Mits DLP - new light engine and lamp

[itschris]

Hey guys, so I got the dreaded white dot disease on my DLP. Last count, I had over 200 dots. Mitsubishi finally agreed to take care of it after a couple months of fighting back and forth. They going to put in a new light engine for me.

I figure while the tech is here, I should go ahead and replace the bulb. I'm seeing 3 different things. Just the bulb, the bulb with a cage, and a bulb with a complete housing.

What exactly should I get? I'm thinking just the bulb. Does anyone have a good source? I have a 65" WD-65833

 

[Hi Ho]

Just the bulb is just that, a glass bulb without the plastic case. In order to install it you will need to dismantle the plastic assembly and install the new bulb (without touching the glass with your hands). This can be a rather difficult process depending on the design of the casing and it is possible to break the case as the plastic tends to get brittle because of the heat. I have done this multiple times for different TV's and projectors and I have broken a few casings.

I'm not sure what the difference is between a "cage" and "complete housing".

If the price difference is no more than $20-30 I would say go for the complete housing and save some trouble.

 

[itschris]

Thank Hi Ho. Do you have a preferred site you like to use? I'm just going to have the tech do it while he's in there.

 

[GlocksRock]

There are plenty of sources, but I'd reccomend and OEM lamp, it will cost a bit more, but will be more reliable than an aftermarket lamp. You can find them on ebay for about $100 shipped. Isn't your tv a 2007 model? I have a WD-73733, and I'm dreading the day I get the same issue, hopefully it never will though. How did you get Mits. to take care of it for you, did you have an extended warranty?

 

[Hocky]

I am kinda looking forward to it so I have an excuse to go buy the 92". haha

 

[itschris]

There are plenty of sources, but I'd reccomend and OEM lamp, it will cost a bit more, but will be more reliable than an aftermarket lamp. You can find them on ebay for about $100 shipped. Isn't your tv a 2007 model? I have a WD-73733, and I'm dreading the day I get the same issue, hopefully it never will though. How did you get Mits. to take care of it for you, did you have an extended warranty?

I pissed and moaned and refused their "generous" offers of $300, then $200, then $100. I just basically had to continue to escalate it to get it completely covered. I started having to throw some accusations around like "you are fully aware that it's a manufactures defect..." and stuff like that.

It's stupid on my part because if I figure my billable hours, I probably spent a $3,000 trying to get them to see things my way, but I like to argue my point when I feel I'm right. Plus our house flooded from a broken ice maker line and we essentially had to tear up our entire house so I haven't even had a TV for a month anyway. I'll also note that after about four days, I didn't miss it at all and quite enjoyed not having one to be preoccupied with.

So anyway, once your light engine begins to fail, just fight with them until they agree. I would have had them fix it for $100 which is where they seem they want to be, but it was just sorda fun to see where it would go.

 

[itschris]

Oh and i did a count last night... I have over 350 dots as best I can tell. To be honest, I don't even notice it all that much anymore. I decided to watch the Star Trek movie and just felt the dots/stars added some realism to the outer space scenes.

 

[Adam]

Oh and i did a count last night... I have over 350 dots as best I can tell.

At your hourly rate, maybe you should have just hired someone to count them for you.

 

[itschris]

At your hourly rate, maybe you should have just hired someone to count them for you.

I've actually feel I've been a bit liberated. I **** you not. I've watched probably less than 5 hours of TV in the past few weeks. Now granted, my house was down to the bare concrete floors and all of our furniture had to be moved out and had a crew replacing walls and wood floors and what not... but still, it's been kinda fun not caring about TV. Even after I plugged it in, I didn't watch it.

I was, however, a kinda shocked to see how many more dots developed even not being used.

I basically pulled a nice bottle of wine from the cellar and just sat there turning the TV on an off so I could easily count the dots for the 20 seconds the bulb stayed on with the blank screen.

I know, I know... even the f-ing cat thought I was stupid.

 

[itschris]

Here's the place I'm going to order the new lamp from... anyone have any thoughts:

ApexLamps Replacement Lamp for MITSUBISHI 915P061010 $76.00

 

[Adam]

I know, I know... even the f-ing cat thought I was stupid.

It's a cat. I don't think your choice of activity caused that.

 

[itschris]

It's a cat. I don't think your choice of activity caused that.

As a giant dog owner all my life... I know what you're saying. All these people... these cat people... who think cats are so smart must be "challenged" themselves.

Our cat, Fudgie, who we got for our daughter 7 years ago is about the dumbest animal on the planet.. My dumbest Great Dane was 100 times smarter and more clever.

 

[itschris]

Ended up ordering from here: Mitsubishi DLP TV Lamps bulbs 915B403001 915P049010 915P061010

Brauchla TV & Appliance. They have a lot of good feedback on their Ebay store. It's actually kinda difficult to get a genuine Mitsubishi part for any reasonable amount of money. This is supposedly a high quality unit with a 6 month warranty which is twice as along as Mits and most others. For a $100 shipped to my door in 3 days, I guess that's fair. Two places wanted $170 and $179 for genuine Mits shipped. I figure I can get almost two for that price.

This place deals with all of the Aaron Rents and does a lot of warranty work and said he's been very pleased with the vendor... so I guess we'll see.

 

[GlocksRock]

Let me know how that lamp works out for you, as my tv uses the same lamp, and it's 4.5 years old, and I don't know how much longer it's going to last. So when it does finally need replacing, I want to know which lamp I should go with. I'm glad to know that mits will work with you on a light engine repair, although I hope I never need to have that happen.

 

[itschris]

Let me know how that lamp works out for you, as my tv uses the same lamp, and it's 4.5 years old, and I don't know how much longer it's going to last. So when it does finally need replacing, I want to know which lamp I should go with. I'm glad to know that mits will work with you on a light engine repair, although I hope I never need to have that happen.

The lamp assembly came in just 4 days. Looks fine to me. I'm still waiting for the Mits to get the light engine to the service shop. I'll let you know how it goes. If you haven't had the infamous dot issue at this point, you're likely not going to. This was due to a switch in manufacturer or something like that. They went to a cheaper version I believe and it's just failing wholesale to everyone that ended up with it. You probably have one of the solid ones prior to the change.

As far as the lamp goes... I think it's a lot like brakes on your car. You don't realize they're going bad until you get new ones.

 

[GlocksRock]

I've had mine since late Dec. of 2007, and I don't use the tv too terribly much, but I'm sure it's lost a good bit of brightness by now, but I still won't replace it till it goes out. I do hope that my tv lasts a good while longer, as I paid about $2500 for it and would be upset if I only got 5 years out of it, but just to be safe I'm saving up for a new tv anyway so when the day does come, I'll be ready.

 

[itschris]

I've had mine since late Dec. of 2007, and I don't use the tv too terribly much, but I'm sure it's lost a good bit of brightness by now, but I still won't replace it till it goes out. I do hope that my tv lasts a good while longer, as I paid about $2500 for it and would be upset if I only got 5 years out of it, but just to be safe I'm saving up for a new tv anyway so when the day does come, I'll be ready.

I was going to donate the Mits and go with the new Sharp 70" LED. I started thinking though that i'm not watching much these days at all. My daughter leaves for school in August so maybe i'll watch more movies with one less person to give me grief about the volume and turning lights on, or coming out of her room to interupt me with some pointless question.

Once I get this thing back to where it should be, I'll see what happens.

 

[itschris]

Let me know how that lamp works out for you, as my tv uses the same lamp, and it's 4.5 years old, and I don't know how much longer it's going to last. So when it does finally need replacing, I want to know which lamp I should go with. I'm glad to know that mits will work with you on a light engine repair, although I hope I never need to have that happen.

Hey Glocks... the lamp was a bust. I asked the tech who came to fix the light engine if he'd mind putting the new lamp assembly in while he had it all apart.

No go! The cage was off in several ways and would not fit. I called Brauchla TV & Appliance where I bought and asked I could just swap the bulb. He said I could do that... maybe... and if worked he'd refund me a portion of my money. Well... the bulb didn't fit either. There were these tabs on it that kept it from seating properly.

When I called back, they didn't seem surprised by any of the difficulties I was having and just casually mentioned that they'd just send me a new one. Af if that makes any sense to me or that I'd actually do business with these people, They knowingly sell really cheap Chinese junk with probably a pretty high rate of return as evidensed by the lack of surprise or concern about it, and expect to say "sure... go ahead and send me another."

I'm sending the it back. I had to argue to get my shipping back as well. He tells me he'll refund me in full, and when I ask for the amount, the number doesn't include the shipping because it's "not their policy." So... I had to speak very plainly to him that I wouldn't accept anything short of a full refund and got him to agree. I'm actually pissed that i have to pay to send it back.

Needless to say... I would NOT do business with these folks.

Beyond that... a thorough cleaning and a new light engine has go the old monster looking great. A new bulb direct from Mits is on the way which makes things damn near brand new.

 

[GlocksRock]

Sorry to hear of your troubles, but glad it's all going to work out. How much does Mits. charge for a new lamp?

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Hey Glocks... the lamp was a bust. I asked the tech who came to fix the light engine if he'd mind putting the new lamp assembly in while he had it all apart.

No go! The cage was off in several ways and would not fit. I called Brauchla TV & Appliance where I bought and asked I could just swap the bulb. He said I could do that... maybe... and if worked he'd refund me a portion of my money. Well... the bulb didn't fit either. There were these tabs on it that kept it from seating properly.

When I called back, they didn't seem surprised by any of the difficulties I was having and just casually mentioned that they'd just send me a new one. Af if that makes any sense to me or that I'd actually do business with these people, They knowingly sell really cheap Chinese junk with probably a pretty high rate of return as evidensed by the lack of surprise or concern about it, and expect to say "sure... go ahead and send me another."

I'm sending the it back. I had to argue to get my shipping back as well. He tells me he'll refund me in full, and when I ask for the amount, the number doesn't include the shipping because it's "not their policy." So... I had to speak very plainly to him that I wouldn't accept anything short of a full refund and got him to agree. I'm actually pissed that i have to pay to send it back.

Needless to say... I would NOT do business with these folks.

Beyond that... a thorough cleaning and a new light engine has go the old monster looking great. A new bulb direct from Mits is on the way which makes things damn near brand new.

I got my lamp from this place:

TV Lamps and bulbs, Buy DLP TV Bulbs and Lamps, Discount DLP TV Lamps – Advanced Lamps

Worked like a charm but since my light engine is out (over 300 dots now). I'm getting the 70" Sharp LCD.