I bought a dead RCA HD61LPW175 for $150. When I power the set up, it tries 5 times to start, making the typical tick-tick noise, and sounds like the color wheel trying to spin up, then shuts down. The previous owner told me the dealer had tried a new lamp, and a "module" but that didn't fix it, so they abandoned it. Looking at the original bulb, it looks "normal", in other words it isn't broken, black, or melted. I did try a new ballast, still no luck. Is there anything other than the bulb or ballast that will keep the lamp from lighting? I checked the lamp cover switch also. Will the lamp light if the color wheel / light engine isn't functioning properly? Perhaps main power supply problems? Where can I get a schematic for this set?
I had this set for about a year. The repair people went the lamp, ballast, light engine route which took months and months to accomplish as they replaced the parts one at a time. Nothing worked. Then opined that the "Board" could be bad. Of course, no board was available. My set had the same symptons except that it would start and then just shut off by itself and then it would sometimes crank up for a few minutes or not start at all. Techies had no clue beyond that. RCA stepped in because they had no replacement sets 'anywhere, at any warehouse', so they just gave me my money back.
This scenario tells me you are screwed. Many folks on this board have had similar problems. Between the parts problems and techies who have no clue and RCA customer disinterest it is enough to throw your self in front of a bus.
Maybe you could make the set watertight and use it as a fish tank.
Being in the electronics industry for 40+ years, I know that in many cases a failure is caused by a single component that dies. Perhaps that's the case with these sets, maybe not. If I could acquire a schematic for this set, I could trace it through and possibly locate the problem. Anybody have one, or know where to find a schematic?
Dave you just about have to run the chipper check software on those units. If the teech's in the past didn't...then they aren't thompson techs. You can't stick a meter in these sets and expect to trouble shoot anything.
Aha! "Thompson Techs"!!! Try to find one of those ~ There's no-one with a few hundred miles of here that even knows who (or what) Thompson is. Is this possibly just a software issue? Seems to be a common fault on a lot of sets.
Watch what you say about Thomson... if your a democrat and love the french you have to love thomson...they're owned by the french. Makes you feel all warm inside doesn't it.LOL The software usually isn't an issue, but these sets have shut down circuits on top of shut down circuits. An audio problem can cause these sets to go dead. Thats what TCE gets for letting the Chinese build all of their dlps now. Trust me on this..I don't work for TCE but very close.