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New member Username: Mada336Post Number: 1 Registered: Apr-08 | Two weeks ago my set stopped working. When I turn it on, it makes a buzz and then nothing. Then it makes another buzz and tries again and again. The LED flashes 5 times. It had been making lots of noise for the last year so I replaced the color wheel. It makes no difference. I hear the color wheel spin and then this buzz, but no bulb. I opened the back up and noticed that something glows on the card that powers the bulb. I assume this is the ballast? Anyways, right when it makes the buzz the part on the board glows. Is this normal? How do I tell if it is the power supply, ballast or bulb? The bulb looks fine. I could put a volt meter on the bulb connections when it tries to fire up...I just don't know what it should read. Last thing, The buzz may have always existing, I just don't remember it. Thanks! Here is a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckV2ychYfe8 The entire thing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lu11TlH7GM video of the piece that glows inside the set when the buzz occurs |
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Silver Member Username: OvadoggvoPost Number: 148 Registered: May-07 | Mada, The problem you are describing seems to be a ballast issue to me! I would buy a replacment lamp if I were you just to be sure... Discount-Merchant.com has them for $109... Philips brand is highly recommended! The "Click" "Click" or "Bzzz" noise that you are describing is the Ballast discharging.. This is usually due to a weak ballast that can not "spark" the lamp. I just described that here as well for a JVC tv: https://www.ecoustics.com/electronics/forum/home-video/176314.html The ballast discharge is done by a dischage module that resembles a resistor that acually lights up simulating a lamp... helping discharge the high current.... This discharge method is mostly used on P-VIP ballasts (made by OSRAM Sylvania).. On philis ballasts you will normally not see this containted sparking dischage.. Replace your ballast is my recommendation. ALSO NOTE: RCA DLP TVs are infamous for bad power supplies. The TVs power button will blink 5 times stating that the lamp is bad.. The problem IS NOT THE LAMP! The power supply has 5-6 capacitors that go bad due standard wear and tear... It is common on RCA's designed power supply board. Just replace the capacitors and your up and running! But shhhhhhhhh... don't tell the servicers.. they like to change your power supply out and charge you $400! But it's not their fault.. They are just trained to swap parts.. no onboard level repair is done at most service centers! Mada... Your problem is NOT the power supply board... If it was, your ballast would not have any high current to discharge. YOU CAN NOT TEST the output of a DLP or LCD projection ballast with a standard multimeter because it has a extremely high current output at low voltage... Hope this helps! |
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New member Username: Mda728Post Number: 1 Registered: Aug-08 | Interesting... this is similar to what I am experiencing, but not exactly. I'm hoping I can get advice from someone as knowledgable as Ovadoggvo! Ok, so I have a 4 1/2 year old RCA Scenium HDLP61W151. I've never replaced the bulb or any other part. Just this morning, it has been shutting off and restarting at sporatic intervals. It shuts off, the power button flashes 5 times, and it restarts 20 seconds later. It will work fine for as little as a few minutes or even most of an hour before happening again. I don't hear any unusual noises during the restart. Any thoughts? |
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New member Username: SnigglyfooPost Number: 1 Registered: Oct-08 | I'm having similar problems with my HD50LPW166YX12. For the last couple of months my RCA started experiencing the "blinking lightx5" routine on powering up. Sound was present but the TV sometimes required a couple tries before the picture would appear. I know what you are thinking, the lamp must be dying. And a few weeks ago it did in fact finally break (after 2 1/2 years). I ordered a replacement from discount-merchant.com and installed it. Everything seemed to be working fine at first, however the "blinkingx5" has come back and it's become increasingly more difficult for the picture to fire up after each use. Initially it took about a minute for the picture to appear but now it takes upwards of 10 minutes of powering up attempts. During those 10 minutes, I turn on the TV, the sound comes on, the power light eventually blinks its 5 times and the TV will shut itself off. The TV then will turn itself on and repeat the process again for about a total of 30 seconds. After which it stays off. At the current rate of degeneration, I probably will be unable to turn the TV on after a few more uses. I don't think the lamp is the issue, as once the TV finally turns on I have had no problems. There are similar forum posts about this topic but the majority also complained of their TVs turning themselves off after a period of time. I have not experienced that or any other problems with this model. The only issue I have is generating a picture from a "cold" start. I've also checked the lamp door several times and it's closed. I cannot afford to replace this TV and would prefer to fix the part if it could be identified. Any help would be greatly appreciated. |
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New member Username: BuboPost Number: 1 Registered: Oct-08 | I have the exact same problem as william jones. I replaced my first bulb after 2 years of the tv working. The TV slowly died over about a month. It would take a few times to start up, but then would run fine once started and RCA reccomended I purchase a new lamp. I replaced the lampthat looked fine and it still won't start. Any ideas? |
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New member Username: SnigglyfooPost Number: 2 Registered: Oct-08 | To followup, I never did find out exactly what went wrong. I called RCA customer service and after they listened to my story they gave me the phone number to a repair place 40 miles away. In other words they said, "Good Luck!" Looking back on it, I probably should have been angry towards RCA representative and perhaps they would have been more helpful. Anyway, I ended up going back to Costco (where I originally purchased my TV) to see if they had any information on that particular model. To my surprise, my purchase was grandfathered in their old warranty policy and they gave me a complete refund. Probably the best possible news that could have come from this situation but I still find myself wondering what exactly what went wrong. |
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Silver Member Username: JumpbackPost Number: 157 Registered: Nov-05 | William, that is really good news. You asked what went wrong. I can answer that....You bought an RCA! That's what went wrong. |