Mitsubishi WS-65857 (V17+ Chassis) - Platinum Plus 65 Inch 16x9 Widescreen Rear Projection HDTV (RPTV)
A while back the TV started making a clicking noise now and then. Like an idiot I continued to use it a couple times. One day, there was the clicking and then the TV turned off. After a short while, it would let me turn it back on again but would do it again after a little while.
I pulled the TV out so I could try and figure out where the noise was coming from. I got the general location but I wanted to open it up to see if I could more specifically pin down where the noise was coming from.
Once I took off the rear cover I noticed that there was a lot of dust and even some cobwebs. So I cleaned it up with a little compressed air. Just a fast cleaning job, nothing great. Then I turned the TV on to see if i could better locate the source of the clicking but then the sound was gone and everything seemed to work fine again. I hoped that it was because of dust or something and put the rear cover back on, "intending" to clean it better later.
Of course, once the the cover was back on, it started again. I put a fan behind the TV and it stopped again with everything working fine again. I figured something was overheating since the fan seemed took care of it.
I decided to leave the TV alone until I could get some help diagnosing it better. So it has been left alone for a while now. Last night I went down to look at it again and see if I could better figure it out this time. I turned it on but this time I did not hear the clicking but instead a sort of soft but audible sparking like crackling noise but there was picture and sound.
I turned the TV off right away, opened the back and turned it on again to see if I could locate the specific area of the sound. After consulting the service manual for reference, I am nearly certain that it was coming from the Flyback Transformer (FBT).
I thought I even visually saw a slight sparking coming from where one of the wires connects on top. I turned it off almost right away and I was not focusing my attention right at that area so I cannot be sure since it was very subtle and my mind could have just been playing tricks on me.
For some stupid reason I decided to take the wire off to see if there was anything visible that would suggest it had indeed been sparking. There was a small release tab that was easy enough to release so I took it off and pulled out the wire. The wire fed into a socket within the FBT a couple inches deep or so and had a sort of prong on the tip of it. It seemed to be fine and there were no signs of burn marks or anything like that.
I put the wire back and fastened it back into place and turned the TV on one more time. This time there was a very loud sparking like popping noise. It popped two or three times before I could turn it off and I'm pretty sure there was no picture that time. I didn't want to turn it back on to see for certain, though.
Sorry for being so long winded. I wanted to give as accurate of an account of my experience as possible. Any help or suggestion would be fantastic.
I spent much of last night looking the symptoms up on Google and found from other similar problems from other TVs, that I will probably have to replace the FBT. However, I also read that I may be able to just re-check the solder points, make sure everything is clean and I might not need a new one at all. I would rather take the safer route, though.
I am novice but I am pretty comfortable with a soldering iron and have decent enough experience. However, although I've done it successfully I'm not a huge fan of soldering tiny solder points that are really close to other solder points.
I am not entirely certain since I'm not all that good with the service manual, but I think the replacement part for the FBT is one of the below. I couldn't tell for sure since the part is referenced twice in the service manual but has a different part number each time it is listed. I'm not sure why exactly. It could be because the manual covers multiple models and I couldn't determine which part is for which.
Ref #: Part #: Part Name/Description: T5A51 334P278010 TRANS-FLYBACK T5A51 334P265040 TRANS-FLYBACK
Any idea where I can get a good price on one?
If anyone wants to, I can gladly send you a copy of the service manual for better reference. I can send photos of my actual TVs FBT, etc, too.
And finally, do you think I might have caused more damage to other parts by continuing to turn it on after the initial symptoms? Those loud pops did not sound good.