CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[ptkctc]

I got another one today, I decided to go pick it up before I even knew what model of tv it is.


After I saw it in person, I thought "aw man, not one of these!", but he then told me that it wasn't a DLP, but was a hybrid LCD/Rear-projection set...

Hmmmm, I missed the info train on these somehow, I guess I always discounted them as DLP's when I saw one on display, and never even paid attention to them.


I was told that it had a color smearing or rainbow effect when the lightbulb was still good and they watched it up until it blew, and then decided to get a new set. I plugged it in and it blinks all the lights for errors until you actually try to power it on, then the lamp light illuminates and stays on.


If this set is fixable for under $300, Ill give it a shot. I found a light engine for it already, but am not sure that it will fix the sets color smearing that was described. I also can get a lamp too and be under budget, but I read on AVS about a "screen" that can go bad and actually causes the color smearing.

I am confused as to whether this "screen" is a micro screen thats part of the light engine, and thus gets replaced with it, or if its the actual big viewing screen itself that needs replacement. If its the big screen, ill part it out and not waste any time on it because I cant even locate any replacement view screens or any reference to them for this set.


Am I in for a lot of trouble attempting to revive this set? To me, it seems that if this particular technology was superior, they would be really popular today (this set says 2005 on the back). Maybe I am still in the dark on these sets, and should just junk it out immediately... lol!

[ptkctc]

After reading alot of post about this set, I am gonna still take the chance and try a new light engine, Im gonna get a new lamp first to get the set to power on so I can see exactly what the problem with the color blotches looks like.

From what I have found, a replacement light engine will include everything that goes bad, including the "color filters" that get blistered by the lamp heat. I am also going to add some additional cooling around the general area, to help keep the color filters from burning again. The lcd screen I read about, from my understanding, is also a part of the light engine. I am glad about that, I can only imagine what a replacement 60" LCD panel, if this thing needed/had one, would cost. It would likely be more than a whole new tv nowadays.


Ill revive this once I get a bulb and post some pics of what the display looks like, I am curious as this LCD-RPTV stuff is all new to me. I am willing to chance my money on a set that popular opinion says was a lemon, but it will be a learning experience at the least for me.


If it pays off, Ill have a (I THINK its HD), an HD set for pennies on the dollar. It will be my luck that its just a "HD ready set, with no actual HD capabilities nor atsc tuner. Thats ok, but i would figure that a set like this would be HD by default. I can't find an exact statement regarding the 60V500A, but I have read remarks that the 60V500 is NOT an HDTV. Sounds close enough to this model to be the same, what difference does the letter "A" mean? Revision A, grey cabinet, maybe a certain model sold only through a particular retailer (I use motion activated cameras around my property made by a company called moultrie that always has several different variations of the same cam with model #'s that have letters at the end signifying where the model was sold at).



To be continued.....

[ecrabb]

My inlaws have a slightly newer version of that set. It's an early 720p set... Basically an LCD projector in a box. There's nothing "hybrid about it". Rear-projection, but with LCD as the light engine.

It's not technically an HDTV because it has no ATSC tuner; technically just HD-ready. DVI and (I think component) are the only HD inputs; no HDMI.

Personally, I wouldn't sink $300 into that set. You should be able to get a slightly newer, working, DLP or Sony SXRD RPTV for similar money. I see stuff like that on craigslist here all the time.

Another way to look at it is that $300 is literally half of a brand new 50" LCD set that you can hang on the wall, with full 1080p, HDMI inputs, built-in tuner, and far better picture quality.

I'll put it another way. If you spend $300 and get it working, you'd never get $300 back out of it.

Sorry to be a wet blanket.

SC

[ptkctc]

[HD-DAVE]

I restored a 50V500A about 3 or 4 years ago and its still working...its the little brother of your set....these things are known for having the light engines fail due to a plugged filter on the bottom of it....that causes excessive heat inside the optical block and the R/G/B filters get toasted and the lcd panels after that to be toasted and create a circular discoloration across the entire screen. What I did was find the newer generation light engine used on ebay ( it has a bigger air inlet /filter on the back instead of the bottom), and I also wired in an extra cooling fan to draw cool air into the set at the back, pointed right at the LE. If you can find a light engine for less than $200 these sets actually have a fantastic picture at 720p. No HDMI but I just bought an HDMI to DVI adapter for $25 and solved that problem.

[ptkctc]

[ptkctc]

New update:

Well I am screwed now, I almost made it to the end of the month to where I could finally afford to commit to the light engine I had picked out, but it got sold right before I got a question answered about it. It was suspiciously listed as a " UX22203D light engine for hitachi 50v500"....

I wanted to know if it was the light engine for the 50V500 which would be a UX22201/d/dr, or was really a UX22203/d/dr and for a 60V500A. It said in the small description that it was a "UX22201 for a 50V500" so it was very misleading. It got sold before I got my question answered, but I don't feel so bad seeing that it was a reseller that had it, and likely didn't know himself what the light engine was really for. (he has dishwasher, heavy appliance parts more than electronics listed in his store).


So I am back to square one, and I have decided to try Moduslink to see if it can be rebuilt. They have it listed as $230 for r&r, but my LE is the original UX22203, not the revision UX22203D.

I have fired an email to them to see if they can do the modifications to the LE to make it a UX22203D equivalent, since hitachi was rebuilding UX22203 parts back in 2005 as UX22203D. I was hoping it wasnt something that would be too hard for them while they had it apart.

If not, I may need some assistance from HD-DAVE to help me decide exactly how to go about making some serious air-flow mods to the non-revision LE housing once I get it back from Moduslink, as I know that it will die again in the same manner 110% guaranteed and soon if the LE doesnt have the extra ventilation. I will not accept or use it before the additional ventilation is done, because I have read stories about rebuilt original version LE's lasting only a couple of days before the color smears/pushing began anew. I may turn it on for about 5 minutes after a loose mock up assembly to make sure that before I ruin my moduslink warranty by cutting into it, the LE works flawlessly with no dead pixels, color push, banding, bad focus or convergence errors.


Oh well, Ill eventually get it fixed. I just gotta overcome this new obstacle of modifying that metal box so it dont burn up again. I am only trying this once so I want to do it right. Overkill wont hurt either, Id be happy as long as it keeps the panels from melting again.


Also, If anyone here knows of a source for no-core required replacement for under $300, that would work as well. I doubt anyone in the know would take a UX22203 as a core for a UX22203D, so I may end up having to straight up buy another one if I want a new revision LE. I find a few places online with them listed for around $260, but they all say "out of stock/special order usually available in 4-5 business days". That tells me that Ill get an email back in a week after ordering telling me that there is no more left anywhere, and I am out of luck at this point in time..... classic.

[ptkctc]

To further explain what I am talking about, look down this page to post #1427 with the pics:

http://www.avsforum.com/t/351829/hitachi-lcd-v500-issues-thread/1410



I need to make my light engine look like the one in the pic on the bottom. Mine just has that pathetic little circular hole like the top pic. It looks like a simple mod, the hardest part will be disassembling the light engine so a dremmel/cutting tool can be used to cut the metal out of the box without getting metal shards everywhere inside it.


The question is, what side of that box is the large, improved vent cut into? It looks like its on the opposite side that the circular vent thats to be blocked off is located under. I want to make sure I dont cut into a spot that will alter or negatively effect the performance of the LE. Looks like following what hitachi did to the originals themselves would be a good guideline.

Additionally, If i add any additional fans to the setup, would they mount externally or internally like the original round hole if theres a fan behind that? And where to tap into power at? I could run a dedicated multi-voltage power supply off a robust 12-24vdc feed if there was one available inside that would handle the extra load, and I could then wire up to 4 more fans if I wanted.

Come back in a month or so and check out what has been done so far, itll be a hoot because if possible, Ill mount 4 additional fans to that box, Ill have so many that dust wouldn't have a chance of sticking to anything inside because it will be moving at gale force.... I always run an oreck air purifier in here so fan noise is a non-issue for me. It could make the pushmower noise and I wouldn't care.

[HD-DAVE]

The new larger rectangular vent for the "improved" LE is on the back side of the LE, facing the rear cover of the set. I cut a hole in my rear cover panel as close to directly behind that vent as possible and wired in a small 12 volt fan to blow "outside" air directly at it...rather than the vent drawing in heated up air from within the set. Referring to the service manual I found a supply rail off the power supply ( I think 12 volt ) that had some spare "ampacity" and tapped into it...actually I think my fan was a 24 volt unit so at 12 volt only draws i think 30 or 40 mA so small potatoes. Works great so far !

[HD-DAVE]

By the way, the entire saga of me getting my 50V500A working is right here on the forum:

https://www.curtpalme.com/forum_archived/viewtopic.php@t=18183.html

The refurbed/redesigned LE for my set was a UX22202DR.... I paid $160 for it. In one of my last posts for that thread i stated it had a label "ATTENTION: This KS06623 Optical light engine must only be connected in the chassis of sets with the following model numbers: 50V500A, 50VX500, 50C10 and 50V500G. September 17, 2008". It also has a lamp part no. sticker "UX21511" "Jun, 2008" on it as well. "

...Dave

[HD-DAVE]

Oh...and the "R" in the UX22202DR part # stands for "refurbished". That info was thanks to MacGyver!

[ptkctc]

[ptkctc]

Nothing new yet on the 60", but today I picked up a 50V500 that has just a little blue starting to show up at the lower left side. I laughed to myself partly due to seeing quite a few of these popping up for sale lately.


I'd say I'll end up with more of these in the coming year. I actually sent an email to an ad for a 60v500a several days ago, the price was $300 but if it was a set with an undamaged LE, I was willing to do that because I am going to be at least that much into my 60v500a, counting LE r&r, shipping, and a lamp.

In my email I was polite, but firm in asking about the condition of the display, and I detailed what I did not want and the explanation for the concern. I never heard back from them, yet the ad is still up. Maybe its already sold, or I intimidated them into not replying back, if they know its LE is already past the point of no return. In any case, I got this 50" today for nothing, and it has a good lamp and a remote which I needed as well.

I haven't been able to bring it in yet, Its still sitting inside the garage because my help needed to go and I overestimated my strength thinking I was going to carry it inside by myself. I may go get the lamp out of it, so I can put it in the 60" and see the extent of the damage the light engine in it has taken. Ill post pics if its something noteworthy.

[AnalogRocks]

Do you resell these when you are done or do you watch allot of channels all at once?

[AnalogRocks]

Do you resell these when you are done or do you watch allot of channels all at once?

[ptkctc]

LOL The plan was to originally sell them, but so far they are all still here; I promised myself to stop if I ever acquire one of the last Mitts 65" CRT sets that I can fix, or one of their older, monster 82" sets. No more after that, all will stay outside in the garage and be fixed and sold for "OBO", or junked out.

I will eventually run out of room in here too, so something will have to give (60"(60v500a) + "50(50v500) + 60"(60ux58b) + "61 (ptk195) + "52 (ptk195) + "50 (I ended up with my aunts toshiba 50hdx82 because the q801 chip died the next day), All except the 50v500 are present... I will probably keep one of the v500 tvs, and also the older ultravision that I changed the fluid in. The 2 RCA sets can go. I junked the small mitts set I had, I finally determined that the blue crt was shorted, and it was in really bad cosmetic shape as well (moisture damage). The toshiba hdx set, depending on if it needs a simple STR chip vs another PSB, will either be returned, or kept as a bedroom tv.

I don't have enough cable or connectors,.or i'd try to hook them all up at once just for kicks, that is if my circuit breaker could handle it (the old school hitachi tells me to "STOP" every once in awhile if the power surges due to the the combo of the refridgerator, water heater and HVAC cycling, so its a factor).

[AnalogRocks]

I remember the 82" sets. A local bar in Buffalo had one.

[AnalogRocks]

I remember the 82" sets. A local bar in Buffalo had one.

[ptkctc]

I took both the sets apart, I didnt want to even try turning them on before I knew the condition of the air filter. To my surprise and dismay, I found that the 50" has a second revision light engine already installed, and has already got blue color smearing past the point of no return.



The date is a dead giveaway that its been changed...



I can't blame it on the light engine, but I can on the lack of maintenance (more on that towards the end of this post):




There is actually two filters on the intake, one thats held in by plastic rivets and a second that slips into slots in the metal box:



They are clean in this pic:




The damaged color filter:





I went ahead and stuck the 50" back together for now, its watchable with minimal blue smearing and since I cleaned the air filters, the color smearing should not progress any further.

Next I took the 60" apart. I wasn't as fortunate here but I was sure It was a 1st design light engine (the most failure prone version). As expected, the small round air vent filter on the bottom was clogged up:




The damage is more severe to this light engine, as all but the green filter is burned. The red colored one is starting to bubble and bulge out around the burn marks, but the blue colored filter shows worse scorching of the color:



I cleaned the air filter, just in case I decide to put the lamp in it to see what the display looks like. Its going to be sent off at the first of the year to be rebuilt with updates applied.








Back to maintenance, I had originally listed inaccurate info about the filter location which i have edited out. I will at a later date when I get around to getting the LE's rebuilt, list another way I see that offers access to the air filter from the outside of the set. It may involve a dremmel/side-grinder, but theres an easier way to get to them w/o disassembly of the set (hint: through the bottom). I may also mod the mounting plate to accept a small fan to circulate fresh air into that area too, since its where the LE draws air from (theres a phoned-in shroud thats partly behind the pusher fan for the lamp that draws air from the mounting plate box through the LE, so improving on that area couldn't hurt).



Thats all I am going to do for right now, I am debating just leaving the 60" apart, until I get the LE r&r'd sometime in Jan. It s easier to manage, as I can move both of them easily by myself when they are separated into two pieces (idk, alot of screws and small pieces can go MIA between now and then....).

I had to omit the "2 person lift" requirement to separate the tv in half due to nobody being around to help. I am glad though I know that I can disassemble them alone, but since it was general info, the disclaimer about requiring 2 people to lift the top off should apply. It feels like its roughly half the total weight of the set. Hey I could ALMOST carry the 50v500 in by myself, l would have tore it all to pieces bumping it into everything, but at least I could lift it off the ground enough to move it around lol!

[ptkctc]

Sorry, double post

[ptkctc]

Another thing I am trying out on the 50v500 is this:





I know its ugly, ghetto looking and rough, but if It is tolerable for me as far as noise and the draft it creates (I can feel the air moving in the room now), I will mount it more permenantly in place of the plastic outer grille. I originally did this to try to lower the temp coming out of the lamp side, but a side effect is now the blue color smear that it had in the lower left corner stays put. Before, as the set ran and got hot, the blue would creep up the screen and appeared alot worse than it did when first turned on. Id say its a failing LCD panel thats temp sensitive from the previously clogged filter, and when it gets hot, the failure continues to advance since the damage is already done.


Since I rigged the fan onto the back and shrouded the small part it doesnt cover, the temps.coming out of the set have been drastically reduced (it was scorching before, and it feels barely lukewarm now), and the blue stays put. It didnt fix what is already damaged, but it seems to be helping to keep the issue under control. Right now the fan is on an independant 12vdc power supply, but if it gets set into the grille, I may experiment with wiring it to the fan that is on the other side of the lamp pushing air. The way the set goes together, there is a slight gap between the lamp exhaust and the grille through the back of the set. My fan pulls both from the lamp exhaust, and also the entire set. I can feel air being pulled into the vent slots above the lamp psb, which was previously radiating hear. It may also help to make sure all the lamp exhaust heat makes it out of the set, and not pulled back into the set at the gap I mentioned and recirculated through the light engine.


In any case, it helped stop the blue color smear and thats the biggest perk. I expect mockery, Id mock it too if I didnt know the reason behind having an ugly fan like that hanging off the back of it. It will look better once mounted properly.

[AnalogRocks]

I run external cooling fans on most everything. To hell with what other people think, they don't own it or have to maintain it.

[AnalogRocks]

I run external cooling fans on most everything. To hell with what other people think, they don't own it or have to maintain it.