Loading ...Readers of the blog first started reporting the problem in this thread. I didn’t think too much of it at the time, but now I’m on the 4th day of my TV turning itself off because of “Air Flow”.
Following my First Incident with getting a replacement and now this White Blooming issue going on I’m starting to get flat out pissed off now.
So far the solution for me with the air flow problem seems to be just letting the TV shut off, then turning it on a number of times until it decides to stay on. I’m going to dig into this on AVS and see what’s up, I will keep you posted.
Update #1: This guy said he took the lamp out, and found dust on the filter and blew it off to fix the problem. I will try that if it happens again. (NOTE: I tried this, it didn’t change anything)
Update #2: All the AVS owner thread issues, and some confirmation that it’s a known issue.
Update #3: Here it is, it looks to be a problem with one of the two temperature sensors on the light housing. Apparently it’s a known issue with Mitsubishi so they should know exactly what to fix.
Update #4: A buddy of mine, Chris Hunkele, has the WD-65831 as well and noticed just about the same time I did that he was getting the “Air Flow” issue as well. He stuck a small fan next to his air intake and a temperature gauge and noticed that it doesn’t start happening until the house is around 77 degress, which is almost exactly when I start to notice it as well. Now I’m starting to think this isn’t a problem as much as a honest-to-god issue that the TV is getting too hot. I had no idea it would be so limiting… hmmm.
Update #5: Well the TV is dead now and won’t stay on for more than 10 seconds before shutting off. I even tried a huge fan right next to it… I think the temperature gauges are shot.
Loading ...
June 14th, 2007 at 3:21 pm
I am glad I am not the only one. I have noticed the Airflow message now on my Mitsubishi WD-65831 65″ Diamond Series at least 30 times in the past 3 months. I let it shutoff and then when I turn it on, it stays on. It started happening only a few weeks after I bought the brand new unit. It even happened when the room was cool in winter. I also believe it being a sensor malfunction issue because it is not triggered by high ambient temperature in my case. I haven’t tried the filter cleaning routine.
June 14th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
Brad you may get mixed results with cleaning the filter. I tried it, and so did my buddy up in Phoenix and neither of us had success with it. We both got our sets serviced and the little sensor that is mounted on the back side of the lamp housing inside the TV, and both of us no longer have problems.
If you do decide to call a tech out, they will take the back off the set (down near the bottom) exposing all the equipment.
The lamp housing is on the right, if you pull the lamp out of it you’ll notice it’s a small square housing with openings in the top and “back” side of it (towards the inside of the TV). If you are staring at it head-on, the back-left corner of the housing (inside the TV) has the little sensor mounted to it, that’s the one we got replaced.
I read a few comments online that there are 2 sensors… but my tech said there is only 1… I’m not sure who’s right, but changing the one I mentioned above seems to do the trick.
June 15th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
Thanks for the directions. I read in some other blogs that the replaced sensors that were sent to Mitsubishi by the techs were examined and all were found to be OK. But the problem was found to be the “mounting” of the sensors. Some have seen the problem fixed by tightening the mounts. Before getting frustrated by calling the techs and explaining to them what needs to be done, I’d put the engineering degree to work tonight and report to you guys in the next few days of my findings.
By the way, thermistors are notoriously unreliable. You may have had hair dryers that stop working after a while; that is caused by the thermistor (thermal resistor) in the dryer being blown. Most of us throw those things away and buy a new one for a part that is no more than a $0.25. Can’t do that with a $4K TV.
June 15th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
Brad, that’s awesome man keep us posted. I’m really curious what is going on in there, but I was too chicken to take the TV apart.
But if it happens again I’d rather fix it myself instead of sticking my foot through the front of it
June 17th, 2007 at 11:03 am
The high-temperature shutdown IS a known issue with Mitsubishi. There is a connector on the temperature sensor which plugs into the set. Mitsubishi has known of the connector problem for at least six months, but has instructed the field techs to take the connector apart at least four or five times to ‘wipe’ the contacts. This worked well for my set six months ago. (It started giving the hi-temp warning ~3 weeks after I got the set) NOW, Mitsubishi is instructing the field techs to physically remove the connector and hard-wire (solder) the sensor into the wiring. [THAT ought to solve their connector problem]
June 19th, 2007 at 9:23 am
Well, I opened the Mitsubishi 65″ (65831) on Friday and ventured in. I took out the backplane to have a good view inside. I found the sensor; it was were Riyad said it would be (see above). The problem was accessing it. The sensor was screwed in from the other side; in other words the direction of the screw was from the front of the TV to the back of the TV and from my point of view, I was looking at the tip of the screw sticking out of the back of the lamp assembly housing. In order to get to the head of the screw, I had to squeeze my hand through an opening (no bigger than my fist) at the back of the lamp housing, and then do a 180 degree turn with my wrist to be able to touch the screw head. Needless to say it was nearly impossible for me to open it that way (I could not even tell if it was a flat of phillips head screw). I did not want to fuss with it too much as there were some glass and optics near it. The connector was a two wire slide and snap kind; the kinds you see on some car stereos. It was on the outside of the housing so you could get to it more easily. I played with it a little and tightened it. Then I took my vacuum cleaner attachment and cleaned some dust that had gathered around the cooling fan. I also vacuumed the two screens that were on the sides of the lamp assembly (the piece that comes out of the housing). I put the whole thing back.
Even though I did not do much, the problem has not happened in the past three days. It is too early to say and what I did was not much, but so far so good.
Brad
June 19th, 2007 at 10:22 am
Brad awesome followup… I can’t believe how sensative the set is… although as Bob pointed out, if it’s really the solder problem then I guess just playing with the connection may have done the trick?
As to where the screw is, it stumped the tech that was here for a good 15mins… cause then he dropped the screw and we spent another 10 trying to find the stupid thing… it’s the most inconvenient mounting orientation possible, given how you have to access it.
June 19th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
So here is my dilemma: my original manufacturer warrantee runs out in September. I can’t rely on what I did to be a permanent fix. I want to call Anderson TV (where I bought this) to have a tech come and repair this problem once and for all even though the problem has so far gone away. But I don’t have the time to argue with the guy and nor do I want him come and go and swap other parts (and possibly break other things along the way). Or worse yet, tell me that there is no problem because he can’t see it while he is there (which is very possible) and he has to take this to the shop under observation etc. I want someone who exactly knows what this chronic problem is, has seen it before and knows what to do with it or at least I can educate him quickly on the background (the sensor issue). For those of you who have gone through this process, what do you recommend? Do you
- have any references to Mitsubishi’s official position on this (or if there has been any recalls) so I can show the guy and cut the conversation short.
- have a copy of your repair bill that shows what actually was done by the tech who repaired your set and maybe you can share the name of the part etc so I can share with my guy.
- any other ideas around how to get the tech do what I want in the shortest amount of time.
I appreciate any insights,
brad
June 19th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
Brad,
If your tech is with an “authorized” repair facility, they have direct contact with the Mits support center. Since your set is still under the 12-month warranty, your description should be sufficient for them to make the on-site repairs. You should mention to the tech that you are aware of Mits issuing a repair bulletin that changes out the connector to a ‘hard solder’ connection. According to my tech, this is an on-site repair.
June 19th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
By the way…
Just because you bought the TV from a facility does not mandate that you must get it repaired at that facility. I urge you to look up an authorized repair site at: http://www.mitsubishi-tv.com/j/i/18349/Support.html and click on SERVICE SEARCH. Simply enter your zip code to locate all authorized service centers in your area. I have been very happy with the level of expertise and knowledge of the Mitsubishi machines with the center near me.
June 19th, 2007 at 4:09 pm
Brad,
In addition to Bob’s contributions (that is how I found my service center as well from Telestar Service, Inc. here in Tucson, AZ) the info I have on the invoice is as follows:
Part #: 299P313010
Desc: “Sensor”
and explanation of the service is “replaced sensor”… no too telling, but that’s what I have.
June 19th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
Bob,
Riyad,
Thx.
Brad
June 26th, 2007 at 8:39 am
I had the same “Air Flow Problem” for over 2 months.Finally got tired of playing with and went to the Mitsubishi site http://www.mitsubishi.com and went to Support, clicked on Service and then clicked on Locate Mitsubishi Servicer. Called the Servicer and he was out in 2 days. He said there were no part problems just bad wiring. According to my invoice he removed the Thermal Sensor & Hard wired the sensor and it’s now working fine. Total time was about 40 minutes. Renewed my faith in my 5th Mitsubishi TV.
June 26th, 2007 at 8:43 am
Bob,
That’s an interesting point… it seems no matter which TV you get, you’ll have problems (they are too complicated these days), but the issue is how good the service is…
I’ll have to admit that my service was fast and worked as well… so as much as I’d like to get my hands on a giant LCD or Plasma panel, it seems RPTV is the only way to have a big set now, and likely into Q3 2008 for under $4k.
June 28th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
I’m having the same problem. Do you guys that had the problem fixed remember how much the repairman charged to fix it?
June 28th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Nathan,
Nothing it was a warranty call. Although if you had to pay for it, I imagine it can’t be more than $100 for Part ($25?) and Labor ($50-ish?)
June 28th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
Nathan,
Mine, like Riyad, was covered under warranty. If you are out of warranty you might still consider contacting a servicer I’ve read several letters on the internet that indicated Mitsubishi was willing to extend their warranty up to an additional 6 months because of “Air Flow Problems.”
I really think they are working hard to make things right.
June 28th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
Thanks for all the help guys, I really appreciate it!
Nathan
June 28th, 2007 at 6:56 pm
Hi-Temp Sensor AND White Blooming Issues
Recap - My lamp literally exploded shattering glass inside the lamp housing. To the best of my knowledge, no glass made it through the light tunnel or onto the color wheel, but after replacing the lamp, the White Blooming issue reared its ugly head. Replacing the lamp restored brightness, but the picture was fuzzy and ill-defined. Replacing the light engine corrected the white blooming problem. An inspection of the old light engine showed contamination inside the lens assembly. I speculated that the mercury vapor from the exploding lamp may have been drawn into the cooling air stream over the DLP chip and onto the cooler lens assembly. It WAS visible through the big lens ass’y.
Be advised that the new light engine from the Georgia distribution center came with the “HARD WIRING” option already in place. The connector is gone and it APPEARED that the wires had been crimped together using a barrel connector and heat-shrink tubing placed over the supposed solder joint. NOT ! ! ! The techs at Mitsubishi simply pulled the pins (both M/F)out of the plastic connectors and plugged them together. They concealed their botched job with the heat-shrink tubing. The only reason we know this is due to an immediate “TV WILL SHUT DOWN IN A FEW SECONDS DUE TO AN OVERHEATING COOLING PATH” message at power-up. The tech took the heat-shrink tubing off and it revealed the original connector pins still on the ends of the wiring. The tech cut the pins and hard-soldered them together, insulating them with heat-shrink tubing. This cured the hi-temp message at startup and the TV has been excellent ever since the service call. This point squarely to a poor wire crimp on the original connector pins.
Just for grins I asked what the cost of the light engine would have been if it had not been under warranty. He grinned and said “Somewhere around $1200…unless you can get a rebuilt unit.” Considering how many of the sets are beginning to exhibit the white blooming, there may be more rebuilts available soon.
June 28th, 2007 at 9:25 pm
Bob,
Great detail and great post.
I honestly would have had no idea just a shotty connection would yields results like that, but from what you said just eyeballing the connection and it looking “pretty good” wasn’t enough… the dang thing had to be hard-soldered… I’ll keep that in mind if I ever run into that Air Flow issue again.
July 12th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
Great posts! Just the information I needed to fix my “air flow” issue. Took the TV apart last night and just like Riyad said, there is was, a little white ceramic rectangle attached to the side of the light housing with two wires coming out. I followed the wires through the routing channel, and found the connector. Cut it off, soldered together, and put heat shrink over to seal it up nice and put everything back together. Hard to say yet if this will be the ultimate fix, but after two days, no messages yet. FYI - I did clean out the air filter just before discovering this blog. The air filter did not work, the “air flow” message came on about 30 minutes after cleaning it out. While putting the TV back together I did notice a second thermistor attached to the plenum where the filter is at. I did not follow it back, but assume there is another bad connector there. I think I will wait and see if any more messages come up before I take it apart and solder that one too.
Thanks to the internet and those here it appears I have releived at least a little stress from my life.
Thanks!
July 12th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
Dang Bruce nice! I’m not brave enough to do that, but I’m really glad to hear that you got everything squared away with the set. Nothing more frustrating than just sitting at home waiting for a warrenty repair
Out of curiosity did you have any dust in your filter? The guy said the sets are super-sensative… and we have 2 cats but no dust in the system, so unfortunately it seemed to be a bad connection for me.
July 17th, 2007 at 9:55 am
If you are like me and your TV has been doing the whole blocked airway message thing, you’ve probably searched the internet for a fix that avoids having to deal with customer service and waiting for a service technician to arrive in a few days to fix the problem. YOU’VE FOUND IT! After reading through more than 475 posts on this very problem, I have reduced the issue to one thing that is easy enough to fix and will require nothing more than a short phillips head screw driver, common sense, and a little bit of patience. The problem lies in the heat sensor that sits just inside the lamp housing area inside your set. Apparently the technician fix is to clip the faulty connector Mitsubishi used when assembling the set and replace it with a soldered connection instead. My fix is simpler and does not require solder. My TV is a 57831 model so it may differ from others but not much if so. Here is what I did.
1.) Remove the two screws holding the lamp door to the set in the back lower right corner of your set.
2.) Follow the set instruction for removing the lamp assembly. it should be unplugged for an hour prior to doing this.
3.) Once assembly is removed, grab your flashlight (if necessary) and look inside the housing. You should see a white rectangular shaped piece attached to the outer frame edge of the opening. Looking straight on, it is located in the upper left corner of the square opening and is held in place by one small phillips head screw. This screw is inserted and installed from the opposite direction and will require the short screwdriver to remove. Carefully remove it and don’t drop inside the set!
4.) To make room to move around and do what you’ll need to do, you will also need to partially remove the back cover of the set. Mine was limited to just the lower half and was held in place by nearly 20 screws. You don’t need to remove all of them but do need to be able to open up the rear enough to access the connecter that sits on top of the upper left edge of the lamp housing. If you follow the two yellow wires from the white sensor, they track back to a small black connector with two black wires on the other side of it.
5.) At this point, you have removed the screw to the sensor. Now you will need to pull the connector wires free from the routing clip on top to free up space for the wire to move freely. Once these two black wires are pulled from the clip, pull the white sensor down from it’s position to free it from it’s housing and allow the yellow wires to be pulled from the left side of the housing out. If done right, the sensor is free now and can be pulled carefully by the connector at top and out the back of the set.
6.) Squeeze the clip connection where necessary and pull the clip assembly apart. The sensor is now free of the TV entirely and you can work with it separately.
7.) Grab a nail file and work the connector pins a little to roughen the contact points a bit. This is similar to cleaning the contact posts on your car battery.
8.) Push the male end of the clip firmly into the female end until it clicks and then push a little harder to be sure good contact is made.
9.) Do the reverse as done above to put it all back together again and power up!
10.) The message should now be gone.
I would still encourage a technician to perform the solder repair but the above process will at least get you going long enough till the set is fixed properly. Good luck all. By the way, it worked very well for me and was made possible by this forum. Thanks to everybody for their posts and follow up!
July 17th, 2007 at 10:33 am
Craig awesome followup, thanks for taking the time to post it for other folks running into the same issue.
July 17th, 2007 at 11:23 am
No problem Riyad. I wouldn’t have found it myself had it not been for everyone else. BTW, I called the store I bought the set from (Paul’s TV here in So-Cal) and they are coming out tomorrow to perform the soldered connection. They acknowledged and agreed that this was common and the connector/solder fix has been discovered to resolve the problem best in almost all the issues where the airflow message occurs. I hope this helps someone and saves them from having to do the research I did.
August 19th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
Same issue with my 57831. Got it fixed in 45 minutes by local Mitsubishi authorized repair in Akron, OH. A plug-in relay sticks so the sensor thinks you’re too hot. The Fix: Remove the plug-in relay and hard-wire the sensor. The repair tech said they were notified of the problem and given the fix by Mitsubishi. I guess the relay was part of a sub-component from a supplier of some parts to Mits. They recommended removing the relay and not to replace it but to hardwire the sensor. I could tell he had seen and fixed the problem before. I know a bit about electronics and we tested the fix by removing the relay and soldering only 1 of two wires leaving the other one loose like a bad connection — same message on screen about overheating. As soon as the other wire was soldered, problem was gone. I did not buy from super-store. Recommend you all check with local A/V specialty shop for local authorized repair. Please let me know how things go for you all.
If you are interested, here’s the info on my local tech shop:
Dale’s Color TV & Appliance, Inc.
2236 N. Cleve-Mass Rd.
Akron, OH 44210
phone: 330-659-9339
Good Luck to you all
Mike Flasco
August 19th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
Just read Craig’s fix. I can’t imagine how Craig discovered or otherwise arrived at his procedures but, with respect to Craig, it seems risky and much more difficult and uncertain, especially when under warranty. Not in warranty? A tech can do the proper repair in less than an hour. 5 Stars for creativity, Craig!
August 20th, 2007 at 7:53 am
Actually the fix I did wasn’t too difficult and in fact didn’t void the warranty at all. If you are careful enough in following the directions I gave on the fix, any tech would be hard pressed to prove you did anything to the set. Some electronics have a seal or something than when the back is removed, the seal breaks indicating you have opened the set yourself to attempt a repair that you aren’t authorized to perform. Not so in this case. I also explained to the tech what I had done when he came out to solder the connection permanently and he agreed that by doing so I was in no danger of voiding the warranty. I will say the fix required a great deal of observation and patience though and should not under any circumstances be attempted by anyone squeamish about doing any of the actions I listed. Uncertainty or fear only breeds carelessness so please don’t try this unless you are comfortable with the process! I will also note that the tech took less than 20 minutes to perform the solder repair himself and said the issue was widely known and something he had to do daily all over the area. Thanks for the stars Mike, just had to respond back about the warranty item. As to how I arrived at the fix? Well I sorted through hundreds of posts and narrowed the problem down to a common denominator. Additionally, the people who mentioned the connection might be the issue didn’t exactly leave follow up posts which means they were able to fix the problem and saw no need to keep writing about something that was no longer an issue to them. In any event, I didn’t have to wait for weeks for a repairmen as some have and was enjoying my set the next day. Good luck to all!
August 30th, 2007 at 6:57 pm
I AM A outside field Tech, I kan give any info that im alloud to you, there is a verry easy way to het to the thermal fuse, and that isnt the problem, it is the connector, and where it is, if you want to ask any questions, im an autherised tech, for Mits
August 30th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
Wow, nice spelling by me, after i read it again,,lol
August 30th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
Ha, we’ll pretend it’s short-hand… or morris code
September 11th, 2007 at 5:30 am
Many thanks to Brad for Post #2. His suggestion for letting the TV shut itself off and then turning it back on worked! We couldn’t get a tech appointment for 11 days (still a few more days to wait), and were without TV for several days until I saw his post.
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:07 pm
It is neat to see how effectively the people on this site have been working through the temperature issues on the 65″ set. I have the WD-52525 set, and have the TV screen not turning on at all after a few weeks of intermittent operation - overheating and turning off, then being able to be turned on after it cooled down. Does any one know if the WD-52525 set has a similar temperature sensor that might be the culprit? Thanks.
October 22nd, 2007 at 7:31 pm
I can back this up for the wd-65732. It is easier to take the three screws out on the fan shroud to the right of the lamp casing. Once that is removed, you can maneuver your hands to either unscrew the little screw OR leave it in there.
Here is what I did. I removed that shroud and the velcro holding the clip in. Then I unclipped it and jammed a small flat head screwdriver in the male pin end to ever so slightly bend the pins out and crooked and rough them up a little. Once plugged back in and all back together, no more meesage!
weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
I still LOVE this TV. And 7 days till the service man gets here.
October 22nd, 2007 at 8:17 pm
Excelsior, you are a much braver man than I but that’s awesome to hear you fixed it.
Do you think the tech will replace the censor if the device isn’t failing while he’s there though?
November 20th, 2007 at 11:54 am
I successfully got rid of the airflow message by following Craig’s steps in post #24 on my WD-65831.
To make the removal of the small screw that holds the sensor in much easier, remove the airflow duct above and to the right of the lamp cage. It uses the same screws as the rear panel and goes back on easily.
November 23rd, 2007 at 12:55 am
Hi Folks,
I need some help. My Mitsu 52525 DLP seems to have dust particals showing up on light backgrounds (like Sky shots)in the shape of slight dark patches. Plus, the overall screen seems to be darker then before. This is the second time this has happened. The first time I had a BB Tech come out and clean the TV and when he was done the Picture was wounderful again. What can I do to clean the inside of the TV where this dust is being projected. Unfortunately I didn’t see what he Tech did the first time.
Thanks for the help,
Sean
November 23rd, 2007 at 8:29 am
Sean, I’m sure some of the folks that have posted would know better than I do, but the 2 cents I can give you so far is:
* If the first time when the tech came out, he just blew compressed air into the set, and didn’t necessarily dismantle the light engine, you could try the same for the easiest fix.
* Take off the back panel on the rear bottom of the set. Look into the light housing that holds the lamp, pull the lamp if necessary, and try and follow the path of the light to see if you can find your way to the lens somewhere, then use some compressed air in there to see if you can get the dust off of it.
Also if this happened before, and keeps happening, do you have a dust issue you need to take care of? Maybe a cat likes to sleep next to the rear vents of the TV cause it’s warm or something?
Just a suggestion so hopefully you don’t have to do it again too soon.
December 13th, 2007 at 1:18 am
!!!! MITSUBISHI WILL FIX AIR FLOW PROBLEM FREE OF CHARGE !!!
hello all. received the following letter in the mail from mitsu ( http://www.mdea.com/img/514730 ) which states they’re extending all warranties on listed DLP’s that are experiencing the airflow/shutdown message. if your TV is listed (and probably even if not) you can find a service tech via the following location ( http://direct.where2getit.com/cwc/apps/w2gi.php?template=search&client=mitsuservicer#?mid=123656 ) and have them make a field repair on your set. they simply replace the old/faulty air flow sensor with a new one, free of charge. all that was required was a proof of purchase of the set. the main page link is here : http://www.mdea.com/j/i/18312. hope this helps
December 13th, 2007 at 8:01 am
Nick, that’s awesome. Thanks for following up and letting us know!
December 13th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
Here’s a link to the official service bulletin
http://www.mitsubishi-tv.com/img/514730
Mits is giving 3 years coverage on this (additional 2 beyond the 1 year standard.
December 13th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
Has anyone gotten their TV services *twice* for this? I got my TV serviced right near the beginning of the whole ordeal, and they did replace the sensor but I don’t know if that sensor is just gonna fail again in another few months.
(I’m wondering if this is like the OB-fiasco with the Sony SXRD sets and the green blob).
Dave, thanks for the service bulletin link, handy to have around if I have to call a tech and have something to show him.
December 13th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
From everything we have been able to diagnose during my set’s failure last year, the culprit was NOT in the sensor, but in the crimp of the wires to the connector. Somewhere along the assembly line, there was simply no metal-to-metal contact between the wire and the connector pins (both M/F sides). Thus, the “SOLDER” directive solved the many expensive service calls. It remains to be seen if the sensor will eventually fail. But, I am happy the folks at Mits have come through with an extension of the warranty - even if it is limited to only the sensor problem. I have been very happy with the quality of the picture (1080p on Blu-Ray is phenomenal).
December 13th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
Bob,
Agreed on the quality. I don’t know which Blu-ray player you are using (PS3 here), but I love throwing movies on it and sitting back and relaxing.
I did end up turning Dark Detailer off only because I felt it made some scenes *too* dark… then again a professional calibration likely wouldn’t hurt.
December 13th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
Okay, so like many, I got my set fixed by them hard wiring the connector versus changing the crimped connector originally supplied. It worked for a few months now and then slowly but surely I began seeing intermittent color variations ranging to a flickering on the screen. Eventually, it would correct itself and perform fine but yesterday it hesitated to light up. The on lamp would light green but no picture or sound. I turned it off and then 5 minutes later tried again. Slowly but surely a picture began to flicker into place and then it lit up and worked fine. Today, it won’t even light and turns itself off moments after it is turned on.
To make matters worse, the repair company can’t make it out till next Tuesday! This sucks! Anyone else experience this? If I had to guess I would say it’s the lamp and maybe color wheel or both.
December 13th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
Craig that blows.
The first 65831 I got from Costco *immediately* destroyed itself after I turned it on. It looked great, then I heard a whining/grinding sound which I can only guess was the color wheel dying.
After you turn your set off, or when you turn it on, do you hear the color wheel spin up? It sounds like a quiet fan really.
If not, then let’s hope it was just the lamp… did you open the door on the back of the TV and check? Mits will over-night you a new lamp if you can fax them proof of purchase, they use UPS next-morning shipping, is really fast.
But if it is the lamp, the “lamp” red light in the front will usually blink… if that isn’t blinking and you can’t hear the color wheel spinning it might be something worse like you said. Hopefully the set is under warranty (1yr) and the repair shop can just bill Mits for the repair.
December 13th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
It happened to me first last night and as a matter of fact I do remember hearing a strange sound though at the time didn’t think it was coming from the set. I’ve been at work today and my wife reported the problem has now occured with her. She has told me the red lamp is lit solid when she turns it on and while there WAS a sound when she first turned it on this morning there isn’t one now. The earlier symptom of color variation and in some cases even reverting to black and white for a few moments tells me it could also have a color wheel issue. In any event the red light indicates it at least has a lamp issue. I do have the one year warranty by the way as well as the extended 5 year warranty from the store. Meanwhile the set isn’t even quite 7 months old too. We are trying now to find a why of getting it fixed earlier. With two kids wanting to play the Wii, my life will be hell otherwise!
December 13th, 2007 at 2:09 pm
Hah, the Wii comment was funny, sorry.
Yea it sounds like your color-wheel died. That was exactly the behavior my first one went through… that whining/grinding sound, then once it was dead, nada. Wouldn’t stay on, and red light for “Lamp” even though it had nothing to do with the lamp.
Don’t waste the time getting the replacement from Mits, I think your original diagnosis was right.
I don’t know what a light-engine/wheel replacement takes for these sets but you might let the repair shop know you did some research online and *think* that might be it just so they show up with the right parts just in case and don’t have to “go back to the shop”.
Then again, they might want to take the set with them as well… that sucks even worse.
December 13th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
Thanks Riyad. What surprises me is that they think nothing of their repair taking a week. Let’s take their primary sets out of the house for a week and see how well they get along! Don’t get me wrong, we can live without our TV but the fact that the main source of entertainment is not working on top of their flippant response to what they will do about it is aggravating. And a week for the repair is assuming they are able to repair it at that time. Let’s assume the worst and say the part must be ordered in which case we could be looking at another week or more! This really, really ticks me off! Nothing I can do about it though as they have me by the short hairs you know?
Yeah and a 7 year old asking daily “When will I get to play Wii again?” gets old. He’s a good boy and that is the reward he gets for doing well in school. Have to come up with an alternative reward now I guess. Sigh.
December 13th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
That’s brutal Craig and you are absolutely right, I’ve seen sets in shops for a month, but I don’t think that is the norm.
I would honestly pay a few hundred dollars extra for a big consumer-electronic like a TV to have same-day or next-day service/repair/replacement… the shenanigans we go through when the thing goes down is just a nightmare.
February 18th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Just a recap… Early in June, 2007, the projector lamp literally exploded shattering glass throughout the lamp cage. The superheated mercury vapor from inside the lamp apparently coated the spinning color wheel and created a diffused image on the screen. Result: Replace both lamp and color engine under Mitsubishi’s 1-yr warranty. Today (2/18/08) the lamp exploded once again. Somehow, there seems to be a design problem here…
February 18th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Bob,
Is there anythnig unusual about your environment? Humidity? Temperature? etc?
March 5th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Trouble with 65732 DLP I have had it since Oct and have replaced three bulbs and the last one went out on Sunday. This sucks like the tv love the features but this is a major problem with bulbs costing 350.00 has to be a problem some where. Was told it was my ele causing surges and brown outs bought a 250.00 UPS constant power system to plug it into and it still happen. It seems that maybe it is overheating also not sure. Any ideas or am I the only one with this model having problems?
March 5th, 2008 at 10:22 am
Linda, the good news is that if it were overheating you’d see a message about it, there are a few temperature gauges in the TV to cause it to shut down if it overheats. It is possible I suppose that if the gauges aren’t tripping the TV to shut off, then that would certainly kill the bulbs.
One way to tell is to replace the bulb (again) and put a fan right next to the intake on the side that cools the bulb, and run it. If the bulb lasts much longer than the last ones, then there is something wrong with the temperature triggers in the set.
If the bulb fails just like the others then my guess is dirty power or surges causing it to blow, but you mentioned you already tried a UPS so that sort of rules that possibility out unless the UPS is severely underpowered for the set (which I don’t think it is…?)
Can you call whoever you bought it from and do a swap-out of the TV with another one? Can you talk to Mits about swapping it out for you with a replacement set and you’ll pay the shipping or something?
I think if you have a sufficient support record with them in their computers, it will seem reasonable that you are asking for a replacement.
Try and upgrade to the 833 series, they had some nice additions
March 5th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
The tech who replaced my lamp last week indicated there is a potential problem with the screen that allows cooling air to flow over the lamp. It was comprised of a fine wire-mesh which also limited the amount of air that cooled the lamp. A newer design replaces that mesh with a piece of sheet metal with hundreds of holes punched through it. These holes are spaced very close together which effectively opens the air inlet much more than the previous design. He indicated that he has yet to replace a lamp with this new design. Consistent with this lamp replacement, he also replaced both the ballast fan and the lamp fan. He stated that the air flow over the lamp was not sufficient to keep it from blowing.
Sadly, when the lamp blew the second time, it once again contaminated the light engine. There is a noticeable haze around bright objects that should not be there. A new light engine is on order once again.
The WD-65831 is on a regulated AC source/UPS which is set at 120.0VAC. Sags and surges of plus/minus 2.0VAC cause the regulator to correct the voltage. The room environment is set to 70 degrees F with relative humitidity set to a consistent 40%. The lamp had been cleaned about two months prior to the blown lamp episode. There was very little visible contamination of the filter screens. From all that I can tell, the ‘blown lamps’ were not caused by voltage fluctuations, but more likely were the direct effect of overheating in the lamp itself due to poor air flow. The lamp chamber heat sensors may not detect this type of heat problem since they are far removed from the lamp itself. Those sensors are designed to sense a partial fan failure rather than this type of overheating.
I don’t exactly care to be the manufacturer’s “beta tester”, but I will be happy if I can get the rated 6000 hours of viewing out of a lamp… More to come…
March 6th, 2008 at 1:20 am
Mitsubishi extended the warranty an additional two years for this “air flow” problem.
The repair guy called and told me he was going to take my tv for 3-4 business days because it required a “tear down”. So I think, the repair guy is going to bring two guys to my house to carry a 65″ tv back to their shop, “tear it down”, then load it up and carry it back to my place. I’d be really surprised if his fee from Mitsubishi wasn’t fixed. If I can fix it in 30 minutes on my floor, why would he go to all the extra work…? My vote - no confidence. I’ve read a bunch about this and I figured my tv was better off in my hands for 30 minutes than his for who knows how long. Here’s the fix that’s been working for two weeks.
1. Unplug the TV. Make sure it has been unplugged for at least an hour. You will have to remove the bulb and you don’t want problems if it’s hot.
2. Take off the back electronics plate - 20 something screws (with little arrows pointing to them). DO NOT REMOVE THE LARGE BACK COVER OF THE TV! Just the back plate which is at the bottom of the set and runs the length of it.
3. Once that is removed, remove the bulb/lamp. Look for two silver flat head screws on the right side. Unscrew them and take that piece out (NO TOUCHING).
Look inside that hole with a flashlight. On the upper left side of that framework is a rectangular opening that allows you to see the white thermostat. Note the screw just below it. Also note that the head is on the other side… Here’s the hard part (for me anyway)
4. Using a very short #2 Phillips head screwdriver, remove that screw. I used a 1/4″ offset ratcheting wrench after several failed attempts with a screwdriver. Some people take out more of the guts of the TV and have to fool with adjustments later. Too risky for me. Somehow that seems like more work than a trip to Lowes.
5. Now you can remove the thermostat. I had to remove mine by sliding it down, then over, rather than straight up. Just above and to the left of the bulb/lamp housing are two black wires clipped to two yellow wires which connect to the thermostat. You may find this easier if you unhook the black wires from the harness.
Now we are ready to fix the problem. This brings us to a point of controversy. Some say replace the thermostat, others say clip the wires and solder, I say BEND. IF you have a spare KLIXON 250V/7A Part # YS11A95B-C6 handy, you could replace it. You may not fix the problem though because most of the time we are dealing with a faulty connection rather than a faulty part. If you have a soldering iron and some heat shrink handy, clip the wires and go to town. I think my solution is more simple, equally effective, and risk free. Simply grab each of the two male pins with needle nose pliers about 1/16th” from the tip and give them a slight bend. This will force the male pins to make contact with the female receiver.
#6. Now that you’ve made the bend, replace all of the parts (yes, including the back) and test your TV.
Of course you know that doing any of this voids your warranty. I’m sharing what has worked for me for the last two weeks 0 it may not work for you and I can not be responsible. This “fix” is best left to those daring and impatient individuals who understand the risks and the rewards. If in doubt, call Mitsubishi at 800.553.7278. Again, they are offering free fixes with a two year extension of the one year warranty. Use the words, “air flow”. Good luck.
If anyone wants pictures of the critical parts, email me at greengrassmods@yahoo.com.
March 6th, 2008 at 5:25 am
Heath, not only is the super detailed walkthrough appreciated, but it sounds exactly like what my tech did for me ( but he did a replacement and I like your suggestion of a crimp better )
If my set acts up again I will try this out or get the tech to try it in house and see if it works.
March 6th, 2008 at 8:02 am
Heath,
The bending of the pins will certainly solve a ‘poor connection’ problem with the connector pins. But, in my case, the problem was due to the poor quality of the crimp between the connector pin and the wire itself. It appeared that Mits used connector pins designed to mate with solid-core wire. The crimp cuts through the insulation during assembly and is pressure-fitted to the solid-core wire. Mits used stranded wiring on this chassis which is not recommended with this type of crimp connector pins. This is why Mits is now recommending that all of the connectors be removed entirely and replaced with a hard-solder connection. The tech indicated that about 10-20% of all units with this chassis type were plagued with this problem.
I am at a loss to understand why your techs wanted to take in your set. The sensor ‘fix’ is relatively painless and takes less than an hour on-site.
March 6th, 2008 at 8:07 am
In my limited experience with techs, every single time I have had an inexperienced tech show up they have wanted to “take the set to the shop”, whenever someone senior shows up, they just dive right in.
I can’t blame the newbies… they probably don’t want you hovering over them as they hum and haw and eat up time looking through a manual, making you wonder what you are paying for (or what the warranty is paying for).
I know I’d get really nervous if I saw some guy without a clue yanking and pulling on things inside my TV, so he probably wants to take that “Back to the shop” and beat it to death in private
March 9th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
I have the WD-57732 Mitsubishi DLP. I was having the same problem with my tv until I found this blog. Since it seems it’s a connection problem with the wires to the sensor I thought I would try to fix it. I do have a warranty claim in so I did not want to do anything that would jeopardize my claim. When I got in there I found the sensor and the wires leading from it. I found that the black wires connect to wires on the sensor through
a black connector piece. This piece was hanging down very close to the lamp box. No doubt it was getting heated up. I moved it up and back and then also tried to
make sure the wires connected to the sensor were properly
conneceted by jiggling them. The TV now turns back on and the air flow message is gone. YAHOOOOOO! I am still
having the warranty work done, but it’s working and all thanks to all of you up here. Thanks so much!
Paul
March 9th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Paul nice work man, I agree that all the posts here have been awesome, I feel like I could take the set apart and put it back together
April 9th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
I’d like to thank everyone who contributed to this thread. My WD-52631 started to shut down without real cause recently, and entering the message displayed by the TV into Google led me to this thread, where I was able to learn that Mitsubishi was aware of this problem and had extended the warranty for it. My TV has just been repaired free of charge, and hopefully that’ll be the end of it. Thanks again, everyone!
April 9th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Kenji, that’s great news man. Thanks for posting and letting us know.
Out of curiosity did the tech tell you what he did? Did he replace the thermometer or did he just solder the 2 together like a few folks mentioned?
April 9th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
After a long backlog by MITS, the light engine in my WD-65831 has been replaced with a new unit…for the second time in 16 months. The picture is back to its pristine condition. For some reason, when the lamps literally exploded during both previous episodes, something contaminated either the glass cover to the light tunnel, or contaminated the color wheel. I am conjecturing the contaminant was the small amount of mercury that was inside the lamp. Regardless, there is a possibility this could happen to others. Replacing the light engine in the field is about a 15 minute procedure for an experienced tech.
Why do I have a gut feeling that this won’t be the last light engine to be replaced in this set???
April 9th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Bob, you know what burns my ass? Is that even though RPTV is dead, there still haven’t been *affordable* LCD or Plasma sets to come in and fill the 60+ voice which is why I imagine we all got the Mits in the first place.
That’s more of an aside, but with your light engine problems, and me just waiting for mine to explode… if there were a nice LCD or Plasma in the 65″ size range that *wasn’t* $8k or something stupid, I’d probably consider it.
Ahh well… as long as Mits keeps replacing your light engines I guess it’s not too bad.
April 9th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
> Out of curiosity did the tech tell you what he did?
> Did he replace the thermometer or did he just solder
> the 2 together like a few folks mentioned?
The technician said that he replaced the temperature sensor.
April 10th, 2008 at 6:31 am
Kenji,
Thanks. That is what my tech did as well. A few folks here mentioned it’s actually the connection itself that is the problem (Get’s loose) but it seems that when both you and I got our sensors replaced it helped.
May 16th, 2008 at 6:19 am
Mitsubishi has extended warranty for error flow problems. I got this from their website (http://www.mitsubishi-tv.com/img/514730)
Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America, Inc (MDEA) 2006 DLP® Projection Televisions
Models: WD-52631, WD-57731, WD-65731, WD-Y57, WD-Y65, WD-57732, WD-
65732, WD-57831, WD-65831
It has come to our attention that a limited number of DLP® Projection Televisions are
displaying a false message, “TV will shut down in a few seconds. Please check if the air
flow is blocked,” and then the TV shuts off. This message is being caused by a loose
connection and may be easily corrected through one of our Authorized Service Centers.
As part of our commitment to quality and customer satisfaction, MDEA is announcing an
extension of the warranty coverage to replace the thermal sensor for the above referenced
models. For a period of two additional years beyond the one year limited warranty,
MDEA will cover the cost of the thermal sensor (parts and labor) at no charge. All other
terms of the MDEA limited warranty will continue to apply.
May 16th, 2008 at 7:18 am
Nice, thanks for the heads up Bryan!