I’ve got one of the early models of the Samsung 43′ DLP Television
sets. We’ve been through a lot together, but it’s just a fantastic
picture. I love it.
Thankfully, I purchased the extended warranty for 4 years, because
I’ve been through 3 lamps. However, as always, something went wrong
after the warranty expired. It started a few months ago, a buzzing
sound. It started out pretty soft, like someone was holding a very thin
wire in the blades of a running fan. As weeks passed, that sound
increased, and finally it became an all-out scream (just in time for
the World Cup).
Inside this television are only two moving parts that could cause
that sound, the cooling fan and the color wheel. I know about the color
wheel because I’ve seen it talked about over and over again on the
Internet. I think the service guy may have mentioned it once or twice
when he was here replacing the lamp. With all that mention, clearly
this thing has issues. And, I can see the fan, and it doesn’t spin at
the same time that this sound is produced.
What’s
a color wheel? I’m not sure exactly it’s purpose, but it has a small
motor and it spins at about 9000 RPM. The older model Samsung
televisions are plagued with the problem where the bearings in this
little motor go and starts to sound like a banshee, or at least what I
imagine a screaming banshee to sound like. Anyway, it’s pretty bad.
It needed to be replaced. There was no longer any putting it off. I
happened to mention it to a BestBuy sales-kid and asked him where I
should have it fixed. He said I could just call a local Samsung
authorized repair shop, or “you could just repair it yourself.” The
words echoed in my mind. I never considered that possibility and I
dreaded the thought of my television being picked up or dropped off and
gone for weeks. When I got home, I went online and found a few forums
where guys shared that they successfully replaced their own color
wheels and that it wasn’t that difficult. Say no more…
If you have the same problem and are thinking about fixing it
yourself, it really isn’t that difficult. If you’ve ever taken your PC
apart, this is not much different… The process involves about 20
screws, 5 or 6 cables to unplug, and of course put it all back. The
toughest part about these projects is knowing what to take out and
where to look for the part you’re replacing. The first time, I took out
quite a bit more screws and cables than necessary. I did it again to
write this article and now you don’t need to think about all that.
this will be continued in next TIP
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