We have noticed that our 3 year old Hitachi 50V500A LCD Rear Projection TV has a red glow coming from the center of the screen. It has progressed to covering almost the entire screen and has affected the color of the picture. Everything that is supposed to be white is now yellowish green. It doesn't matter which input it is on. Adjustments to the color have little or no effect and it ihas become almost impossible to watch.
I would like to know if any one has any idea as to what may have failed. I am willing to have the set repaired but I would like to have an idea of what could be wrong and how much I am looking to spend before I commit to taking a HUGE t.v. in for repair only to be told that the cost is out of my budget. Any comments would be appreciated! Thanks!
You've got a bad optical engine in that set. Very common in the V500 series. If you're under 3 years the engine is covered, if you're over 3 years the warranty has expired. Expect to pay around $1200 - 1500 to repair the set.
Thank you so much MOtvGuy. That tells me that it will definately have to wait until after the holidays. You said that the optical engine should be covered for 3 years but my warranty says 1 year on parts and labor. Does this part have an extened warranty due to it's common failure? If so I will try to get it covered due to the actual time of failure being at least 6 months ago.
I appreciate your time in helping me!!
Yes, they extended the warranty out to 3 years but only on the engine. If you've gone over the 3 year mark you may have to work with Hitachi's customer service people to get a variance on this and I'd suggest contacting them NOW and not waiting.
I am all over it!! Thank you again!!! You have been more help than anyone I have talked to!!! I will let you know how it works out.
Hi MotvGuy,
Well I have spoken to the factory and was told that there is only a 1 year warranty on ALL part and labor and that they do sometimes honor a repair past that time under certain circumstances. Should I dig deeper into this. I will have to wait until after the holidays to take it in for diagnosis in case I am not covered, but I don't want to blow any chances of warranty help. Any additional advise would be appreciated!
Thanks
We replace 3-4 Hitachi engines in V500 series sets a week. All under warranty even though the set is anywhere from 1 1/2 to 3 years old. This is a VERY common problem. The symptoms are either a reddish screen like you have or bluish blobs. Hitachi has started to suggest we clean the LED screens instead of automatically sticking an engine in the unit. We've had little success doing that. Re-contact them and let them know that you know they've had problems with the engines in these sets and that units over 1 year old are getting replaced under warranty.
Is this T.V. worth fixing? Can we expect more trouble with it in the future? If we can't get the repair under warranty, it will be almost 1/2 the cost of investing in a new one. What brands would you recommend us looking into should we decide to go new? What sets have less trouble? Thanks!!
Just reading your postings. We just spent 3 days on the phone with Hitachi and we too have the red screen. They refuse to pay for our part. We were told it was no longer under warranty and the TV is only 2 years old. NOT IMPRESSED after spending all that money on a product with a so-called good name. Well as they say, the product is only as good as the service. Where do we go from here? I can only say that if we get a new set it won't be Hitachi.
Where do you live Pradcliffe?
I can direct you to one of our service centers. We've got quite a few across the country.
I would appreciate any help with this....we are getting quite frustrated. Thanks.
Hi MOtvGuy, I live in southern california. Do you have any service centers in our area? Thanks
Just an update....my husband just got off the phone again with Hitachi (day 4). They said the answer is still "NO". We are past the 1 yr warranty date and there's not a thing they are interested in doing for us. Won't admit to a problem with the system and they don't care what people said on the internet about having the repairs done. THEY ARE NOT GOING TO DO ANYTHING FOR US. $4000 for 18 months of use....just like that!
We have a center in LA. Phone number 562-942-1555
pradcliffe, I'm afraid our closest center to you is in either Boston or Syracuse NY. Neither will do you much good. Where did you buy your set from?
Well, I did some checking today and I've found out that the 3 year warranty is only on sets that Rent-A-Center owns. Unfortunately the engines for everyone else are only covered for a year. This is unfortunate because we're seeing a very high failure rate in these things. We no longer get new engines from Hitachi for replacement, they're all rebuilds and some of them are bad right out of the box. I've also had a couple rebuilds last less than a year when they developed the same reddish screen symptom and the original engine they replace. Sorry for all those stuck with these sets. Hitachi has recommended attempting to clean the LCD panels in the sets but the ones we've tried this on didn't work out so well.
I have same red cloud issue and would like some guidance. I had an extended warrenty through Conns that expired 12/18/06. (2 years from date of purchase.) Should I start with Hitachi service center or the 3rd party warrenty provider? I suspect warrenty center will just look to date of expiration and take a bye. Thanks.
State52, Im sure the extended warranty provider will go by the date 100%, and say too bad the warranty is expired as per our contract.. Now according to what I have been reading from MotvGuy, Hitachi is extending the warranty on the light engine for another year or two on sets this is happening too. I would be persistant, contact an authorized repair place for Hitachi and see what they have to say in the matter. If you cannot get anywhere with them, or Hitachi, contact the Attorney Generals office in the state you live in and tell them you seen online where Hitachi is covering some sets for consumers but not others. Also explain that Hitachi wants 1200 for a 3000 TV set, to repair the fault that is happening to all of these models of TV sets and thats after only a year or so of use! Let us know how you made out, and Good Luck.
Hello,
My name is Keith and I live in Tampa,Fla. I have come to find out that I have an issue with my optical engine as well. They have went on to say that there is a substitute part that costs 413.00 with the core exchange. The labor to replace is 250.00 that is a total of 665.00 without tax. Is this worth the repair bill, or should we just trade up to a plasma?? Thanks for your help in this matter,
Keith Tampa, Fla.
Hi Keith ,I would rather buy a sony or sharp LCD, last longer if your lucky.
Thanks for the reply, I guess that this TV thing is overated. There are no guarantees anymore. sony lcds probably are better.
What they're talking about is one of the rebuilt engines. Like I said, they will fix the set but we have seen a few come back within a year with the identical reddish screen problem or the blue blobs. As to whether it's worth it is up to you. It's quite possible a rebuilt put into your set will extend it's life quite a few more years.
I just read the entire thread and the prognosis doesn't look good for me. I have the 50VX500 that I purchased in Jan 2004 and currently have the red sun burst glow too. FYI I called Hitachi's servcie hotline and the claim they haven't heard of this problem. I mentioned to them about the multiple sites that reference this same problem and they claim many other owners are not having this problem. Is there any legal options one could take or maybe leverage the lemon law? -- sadviewer
Hitachi has said they will replace the light engine if I pay the labor. I have a Hitachi service center repairman coming tomorrow to confirm the problem is the light engine. (Phone est. of labor $500) Keep on Hitachi. They clearly knew about the problem and didn't give me much grief. I'll keep you posted.
All I can say is we replace Hitachi engines in the V500 series on a weekly basis. As in several each week for the past year or so.
Update, I was just informed by Hitachi Customer Relations that they will replace the part for free and ship the color engine to the service center in my area. I very thankful for everyone's advice in pushing the issue with Hitachi. I let you know how the repair goes when they have replaced the color engine. Thanks much!!
sadviewer, what number for hitachi did you call. Having same problem.
David4817, Try this number for Customer Relations 1-800-654-7013, let me know what happens.
I have the same problem, along with the blue blob problem that just started last week. I have had a red screen for over a year. Anyway, I called the service center today at the number above and got this response......
"There are no known problems with this telivision set or any of Hitachis telivision sets, so we would be happy to send someone out to you for repair but unfortunatly no costs would be covered"
I argued with the jerk for 20 minutes and he kept repeating the same line of crap.
I finally gave up and said, OK I get it there are no known problems with any of Hitachi's sets so there is no need for Hitachi to provide customer support, so what are you doing there?
When I let him know that several people had this problem he told me
"you cant verify anything you read on the internet".
Just wanted to give an update. Hitachi is sending the light engine to the repair center at no cost. I had to pay for service call and will have to pay labor to install, now est. at $250. Thanks for everyones help.
Just an update on my red cloud problem. After many phone calls and much persistence, Hitachi Canada has agreed to pay for the Optical Engine and we pay labor. We just got our set back today and picture is excellent.
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