Anyone Tackled Blue Smear on Sony HS51?

I've got just under 3000 hours on a VPL-HS51 that I bought in December 04. Last month or so a blue smear has been growing from the bottom of the screen. Its most visible on a black background. I tried putting in my standby new bulb and that didn't change anything so at least some good news is that my original bulb is still going strong. I've read the horror stories about folks being quoted thousands of dollars to get it fixed by Sony as they replace the whole optical block. I'm wondering if anyone has tried tackling this themselves?

I snagged the service manual from here back when the unit was first being discussed so I have directions on how to get at the optical block and remove the polarizer plates. There's some nice pics of it in the Cine4home HS60 review.



I'm hoping I can clean them and get an improvement in the blue smear. Any idea on what I could use to do the cleaning? If that doesn't work and I can see damage on the polarizer(s) I'll try to purchase new polarizer plates. Anyone know a source for these?

I'll make sure to take lots of pics and put it all up on my website to help out the next poor sap. I paid over $4000 CDN for this unit and > $1 per hour just doesn't cut in my book. I'll be VERY upset if I can't get it fixed (for a reasonable price).

The PJ has been mounted in my finished basement which never gets warm and has the lamp running in low power mode to keep the fan noise minimal. Dust filters have been replaced at recommended intervals. Except for this recent development its been a pleasure to own and use.

This is a Canadian unit. Warranty only lasted 1 year. This is approaching the end of the 3rd year. I don't think that service number will work from Canada. A fella on here sent his unit to Sony service, cost him $85, only to be told it'd be $2200 to fix.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...polarizer+HS51

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...polarizer+HS51

I would imagine most people are out of warranty on their HS51's so this may become a popular topic...

Here's a pic with my windows background set to black (I also set iris to off and lamp to high to accentuate the problem):

I'm not sure how telling me that "an extended warranty pays dividend" helps when I've said I don't have one? Congratulations if you have an HS51A with an extended warranty. Go start your own thread so you can pat yourself on the back rather than using someone else's where you state the obvious, repeat comments from the original post and provide no help whatsoever.

It sounds like the internals of all the models in the last 3-4 years is pretty similar. Looking forward to hearing from anyone that has had one of these units apart.

Sorry if I upset you CaspianM. I've just read so many helpful posts on here that yours caught me off guard. As I mentioned in my original post if I can't clean it I'm looking for tips on sourcing the part and replacing it myself. If that works excellent otherwise I obviously need a new display unit.

I had heard about some of the differences but I was under the impression that for the purposes of dismantling they were all quite similar and so anyone who's been into their HS50/51/51A/60 might be able to help.

Did some more searching and came across this handy page to get part numbers and ordering information for Sony electronics:

https://servicesplus.us.sony.biz/sony-parts.aspx

Looks like everything is in stock atm if I can't fix it with dust removal/cleaning. Here's the pdf showing the part numbers for the in-polarizers. A post mentioned they take more abuse than the out ones.

Does the picture above look like the same problem that you have ceriiiga? That sounds like an amazing deal! Anyone know the Canadian equivalent phone number for Sony service?

Ask them to just replace the blue polarizer panel. Its "only" a couple of hundred $ and is reported to be the main issue. Its the first polarizer panel in the light path after the bulb and takes the most heat which is why it degrades before the other polarizers. Worth a shot if they already have it.

Nope. Its a lot harder to see the blue smear with a white background than with a black one as shown above.

Update, OK I really need to make a decision on what to do with this PJ. I took it apart today. Very straight forward. Click the pics for bigger versions.




You just need a Phillips 0 and 1 screwdriver. Magnetized is handy for the innards. 2 screws come off the back then a bunch of long and short come off the bottom. This lets you remove the plastic casing. Carefully removing the connectors and some screws lets you take the metal shield off. The connectors are all different sizes so I don't think you could put them back wrong. Next remove the ribbon connectors. The brown ones have a bit that flips up which lets you pull out the ribbon. The silver one you simply pull a clip out and then pull the ribbon. Once the board is out you can see the optical assembly with the polarizer plate housing. To take out the assembly there's 2 screws at the back, 2 at the front plus another 2 smaller ones at the front holding plastic tabs. Once you remove these you can lift out the polarizers as a unit. Only gotcha when putting back together was to watch the connector at the bottom left of the digital board (assuming the lens is facing you). The plastic sleeve it rides in should go outside not inside the metal shield.

While it was apart I took a look at the blue polarizer and I can see a different shade rectangle on it where I imagine it should be 1 uniform color. Unfortunately I saw nothing that would explain my pixelated lines that have appeared near the blue smear area (white, blue and grey backgrounds):




I can take it in to the local Sony service center and get it diagnosed for $100. If I proceed with a fix, that comes off the bill. If they tell me it'll cost hundreds of $ to fix and I decide to buy a new PJ I'm out another $100. I might try to take my laptop with all of these pics into the service center and see if they can give me a clue. I know $100 is a fraction of the $4-5K I paid for this PJ but its still $100. Has anyone had anything like this fixed by just replacing the polarizer? I'm thinking anything else more expensive wouldn't justify a repair vs just buying a brand new PJ. Again its out of warranty and we don't have anything like Laredo in Canada. I'm at my wits end trying to decide what to do. Thoughts?

To the folks looking at the newer Sony's, make sure you buy an extended warranty!!

NOTE: The smear and lines are usually lower left when ceiling mounted but I'd taken the PJ down and disabled the image flip to run it off the coffee table after checking out the polarizers.