I came home Monday and powered my 3.5 year old 61" Samsung DLP on and it would not show a picture. After reviewing the 3-flashing LED's I pulled the bulb and sure enough it was shot. I ordered a replacement and installed it promptly. My DLP immediately showed new life...that is until I powered off and had to power back on. Once I tried to power back on, the lamp LED flashes for about 20 seconds, then the set powers off and immediately powers back on, flashing again for about 20 seconds all the while the audio can be heard. Again, it powers off and on, and after the third cycle, all three LED's flash indicating a bulb replacement is necessary. Noooooo! I pulled the buld, inspected it, and replaced it. The set powered up fine and I had a nice bright picture. I waited about an hour and I turned off the set to see if it would light up. Unfortunately no joy. I plugged and unplugged and restarted to the same flashing LED cycles. It was only till removed and reinserted the lamp did the set finally light up again. Now I won't turn it off, and it has been on for about 3 hours without incident. I'm almost sure if I turn it off, it won't light up unless I remove and reinsert the bulb. Any ideas out there about what this could be causing this?
You need to stop messing with it. UHP lamps don't like to re-strike when their hot. They can't cool down properly if you're pulling the plug, either. It kills the life! New lamps should be fired up and stay lit for at least 100 hours before they settle in and provide constant lumens and predictable operation. In fact, it doesn't hurt a thing to leave a DLP running 24/7. The lamp will actually last longer due to less power cycles. A DLP should be powered off for at least 30 minutes before being powered up again. Anything less is asking for trouble!
Yea... there's a chance that your ballast is a little weak, but I wouldn't replace it until I broke in the lamp a while.
There's also a chance that you got a less than perfect lamp. It should be under warranty if that's what you suspect after giving it some time. Be more careful and...good luck!
Thanks for your response. Rest assured, I'm not abusing this set by any means. I paid more than five grand for this set over three years ago and the last thing I would do is abuse this expensive set. I never unplug this set after it has been on for any length of time knowing full well that the bulb must cool.
I went ahead turned off the DLP last night after six hours of watching TV with no issues. Turning it on this morning now reverts back to the power cycling and then the dreaded three flashing LED's. Now what do I do?
Another concern for anyone that may provide some support:
I ordered the bulb listed for the HLM617W from MCM, a great company to deal with. However I found out once I got the bulb, the frame box for it wasn't exactly the same as the old one. It fit and looked the same, except for the top power plug. So instead of sending it back, I simply removed the actual bulb from the new fixture and put it in the frame of the old fixture and everything worked fine, until I powered off the set and later tried to power on about an hour later. I now come to find out that there are two diffent bulbs that fit various productions of this DLP (One version made in Korea vs. Mexico and/or one mfg. before or after April 2003 mfg date) Mine was mfg in Korea in Feb 2003, so the bp96-00224b is what is supposed to replace the original bp96-00224a that has apparently been discontinued. However MCM sent me the bp96-00224J, a more common model, which is my fault for not doing additional research before I ordered.
Is it more likely that the new bulb and old ballast are incompatible (differnt mfgs?) or is it more likely that the ballast is simply shot? Should I order the right bulb with a new ballast, or just a new bulb or just a new ballast?
So, I finally got a replacment BP96-00224A bulb which apparently is the direct exchange for my bulb. It worked like a charm, for about 28 days, then the same dreaded 3 light warning came back, and my DLP would not fire up again. I assumed the worst, ordered a ballast, and replaced that. No Joy. Now what? New bulb, new ballast whats next? New DLP??
