Akai PT5492 and Samsung HLS4666

An Akai PT5492 was recently brought in with some convergence problems.

Convergence is how the colors that are reflected onto the television screen appear to the viewer. In these televisions there are three tubes, red, blue and green. Sometimes you can fix the convergence with the remote and the manual.This one in particular needed the television fluid replaced and a new blue tube.

Generally speaking, these sets have issues with convergence because they are older projection televisions and will need the ethylene glycol (television fluid) that cools the tubes within, changed. Often times, they may need their convergence chips changed as well. 

In electronics, it's important to understand that designers are constantly trying to find ways to make their products lighter, with better quality and with the ability to minimize heat exposure to the parts inside of the product. Heat warps things, causing the product to stop working.   Heat can be caused by lamps, capacitors, outside components such as heat vents, shorted circuits or general functioning.

Consequently, we also have a Samsung HLS4666 in the shop that needs a color wheel and a lamp replaced. In my previous article about the Sony DLP's I explained how the color wheel is a superior design to the Sony light engine because the color "wheel" acts not only as a color device but also as a cooling element.

This was another attempt to reduce heat and improve product quality. It is cheaper to fix than the tube-style designs and clearly a better design than the Sony light engine because it acts as a built-in cooling element.

The interesting part of this article is that they both have distributors in Australia. The Anyware Corporation has offices located in both Australia and New Zealand, as well as Australasian PC Distributors, Brightpoint Australia and Synnex Australia.

Further research into these companies is necessary for a broad spectrum report on how the laws about production operate in Australia. For more info regarding these companies, visit http://www.arnnet.com.au/.

  

http://tv.manualsonline.com/manuals/mfg/akai/5492s.html

The issue of schematics

Mitsubishi. Toshiba. Sony. Hitachi. Deawoo. Syntax. Samsung. Vizio. Panasonic. RCA. LG. Magnavox. Phillips. We could go on for days.

Then you have different types of televisions: flatscreens, big screens, digital light processing, plasma, liquid crystal display, projection, old-school tube televisions, color, black and white...

Each company breaks it down to a model number and serial number. Every television has a unique design based on the technology available, the economics driving the company along with supply and demand.Thus, establishing a need for a schematics data-base the size of a small factory.

Sometimes fixing a television comes down to simple electronics. Other times you spend hours and hours checking capacitors,diodes, resistors, fuses, etc, trouble-shooting to save your life.

Occasionally, we are lucky enough to find the schematics we need to fix a television online. Once in a while we find a diagram close enough to the original due to the time and model of the set. However, when we do have to order a schematic, it often comes with a hefty price.

On Www.PartStore.com one Panasonic manual was listed at selling for $145.65, another for $6.52. When you tell a client a price on your labor and then have to call them with the bad news that the schematics are going to cost them just about as much, it creates problems. So we have been spending time researching sites that offer free or inexpensive schematics to help solve this issue.

One site we discovered was http://www.service-manual.eu/index.php . This site features several different types of electronics and even vehicle manuals to download for free. The problem, we of course ran into, was that not all of our schematics were listed. However, they do reference other schematic websites and the odds of finding a schematic similar to your model are somewhat good due to the amount of them available on this site.

Even if we never solve the issue of the schematics, we would like our clients to know the process of trouble-shooting that we go through and that their best interest is in mind. We welcome any suggestions as to where we can find legit manuals.

Sony technology at its worst

This is a Sony light engine. It showcases the liquid crystal display panels discussed here.



This a traditional color wheel.

A warped lcd panel.







Most light engines use a color wheel but Sony developed colored liquid crystal display panels that did not aim to please. Here is why.

Digital Light Processing technology was invented in 1987 by Dr. Hornbeck of Texas Instruments, Inc. He invented the Digital Micromirror Device (DMD), which is a semiconductor that can accurately direct photons like nothing known to man.

The DMD is used in DLP televisions in congruence with a lamp, a prism, a projection lense, a light funnel and initially, a color wheel to project a picture on a screen.  Here is where the problem lies. 

Sony replaced the color wheel with six colored lcd panels. Sony chose to be different.

Sometimes different isn't a good thing. Not in this particular case.

"Sony is always ahead," said Mr. Pickett.



However, by leaving out the "wheel" part, it left out the option of having a fan. The idea behind the color "wheel" was to have a cooling device to deter the amount of heat produced by the ultra violet rays and polarized blue light. Without the fan, the light engine overheats.

Once the light engine has overheated the lcd panels become warped and this is reflected across the television screen as large multi-colored blobs.

Due to the defects caused by Sony, there was a class-action lawsuit. It was eventually settled  October 23, 2007 but we are still seeing the effects of their poor technology to this day.



Today if one of these light engines fail the extended warranty has expired but we are still able to order the lcd panels from different distributors.

For information regarding the lawsuit, visit http://sites.google.com/site/sonylcdrptvproblems/sonyrearprojectionlcdtv-opticalblock

Problem Child: Sony DLP 60 inch, Model KDF-60xs955

Since July 2011 we have experienced an influx of what we would like to call our "problem child," the Sony 60" DLP, model number KDF-60xs955.

Fifteen of these sets have been repaired or are in the process of being repaired.

The most common problem?

According to Mr. Pickett, "a faded picture with specks all over it."

The only way to fix it is to replace the light engine. The light engine basically provides the light, color and projection of the image onto the screen.

There have been some very simple solutions to the various problems that consumers have encountered. Often times simply adjusting the convergence or the red, green and blue tints is all that is necessary.

For more information regarding this product visit http://www.sony.com/.

Sony DLP TV, KDF 50E2000

This television came to us after a voltage surge and initially the lamp, a 480 micro farad capacitor and a power supply board needed to be replaced. That was done, it was turned on and it worked. The very next day we turned on the television and viola! Nothing...so we took another look and found that the heat from the surge had warped the inside of the door panel where the switch to the lamp is. Now we have to fix that.

A way for customers to get an inside look at what's actually going on...

We are basically a mom-and-pop t.v. shop in the Saginaw area that would like to get our name out there.

At Pickett & Son T.V., we repair t.v.'s and other household appliances. From time to time, we get dvd players, microwaves and other such electronic devices that like to go cupoot on our clients.

Take a look at some of the items that have been coming through the door lately.

Currently, we have a few big screen t.v.'s, Magnavox flatscreens and a few old-school tube t.v.'s. 

If you know anyone who is interested or would like to have something repaired, go ahead and leave a comment.