Official Toshiba 65HM167 and 57HM167 Owner's thread - Page 86

Wow. Just picked up a 65HM167 for $100 with a blown build. I have a 57HM167 and still on the orig bulb 3 years later. I can only hope the 65 is as good as the 57.

Sweet deal!!!

I put in a new bulb but the color on the 65" is extremely washed out. Picture quality looks poor. I don't think it is a color setting. It seems as though the contrast is really messed up. When you see a light item (like the menu bar) then it makes the dark areas around the bar a bit lighter.

I swapped out bulbs from my 57" and the 57" looks much more amazing than the 65"

There is about
2600 on/offs on the 65" and there is about 10,500 hours total.

What do you think? Is this a color wheel thing? I am clueless.

I have the 65" set and replacing the lamp always brings a "new out of the box" type picture improvement.

One thing I have learned about these sets is that the color wheel and ballast are both included in the light engine assembly. You can't replace parts, just the whole assembly as the individual parts are not available.

Of course the light engine is an expensive part. If you have to pay for installation you're about at the point of buying a new set.

I have a light engine on order for mine due to it eating lamps every few months. Getting the whole thing paid for from an extended warranty.

Might try reinstalling the lamp to make sure nothing got in the light path when you installed it. Other than that (probably a long shot) I can't think of anything other than professional service.

Weird. There is a little glass peice that the light shines onti. Then I can see the color wheel behind it. I am unsure what to do. I would take it apart but I dont want to break it either.

Adyu,

Sounds like you have a extended warranty with a reputable company. Might I ask who this is for future reference? I purchased a 5-year warranty from Repairtech, then when I called them about a speck in the middle of the screen (light engine I'm assuming), the company went out of business!! I called the BBB about it but they said nothing can be done since they were liquidated. Wasted money there... ugh....

MACK is the warranty I have. Bought a bulb warranty and one on the set. Due to the problems my set has had, I have used the bulb warranty to replace two bulbs. Exchanged one of the replaced bulbs after it went out after a couple of months.

That is what prompted me to get the set serviced. Lamps should last longer than 2-3 months and other Toshiba models that have exihibited this problem have benefitted by having the ballast replaced.

The service guy said ballast was the problem, but could only get it with an entire light engine replacement. Warranty company reviewed his repair estimate and approved the repair.

Parts are on order now & should be replaced in a couple of weeks.

I've loved the Toshiba except for the bulb eating issue. Wouldn't buy another Toshiba product based on the way this set has held up and the fact that they design things to generate high repair costs.

Should be able to replace the part or board that fails, not the entire electrical system of the tv for a relatively simple problem. Past versions of the sets with ballast problems were caused by simple resisors that cost about a buck each. It will ultimately cost close to a grand to get what amounts to about five bucks worth of parts replaced - including the solder.

Well, I have a 57HM167. I bought a 65HM167 for $100 because it had a blown bulb. The TV was disgusting when I picked it up. I had never seen so much dust on a TV. I bought it because I made my HT cabinet to fit a 65-67" DLP. I ordered a new Toshiba bulb from Mwave for $110 shipped. I eagerly awaited the new bulb to get so I could watch this beauty. I put a brand new bulb into this 65HM167 with about 10,000 hours of total TV time and come to find out the picture looks like garbage! The whole set is washed out white. There was no clear definition on HD content. The colors were dull. The blacks were gray. I was bummed to say the least. I found out it wasn't the bulbs fault. The real answer awaited.

I decided to pop open the TV and take a look myself. There is a total of 10 screws that bolt down the face of the TV to the frame. 6 are around the upper portion of the screen bezel. There are two around the back of the lower right and left corners of the TV. Then there are 2 screws behind the screen mesh front light indicator housing. See the screw locations below.




After the screws are loose you need to lift the front screen and bezel up towards the ceiling. The screen is now able to lift away and off the TV chassis.


You are now exposed to the main mirror and the eye lens.



I instantly knew what my problem was, the eye was disgusting! Now wonder the whites were washed and the color was dimmed.


I used a specific screen cleaner from Office Depot that was designed for things like this. I used a clean terry cloth.


This shows how gross the lens was during the middle of cleaning.


Here is the lens all cleaned up and ready to rock.


I also installed a new bulb and cleaned the rear screen surface and main mirror while I had everything open.


I cant tell you how much I love the 65" over the 55". Check it out for yourself!




The picture is now AMAZING! Total time took about 20 to 30 minutes.

That was a great roll of the dice, a little investigation and a nice 65" RPTV.

I have a 57HM167 that is around three years old. I love this tv, but, I thought my lamp went out, so I replaced it only to realize the ballast is gone as well. Does anybody know where I can get a ballast. My local Toshiba rep told me to trash it and buy a new LCd from him. I want to keep my 57 if I can. HELP!!!!!

Or, does anybody know the part # of the ballast for the 57HM167?

My repair guy told me that the ballast is part of the light engine assembly. The light engine also contains the color wheel.

In short, you can't buy piecemeal replacement parts for these sets.

He told me that the light engine assembly for my 65" set was just under $500 plus installation cost.

As a last resort, try removing the new lamp and reseating it in the set. My first lamp replacement seemed to be a dud until I did this and recognized that even though the lamp was flush with the housing of the TV, the electrical connection had not gone in fully on the lamp.

After removing and reinstalling the lamp, I gave it a bit of pressure on the connection side of the lamp (opposite side of where is screws into the set) and it kind of clicked into place. Reinstalled the cover and it fired right up.

Thanks aydu! Tried it but it didn't work. I guess I will see if I can find a deal on the light engine somehow/somewhere.

I don't believe that many manufacturers make their own ballasts. I have a ballast from a Sony LCD-RP lying around, and if I take the numbers written on it and google them, I get hits on six or seven manufacturers. Some of the literature from Philips implies that they are responsible for the design of all UHP lamp ballasts.

It may be that Toshiba doesn't sell the ballast, but that doesn't mean someone else doesn't. If you do find one that's common, check 'changeables' on the ballast before you use it, like jumpers, and zero ohm resistors to make sure that they are configured the same.

Get numbers off the ballast and start doing searches, don't forget ebay.

GYI - I just got a new light engine and lamp installed in my 65hm167.

Both paid for under an extended warranty.

I have been getting about 2-3 months out of a bulb. Fortunately, the supplier of the lamps had a warranty that covered each of the bulbs.

The lamps all failed the same way. They would work perfectly for a couple of months, starting on the 1st try each and every time. Eventually, the lamp would fail to start on the first attempt, but start up on the 2nd - 4th attempt.

Eventually it would take all the set's cycles (I believe it tries 10 times before giving up and lighting up the lamp failure light). Unplugging the set for about 30 seconds resets the counter and it would try again, always starting.

Once lit, the lamp would work fine all day.

The new light engine inlcudes the ballast, color wheel, and the set's optics. PQ was excellent once this was installed, but the lamp startup issues persisted.

New lamp was installed and the set now performs as it always did with a new lamp - like new - except that the pq is better. The tech that installed the light engine said that the optics tend to cloud over time due to the heat in the set and that is why the new one is better. I thought the optics were glass and that the origional ones had just colledted dust. Whatever the reason, the new one throws a far better image.

I'm just hoping to get back to the first year of operation with this set. Great pq and started up 1st time each time.

I was wondering can you use cleaning clothes that would be used on a PC monitor. I use Klear Kloths for my monitors and my TV as well. Just wondering if this can be used on the mirror and lens on a Toshiba 50HM66.

http://www.klearscreen.com/detail.aspx?ID=10


This is the kit I use and wonder can I use the liquid cleaner as well. It streaks but the cloths and that come with it take that away after wiping it back and forth. This is by far the best stuff to use on monitors and TV's that I have found.

http://www.amazon.com/KLEAR-SCREEN-H.../dp/B000HA1CUK

Thanks.


Also wanted to thank bracedeunos for making the post above. I was wondering how to do what ya did so thanks again.

Just an FYI for Tosbiba owners with a Mack Camera service policy. I had them replace the bulb (starting to get dim after about 5000 Hr. of use) at the end of May 2010. Mack provided a non-Toshiba bulb supplied by Pureland. After about 2 1/2 months of use it now frequently takes 2 to 5 tries by the TV before the bulb will light up. Mack has asked Pureland to replace it, but Pureland requires me to send the old bulb to them first before then send me the replacement (meaning the TV will be out of service for about a week). I went ahead and ordered a new bulb directly from Toshiba and will use the replacement that I get back from Pureland as a spare. Between the two bulbs I would hope to get three to five more years of service (I average about 2000 hr. per year of use on this TV) out of my 65HM167 and by then it will probably be time to look for a new HDTV (probably a 3D TV)

I've experienced the exact same situation with the lamps from Pureland.

My latest replacement lasted about 2 weeks before the continual blinking at start-up began occurring.

My lamps would work perfectly out of the box. After awhile (2 weeks to 2 months of daily use) they would start to develop problems firing up. Starts with a second cycle being needed for ignition. This grows to where the lamp will go through all the cycles trying to start until the red light appears on the front of the set, indicating lamp error.

Unplugging the set and starting the power up sequence eventually gets the lamp to fire. Once lit, it works fine for as long as the set is running.

Pureland has been great about exchanges, but you do incur the down time and the expense of mailing the defective lamps back to them. Worst thing is knowing that each new lamp is a ticking time bomb with each power cycle of the set.

I just had my light engine replaced under an extended warranty. The service tech thought the set's ballast was to blame for the lamp ignition problems. New light engine and lamp resulted in the same cycle after 2 weeks of use on the new lamp.

PQ on the set is great - when it operates.

Sure wish there was a solution to the lamp issues with these sets.

P.S. I have been through 6 lamps from Pureland. One in a Toshiba box blew after about 8 months of use (shattered). The other 5 have been non Toshiba (no manufacturer markings on the box) and all of those developed the start up problem.

Is there any way to reduce overscan on the 65HM167 via a service menu or the like?

I need to replace my lamp.

What's the best website to buy a lamp from? And how should I go about replacing it? I don't think that it will be too hard or anything, I just want to make sure that I do it correctly.

I googled the lamp but found a lot of "fake" lamps (not original Toshiba), and I'm not sure if I should order one of those or not.

My experience with non Toshiba lamps has not been too good.

All my non Toshiba lamps worked out of the box, but seemed to develop problems igniting within a couple of months.

I had the light engine replaced on my set, due to the # of lamps consumed (under extended warranty) and the lamps continued to follow the same pattern.

I just ordered a Toshiba lamp from them. Expensive, but again my extended warranty company is picking up the tab for the lamp. That should tell me whether they function any better than the generic lamps.

My origional Toshiba installed lamp lasted over a year. A replacement Toshiba lamp functioned flawlessly for about 8 months before exploding. That is when I got the generic lamps from a bulb warranty, and the replacement saga began.

My advise is to buy whatever you end up getting with a credit card. Mine extends the warranty on anything I buy by double, up to a year. If you get a lamp from someone that offers a 6 month warranty and it goes, the credit card will carry you for the next 6 months -giving you a year's protection on your investment.

I currently have my cablebox, wii and bluray player plugged into my receiver (via HDMI) and then into my Toshiba. I've been having an issue where the picture cuts out but the audio (through the receiver) remains. I have tried plugged the HDMI cable from my receiver into all 3 different HDMI ports on the TV but the issue persists. This sounds like an issue with the TV, right?

I would imagine the audio wouldn't work if it was an issue anywhere between the components and the receiver. Has anyone else had an issue similar to this?

Try running the HDMI signal directly from the component to the TV. If the problem goes away, it is the HDMI board on the receiver.

I have an Onkyo 606 that had this problem. Bypassing the receiver and using the tv for the video switching solved the problem, but I lost Hi Def audio formats for Blu Ray.

After trying about a half dozen after market lamps in my 65hm167, I ordered a lamp from Toshiba.

Installed it this afternoon and powered up just fine (as all lamps seem to do in my set).

Will see if this one continues to power up successfully. All the after market lamps would work just fine for between 2 weeks and 2 months, and then develop problems igniting. Once lit, they burned great until I next attempted to power up the set. Then, I'd get more blinking lights than a Christmas tree.

Had the light engine replaced under an extended warranty, as the service guy thought the short lamp life issue was related to the ballast. The ballast is part of the light engine on these sets, so the whole thing was replaced. This gave me a new ballast, color wheel, and optics.

This experience has tought me several valuable lessons:

1. The Toshiba set throws a great image - when it works.

2. Extended warranties for the set and bulb were smart purchases for this technology.

3. If I ever see the Toshiba name on another product, I will immediately turn and walk the other direction.

4. Projector & DLP lamps have to be one of the biggest rip offs in consumer history.

just changed my lamp (overnighted new lamp from DLPlampsource).

Usage:
Power on Time 16063
LAMPL 1949
LAMPH 14114
LPON 780

Purchased 12/17/2007.

I bought the Mack Warranty - with 3 year bulb replacement. They asked for form to be filled out. Requirements include TV purchase invoice, Mack Warranty contract number, and a copy of your bill of sale showing the purchase of your warranty. When I first received the warranty cards I had to registar online (which I did) and I received a reply email "Mack Registration Confirmation" which states "This email confirms your recent online transaction as listed below.
Please print and keep a copy of this email for your records."
I'm sure hoping this work outs because it seems like there looking for a technicality. I'm awaiting their response.

On a positive note the TV looks as good as new.

I have had my 65hm167 for about 2 years. I am installing my third bulb. The old bulb works for about 10 seconds and then cuts out. This leads me to think that components are working. I got a cheap bulb from amazon.com for $100. I know that is kind of cheap but that was the point. I put the bulb in and it will not light up. Blue led with blinking yellow. I returned the bulb and got a new one from amazon again. Same problem. The old bulb still lights for 10 seconds and then goes black. Toshiba says it is ballast problem. I am thinking the old bulb would not light at all if it was a ballast problem. Think I could have gotten 2 bad bulbs in a row? Is there a place to get cheap bulbs that work? Could it be firmware? Anyone know something that I do not? How do I diagnose a ballast problem?

Thanks for the help
Aball

I have had similar power up issues with bulbs on my 65hm167. Eventually got the light engine replaced - as the tech thought the ballast was bad and it is only available as part of the entire light engine.

Part was close to $500 plus labor, which was paid by my extended warranty company.

Same problem after the new parts installed.

The only bulbs I can get to reliably work in my set are the ones I buy directly from Toshiba. I noticed that the wiring inside the bulb itself is different than the after market bulbs I was getting.

Fortunately, as I was getting the after market bulbs from my extended warranty company, they agreed to let me return the after market bulb and buy a Toshiba bulb. They are paying for the Toshiba bulb.

Having gone the long frustating and expensive route with my set, I have come away convinced that any lamp that does not carry the Toshiba name on the box, won't work reliably in our sets.

Even though the bulbs from Toshiba are expensive (about $200 + shipping + tax for me) they do come with a 6 month warranty. I ended up buying the bulb with my credit card, so the warranty gets doubled by the credit card company to a full year.

So far, the Toshiba lamp (or the lamp in combination with the light engine) seems to be powering up perfectly after about a month of use. Fires 1st time - every time - like the set did when it was new.

Here's a new one. My 65" just started displaying small white dots in the lower right section of the screen. I'm assuming this has to do with the light engine dying on me? Calling to see if my warranty is still good.

Edit: Out of warranty 4 months ago...worth fixing?....I love this tv

I'd guess light engine is starting to fail. I don't know what the parts & labor cost is, but my repair guy said the part itself was just under $500. Took him less than an hour to swap it out, but you'll probably also get hit with a diagnostic visit, which will add to the cost.

Before embarking on the repair route, I'd try resetting the tv. There is a reset option on the Setup - Installation menu. It appears when you right/left toggle when you are looking at the software version of the set. I doubt this will help, but it is a free option.

If this fails, you might be experiencing dust in the optical path. There are a couple of threads here on AVS on cleaning this. You'll need to remove some of the parts of the set to do this.

If the reset doesn't work, and cleaning doesn't resolve the problem, you're probably in for a call to the repair guy, or, start shopping for a new set. I'd guess repair costs will equal about the price of a decent 50" plasma set.

Tough choice.

Thanks for the input !