I think I need a new ballast (Toshiba 52HM84)

It won't hurt the set to play it for the extended length of time, one thing for sure is that if the ballast is going bad then I would either leave the set off or not turn it off until I could put a ballast in it, you should always replace both of the parts at the same time, a defective ballast could possibly damage your new lamp. It would save you lot of money to do the work yourself, as long as the unit is out of warranty, otherwise you could void the warranty on the tv, if it is in warranty I would have a service tech to do it.

Glad your set is back up and running. I spoke with a Toshiba Service Center since my set is still under warranty and they are ordering a new light engine for me. I hope it works.

I also have a 2 year old 52HM84 TV. The lamp went out a couple of weeks ago, and I ordered a new lamp from Toshiba. The lamp arrived in 3 days later (which was a surprise). I installed the new lamp, and turned the TV back on. It started and I watched for 30 minutes. I shut off the TV, then a couple of hours later I switched it back on. The lamp did not start and I was back to flashing LEDs. What led you to think it was the ballast? Where did you buy the new ballast?

mirwin101's post was very helpful (as were others), so I wanted to add to it with the experience I just went through.

I also have a 52HM84 and after 28 months, had to replace the lamp. It went fine, cost was $156 from e-Bay.

Two months later, I turned on the power and was greeted with a loud buzzing noise, which lasted for 2-3 seconds, then the set cycled through a lamp re-initiation sequence. It tried to light the lamp 8 times, each time the buzzing returned and the lamp did not light.

My assumption, which turned out to be incorrect, was that the lamp failed again, so I shelled out another $156. Upon installation, no change in the symptom, so I came to the forums, found several references to the lamp not lighting, and one to a buzzing sound. I've had a little experience with florescent lights and ballasts, when a ballast goes bad, you can see the light trying to light, but it never gets there. So the conclusion was that we may have the same thing going on here.

I also obtained a service manual from ManualCenter, download for $15. It's interesting, but not terribly useful in troubleshooting. It does have the service codes and a nice reference to the Service Menu so it was worth the price for me. Order process went fine, although it took 24 hours to process (and I used PayPal!!). They sent a link and the download worked just fine.

So I decided to order a Toshiba LAMP BALLAST, p/n 23122468 from Conns PartSearch for $48.63 plus tax and shipping. They seem to have a great parts selection and Conn's is obviously well known. I paid for overnight and it came the next day- overall good experience.

As far as installation goes, I had the same experience as mirwin101, it took about 90 minutes to complete the replacement. You have to be pretty careful with the cables and his point about going slowly is well taken. And the ballast assembly is not that easy to access- I recommend a long handled, small-medium sized Phillips screwdriver to get at the screws that hold down the ballast cage.

After replacement, I plugged the set back in and powered it up before completely screwing down the mainboard- you have to hold down the lamp cutoff switch with a pencil. The lamp lit, so I finished putting everything back together.

All in all, this went well. I've got some amount of electronics skill, but am not a TV repairman, so if you're comfortable working inside of a PC, the Tosh isn't any more difficult. And if the $400 service call estimate is correct, I saved $300, even with overnight shipping (not counting the extra lamp, which as all Toshiba DLP owners know, will be useful in a few months- grr..).

Thanks to folks that posted previously, and hope this helps someone else..

Jimbo

Okay i know this is probably a dead thread but I am having the same problems. I am wondering is this something I can get by with out the service manual or should I try to get my hands on a copy.

anyone?

Sorry to revive this dead thread but I have 52HM84 and I just replaced the bulb two months ago. Two days ago when I switched the power on nothing happened, sound but no picture. Same symptoms when the bulb goes bad with turning on and off again with the flashing red and green LEDs. I took the bulb out and reseated it then it was fine. Yesterday I turned it on and it started cycling again, but luckily the 4th time the picture came on. Today not so lucky, tried everything but no picture. I hate dealing with Toshiba, they are the absolute worst company I have ever dealt with. Anyway, buying this 52HM84 was a huge mistake because it goes through bulbs at about 1 per year. Bought it back in early 2005 for about $2,600 so a pretty substantial investment. When it works it has a decent picture. I am almost ready to throw in the towel and get a nice LCD but am a bit broke at the moment.

Reading the posts above, it seems I might have the same problem. I have no messing around inside a computer but have never touched the inside of a TV. Conns Part search have the ballast board for $45 but I don't even know what it looks like, let alone how to replace it. I don't want to keep sinking money into this TV but at the same time if it is cheap to fix then I would hate to simply throw it away. How hard was it to replace your ballast board? I was hoping to find an online guide with pictures, but only found this one for a Samsung. Doesn't look too far above my head if my Toshiba is about the same.

I'm having the same problem but I live in Canada so I'm having a hard time finding anyone that will ship me the ballast. Any ideas?

jtsamson: I see the part you are looking for on the canadian ebay which is ebay.ca. Just search for the part number on there(23122468) and you will see it. It is more expensive than the US providers that sell it but its there.

I found the manual for free by googling File No. 020-200401 which is the name of the file of the service manual, but to be honest it wasn't much help other than locating where the screws are.

In a nutshell, you have to take the back of the TV off, then there are several screws and a vertical bracket that hold all the guts of the TV inside. Remove those screws and very gently and carefully slide both the left and right side of components out the back of the TV onto a work surface (I used a chair). At this point you can get to the little cage that protects the ballast board and remove it, then remove the cables from the ballast board then remove the board itself. Then you just just put it all back together in reverse.

Thanks for all the posts above, I ordered my ballast board from Conn's and installed it last night. I took pictures to make a much more detailed post on how to replace the board; however, when I put it all back together and powered on, I get nothing but an alternating grey bar pattern on my screen.

I have to add that I had no inputs to the TV upon turning it on, but you'd think just a black screen or even static from the tuner would show up, but nada.

Thinking it was in service mode, I tried the code to get out of it in the service manual and no dice. Changing TV/Video does nothing, and I did eventually hook up an HD component input after powering it down, but still nothing.

Anyone come across this? I'll post a pic later but here's the exact same problem I'm facing from a guy with a Samsung.

forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/2/343531.html

Minor update: Here's the pic of what the screen is doing. I took a guess that no input might have something to do with it, but with my cable plugged in I do get audio, but still get the grey grid screen pattern boxes and nothing else:



Gonna go troubleshoot some more ... sigh ...

We have had this tv for about 2 1/2 years the last few weeks we have noticed a humming or whining noice when we first turned the tv on (its worse when its cold in the house). Today when I went to turn it on there was nothing. I can hear it trying to come on and the green and amber lights blink but no sound no picture. I pulled the lamp out and noticed that part of the seal on the lamp was missing but everything else looked fine. Is this as simple as replacing the lamp or could it be something else?

As I said above in my last post I have a 52HM84. I was wondering if anyone could wager a guess on my peculiar problem.

About once a month when I try and turn my TV on, there is sound but no picture. It just flashes the green lights on the front and keeps powering on and off again numerous times. If I let it rest for a day, sometimes two days it works fine. It is almost like my TV has a menstrual cycle.

I am hesitant to spend a lot of money on repairs since it is now about 4 years old. But at the same time I originally paid around $2600 with shipping so that is a big investment.

I am sure it is not a bulb problem since it is pretty new. Given these symptoms, what would your best guestimate as to what might be the problem? I don't want to pay $250 to install a new ballast if that is not even the issue. Is this monthly one day temper tantrum consistent with a bad ballast or something else?

If you hear a buzzing sound coming from the front left of your TV, its probably the ballast ... if you hear nothing, it could be any part of your light engine .... The cost for the whole light engine is about $500.

Best bet would be to pay the $50-$60 to get a house visit for a check up before continuing.

Good luck!

I don't hear any buzzing sounds. It just goes through the same on/off cycle just like when a bulb goes bad. Just wondering since this happens only about once a month and then only last about a day whether this would more likely be a ballast or light engine problem.

If I can keep the parts/repair cost under $200 I might as well fix it, but more than that and it is better to just junk it and buy a new set. I found my original email receipt and I actually paid $2987 including shipping. That was/is a lot of money but at the same time with the once a year bulb replacements it is turning into a money pit. Biggest mistake I ever made. Toshiba customer service is also the worst I have ever dealt with.

I decided to go ahead and order a new ballast from Conn's. Also will buy the service manual off flea bay for $6. It will be my first time opening and working in a TV, though I know my way around inside computers pretty well.

For people that have already replaced their ballast, can you give me some pointers or tips? Sure wish their were some good tutorials somewhere, so if anyone has a link please post one. Hopefully this will solve the problem. Will post back again once I have installed the new ballast.

I know this guide is for replacing a ballast in a Samsung, but is it similar enough to a Toshiba to be useful?
http://www.consumermeet.com/entry/sa...p-ballast.html

After All I read I replaced my ballast and a new bulb as as well The picture looks awsome however its only been 2 days and it finally went back into restart mode today. Has anyone had any problems after they replaced their ballast??

Hi all,

Having the same problem with our TV. We just took it to a tech and they said it was a bad ballast but that there were no individual ballast available for our model number and that we had to buy a whole new light engine for 600 bucks.

Is this correct? Because we were about to buy the 23122468 ballast and give it a try ourselves but now we are afraid it may not work. Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks!

It should use that ballast. According to the service manual the 46HM84 is the same chassis as the 52hm84. There is an excellent post with pictures on how to do the ballast replacement here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...1#post14772991

I replaced the ballast on my 62HMX94 using these instructions and it was a breeze. I used the 23122468P, which seems to be an aftermarket ballast for these sets. I got it from TigerDirect Parts Search for about 60 bucks.

Good Luck,
Dan

yes can you tell me ware you got the new ballest

Hey dbolin,

Most people I know are ordering replacement ballast's from Conn's in Florida. You want Toshiba Part Number: 23122468.

Here's a direct link to that part

Good luck!

Anyone know where I can get the 23122468P lamp ballast besides, Conns/Tiger/hhgregg/partstore? They all seem to be the same place and it is backordered there.

Sorry to revive an old thread... but for the past 4 months, we've been without our 52HM84 Toshiba. We had a tech come out and replace the bulb, but it still did not work. We're pretty sure that it is the ballast at this point. Every place I've checked, says the part, 23122468(P), is on backorder. 4 months later... still on backorder.

I called a local place, authorized Toshiba service center, and gentleman told me that he has 1 ballast available. For Lamp and Ballast, I'm looking at $450 plus tax. He told me that he uses a Toshiba ballast from another 52" screen, not a generic replacement part. Was wondering if anyone knew of this part and its part number? Perhaps I would have better luck finding this alternate part online...

Thank you,
Mario

I'm in a similar boat. I can find them online, but they're almost $200 a pop. I did find a similar one on Ebay for around $70. It looks exactly the same but it's for a 62HM95 instead of my 62HM84.

Does anyone know if this one would work? I'm thinking maybe it's just a newer, more robust version since they had so many problems.

I don't know if anyone's even checking this anymore, but I ordered the ballast for the 62HM95 and it works fine in my 62HM84 for a fraction of the price. I got mine for $45 off of Ebay. But even on the main stream parts sites, they're running about $125 instead of $175. Here's the info:

Toshiba Lamp Ballast 23122497 RPB-4456BA 52HM95 62HM95

For all of you 52HM84 owners out there looking for a replacement ballast...

I purchased from ebay... TOSHIBA Ballast 23122497 RPB-4456BA 52HM95 62HM95 72HM95.... the unit worked perfectly in my 52HM84 with minor alternations... I had to remove the internals of the ballast and swap out the housings. Aside from that, the new ballast worked out great!!!

This is a valid option out there for all of you.