DLP Lamps - where to buy

Samsung parts

A source that has good prices on OEM lamps is

http://www.discount-merchant.com/

Buy the lamps from the manufacturer. These forums are full of horror stories of people troubleshooting their TV's startup problems, shutdown problems, etc. only to find out days or weeks later that they were caused by the aftermarket lamp

Stick with Philips or Osram bulbs. My Philips from discount-merchant is over 7000 hours and still going.

How could a bulb cause all those issues ?

First off, it's a lamp not a bulb, and there IS a difference. They have different current ratings, ballast requirements, and different fitments. Also, there are lots of Chinese knock offs being marketed as OEM. The OP discovered this the hard way. These TVs have computers, and refuse to operate when the lamp is out of spec.
Edited by Augerhandle - 1/17/13 at 6:46am

I discovered this ?

Wasn't me your confused.

Ok a bulb is a lamp............same thing,

Fitment ...it either fits the socket or it doesn't.

Ballast... it either starts the bulb/lamp or it doesn't.
On this type of bulb the ballast only is there for start up.

If the current ratings are off the bulb would be dimmer or brighter or not work at all if far enough off.

Highly doubt it would cause all these other issues.............can the attitude.

Sorry, I confused your post with the OP. But you asked. so I tried to help. No attitude at this end. You don't have to believe a word of what I tried to tell you. Enjoy your TV.
Edited by Augerhandle - 1/16/13 at 9:45pm

After trying lamps from other than the manufacturer, I learned exactly what you have stated above.

Once you learn the lesson, you buy strictly from the manufacturer.

When it comes to DLP lamps, value is what counts.

Edited by Augerhandle - 1/18/13 at 5:53pm

Wow, you found a few out of thousands of bad bulbs.

I mean wow

Maybe you missed your own quote about the Mits bulb shattering ?

Where is your comments on that ?

Lets be even handed.

I'll bet no one has ever got a bad Mits bulb ever ?

Either it works or it doesn't.

A bulb will light or it won't but it won't cause any other issues.

Too simple of a device to cause what some are claiming.............

There is also the joke about about how many ........ does it take to screw in a light bulb.

Some people couldn't program a vcr and I am supposed to believe they can do this simple operation correctly ?

Is there someone in particular you're replying to or are you just arguing with yourself?

Love it when folks feel the need to inject themselves into a conversation without actually adding a damn thing to it.
Troll much ?

Guys, the op posted this in 2007 lol

I'm pretty sure the method for conversation is by using the quote button. I'm also pretty sure there's professional help available for your problem, ask your doctor. I'll leave you to yourself now.....bye,bye.

You are the one feeling necessary to add nothing to this conversation but your almighty higher than us attitude.

A bulb is a lamp and cannot cause all the problems most are stating. Too simple a device. Some are smartasses and others are lucky to tie their own shoes. Which category you in smartboy ?

Take your quote and well you'll figure it out.

Actually knock off lamps can and will cause issues, these are not simple "bulbs". You can measure the resistance in a simple "bulb", try it with one of these lamps. These take thousands of volts to fire and then must maintain a specific spec to keep fired. The ballast does not "just" fire the lamp, it keeps it lit.
Toshiba DLP's are notorious for being picky with lamps.

You don't have to stay with the manufacture since they do not make the lamps but should stay with only quality names for life and function.

Knockoff housings cause more issues yet, I personally have run into that, where I ended modifying a OEM compatible lamp and housing to work.

Beg to differ, an ohm meter can check a ballast as well for an open or etc.

I will agree a bad bulb/lamp could flicker or be dimmer than the factory bulb or even brighter.

That is all it could do.

Housings are another issue entirely and the person doing the installation is the elephant in the room.

You cannot check the lamp with an ohm meter, it is that simple. You can check components of the ballast with an ohm meter. Not sure you want to try checking the ballast output with your average meter though

A bad lamp can also cause the ballast not fire or continue to keep the lamp lit.

Why are you fighting this? It is all true. Are you trying to go on theory or do you have real experience with several lamps and ballasts?

What does the installer have to do with an incorrectly made housing????
For ex. I purchased an "OEM compatible" lamp and housing for a Sony LCD projection, the lamp worked but not until the housing was modified to work - I had to use a die grinder to modify the housing - and yes it was the correct part number.

So you are saying an ohm meter cannot detect an open ?

Please.

Yes some here have no business trying this..............it is much more likely they didn't get the bulb/lamp inserted completely
than a bad bulb or lamp.

I have replaced three of these..............fixed every one. One was a Mits bulb, others were chinese.


Whatever, you clowns have fun

Sure an ohmmeter can detect an open, it just can't be used to test the lamps - since they are not resistive lamps.

Next you will tell me that you can test a mercury vapor lamp with an ohmmeter.

Projector lamps CANNOT be tested with an AMP or OHM meter. Projector lamps function by igniting ultra-high pressurized mercury vapor accross an ARC tube. At the point where the mercury vapor resides there is no conductive electrical material and therefore testing a projector lamp with an AMP or OHM will not work.

Testing a projector lamp is impossible to do with your typical household electrical equipment. You must buy specific testing machines when testing projector lamps.

Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_you_test_a_projector_lamp#ixzz2IgFWXx8t


Light source

DLP technology is light-source agnostic and as such can be used effectively with a variety of light sources. Historically, the main light source used on DLP display systems has been a replaceable high-pressure mercury-vapor metal halide arc lamp unit (containing a quartz arc tube, reflector, electrical connections, and sometimes a quartz/glass shield), but in many newer DLP projectors high-power LEDs or lasers are used as a source of illumination. In fact, ALL pico category DLP display units use LED illumination.

Tagging along.

I have a 2010 Mits 82838 and my bulb is at 4,230 hours. I can definitely tell that the bulb is significantly dimmer, most likely because our set has a ton of turn-on turn-off cycles.

I couldn't find my OEM bulb on that discount-merchant site?

Can anyone share a place to order OEM bulbs at a discount?

Here's a post I did on lamp sources: http://www.avsforum.com/t/584936/official-2005-sony-kdsr-50-60xbr1-sxrd-owners-thread/23850#post_22548077

I would steer clear of discount merchant. They do their best to make it look like they are OEM, but none of their bulbs are. The one I received had a nearly identical housing, with a totally different bulb. It is not as bright, has tons of light spill out the fan port, and takes 5 minutes to warm up at a minimum. I don't trust it as far as I could throw it, and instead of being $300 for a Newegg replacement it is $200 when you can go to another retailer that tells you it is not OEM and pay $100. Also, their return policy includes a %25 restocking fee and must be in 30 days even though the warranty is 90 days. They don't even care if your projector will display an image, if the light functions when the receive a return, they consider it fully functional. Buyer beware.

Niosales on EBay is the real deal. Their prices are pretty fair too.

I bought from amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=as_li_qf_sp_sr_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&index=aps&keywords=DLP%20lamp&linkCode=as2&tag=leadgenerat-20 and everything was ok, sorry for your bad experience.