Has anyone else experienced problems with the DMD boards on the Samsung DLP. I have an HL-P5663W that I purchased in Aug of 04. In July of 05 we lost picture and samsung replaced the DMD board under warranty. All was fine until July 06 when the same problem occured. Samsung is now saying I'm out of luck due to warranty being out. We are currently working with them on this, but I'm currently without my TV. I contacted a local Samsung service tech who advised me there is a problem with the DMD boards and he was not surprised my problem with them. TV is being adult used and not abused. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.
DLPs work fine as long as they are kept cool by the fans. Consumers are not used to owning projectors, so, they typically don't take care of them or even know how. DLP projectors move volumes of air to keep the lamp and DMD within operating temps. The fans and all other surfaces collect dust until choked. When the fans slow down, the lamp and DMD heat up and fail. It's very easy to take the back off and clean everything with the brushy attachment to a vac hose. Taping the cover switch will allow you to power up and check the fans for quiet and efficient operation. Doing this every six months is excellent preventative maintenance. (more often in dusty environments)
These DLP displays, and in fact, all HD displays are new inventions. They're not your old picture tube. Making a multi-thousand dollar purchase in new technology without buying some insurance is not wise. My 5 year warranty was only $300 and has paid for itself with a single lamp failure. I bought my DLP online for $1100 under retail, so, $300 for 5 years of insurance was an easy decision.
Trever, you may get them to buy the part if you're very, very persistent. The first and second levels won't help you as they are trained to say no! You may have to call 3 times a day for weeks before they tire from your persistence. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, eventually! Good luck!