles one way and I really doubt that they will show up with the required part in hand. So we're looking at 800 miles at 44.5 cents/mile plus the techs time, plus the price of an entire LE because apparently the tunnel is not a replaceable part in the HLS. I would guess that this entire process is going to take 6-8 weeks. A new unit could be shipped to me in a week and would probably be cheaper in the long run.
I spoke with the only ASC in 200 miles and they said that under no circumstances would they travel all the way up here to work on the TV. The local shops have repaired these sets but will not work with Samsung on warranty issues. Too much paperwork and too slow to be reimbursed.
It seems that I may be hosed.
Here's hoping my shadow stays in the 3 inch range.
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post #65 of 2602
1/6/07 at 8:31am
So, is Samsung going to replace your set? Otherwise, perhaps you should try for a full refund. Also, is there anything in Samsung's warranty that exempts remote locations? I've been to Four Corners, and it's way the heck off the beaten path. And a beautiful place too.
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post #66 of 2602
1/6/07 at 8:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aztecian View Post

It seems that in my case a new unit would be beneficial for all involved. Samsung will have to contract with a repair shop to drive 200 miles one way and I really doubt that they will show up with the required part in hand. So we're looking at 800 miles at 44.5 cents/mile plus the techs time, plus the price of an entire LE because apparently the tunnel is not a replaceable part in the HLS. I would guess that this entire process is going to take 6-8 weeks. A new unit could be shipped to me in a week and would probably be cheaper in the long run.
I spoke with the only ASC in 200 miles and they said that under no circumstances would they travel all the way up here to work on the TV. The local shops have repaired these sets but will not work with Samsung on warranty issues. Too much paperwork and too slow to be reimbursed.
It seems that I may be hosed.
Here's hoping my shadow stays in the 3 inch range.

I understand your issue. I have a relative that is about 100 miles from nowhere and probably 300 miles from the closest repair facility in Phoenix. All the delivery companies got together and contract a private person to deliver packages I think once a week. When something breaks they have no choice but to load it into the pickup and take it to civilization where they may never see it again.

In your case it would make more sense for SS to drive a new unit out to you and swap it but they can order the LE and swap that just as easily. In fact the repair only takes 15 minutes and they could do that while you waited.

I am not sure what their warranty states about servicing a unit thats xx number of miles from a service center. Have you looked over the fine print?
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post #67 of 2602
1/6/07 at 1:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ccouper View Post

In your case it would make more sense for SS to drive a new unit out to you and swap it but they can order the LE and swap that just as easily. In fact the repair only takes 15 minutes and they could do that while you waited.

I'm all for that if SS can find an ASC that will drive out here. Under almost no circumstances should I have to load the set up and haul it all of the way to Albuquerqe. I might consider it if the repair shop promises to have the part on hand and SS agrees to pay my mileage. For some reason I kept the original shipping carton . The next closest ASC is in Monte Vista, Colorado, of all places! Monte Vista is a tiny town in the middle of the San Luis Valley.
I'm surpised that BB does not do Samsung Service. Farmington has a Best Buy.
Maybe we could use the BB as a drop off point for a new set?
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post #68 of 2602
1/6/07 at 1:13pm
I have just gone through the Samsung shadow problem. Here is my information:

Model: HLR-6168W
Purchased: 10/1/2006
Hours: 1360
Shadow appeared: 12/2/2006
Symptoms: 1" - 2" shadow on left side for 2 weeks
Shadow went away for a week, then about a 1/2" shadow came back
Light engine replaced after a 4 week wait time
Covered under 15 month warranty (12+3 months for online registration--whew!)

The service was ok. I waited quite a while for the LE, but my problem partially went away.

I'm very concerned that I will have this identical problem in another 1000-1500 hours and I will be stuck. Clearly this problem is due to a Samsung defect in design or manufacturing.

jpe
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post #69 of 2602
1/6/07 at 2:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Halco View Post

I called in for service on 12/8/06. Looking at the UPS sticker on the box, the service center received the LE 1/2/07 and installed it today 1/5/07. The 6768 LE is a BP96-001198D

Do you have any idea when you will get the light tunnel?

No they did not have an eta. I also have a service call in on my tv. I called about a month ago, and never heard anything from my local repair shop. They are a bunch of losers anyway and I would rather not have them touch my set again. Wish they would just send me the LE.
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post #70 of 2602
1/6/07 at 3:51pm
The LE they installed yesterday failed today! No shadow, but it flickers, freezes, half picture frames, streaks and other wierd stuff. All inputs are effected. I turned it off for a while. When I power up it works ok for a few minutes then craters. WTF!
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post #71 of 2602
1/6/07 at 4:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Halco View Post

The LE they installed yesterday failed today! No shadow, but it flickers, freezes, half picture frames, streaks and other wierd stuff. All inputs are effected. I turned it off for a while. When I power up it works ok for a few minutes then craters. WTF!

Didnt you keep your old light engine? I would swap out the light tunnel and lamp with the old one. Then put the bad crap back in tv. Call them back and have them put a new LE in your set and you will have a working spare LE! You could them donate it to me!
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post #72 of 2602
1/6/07 at 5:33pm
To interject perhaps.. Been pondering a Sammy, HL-S6767W, after reading this thread in my investigation of how whether to consider buying a Samsung, this has left a really big question mark as to whether to consider the brand all together.. I know that perhaps a response to my question is off-topic, but any thoughts you might want to share here in the thread or PM if you don't want to go off-topic would be appreciated..
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post #73 of 2602
1/6/07 at 7:11pm
Ok, I just got my Samsung HL-R6758w TV fixed. I called Samsung Service on 12/22/06 and today, 1/06/07, a repair man came over and replaced the old light engine with a new one.

Took him only around 15-20 minutes like everyone else said. Right after he finished, I asked him if the light engine he replaced was an upgraded version. He said he had no clue and expected samsung would give them a newer version, but really he doesn't know. When I asked him if the repairs came with an extra warranty on the new parts, he said no. After that, I figured he doesn't know anything and stopped asking questions. The repair man didn't give me a receipt on the spot oddly, but said the service center will mail me a receipt in a week. I hope so...

In the end, my 5 inch shadow is now gone and the picture looks sharp and much brighter than before. However, I don't know if this is the end of the shadow plague for my TV, and whats worst, my warranty is ending this upcoming month in February. I'm definitely going to get an extended warranty soon. I hope this helps.
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post #74 of 2602
1/6/07 at 7:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mgreen200 View Post

Didnt you keep your old light engine? I would swap out the light tunnel and lamp with the old one. Then put the bad crap back in tv. Call them back and have them put a new LE in your set and you will have a working spare LE! You could them donate it to me!

Yep I kept my old LE, which I boxed up an put away until we can get the light tunnels. I don't want to touch the set until after my warranty expires, then I'll have a replacement LE. In the meantime, Samsung needs to get this problem fixed. They probably are rushing through refurbishing LE's because of the shadow problems. My picture flashes, freezes, then half screen shows alternating left and right frames etc. All symptoms of a dmd board failure.
This a disappointing development since the picture was very close to my old calibrated settings.
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post #75 of 2602
1/7/07 at 5:52am
This thread is scaring the crap out of me. I just purchased my Sammy HLS 4676 about 3 weeks ago and now I'm going to be basically waiting for this to happen to me.

I say we need to put together a petition to send to Samsung to fix this issue. There is no way this is acceptable!!

There is strength in numbers and if people from this forum can organize such a thing they will HAVE to listen and correct it. Especially on this forum. With the amount of AV professionals that are on here this is not your average forum so I hope they will listen.

Anyone know how we could go about doing something about this?
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post #76 of 2602
1/7/07 at 6:45am
I was trying to decide beween the HL-S5087W a Sony 50 SXRD and a JVC 56FN97.
Narrowed it down to the last 2. Thanks guys!
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post #77 of 2602
1/7/07 at 7:16am
I have to agree with the previous post, I think this has changed my mind on what to purchase. I have a 10 year old Mits rear projection I have NEVER had a problem with. I'm not going to buy a Samsung just to HOPE I get a year or two out of it. I htink there is a reason the Samsung is cheaper then the rest fo them.. they save money on glue and use double sided tape! HA HA!
I really wanted to buy Sammy also, but not after this..

Thanks for your posts, I think I will go with the Sony or the Mitsubishi brand which has given TONS of people reliable products!

Smitty
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post #78 of 2602
1/7/07 at 7:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Smitty1705 View Post

I have to agree with the previous post, I think this has changed my mind on what to purchase. I have a 10 year old Mits rear projection I have NEVER had a problem with. I'm not going to buy a Samsung just to HOPE I get a year or two out of it. I htink there is a reason the Samsung is cheaper then the rest fo them.. they save money on glue and use double sided tape! HA HA!
I really wanted to buy Sammy also, but not after this..

Thanks for your posts, I think I will go with the Sony or the Mitsubishi brand which has given TONS of people reliable products!

Smitty

Smitty, buying a new hi tech display is a "crap shoot" no matter which brand you choose. All major brands have had their share of problems. My first "big screen" was a Hitachi 50" CRT RP that worked flawlessly for over 20 years! You will never see that kind of reliability again. It just so happens that on this forum you are going to hear mostly about failures etc. Samsung has a problem with LE light tunnel design. I am confident they will fix it eventually, and we don't really know exactly how many LE's have this problem.

Of all the different brands, I have heard that the Samsungs are the easiest to repair because there are only three major modules and can be fixed in your home in a half hour or so. To replace a Light engine in a Hitachi, for example takes an hour or so. An ISF calibrated Sammy produces one of the truest and best pictures of all. INMO.

There is no proof so far that any brand available today will be trouble free for more than 5 years or so. We just don't have their history yet. What ever you buy purchase the longest extended warranty you can afford!
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post #79 of 2602
1/7/07 at 10:44am
Today (Sunday 1/7/07) my wife turned on our Sammy HL-R6168W and all at once it started making a rattling noise and the picture image was flickering on and off. She brought me into the room and I thought....UH OH. This looks like an issue with the color wheel or the LE.

So I turned off the TV and waited a minute or two. Then after turning it back on, the lamp and everything fired up normally - EXCEPT that there was now a 1.25" shadow on the right side of the screen edge. It runs very slightly diagonal from about 1"-1.25" at the top right corner to almost non-existent at the bottom right corner.

Is this the start of the infamous shadow problem??

Was that rattle sound from a mirror in the light tunnel rubbing against something and coming loose or coming loose and then rubbing against something?

Or does this sound like another problem in the LE??

Also what would you suggest? Go ahead and place a call NOW to have it fixed (with the current backlog on LE's)???

I purchased my 6168 as part of a TVAuthority.com power-buy back in August of 2005. Of course the Sammy 1 year warranty ran out in Aug 2006. But I did buy it on a VISA card that extends the manufacturers warranty by an additional year. So I'm covered till Aug 2007.

Thanks!


Ron S.
Dallas, TX
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post #80 of 2602
1/7/07 at 11:09am
I bought my HL-S5087 back in May and it has been relatively problem free UNTIL last night. My wife and I were watching a DVD (which looked spectacular on our Sony upconversion player) and all of a sudden the infamous "shadow" appeared on the right side of the screen. It is exactly the same as Chris reported earlier, 2" on the top and narrowing down to about 1/2" on the bottom. It is distracting to say the least. Thankfully I have the initial warranty through Samsung, plus another 4 year EW through RepairMaster.

Can I expect it to grow? Should I contact Samsung immediately, or the online company (TVAuthority) that I purchased it from? I ask this because perhaps TVA could help me to get a new set in lieu of having the LE replaced. One more question: If they do replace the LE, does that include the bulb?

I agree with Nevermore1 that we need to band together in getting Samsung to correct this issue.

I also agree with Halco that one is taking a risk buying any HD set, no matter who the manufacturer is. And he is right in saying that an ISF calibrated Sammy produces the best picture of all sets on the market.
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post #81 of 2602
1/7/07 at 11:37am
ronshock,
I would try to get Samsung to repair it first. You will likely have to escalate the problem. I would mention that you have read how common this problem is. I also wouldn't mention that you are planning to go the credit card path. To my knowledge Samsung hasn't refused to repair a TV for this defect once the call was escalated. If someone has been refused free service, after escalating the problem, then I missed it.
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post #82 of 2602
1/7/07 at 12:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nevermore1 View Post

This thread is scaring the crap out of me. I just purchased my Sammy HLS 4676 about 3 weeks ago and now I'm going to be basically waiting for this to happen to me.

I say we need to put together a petition to send to Samsung to fix this issue. There is no way this is acceptable!!

There is strength in numbers and if people from this forum can organize such a thing they will HAVE to listen and correct it. Especially on this forum. With the amount of AV professionals that are on here this is not your average forum so I hope they will listen.

Anyone know how we could go about doing something about this?

I will be the first person to put my name on this petition.

Man I wished would have found this forum before I bought my HLS6187 7 months ago, because I certainly would not have purchased a Sammy. Besides a petition, we should send a copy of this whole thread as it looks like 3 people in the last day decided not to buy a Sammy, because of reading this thread alone. If we spread the news about Sammy's shadow problem to tons of people, Sammy will have to issue a recall, and fix this problem for good.

Does anyone know if there is a governmental agency that can make Sammy do a recall on this LE problem? I would think there is, and with as many people having this same LE problem as I am reading in this forum, they certainly should be willing to act upon it.
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post #83 of 2602
1/7/07 at 1:23pm
I have first hand seen 4 samsung 87 series fail the same way at fry's , all three sizes and the 65" twice, thank goodness I got the mits. It seems whomever
samsung contracted out their LE manufacturing to is the probllem. I remember when samsung product was top rated, now it seems they got to big and decided quantity /profit was more important than quality, what a shame.
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post #84 of 2602
1/7/07 at 2:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by djoberg View Post


Can I expect it to grow? Should I contact Samsung immediately, or the online company (TVAuthority) that I purchased it from? I ask this because perhaps TVA could help me to get a new set in lieu of having the LE replaced. One more question: If they do replace the LE, does that include the bulb?

Yes it will grow. Mine started from 1 inch and grown to 5 inches in roughly 2 months. You should contact Samsung as soon as possible instead of TVauthority. I also bought from tvauthority, but called Samsung service and they faxed the nearest authorized Samsung repair center. The repair center called me a few days later to set up an appointment and everything went through fine.

And yes, when they replace the LE, it includes a new bulb. The repair man took out a huge part which included all sorts of things like the dashboard, bulb, tunnel, LE, some kind of heatsink, and fan. However, some people had their LE backordered and recieved refurbished parts. So it may be different for some people, but in my case, things went smoothly. I just hope the shadow plague won't reoccur.
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post #85 of 2602
1/7/07 at 2:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wanger View Post

Yes it will grow. Mine started from 1 inch and grown to 5 inches in roughly 2 months. You should contact Samsung as soon as possible instead of TVauthority. I also bought from tvauthority, but called Samsung service and they faxed the nearest authorized Samsung repair center. The repair center called me a few days later to set up an appointment and everything went through fine.

And yes, when they replace the LE, it includes a new bulb. The repair man took out a huge part which included all sorts of things like the dashboard, bulb, tunnel, LE, some kind of heatsink, and fan. However, some people had their LE backordered and recieved refurbished parts. So it may be different for some people, but in my case, things went smoothly. I just hope the shadow plague won't reoccur.

Thanks for the info. I did contact Samsung earlier today and I talked to a very friendly Customer Service rep who took my model and serial number and is setting up a repair appointment for me. I am confident that this will be resolved in a timely fashion, but like you I hope the "shadow plague" won't reoccur. It is obvious that this problem has existed for quite some time (starting with the HL-R series and now rearing its ugly head in the HL-S series), so perhaps there needs to be pressure put on Samsung to fix this once and for all.
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post #86 of 2602
1/7/07 at 7:19pm
I purchased the HLS6187W in May 2006. I have researched and compared HDTV projections and have decided the Sammy had the best PQ. Everything has been running smooth until a few days ago the shadow appeared on the right side. started with 1 inch to now 5 inches in just a couple of weeks. I called Samsung services and now have a local tech guy coming to fix it. Hopefully this will take care of this!

I've been thinking on why this may have happened and came to the conclusion that maybe its the internal sound system. (I've been saving for a surround sound theater system) I cranked up the TV's sound the other night to almost 80 and to see how loud i could get it.... I definetly need a system! A couple days after the shadow appeared. I'm thinking maybe the internal speakers vibrated the light tunnel or light engine enough to cause this shadow. I'm curious to all the people having this issue are using the TV's sound system, or maybe this was just a coincidence. Either way I'm annoyed I have to deal with this! It would be great for samsung to recall and replace with a new TV with this issue resolved.
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post #87 of 2602
1/7/07 at 8:36pm
cjriv12,

I've been trying to make a connection with the appearance of the shadow as well, but to no avail. One minute our set was working perfectly, and the next minute the shadow appeared.

I doubt that the internal speaker system is the root of the problem, for many that are reporting this problem are owners of last year's series (the HL-R series) and they didn't have an internal speaker system. Thus the cause of this phenomenon lies elsewhere. One thing that baffles me is that in many cases it takes months (or more) to occur, which suggests that something may be wearing out. Again, I hope that with Samsung hearing about all of these occurrences, their engineers will set out to fix this problem once and for all.
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post #88 of 2602
1/7/07 at 8:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by djoberg View Post


I doubt that the internal speaker system is the root of the problem, for many that are reporting this problem are owners of last year's series (the HL-R series) and they didn't have an internal speaker system. Thus the cause of this phenomenon lies elsewhere.

While I too doubt that the shadow problem is being caused by the internal speakers, I wouldn't totally rule it out.

But the HLR series DO HAVE speakers in them. Mine is an HLR6168 and I use the TV's speakers quite often when I don't fire up my receiver and run the whole surround system.

I'm thinking it has to be an age/hours run thing. The LE evidently has some issue in it and just starts to go at some point in time. I don't know how many hours I have on mine so far, but it doesn't seem to me to be THAT many just since Aug 2005.


Ron S.
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post #89 of 2602
1/7/07 at 9:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by djoberg View Post

cjriv12,

I've been trying to make a connection with the appearance of the shadow as well, but to no avail. One minute our set was working perfectly, and the next minute the shadow appeared.

I doubt that the internal speaker system is the root of the problem, for many that are reporting this problem are owners of last year's series (the HL-R series) and they didn't have an internal speaker system. Thus the cause of this phenomenon lies elsewhere. One thing that baffles me is that in many cases it takes months (or more) to occur, which suggests that something may be wearing out. Again, I hope that with Samsung hearing about all of these occurrences, their engineers will set out to fix this problem once and for all.

Has heat been ruled out? That could definitely make the adhesive go soft.
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post #90 of 2602
1/7/07 at 9:18pm
How can you read this and still go by a Samsung?

Double sided tape and pressure only for the mirrors? Unreal.
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