Samsung HLR5688W/XAA/AP DMD Board and parts issues
Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 8:42 pm
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.
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.