I have a 44 inch DLP "44NHM84" Toshiba. Approx 1 1/2 years old The picture has been exceptional ,up to 2 weeks ago. There is a shadow going down the left side of the screen...top to bottom approx. 5 to 6 inches wide. The picture is still there, but darker. The rest of the picture looks normal. Note has original bulb.
Being a projection t.v. ...I thought may be some dirt got into the works some how and was blocking the image. I bought a service manual to no avil. It did not have a trouble shooting guide, or repair procedures. It did have a parts break down and adjustment procedures. So I torn down the set down,to what I think, is called the lignt tunnel. Removed a pannel on the bottom and accessed a set of mirrors. I discovered a very dirty mirror...which I cleaned, and reassembeled the set. The picture has not changed...my be a little brighter,...and the shadow is still there.
Any ideas what I should do next? Thanks in advance. Don
Here is an excellent tutorial, with many pictures, done by gobbeg, on how to repair the light tunnel on a 44NHM84. http://www.chrisdicockers.com/Amateur...
Look at the Micro display. If it has the black line in it its a driverr problem or the display itself. Most likly a display driver IC or the ribbon cable connecting the display Ic to the microdisplay. Good Luck and let us know how you made out!
Thanks Larry,....I will let you know when I get a chance to play with my set again.
good for you!! will be waiting for your findings
I have this same problem with a Toshiba 50" DLP. The shadow is about 1.5" at the top and widens to 2" at the bottom. It started a few weeks ago after we moved the set to install carpeting. The set is not even a year old. Do I need a repair manual or will your suggestions be covered in the manual that came with the TV?
No, if its less then a year old Call a service agent now! before it goes out of warranty! This set should have a year warranty! Dont hesitate or it may cost you big bucks! Let us know how you made out.
Hi Larry , per your suggestions, I reseated the the 24 pin cable, "sub digital "PWB to the "drive for LVDS" PWB...with no luck. Both PWB's are shielded and look like they are part of the chassie's they are mounted to. So could not reseat the PWB's
A better discription of the problem..... dark shadows top to bottom with the picture still in the shadow....working from right to left......4 1/4" wide with out color execpt the color in the picture...then 1/4" hint of green.....then1/4" hint of red.....then 1/2" normal picture.....then 1/8 hint of red......then the rest of the picture is normal. Oh...this is on the right side, not the left as I first told you....I don't know if that makes a differance or not. Don't know my left from my right.
Do you think the white balance adjustment might help? Thanks Don
Samsung is sending a tech. I'll try to remember to post the solution when I learn it.
Hi Larry, Haven't heard from you. Any idea what I can try next. Thanks Don
TPen What did the tech do to fix your 50" DLP
Don Im not really sure at this point as you did all of the things that can be done to see about bad connections. Its most likly a driver board assy.
I am having the same problem with my DLP Toshiba. Have you fixed the black shadow?
Tahnks
I had the same problem with my 20 month old 44 inch Toshiba DLP. I had a dark vertical shadow covering the left side of the screen.
Since my warranty had expired I had to pay for the repair.
Here in Vancouver the cost of repair was as follows..
1 light tunnel cdn$165.78
+ Labour cdn $295.00
Total $460 cdn.
The repair was carried out at a small tv repair shop.
The part was quite small (about 1inch x 2 inches)!
The technichian said that problems like this are common. The heat inside the set can damage parts liike this. FYI There are two cooling fans inside the set.
Hope this helps
Frank
I have been told , the whole light engine needs to be replaced The engine is about 1' long x 6" wide x 6" high with a circuit board attached, with a lens. Also been told. Mirriors inside the engine fall out of place...... my guess is inferior glue I have been inside my set and don't know what a light tunnel would be. Part of the engine?????? The engine appears to be a sealed unite. The lamp shines light to a small unit approx 1" square. Do you know if that is the light tunnel and if can be replaced? My set has been waiting for the engine for over three weeks. Cost would be $900-to-$1200 Parts + labor
I would greatly appreciate any further info. Thanks Don
Hi Don421,
In my (non professional) opinion. I think you only need the light tunnel. I believe this is the small square you are reffering to in your description.
Cost should be about Cdn$165 = US$140 + cost to install
The light tunnel can be replaced (mine was replaced two days ago)
Rgds
Frank
Frank
On Monday I will check into it, and will get back to you. Thanks for the info.
Don
Don,
Your description of the problem, (dark vertical shadow on screen) is exactly what I had on my 44NHM84. So hopefully you can have yours repaired in the same way.
Good luck!
Frank
Don,
I have exactly the same situation as you're experiencing with the same model tv. My set is 20 months old. Just before Christmas I lost the whole picture but not the audio. Turns out, the bulb had blown. This somewhat frustrated me as I was under the impression these bulbs were to last 10 to 12 thousand hours. I don't watch more than 20 hrs of tv a week, so you do the math. I installed a new bulb ( $319 cdn.) five days ago. Yesterday I turned on the tv and saw a shadow on the right hand side of the screen, exactly the same as you're describing. Long story short, I went into the Toshiba repair shop and was told that there's a 99% chance it is the light tunnel and there is a small chance that by the bulb blowing it may have set off a chain of events with the heat and all. I guess my question is, eventhough the tv is now off warranty, does anyone reading this think I have a snowballs chance of at least getting Toshiba to pay for the repair of the light tunnel? This appears to be a common problem and as you know, it wasn't a cheap TV.
Thanks
A light engine cost approx. $300.. give or take $50....with a new lamp And to install approx $200 Price on the engine has come way down in recent months. It was the light engine in my set. My set looks like new... To bright ,in standard mode .. had to adjust constrast and brightness down ... now looks perfect.
I have heard the lamp is good for approx 5000 to 6000 hr. But not sure.
Toshiba is an excelent company. I would call them. You have nothing to loose. Good luck Don
den59
Did you call Toshiba???? What was the out come of your call??
Toshiba does stand behind their products. Let me know.
Thanks Don
Interesting thread. I have the same model television and it was getting dimmer and dimmer. The manual indicated that the bulb needed replacing if no image or if brightness was poor. I bought a new bulb and put it in the TV and the result was EXACTLY the same. Very dim picture. I can see the whole picture (ie it is equally dim across the entire screen)...so it certainly wasn't the bulb.
I got into the service menu (hold menu on TV AND menu on remote at the same time for about 10 seconds..be careful once you're in!) and checked the bulb hours (3110 hrs), I bought the TV in early January 2005..so almost exactly 24 months old. Not sure what to do...buying a plasma might be cheaper than repairing! I currently have it tore apart on my workbench hoping to find a dirty lense or something. I downloaded the service manual from a guy on eBay...let me know if anyone wants a copy (PDF format). It appears to be revision 1, so not all the service menu items match up, but the schematics and exploded views are accurate. I looked up the part number for the Light Engine on BestBuyParts.com and it appears to be $1053...yikes!
Don 421,
Haven't called Toshiba but will before the end of the week. I'll keep you posted.
Dennis
The problems are caused by heat buildup inside the engine warping the metal frames the lens are attached to. Yes, it gets really, really hot in there. The 50 and 56HM66 series is experiencing a high amount of engine failures with the dark bar across the top symptom. Most of these require replacement of the engine to be corrected properly. Anyone attempting to take an engine apart stands the chance of damaging it permanently.
Aargh. That is my reaction after reading all this, because i am in the same boat. Bought a 44" DLP (44NHM84) 2 years ago, and within 6 months it started getting dim. I then had to go to Europe for about 6-7 months so didnt follow up on the warranty, and then when finally get it back up and running it is DARK. So I bought a bulb, and that did nothing. Took it into the shop here in San Diego, and they are telling me it needs a new light engine. $695 for the part and $298 for labor.
Is it worth fixing?!?!?!? I read on this forum that Toshiba is good, but there sure seem to be lots of problems on this thread. Better to just spend another grand and get a flat screen? Or anyone know how to buy a cheaper light engine?
Thanks!
Sorry Kurt...I gave up given the cost to fix (reburbed 44NHM84's are going online for $800-$900, so couldn't justify). I swallowed hard and went out and bought a 50" plasma (NOT TOSHIBA!!). I know the guy that runs the store where I bought both the Toshiba and the new plasma, and he gave me a deeeep discount given the circumstances. They can only stand behind your product for so long before there is nothing they can do for you (they certainly weren't going to fix it for free). This plasma is rated for 27 years (@ 6hours per day) and it came with a full 3 year warranty. Nothing like spending $5000 in 2 years for darn TV(s). I guess I expect things to go wrong every now and then, but the light engine?? (the most expensive and critical component?)...give me a break! Too bad for Toshiba, I spend a LOT of money on electronics, and I am the go-to guy around here to recommend products.
I May part it out on ebay. Everyone I know wants to take it out to the range and shoot it up....very tempting!
Thanks Tomolloy... i am afraid you are correct, this just isnt worth fixing. Crap.
K
I everybody got together and filed a complaint with the Attorney Generals office, maybe, just maybe, Toshiba would extend the warranty on the light engines the same as Hitachi did on their faulty light engines. I would think an expensive TV set such as this would last longer then a couple of years.
Great idea Larry - how does something like this even happen? It seems daunting... We have a handful of disgruntled clients on this thread, though i wonder what the overall failure rate is. We might be the 0.05%.
Then again, maybe this is class-action sort of stuff.
Anyone with the time, energy, and expertise around to check on this?
I am a former toshiba tech. The problems with the shadow are as follows. If the shadow is the same width along any side then the light tunnel has dropped a mirror. The light tunnel is a rectangular box about 1" by 2'' and it sits between the lamp and the color wheel assembly. The glue that holds the 4 mirrors in place loses it's grip and one of the mirrors falls down. Now you have a 3 sided box. You can pull the lamp assembly off, then remove the light tunnel itself. After the light tunnel is out be very careful and reglue the mirror in place a good heat resistant adhesive will work. Be careful not to get any residue on the mirrors or you will see it on the screen. If the shadow is bigger on one end then the other then all you need to do is adjust the 3 allen screws on top of the prism assembly. Look for red glyptal paint on the screws. As far as the dark screen try cleaning all the prisms there are 3 and also the color wheel itself. You would be surprised how much dirt can accumulate inside these light engines, they are not airtight.
Thanks Skyhawk for the info.
I have a happy ending to my saga... Toshiba was actually about to take care of me due to the early failure of the light engine, and then they noticed on the receipt that i sent in that i had actually purchased an extended warranty. Man, i never buy those, but i guess i had a moment of unconscious brilliance. So it looks like the problem will soon be fixed. Best $150 insurance policy i have ever bought.
I have told many peeps in the past and will still say it, if the set is expensive, make the extended warranty part of the purchace. These sets are nothing like the TV sets in the past. They will for sure break down within 2 to 5 years and be very very expensive to repair. If you or anyone else has an oppitunity to purchace an extended warranty after the sale, as some manufactures will try to sell you one before the original warranty runs out, BUY IT, or even if you have an extended warranty on a set and it is about to run out, see if the insurance carrier will let you purchace another extended warranty. If you did not read my article about the extended warranty it is posted HERE
Don 421, sorry I haven't gotten back sooner. We eventually did get ahold of Toshiba however they weren't prepared to help us. I realize that they're under no obligation as we didn't buy the extra warranty but I would've thought that because this seems to be a common problem with this particular model, that they night have done something to help.
Before I take it in for repair, I'm going to try Skyhawk's suggestion and see if I can find and repair the problem myself. I've got nothing to lose at this point, that is if I don't screw things up more. By the way Skyhawk, if you're reading this, what kind of adhesive do you recommed if the problem turns out to be a fallin off mirror in the light tunnel? Thanks
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