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[ZundapMan]

I purchased this large pedestal "top of the line" DLP Set in 2006. Within a year and a half it began occasionally "going blank" on the right hand side of the screen when I used the TV Guide function and very occasionally when watching an HD commercial from a local station. The set is configured with a so-called "cable card" rather than using the tuner in a cable company set top box. Eventually the problem got bad enough that I had a service tech come out and check out the set. He informed me that the only way to "fix" the problem was to get a new DMD board. Unfortunately, they have been on back order on various parts sites for at least a year now.

I have submitted a complaint to the Federal Consumer Protection folks about this issue since searching the web and finding a number of other folks who have documented, complete with pictures, the exact same problem with this set. All of us are apparently SOL because the offending part is probably a now obsoleted Texas Instruments DLP chip no longer being made. Even if Samsung wanted to refurbish old boards, they could not get parts for them either.

Before finally giving up completely on this system, I'm considering trying to find a high end computer processor cooling enhancement product which might fit inside the case and make the board run cooler. Right now if I watch SD source the set virtually never goes blank, and after turning it on cold, it will run for about an hour before the problem surfaces, but once it has "gone blank" it must be allowed to cool down completely. Turning it back on may then get another 45 minutes or so of uninterrupted operation.

Is there any other option that I might have to repair this set? The only DMD boards available for the HLR5688W series are some identified as "recycled" at a cost of $580 US with a 30 day warranty. Given the operating time to failure on my current board, I strongly suspect that I could run it through the bench tests applied to a recycled part and it would pass all of them because it wouldn't be run long enough or in the enclosed environment of the set and would not exhibit any detectable problems.

[ZundapMan]

No comments? Anyone else out there with the same issue?

[sallen1214]

I have a 43 inch Samsung that is having DMD board issues as well-- I responded to a post on cnet and several have posted here with the same issues-- after researching online I am convinced that probably all who bought one of these DLP TV's from Samsung is not happy and has had major issues which has left the TV useless...

The link to our post on cnet is below... I am really upset that Samsung has not done anything to make this wrong a right.

http://forums.cnet.com/5208-4_102-0.htm ... 07#3249407

[ZundapMan]

FYI: I went so far as to post a complaint to the consumer watchdog agency of the federal government and got back a reply which indicated that they only did "class actions." I guess this means that they need a lot more complaints before they will do anything. The problem here is partly the typical problem faced by engineers who deal with component suppliers and make interpretations of their specifications and requirements in their design decisions. Texas Instruments manufactured the main DMD chip which is used on most of the problem Projection TV units. Their specified operating requirements for temperature were very conservative in the eyes of the the Samsung engineers, so they set thresholds near the peak temperature allowed for their cooling sensors but did not take into account local (within the DMD chip) heating which, I suspect often exceeded the TI specifications before triggering the cooling fans, and possibly were so localized that any approach to assuring that the thresholds were not overshot were not considered economically feasible. Unfortunately, Samsung also has never responded to my inquiries regarding their case design which I deem essential to any personal effort to supplement the case cooling system. My technical support guru claims that he tried one approach and that by the time he tried it, the capacitors on board the DMD chip were already too badly cooked to allow his "fix" to succeed.

A key reason there are no spare parts is that TI fairly quickly abandoned the specific chip, and there were no regulations in place specifying that if a customer wanted more of them they were obligated to re initialize a production process and make them. The bottom line in our bureaucratic, corporate, globalized economy, consumers get screwed!

[ChubbsTech]

Hello ZundapMan.
You are right indeed about the corporate bureaucracy, but let me shed some light in this grim case. I assume that you have been looking for your part by your model number, that’s not entirely right; you should be searching it by part number instead. There are many model numbers that use the same parts, such as ballast, color wheel, DMD, etc. normally it’s the biggest number printed on the board, or it has a P / N written before it. Another tip would be that you might want to look what TV models share the same or a compatible DMD board, so you can look up in different websites and see if they have that other model number. Some companies try to sell you a DMD board for a certain model and another more expensive one from a different model, when in reality the share the same board.

[ZundapMan]

I'm pretty clear on that issue. Board pricing...

We have "given up" on this $2500 investment but are trying to limp along using it as a TV displaying standard definition source content which, for some reason, rarely triggers the problem. I suspect that it is in the programming approach used to implement the different "modes" of the display system. When the TV signal source data is in HD, especially in highly edited HD content, the problem is most likely to appear. As someone who understands why it is that certain tasks on my portable computer will trigger the cooling fan, it makes sense to me that rapid or jittering switches between modes are more likely to overheat a processor than a mode which was the original basis for the chip design which may mimic and certainly supports old analog screen display scan modes. These chips are highly integrated and built by machine in such a way that it has become highly unlikely that board level repairs of the type I was once capable of doing myself are even possible for folks with expensive specialized test benches and the mineaturized probes and tools that might be required. When we get through with a planned remodeling project, anyone who wants to tackle making my set work better will be welcome to it if they are willing to help me get it loaded on a truck to haul it away.

The environmental consequences of a problem like this are obvious. A whole lot more toxic "electronic waste" and losses of expensive finite natural resources used in the production process that created the set in the first place.

[stonkulture]

Yeah,...I've been dealing with this problem for about three years now. I had a warranty through the place where I bought it from, and they sent a 3rd party repair guy out. He first replaced the light engine,....problem STILL continued,..THEN EINSTEIN replaced Digital board and color wheel....(not sure if that's a part of the L.E. or not)...but replaced just 2 items non-the-less,...and STILL had the "half of a black screen" issue. The F@#$ed up thing, is that the black screen switches sides from time to time. Well,...EINSTEIN calls back to the warranty place and tells them that they should replace it. THESE A@$HOLES offer me either $1190.00usd, OR a 60" Mitsubishi HUGE (depth wise) PIECE OF SHOT replacement, that doesn't have HALF of the inputs that I needed (VGA being the biggie, as I use the HL-R5688W as extended computer monitor and run a optical line to my HK so as to allow the viewing of movies out in the living room) and frankly just wasn't the fix all the way around that I was hoping for. SO,...I spent about $3,800.00 USD for it back when it first came out back in 04-05....(on SALE....THANK HEAVENS) and have only gotten about 2 good years out of it. PERSONALLY, I absolutely LOVE the design of the damn thing,...but UNFORTUNATELY, I'm NOT made of money, no thanks to the economy. I ended up taking the money, which got used on more important things....like keeping a roof over my family's head. I digress.
ANYWAY,...so, after reading all of these posts, I'm gathering that the Digital Board,...or DMD...(the two are the same if I've been reading these Posts correctly?) needs to be replaced is the question I'm asking?
Another question is:,...Is it possible to take it out and give it to an electronics repair expert and get it fixed (if cost effective of course)...or POSSIBLY repair it myself? (I do have a clue when it comes to electronics as I'm a state certified general journeyman electrician and know how to read prints and electronic diagrams.......at least I like to think so )...or is there some special chip or something of that nature that has to be replaced on it and getting a replacement is the ONLY fix?
I thank who ever responds in advance......cause this is happening like every 15 minutes or so and getting down right RIDICULOUS and FRUSTRATING!!!

[ZundapMan]

One thing I have found which "helps" with this problem is keeping the vents to the case meticulously clean. I have been living with the problem most of the service life of now my third lamp. The lamps wear out faster because the only way to correct the "half screen" problem is to shut the set down. I find that if I wait the 1.5-3 minutes that it takes for the thermostatic controls to completely shut down the cooling fans the next failure comes less quickly. I'm in the process of designing a complete remodel of my kitchen and family room and will replace the set as a part of the remodeling process. In the meantime, watching it display standard resolution source material rather than HD keeps it from 'crapping out' nearly as frequently.

Texas Instruments, who designed the DMD (Light Engine) chip which is at the heart of the DMD boards on these sets, has discontinued the chip, so there will be no "new" replacement chips / boards available. Only recertified parts, which, given the design flaw in the systems using these chips, cannot be trusted as far as they can be thrown leaves us consumers with no recource unless a warranty vendor can be persuaded to pay up.

[miker07]

I have the half screen issue. I wrote a letter to the president of Samsung America.After a week I received a call. They agreed to fix my TV which is out of warranty on Tursday, June 15. Will keep you updated.

[stonkulture]

I have the half screen issue. I wrote a letter to the president of Samsung America.After a week I received a call. They agreed to fix my TV which is out of warranty on Tursday, June 15. Will keep you updated.

Uuuhhh,...today's NOT April 1st,....it's the 14th of June. You're ONLY supposed to say things like THAT on "April Fools' Day"!
Well,...you should send him a link to these posts. Like MANY others, I too have been dealing with this problem since BEFORE the service warranty had expired,..and they replaced the light engine, they replaced the ENTIRE bottom section, and it continued to do the SAME THING,....even AFTER the supposed problem had been switched out with a new one,..it did the SAME THING,.....and CONTINUES TO DO THE SAME THING....only NOW,..it does it like every 20 minutes. I had purchased quite a few other devises manufactured by Samsung,...but after investing nearly $5,000.00 in something that was SUPPOSED to LAST AND FUNCTION PROPERLY a lot longer than the mere TWO YEARS that it did, I TRULY am finding it difficult to justify the reasoning and logic in EVER purchasing ANYTHING that bears the "Samsung" brand EVER AGAIN. If fact, I've had NO problem what-so-ever disparaging them and dragging their name through the mud.....and the BAD part for THEM (THEM being "SAMSUNG" of course),...is that,...I'm OFTEN in front of LARGE MASSES of people, and these people aren't JUST people,...they're my FANS,....and they LISTEN to what I have to say. Now,...I'm NOT saying that I've been dragging their name through the dirt,....but seeings how there are a fair amount of people who have this issue, I REALLY think it would be wise for SAMSUNG to do the right thing, and rectify this issue with THEIR FANS,....cause I for one USED to be a fan,...but NO LONGER,...NOT UNTIL THEY MAKE THINGS RIGHT!!

OH,...and could you POSSIBLY,...PRETTY PLEASE, post the CEO of Samsung America's mailing address? I,...and I'm sure MANY OTHERS, THANK YOU SO MUCH in advance. Either that,...or as I mentioned earlier,...send the CEO a link to this post. Again,...THANK YOU!

[miker07]

It is not encouraging that you had your unit supposedly fixed and it continues to go half black. Anyway, we will see.

I sent my letter to:

Mr. Chang-Soo Choi, President
Samsung Electronics America
105 Challenger Rd.
Ridgefield Park NJ 07660

I sent via overnight delivery.

[miker07]

UPDATE: A Samsung technician replaced the digital board on Thursday. Guess what...still get the half black screen. They are coming out tomorrow (Friday) to replace another part. I am guessing the light engine, though we will see. I am very curious to see how this concludes.

[stonkulture]

Did you explain to them that the problem is with the Texas Instruments chip? You would THINK that Samsung would be holding TI responsible for the issue,..OR come up with a better design in order to keep the chip cooler. Of course, they're NOT going to do ANYTHING for a TV that is only 5-6 years old and WAY out of warranty. PERSONALLY,...I think that they should send EVERYONE who has this TV a brand new in a box 55" LED TV,...but that's just my opinion, which really doesn't account for squat in the big picture now does it? Thanks for keeping us posted.
OH,..by the way,...do you have a point of contact that you're corresponding with from Samsung regarding this issue? Or is it some third party repair tech?

[miker07]

My contact is the service tech himself. He is a Samsung employee.

I am reluctant to make any suggestions. I would like for them to find out for themselves that there probably is not a fix. Then, I would hope that they would replace the TV.

And technically, it is under warranty since Samsung agreed to extend it.

[miker07]

OK. The tech got here a day early and replaced the entire DMD board. So, apparently, the digital board and the DMD board are different. Watching the TV, waiting for the hour to expire and the black screen to reappear. Will let you know.

[stonkulture]

I thought that the DMD was ATTACHED to the Digital Board. If you're looking at the back of the unit, it's located on the right. I thought the DMD board is where the PCI and HDMI inputs are located. I still need to write the President myself.

[miker07]

When he replaced the digital board he had to disconnect all of the cables and remove the bottom part. Yesterday he removed the top panel and removed the unit with the light to replace the DMD board.

BTW, I watched for four hours last night without the TV going half black. Let's hope that was the fix.

[stonkulture]

Cool! Post up at like the end of the weekend and let us know if that was the fix. Thanks again.

[miker07]

I am pleased to inform you that my TV went all weekend without going half black. And I watched a lot of TV. I suppose the new DMD board may malfunction again in the future, but I am happy now.

[stonkulture]

OK!!! So,...after reviewing the service repair manual of the Samsung HL-R5688, I realized the OBVIOUS. The obvious being that WHOM EVER THE INTERIOR DESIGNER WAS OF THIS UNIT,..THEY ARE A F-ING MORON (S), AND HOW THEY GOT A JOB WITH SAMSUNG IS BEYOND COMPREHENSION!!!! Allow me to explain:
The DMD board is located on the top section of the internal workings and integrated with the LIGHT ENGINE,...now,..let's think about that and discuss it for a minute, shall we?
The lamp that is used with this unit,...and without getting all technical for those of us who are "technically challenged" and couldn't read their way out of a set of electrical prints/diagrams if their lives depended on it (not their fault AT ALL).....the lamp gets REALLY F-ING HOT,....I mean,...HOOOOTTTT!,...everyone with me so far? What does HEAT DO?,...IT RISES, right? Where is the Texas Instruments DLP chip located?...ABOVE AND JUST IN FRONT OF THE LAMP!! Now,...granted,...there's a black "shield" that vents out to the back of the unit to exhaust the heat,...but not NEARLY as much it SHOULD!! Let's do the math,.....let's see,... HEAT + COMPUTER CHIP OF ANY KIND = BAD,...or rather A BURNT-ASS CHIP!
So,...last Friday,...I changed my name to MacGuyver, and proceeded to see if my engineering skills were worth a damn. First,...let me say that IT IS NOT A FAULTY TEXAS INSTRUMENTS DLP CHIP!!!......RATHER THE DESIGN OF THE INTERIOR LAYOUT FROM SAMSUNG!! They DEFINITELY screwed the pooch on this one!
If ANYONE wants pics of what I did,...just send me your e-mail, and I'll send you an about 11.5 mb file (ten pics). I will ALSO send a PDF of that portion of the repair manual.

FIRST, yOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO TAKE THE LIGHT ENGINE OUT OF THE UNIT.

Second,...I basically installed a small, but some what thick fan at the upper LEFT hand corner of the back of the DMD board housing (approx. 2"x2"x5/8"), using the EXISTING screw hole (I TOOK OUT THE ORIGINAL GOLD COLORED SCREW, then tapped it out to a 6/32 and used a 1" long screw to secure the fan).....NO ADDITIONAL HOLES WERE TAPPED OUT, EITHER,...JUST THE EXISTING ONE FROM THE UPPER LEFT HAND CORNER OF THE DMD BOARD AS LOOKING AT IT FROM BEHIND,...AND YOU'LL HAVE TO UNSCREW TWO PHILLIPS HEAD SCREWS THAT HOLD THE BLACK HEAT EXHAUST PORT ONTO THE LIGHT ENGINE (that are located just beneath the square opening) in order to install the second fan. You have to kind of slide it (the exhaust port) to the left and up to take it off. The fan direction was blowing ONTO the back of the DMD board.

THIRD,....the SECOND FAN was installed kinda on the middle-bottom-left of the heat sink for the DMD board, which is located DIRECTLY BEHIND that heat exhaust port. I un-screwed two small Phillips Head screws located at the MIDDLE of the heat sink so as to take off the heat sink. I tapped out yet ANOTHER SINGLE 6/32 hole about 1/4" ABOVE where the two screws that hold the heat sink to the DMD board are located, and used a 2 and a 1/2" squared by 3/8"-1/2" raised fan. By the way,...ALL of the fans used were regular-run-of-the-mill 12 volt DC computer fans. The Heat Sink was re-installed, and the fan was fastened with a 1" screw to the newly tapped out 6/32 screw hole. Use the fans' upper left hand hole and IT TOO WILL BLOW ONTO THE HEAT SINK TOWARD THE DMD BOARD (or toward the front of the tv).

fOURTH.....I installed ONE LAST FAN, but located it JUST INSIDE of the BLACK HEAT EXHAUST PORT (It actually fit rather perfectly) I didn't really use anything to secure it to the unit, but it's own input power wires. I drilled a small hole,..about 1/8"- 1/4", at the bottom left side of the exhaust port, in order to feed the fan's wires through from inside of the squared opening to the outside.

FIFTH....I tied all of the wires together,...soldered them (you could probably get away with using small blue or orange wire-nuts) and attached them all to an EXTERNAL 12VDC PLUG IN POWER SUPPLY that is plugged in before the TV is turned on, and unplugged after the TV is turned off.....Now,...eventually,..I'll figure out a relay set-up so it'll turn on when the tv is turned on via the remote,...BUT DO NOT,...I REPEAT,..DO NOT ATTACH THE ADDED FANS TO ANY OF THE EXISTING FANS WITHIN THE SAMSUNG UNIT AS THERE MORE THAN LIKELY IS NOT ENOUGH CURRENT AVAILABLE TO SUPPORT THEM!!
Well,...after approximately 72 HOURS,....YES,...I WILL REPEAT THAT,....72 HOURS of CONTINUOUS use WITH THE NEWLY INSTALLED MACGUYVERED FAN SET UP,.......NO HALF SCREEN!!!!! YES, LADIES AND GENTLEMAN!!! I HAVE SOLVED AND FIXED THE ISSUE!!!.....
YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE THE AMOUNT OF HEAT THAT COMES FROM THE NEWLEY INSTALLED EXHAUST FAN!!! THAT ALONE probably solved the problem,...but I don't think the other two that are attached to the DMD board are doing any damage or for nothing either.

And now,...I rant,..bitch,..piss,..moan,...and complain,...so it you don't care about my thoughts on the whole thing,...you can stop reading.

I feel like I should call Samsung and give them a royal ASS CHEWING,...but I SERIOUSLY doubt that it would do ANY GOOD, NOR would I receive ANYTHING of a "Hey,..thanks for figuring that out for us",....not that I would really LOOK OR WANT for one anyway,.....on the OTHER HAND,...a FREE 55" LED TV would be an AWESOME thanks,...but of course,...if bullfrogs had wings,...they wouldn't slam their butts on the ground when they hopped either, now would they? (in other words, for those who didn't get that metaphor,...THEM GIVING ME A 55" LED TV WILL NEVER HAPPEN!!)...and what REALLY sucks,...is that the "Better Half" stated "We will NEVER spend THAT KIND OF MONEY ON A TV EVER AGAIN!!"....and when you're un-employed,...and she's not,...she kinda makes the rules,....DAMN IT!!
ANYWAY,....again,...if ANYONE else would like to attempt this,...send me your e-mail,...I'll send you a PDF and some pics. And if anyone feels the need to forward this to Samsung's Corporate offices,...by all means,..go right ahead,..but me,...I'm not really feeling the need to waste my time trying to discuss something with someone who probably REALLY DOESN'T CARE. My main goal in this,..is hopefully helping at least ONE OTHER person who has this same issue, and hopefully help them feel like they really DIDN'T waste 5 grand on a TV that didn't last for CRAP!!
SORRY SAMSUNG,....some of us are NOT well off and SUPER RICH and can't afford to buy a new $5k tv every other year like some people. Some of us believed in your products and what you had to offer. I for one,...will NEVER BUY ANOTHER SAMSUNG PRODUCT AGAIN!!! I just hope that I'll FINALLY get my moneys-worth out of this piece of S#!T!!!
Oh,...and if anyone is into hard rock/ metal music like Metallica, Godsmack, Sevendust, Creed,...check out prevailrocks dot com and if you like it,..spread the word. THAT would be thanks enough for me,...and yes,...I'm in the band. If you read the band bios,..you'll figure out which one I am.
Cheers, Salute, and Skol!

[dray76]

Stonkulture...I would like to see these pics of yours..i am having the same tv issue..and would like to fix mine!!! my email is DDRaynard@gmail.com THANXX!!!!

OK!!! So,...after reviewing the service repair manual of the Samsung HL-R5688, I realized the OBVIOUS. The obvious being that WHOM EVER THE INTERIOR DESIGNER WAS OF THIS UNIT,..THEY ARE A F-ING MORON (S), AND HOW THEY GOT A JOB WITH SAMSUNG IS BEYOND COMPREHENSION!!!! Allow me to explain:
The DMD board is located on the top section of the internal workings and integrated with the LIGHT ENGINE,...now,..let's think about that and discuss it for a minute, shall we?
The lamp that is used with this unit,...and without getting all technical for those of us who are "technically challenged" and couldn't read their way out of a set of electrical prints/diagrams if their lives depended on it (not their fault AT ALL).....the lamp gets REALLY F-ING HOT,....I mean,...HOOOOTTTT!,...everyone with me so far? What does HEAT DO?,...IT RISES, right? Where is the Texas Instruments DLP chip located?...ABOVE AND JUST IN FRONT OF THE LAMP!! Now,...granted,...there's a black "shield" that vents out to the back of the unit to exhaust the heat,...but not NEARLY as much it SHOULD!! Let's do the math,.....let's see,... HEAT + COMPUTER CHIP OF ANY KIND = BAD,...or rather A BURNT-ASS CHIP!
So,...last Friday,...I changed my name to MacGuyver, and proceeded to see if my engineering skills were worth a damn. First,...let me say that IT IS NOT A FAULTY TEXAS INSTRUMENTS DLP CHIP!!!......RATHER THE DESIGN OF THE INTERIOR LAYOUT FROM SAMSUNG!! They DEFINITELY screwed the pooch on this one!
If ANYONE wants pics of what I did,...just send me your e-mail, and I'll send you an about 11.5 mb file (ten pics). I will ALSO send a PDF of that portion of the repair manual.

FIRST, yOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO TAKE THE LIGHT ENGINE OUT OF THE UNIT.

Second,...I basically installed a small, but some what thick fan at the upper LEFT hand corner of the back of the DMD board housing (approx. 2"x2"x5/8"), using the EXISTING screw hole (I TOOK OUT THE ORIGINAL GOLD COLORED SCREW, then tapped it out to a 6/32 and used a 1" long screw to secure the fan).....NO ADDITIONAL HOLES WERE TAPPED OUT, EITHER,...JUST THE EXISTING ONE FROM THE UPPER LEFT HAND CORNER OF THE DMD BOARD AS LOOKING AT IT FROM BEHIND,...AND YOU'LL HAVE TO UNSCREW TWO PHILLIPS HEAD SCREWS THAT HOLD THE BLACK HEAT EXHAUST PORT ONTO THE LIGHT ENGINE (that are located just beneath the square opening) in order to install the second fan. You have to kind of slide it (the exhaust port) to the left and up to take it off. The fan direction was blowing ONTO the back of the DMD board.

THIRD,....the SECOND FAN was installed kinda on the middle-bottom-left of the heat sink for the DMD board, which is located DIRECTLY BEHIND that heat exhaust port. I un-screwed two small Phillips Head screws located at the MIDDLE of the heat sink so as to take off the heat sink. I tapped out yet ANOTHER SINGLE 6/32 hole about 1/4" ABOVE where the two screws that hold the heat sink to the DMD board are located, and used a 2 and a 1/2" squared by 3/8"-1/2" raised fan. By the way,...ALL of the fans used were regular-run-of-the-mill 12 volt DC computer fans. The Heat Sink was re-installed, and the fan was fastened with a 1" screw to the newly tapped out 6/32 screw hole. Use the fans' upper left hand hole and IT TOO WILL BLOW ONTO THE HEAT SINK TOWARD THE DMD BOARD (or toward the front of the tv).

fOURTH.....I installed ONE LAST FAN, but located it JUST INSIDE of the BLACK HEAT EXHAUST PORT (It actually fit rather perfectly) I didn't really use anything to secure it to the unit, but it's own input power wires. I drilled a small hole,..about 1/8"- 1/4", at the bottom left side of the exhaust port, in order to feed the fan's wires through from inside of the squared opening to the outside.

FIFTH....I tied all of the wires together,...soldered them (you could probably get away with using small blue or orange wire-nuts) and attached them all to an EXTERNAL 12VDC PLUG IN POWER SUPPLY that is plugged in before the TV is turned on, and unplugged after the TV is turned off.....Now,...eventually,..I'll figure out a relay set-up so it'll turn on when the tv is turned on via the remote,...BUT DO NOT,...I REPEAT,..DO NOT ATTACH THE ADDED FANS TO ANY OF THE EXISTING FANS WITHIN THE SAMSUNG UNIT AS THERE MORE THAN LIKELY IS NOT ENOUGH CURRENT AVAILABLE TO SUPPORT THEM!!
Well,...after approximately 72 HOURS,....YES,...I WILL REPEAT THAT,....72 HOURS of CONTINUOUS use WITH THE NEWLY INSTALLED MACGUYVERED FAN SET UP,.......NO HALF SCREEN!!!!! YES, LADIES AND GENTLEMAN!!! I HAVE SOLVED AND FIXED THE ISSUE!!!.....
YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE THE AMOUNT OF HEAT THAT COMES FROM THE NEWLEY INSTALLED EXHAUST FAN!!! THAT ALONE probably solved the problem,...but I don't think the other two that are attached to the DMD board are doing any damage or for nothing either.

And now,...I rant,..bitch,..piss,..moan,...and complain,...so it you don't care about my thoughts on the whole thing,...you can stop reading.

I feel like I should call Samsung and give them a royal ASS CHEWING,...but I SERIOUSLY doubt that it would do ANY GOOD, NOR would I receive ANYTHING of a "Hey,..thanks for figuring that out for us",....not that I would really LOOK OR WANT for one anyway,.....on the OTHER HAND,...a FREE 55" LED TV would be an AWESOME thanks,...but of course,...if bullfrogs had wings,...they wouldn't slam their butts on the ground when they hopped either, now would they? (in other words, for those who didn't get that metaphor,...THEM GIVING ME A 55" LED TV WILL NEVER HAPPEN!!)...and what REALLY sucks,...is that the "Better Half" stated "We will NEVER spend THAT KIND OF MONEY ON A TV EVER AGAIN!!"....and when you're un-employed,...and she's not,...she kinda makes the rules,....DAMN IT!!
ANYWAY,....again,...if ANYONE else would like to attempt this,...send me your e-mail,...I'll send you a PDF and some pics. And if anyone feels the need to forward this to Samsung's Corporate offices,...by all means,..go right ahead,..but me,...I'm not really feeling the need to waste my time trying to discuss something with someone who probably REALLY DOESN'T CARE. My main goal in this,..is hopefully helping at least ONE OTHER person who has this same issue, and hopefully help them feel like they really DIDN'T waste 5 grand on a TV that didn't last for CRAP!!
SORRY SAMSUNG,....some of us are NOT well off and SUPER RICH and can't afford to buy a new $5k tv every other year like some people. Some of us believed in your products and what you had to offer. I for one,...will NEVER BUY ANOTHER SAMSUNG PRODUCT AGAIN!!! I just hope that I'll FINALLY get my moneys-worth out of this piece of S#!T!!!
Oh,...and if anyone is into hard rock/ metal music like Metallica, Godsmack, Sevendust, Creed,...check out prevailrocks dot com and if you like it,..spread the word. THAT would be thanks enough for me,...and yes,...I'm in the band. If you read the band bios,..you'll figure out which one I am.
Cheers, Salute, and Skol!

[hop]

Yeah,...I've been dealing with this problem for about three years now. I had a warranty through the place where I bought it from, and they sent a 3rd party repair guy out. He first replaced the light engine,....problem STILL continued,..THEN EINSTEIN replaced Digital board and color wheel....(not sure if that's a part of the L.E. or not)...but replaced just 2 items non-the-less,...and STILL had the "half of a black screen" issue. The F@#$ed up thing, is that the black screen switches sides from time to time. Well,...EINSTEIN calls back to the warranty place and tells them that they should replace it. THESE A@$HOLES offer me either $1190.00usd, OR a 60" Mitsubishi HUGE (depth wise) PIECE OF SHOT replacement, that doesn't have HALF of the inputs that I needed (VGA being the biggie, as I use the HL-R5688W as extended computer monitor and run a optical line to my HK so as to allow the viewing of movies out in the living room) and frankly just wasn't the fix all the way around that I was hoping for. SO,...I spent about $3,800.00 USD for it back when it first came out back in 04-05....(on SALE....THANK HEAVENS) and have only gotten about 2 good years out of it. PERSONALLY, I absolutely LOVE the design of the damn thing,...but UNFORTUNATELY, I'm NOT made of money, no thanks to the economy. I ended up taking the money, which got used on more important things....like keeping a roof over my family's head. I digress.
ANYWAY,...so, after reading all of these posts, I'm gathering that the Digital Board,...or DMD...(the two are the same if I've been reading these Posts correctly?) needs to be replaced is the question I'm asking?
Another question is:,...Is it possible to take it out and give it to an electronics repair expert and get it fixed (if cost effective of course)...or POSSIBLY repair it myself? (I do have a clue when it comes to electronics as I'm a state certified general journeyman electrician and know how to read prints and electronic diagrams.......at least I like to think so )...or is there some special chip or something of that nature that has to be replaced on it and getting a replacement is the ONLY fix?
I thank who ever responds in advance......cause this is happening like every 15 minutes or so and getting down right RIDICULOUS and FRUSTRATING!!!

[hop]

stonekulture, I would like pics for your fix for the samsungdlp tv . Having same problem

[stonkulture]

Sure,...not a problem. Just need an E-MAIL address that I can send them to.

[onethree]

OK!!! So,...after reviewing the service repair manual of the Samsung HL-R5688, I realized the OBVIOUS. The obvious being that WHOM EVER THE INTERIOR DESIGNER WAS OF THIS UNIT,..THEY ARE A F-ING MORON (S), AND HOW THEY GOT A JOB WITH SAMSUNG IS BEYOND COMPREHENSION!!!! Allow me to explain:
The DMD board is located on the top section of the internal workings and integrated with the LIGHT ENGINE,...now,..let's think about that and discuss it for a minute, shall we?
The lamp that is used with this unit,...and without getting all technical for those of us who are "technically challenged" and couldn't read their way out of a set of electrical prints/diagrams if their lives depended on it (not their fault AT ALL).....the lamp gets REALLY F-ING HOT,....I mean,...HOOOOTTTT!,...everyone with me so far? What does HEAT DO?,...IT RISES, right? Where is the Texas Instruments DLP chip located?...ABOVE AND JUST IN FRONT OF THE LAMP!! Now,...granted,...there's a black "shield" that vents out to the back of the unit to exhaust the heat,...but not NEARLY as much it SHOULD!! Let's do the math,.....let's see,... HEAT + COMPUTER CHIP OF ANY KIND = BAD,...or rather A BURNT-ASS CHIP!
So,...last Friday,...I changed my name to MacGuyver, and proceeded to see if my engineering skills were worth a damn. First,...let me say that IT IS NOT A FAULTY TEXAS INSTRUMENTS DLP CHIP!!!......RATHER THE DESIGN OF THE INTERIOR LAYOUT FROM SAMSUNG!! They DEFINITELY screwed the pooch on this one!
If ANYONE wants pics of what I did,...just send me your e-mail, and I'll send you an about 11.5 mb file (ten pics). I will ALSO send a PDF of that portion of the repair manual.

FIRST, yOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO TAKE THE LIGHT ENGINE OUT OF THE UNIT.

Second,...I basically installed a small, but some what thick fan at the upper LEFT hand corner of the back of the DMD board housing (approx. 2"x2"x5/8"), using the EXISTING screw hole (I TOOK OUT THE ORIGINAL GOLD COLORED SCREW, then tapped it out to a 6/32 and used a 1" long screw to secure the fan).....NO ADDITIONAL HOLES WERE TAPPED OUT, EITHER,...JUST THE EXISTING ONE FROM THE UPPER LEFT HAND CORNER OF THE DMD BOARD AS LOOKING AT IT FROM BEHIND,...AND YOU'LL HAVE TO UNSCREW TWO PHILLIPS HEAD SCREWS THAT HOLD THE BLACK HEAT EXHAUST PORT ONTO THE LIGHT ENGINE (that are located just beneath the square opening) in order to install the second fan. You have to kind of slide it (the exhaust port) to the left and up to take it off. The fan direction was blowing ONTO the back of the DMD board.

THIRD,....the SECOND FAN was installed kinda on the middle-bottom-left of the heat sink for the DMD board, which is located DIRECTLY BEHIND that heat exhaust port. I un-screwed two small Phillips Head screws located at the MIDDLE of the heat sink so as to take off the heat sink. I tapped out yet ANOTHER SINGLE 6/32 hole about 1/4" ABOVE where the two screws that hold the heat sink to the DMD board are located, and used a 2 and a 1/2" squared by 3/8"-1/2" raised fan. By the way,...ALL of the fans used were regular-run-of-the-mill 12 volt DC computer fans. The Heat Sink was re-installed, and the fan was fastened with a 1" screw to the newly tapped out 6/32 screw hole. Use the fans' upper left hand hole and IT TOO WILL BLOW ONTO THE HEAT SINK TOWARD THE DMD BOARD (or toward the front of the tv).

fOURTH.....I installed ONE LAST FAN, but located it JUST INSIDE of the BLACK HEAT EXHAUST PORT (It actually fit rather perfectly) I didn't really use anything to secure it to the unit, but it's own input power wires. I drilled a small hole,..about 1/8"- 1/4", at the bottom left side of the exhaust port, in order to feed the fan's wires through from inside of the squared opening to the outside.

FIFTH....I tied all of the wires together,...soldered them (you could probably get away with using small blue or orange wire-nuts) and attached them all to an EXTERNAL 12VDC PLUG IN POWER SUPPLY that is plugged in before the TV is turned on, and unplugged after the TV is turned off.....Now,...eventually,..I'll figure out a relay set-up so it'll turn on when the tv is turned on via the remote,...BUT DO NOT,...I REPEAT,..DO NOT ATTACH THE ADDED FANS TO ANY OF THE EXISTING FANS WITHIN THE SAMSUNG UNIT AS THERE MORE THAN LIKELY IS NOT ENOUGH CURRENT AVAILABLE TO SUPPORT THEM!!
Well,...after approximately 72 HOURS,....YES,...I WILL REPEAT THAT,....72 HOURS of CONTINUOUS use WITH THE NEWLY INSTALLED MACGUYVERED FAN SET UP,.......NO HALF SCREEN!!!!! YES, LADIES AND GENTLEMAN!!! I HAVE SOLVED AND FIXED THE ISSUE!!!.....
YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE THE AMOUNT OF HEAT THAT COMES FROM THE NEWLEY INSTALLED EXHAUST FAN!!! THAT ALONE probably solved the problem,...but I don't think the other two that are attached to the DMD board are doing any damage or for nothing either.

And now,...I rant,..bitch,..piss,..moan,...and complain,...so it you don't care about my thoughts on the whole thing,...you can stop reading.

I feel like I should call Samsung and give them a royal ASS CHEWING,...but I SERIOUSLY doubt that it would do ANY GOOD, NOR would I receive ANYTHING of a "Hey,..thanks for figuring that out for us",....not that I would really LOOK OR WANT for one anyway,.....on the OTHER HAND,...a FREE 55" LED TV would be an AWESOME thanks,...but of course,...if bullfrogs had wings,...they wouldn't slam their butts on the ground when they hopped either, now would they? (in other words, for those who didn't get that metaphor,...THEM GIVING ME A 55" LED TV WILL NEVER HAPPEN!!)...and what REALLY sucks,...is that the "Better Half" stated "We will NEVER spend THAT KIND OF MONEY ON A TV EVER AGAIN!!"....and when you're un-employed,...and she's not,...she kinda makes the rules,....DAMN IT!!
ANYWAY,....again,...if ANYONE else would like to attempt this,...send me your e-mail,...I'll send you a PDF and some pics. And if anyone feels the need to forward this to Samsung's Corporate offices,...by all means,..go right ahead,..but me,...I'm not really feeling the need to waste my time trying to discuss something with someone who probably REALLY DOESN'T CARE. My main goal in this,..is hopefully helping at least ONE OTHER person who has this same issue, and hopefully help them feel like they really DIDN'T waste 5 grand on a TV that didn't last for CRAP!!
SORRY SAMSUNG,....some of us are NOT well off and SUPER RICH and can't afford to buy a new $5k tv every other year like some people. Some of us believed in your products and what you had to offer. I for one,...will NEVER BUY ANOTHER SAMSUNG PRODUCT AGAIN!!! I just hope that I'll FINALLY get my moneys-worth out of this piece of S#!T!!!
Oh,...and if anyone is into hard rock/ metal music like Metallica, Godsmack, Sevendust, Creed,...check out prevailrocks dot com and if you like it,..spread the word. THAT would be thanks enough for me,...and yes,...I'm in the band. If you read the band bios,..you'll figure out which one I am.
Cheers, Salute, and Skol!

please email me pictures on how to install fans in the hlr5688w? dviousthreefiftht@live.com

[onethree]

please please please email me the pics of fan/s installation. im going crazy with my hlr5688w and would like to fix before the problem progresses. dviousthreefiftht@live.com
thank you

Sure,...not a problem. Just need an E-MAIL address that I can send them to.

[ALADDINI]

StonKulture
Would you please send me those pictures
Thanks in advance
aladdini@yahoo.com

[ALADDINI]

StonKulture :
Could you please send me the pictures " aladdini@yahoo.com "
Thanks in advance

[ALADDINI]

Sure,...not a problem. Just need an E-MAIL address that I can send them to.

[/quote]

Please email those pictures to me as well , I have the same problem
aladdini@yahoo.com

[bakasama]

Can you please send me the pics and PDF. If I ever find the engineer of this TV I will personally shoot him for all of us.

Ryan

llcoolj554@gmail.com

[zpooldr]

can i get the photos of the fix emailed to me... zpooldr@yahoo.com Thanks for your help on this matter it is very appreciated

[jorgem]

PROBLEM FIXED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT ONLY COST $20 AND SOME TIME

Hello everybody,
Thanks to many of you for offering such awesome forums and spending time to help others out.
The best part of it is that the fix only cost me $21.00 (see link listed below). After realizing it’s a simple cooling issue I purchased the fan on amazon.com and installed it. Installation was very simple:

1. Cut-out a circle on the back plate (see pictures)
2. Bolt it up (fan blowing air into back of TV)

*The fan is a bit noisy but only when I have the volume low but overall it’s not even noticeable when I watch tv at normal volumes.
* Also, the fan has a cord to plug, so every time you use the tv you have to plug it into wall.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11214138@N ... hotostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11214138@N ... hotostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11214138@N ... otostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11214138@N ... otostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11214138@N ... otostream/

Fan link- It was $20 delivered
http://www.amazon.com/120V-AC-Cooling-1 ... pd_cp_hi_1

if you have any other questions just email me at calimolotov2000@yahoo.com
-J

[mw88keyz]

OK!!! So,...after reviewing the service repair manual of the Samsung HL-R5688, I realized the OBVIOUS. The obvious being that WHOM EVER THE INTERIOR DESIGNER WAS OF THIS UNIT,..THEY ARE A F-ING MORON (S), AND HOW THEY GOT A JOB WITH SAMSUNG IS BEYOND COMPREHENSION!!!! Allow me to explain:
The DMD board is located on the top section of the internal workings and integrated with the LIGHT ENGINE,...now,..let's think about that and discuss it for a minute, shall we?
The lamp that is used with this unit,...and without getting all technical for those of us who are "technically challenged" and couldn't read their way out of a set of electrical prints/diagrams if their lives depended on it (not their fault AT ALL).....the lamp gets REALLY F-ING HOT,....I mean,...HOOOOTTTT!,...everyone with me so far? What does HEAT DO?,...IT RISES, right? Where is the Texas Instruments DLP chip located?...ABOVE AND JUST IN FRONT OF THE LAMP!! Now,...granted,...there's a black "shield" that vents out to the back of the unit to exhaust the heat,...but not NEARLY as much it SHOULD!! Let's do the math,.....let's see,... HEAT + COMPUTER CHIP OF ANY KIND = BAD,...or rather A BURNT-ASS CHIP!
So,...last Friday,...I changed my name to MacGuyver, and proceeded to see if my engineering skills were worth a damn. First,...let me say that IT IS NOT A FAULTY TEXAS INSTRUMENTS DLP CHIP!!!......RATHER THE DESIGN OF THE INTERIOR LAYOUT FROM SAMSUNG!! They DEFINITELY screwed the pooch on this one!
If ANYONE wants pics of what I did,...just send me your e-mail, and I'll send you an about 11.5 mb file (ten pics). I will ALSO send a PDF of that portion of the repair manual.

FIRST, yOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO TAKE THE LIGHT ENGINE OUT OF THE UNIT.

Second,...I basically installed a small, but some what thick fan at the upper LEFT hand corner of the back of the DMD board housing (approx. 2"x2"x5/8"), using the EXISTING screw hole (I TOOK OUT THE ORIGINAL GOLD COLORED SCREW, then tapped it out to a 6/32 and used a 1" long screw to secure the fan).....NO ADDITIONAL HOLES WERE TAPPED OUT, EITHER,...JUST THE EXISTING ONE FROM THE UPPER LEFT HAND CORNER OF THE DMD BOARD AS LOOKING AT IT FROM BEHIND,...AND YOU'LL HAVE TO UNSCREW TWO PHILLIPS HEAD SCREWS THAT HOLD THE BLACK HEAT EXHAUST PORT ONTO THE LIGHT ENGINE (that are located just beneath the square opening) in order to install the second fan. You have to kind of slide it (the exhaust port) to the left and up to take it off. The fan direction was blowing ONTO the back of the DMD board.

THIRD,....the SECOND FAN was installed kinda on the middle-bottom-left of the heat sink for the DMD board, which is located DIRECTLY BEHIND that heat exhaust port. I un-screwed two small Phillips Head screws located at the MIDDLE of the heat sink so as to take off the heat sink. I tapped out yet ANOTHER SINGLE 6/32 hole about 1/4" ABOVE where the two screws that hold the heat sink to the DMD board are located, and used a 2 and a 1/2" squared by 3/8"-1/2" raised fan. By the way,...ALL of the fans used were regular-run-of-the-mill 12 volt DC computer fans. The Heat Sink was re-installed, and the fan was fastened with a 1" screw to the newly tapped out 6/32 screw hole. Use the fans' upper left hand hole and IT TOO WILL BLOW ONTO THE HEAT SINK TOWARD THE DMD BOARD (or toward the front of the tv).

fOURTH.....I installed ONE LAST FAN, but located it JUST INSIDE of the BLACK HEAT EXHAUST PORT (It actually fit rather perfectly) I didn't really use anything to secure it to the unit, but it's own input power wires. I drilled a small hole,..about 1/8"- 1/4", at the bottom left side of the exhaust port, in order to feed the fan's wires through from inside of the squared opening to the outside.

FIFTH....I tied all of the wires together,...soldered them (you could probably get away with using small blue or orange wire-nuts) and attached them all to an EXTERNAL 12VDC PLUG IN POWER SUPPLY that is plugged in before the TV is turned on, and unplugged after the TV is turned off.....Now,...eventually,..I'll figure out a relay set-up so it'll turn on when the tv is turned on via the remote,...BUT DO NOT,...I REPEAT,..DO NOT ATTACH THE ADDED FANS TO ANY OF THE EXISTING FANS WITHIN THE SAMSUNG UNIT AS THERE MORE THAN LIKELY IS NOT ENOUGH CURRENT AVAILABLE TO SUPPORT THEM!!
Well,...after approximately 72 HOURS,....YES,...I WILL REPEAT THAT,....72 HOURS of CONTINUOUS use WITH THE NEWLY INSTALLED MACGUYVERED FAN SET UP,.......NO HALF SCREEN!!!!! YES, LADIES AND GENTLEMAN!!! I HAVE SOLVED AND FIXED THE ISSUE!!!.....
YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE THE AMOUNT OF HEAT THAT COMES FROM THE NEWLEY INSTALLED EXHAUST FAN!!! THAT ALONE probably solved the problem,...but I don't think the other two that are attached to the DMD board are doing any damage or for nothing either.

And now,...I rant,..bitch,..piss,..moan,...and complain,...so it you don't care about my thoughts on the whole thing,...you can stop reading.

I feel like I should call Samsung and give them a royal ASS CHEWING,...but I SERIOUSLY doubt that it would do ANY GOOD, NOR would I receive ANYTHING of a "Hey,..thanks for figuring that out for us",....not that I would really LOOK OR WANT for one anyway,.....on the OTHER HAND,...a FREE 55" LED TV would be an AWESOME thanks,...but of course,...if bullfrogs had wings,...they wouldn't slam their butts on the ground when they hopped either, now would they? (in other words, for those who didn't get that metaphor,...THEM GIVING ME A 55" LED TV WILL NEVER HAPPEN!!)...and what REALLY sucks,...is that the "Better Half" stated "We will NEVER spend THAT KIND OF MONEY ON A TV EVER AGAIN!!"....and when you're un-employed,...and she's not,...she kinda makes the rules,....DAMN IT!!
ANYWAY,....again,...if ANYONE else would like to attempt this,...send me your e-mail,...I'll send you a PDF and some pics. And if anyone feels the need to forward this to Samsung's Corporate offices,...by all means,..go right ahead,..but me,...I'm not really feeling the need to waste my time trying to discuss something with someone who probably REALLY DOESN'T CARE. My main goal in this,..is hopefully helping at least ONE OTHER person who has this same issue, and hopefully help them feel like they really DIDN'T waste 5 grand on a TV that didn't last for CRAP!!
SORRY SAMSUNG,....some of us are NOT well off and SUPER RICH and can't afford to buy a new $5k tv every other year like some people. Some of us believed in your products and what you had to offer. I for one,...will NEVER BUY ANOTHER SAMSUNG PRODUCT AGAIN!!! I just hope that I'll FINALLY get my moneys-worth out of this piece of S#!T!!!
Oh,...and if anyone is into hard rock/ metal music like Metallica, Godsmack, Sevendust, Creed,...check out prevailrocks dot com and if you like it,..spread the word. THAT would be thanks enough for me,...and yes,...I'm in the band. If you read the band bios,..you'll figure out which one I am.
Cheers, Salute, and Skol!

[taustin]

Having the same problem with screen going half black. Can someone send me the pics of the "fan" fix. Thanks.

Email is trevor.austin@alliedsolutions.net

[grayfox]

There was some pictures posted by JorgeM and a link to a fan source.. let me know if it helps!

PROBLEM FIXED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT ONLY COST $20 AND SOME TIME

Hello everybody,
Thanks to many of you for offering such awesome forums and spending time to help others out.
The best part of it is that the fix only cost me $21.00 (see link listed below). After realizing it’s a simple cooling issue I purchased the fan on amazon.com and installed it. Installation was very simple:

1. Cut-out a circle on the back plate (see pictures)
2. Bolt it up (fan blowing air into back of TV)

*The fan is a bit noisy but only when I have the volume low but overall it’s not even noticeable when I watch tv at normal volumes.
* Also, the fan has a cord to plug, so every time you use the tv you have to plug it into wall.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11214138@N ... hotostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11214138@N ... hotostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11214138@N ... otostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11214138@N ... otostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11214138@N ... otostream/

Fan link- It was $20 delivered
http://www.amazon.com/120V-AC-Cooling-1 ... pd_cp_hi_1

if you have any other questions just email me at calimolotov2000@yahoo.com
-J

[UgofUp]

celebrex 50