Mitsubishi DLP 06 - Failed light engine

[Cherylabq]

Cheryl:
Congratulations..!!......A question for you though...(don't want to read through 8 pages of posts!!):
how old is your set? Even if it's an '05, in my opinion I think that Mitsu owes you a "like" set...i.e.: diamond vision for diamond vision......

It was two year's old as of Christmas Eve 2007. The manager of the store I talked to tried arguing with Mitsubishi about the Diamond for a Diamond but they wouldn't budge. That's kind of why I conceded. I figure I'll get an LCD or Plasma in a few years when this one breaks down

(NOTE: I purchased the 5-year insurance policy from the store for this replacement; it even covers lamp burn outs).

Thanks for your help Sheldon! You helped me push through on this and at least we got something.

For others reading this, I DID post to the Better Business Bureau about this situation. I had, coincidentally, submitted a rebuttal this morning to Mitsubishi saying they rectified the situation by sending the part. I rebutted THEIR rebuttal by saying that said "part" never worked. I got the call about a replacement from my store an hour or so after my rebuttal (don't think it was related to getting a replacement though).

[akirby]

He also predicts that DLP technology will be obsolete in 3 years and that LCD and Plasma will be the standard.

DLP for REAR PROJECTION is almost dead already with many mfrs pulling out of rear projection altogether. Which is a shame because I think DLP is a better picture and less expensive in larger screen sizes. I was hoping to get a 65 or 73 inch RP DLP with LEDs on the cheap (which will still be possible but now I'm scared about all of the DLP issues that Mits has been having).

I think DLP will continue to be the standard for front projection which is the way I might go. I have a 55" mits CRT now in the home theater but I need to move that upstairs for everyday viewing. I may replace it with a 1080p FP and 80" screen. Or I might take a chance on a leftover 73" RP. Decisions, decisions.

The downsides with LCD and Plasma, in his experience, is that once they break, they are unfixable.

Apparently so are the Mits DLPs.

[Cherylabq]

LOL...I thought the same thing as I was typing akirby

[sheldon1451]

Cheryl...let us know how u like the new set.
As far as DLP's go, pricing on them has come down substantially since I purchased mine in '06. I paid around 5k for the 73" DLP Diamond Series, and I think they're around 1500.00 or so less.
I always seem to be on the wrong end of things...I purchased the Toshiba HD3A High Def DVD player and now BlueRay appears to be the clear winner.
If anyone has some land in Florida they'd like to sell me, I'm in the market!!!!!!!

[RTHVZB]

Sheldon,

I don't have any land, but I have this old bridge sitting around here that I'm willing to let go at a bargain-basement price if you're interested?? LOL

Don't worry about LCD/Plasma or downfalls and outdates of technology. We all know as soon as you buy anything tech it's outdated by the time you get it home. That's a good thing actually.. else we'd all be here watching 20" Black and white CRTs, getting up to turn the channel knob and adjusting the reception w/ some more aluminum foil on the rabbit ears!!

As for the HD BluRay fight - yeh, Blu-Ray looks to be winning, but who knows. VHS beat out BetaMax only due to Sony's ignorance of the adult industry's power in home video. The EXACT same thing could happen again if Sony doesn't make some concessions on that front. Sure Hollywood is on board w/ Blu-Ray, but there's another billion dollar a year industry which they've paid the price by ignoring before and it seems they did not learn their lesson. So, don't throw away the HD DVD player just yet!

As for my update:

Mistu called me today and said they were still in the process of getting the replacement TV to me. Apparently my original point of purchase location has been giving THEM the runaround. I almost had to laugh when I heard that - thinking about all that the consumers go through with Mitsu CSRs. But, I held it back.

Anyway, I was told that they should have a firm date by the end of this week (they are hoping) and will have the TV replacement out to me soon thereafter. They also told me it will probably be my service center that takes away the old TV since the point of purchase wants nothing to do with that aspect of the replacement. If you're familiar with my issue you know I purchased from a place that has a "no returns" policy on anything over 36". It seems they refuse to accept a return even for a manufacturer.

I have yet to discuss the exact model of the replacement set or the 4 year extended warranty that I purchased through MACK for the current set. So I'm sure there are more rough roads to tread coming soon in terms of the warranty being transferred and remaining active. A for the model, I doubt they will try and rook me on that front - I bought a Medallion, so I expect at least that for the new one.

Overall, the good news is Mistu is still actively working on the replacement and keeping me informed of the progress. Glory be!

I'll keep you updated as I learn more.

[sheldon1451]

So, don't throw away the HD DVD player just yet!

I still have my LaserDisc player (weighs a ton!)..and a VCR..No despair on my end. Just a little levity. Ya gotta keep smiling!

As far as your extended warranty is concerned:
You can probably kiss the balance of it goodbye. I found that out when GE replaced my refrigerator that was under an extended warranty plan. Once they put a new one in, the old extended warranty went down the drain and the original mfr's warranty kicked in for the new one. My one year was just up, and I opted to re-purchase a new extended warranty (which by the way is thru GE...Maybe that matters?).
I haven't even tried to transfer the balance of my ext warranty on the Mitsu. I probably should though..
Too bad you are having to go through the seller instead of a service center to begin with, but like I've been saying all along........"Hang in there............"
(what color is the bridge?????)

[RTHVZB]

Mistu called me today and said they were still in the process of getting the replacement TV to me. Apparently my original point of purchase location has been giving THEM the runaround. I almost had to laugh when I heard that - thinking about all that the consumers go through with Mitsu CSRs. But, I held it back.

Anyway, I was told that they should have a firm date by the end of this week (they are hoping) and will have the TV replacement out to me soon thereafter. They also told me it will probably be my service center that takes away the old TV since the point of purchase wants nothing to do with that aspect of the replacement. If you're familiar with my issue you know I purchased from a place that has a "no returns" policy on anything over 36". It seems they refuse to accept a return even for a manufacturer.

I have yet to discuss the exact model of the replacement set or the 4 year extended warranty that I purchased through MACK for the current set. So I'm sure there are more rough roads to tread coming soon in terms of the warranty being transferred and remaining active. A for the model, I doubt they will try and rook me on that front - I bought a Medallion, so I expect at least that for the new one.

Overall, the good news is Mistu is still actively working on the replacement and keeping me informed of the progress. Glory be!

I'll keep you updated as I learn more.

I heard from Mitsu again yesterday and was told that my new TV should be shipped by the end of this week or early next week. They said that my point of purchase location gave them such a hard time that they had decided to fore go having them supply the new TV and would be shipping it direct from their facility in GA. They also said that the tech service that diagnosed my TV wanted too much money to come and pick up my old one so a different tech service would be contacting me in this regard.

I'll be receiving a WD 73734 Medallion to replace my WD 73732 Medallion. So, I'm getting a newer, '07 model at least. They said the 73734 utilizes a different light engine is not one of the sets that have these issues or Mistu's extension to the usual warranty.

Finally I was told that both the new tech and the shipper would be contacting me to arrange pick up and delivery respectively.

Within an hour of this call, the tech service called me regarding "scrapping" the old TV. They informed me that since Mistu does not sell refurbished products and have no refurbishing facilities, that they "scrap" TVs that are replaced. The tech basically told me he has to remove the serial number and can't re-sell the TV - but can do anything else with it that he wants as long as the set itself does not re-enter the consumer market. Basically, he's going to fix it and put it in his living room and get paid to do so! Unreal! I had to laugh!

Anyway, I arranged with the tech to wait until I hear on my new set's delivery date at which point we're going to try and schedule both pickup and delivery on the same day. I was advised that this might present an issue as Mistu could want the TV verified as picked up prior to delivering the new one (obviously, to avoid consumers keeping the old TV, having 2 and re-selling it or whatever). But, the tech was not told that yet, so it may not be a problem at all. I'm assuming Mitsu will let me know on that front - although I DID ask the Mistu rep about this and he said it was no problem (same day delivery/pick-up) as long as I could arrange it with the tech service - so he did not seem to think any specific "T"s had to be crossed or "I"s dotted prior to delivery.

The only thing I'm worried about now is my 3rd party, 4 year extended warranty which I need to attempt to transfer. A friend who had a similar experience w/ trans of an extended warranty advised that it may not be possible. He said I should call the warranty company and tell them that replacement is "a possibility" and ask if it can be trans'd IF the TV gets replaced. If not, he said NOT to tell them it was replaced ever; to simply hang on to my original paperwork from the bad TV and have any future work billed against its model and serial number.
This seems to be the last hurdle to clear, so we'll see how it goes.

I'm just waiting to hear about the ship and arrival date and soon I'll be good again.

One last thing to note is: I haven't turned off my TV since before Xmas and it has not displayed a light engine problem since (knock on wood). Very strange, but it's been working perfectly as long as I don't power it down and let it get cold. So, luckily I've been able to enjoy and watch it through most of this repair and replacement fun.

[sheldon1451]

First of all.............
Congratulations on making it over the biggest hurdle!!!!

Second...........thanks for the suggestion with the extended warranty issue. I doubt it will work in my case since the model #'s changed, but we'll see.

FYI.......Mitsu told me that before they would ship the replacement, the service tech that picks up the old one would have to remove the serial #tags and send them in to Mitsu to prove the set was picked up....but that's not what happened. They did not wait to ship and I received my new TV within 2 or 3 days after the old one was picked up.

Enjoy the new set...and being able to turn it off....and on

[Zeebo]

Long time lurker of this thread. Have a WD-73727 that has been having the same issues described by prior posters, terrible banding/solarization, flickering, etc. Can still watch TV, but quality is going downhill quite rapidly. Set was bought 7/06 from Tweeter.

Service Tech was out on 12/5 and immediately said it was the Optical Engine and placed the order with Mitsu.

First was told Optical Engine was on backorder and due in on 12/14 from Japan, but with the holidays to not expect it arrive at the Tweeter Service Center until after the holidays.

I called Tweeter on 1/4/08 to check status. They called Mitsu, who told them they have nothing in their system on my order or issue. Tweeter suggested I call Mitsu myself to elevate the issue. After being on the phone with a CSR and supervisor for about an hour, they assured me my order is expedited and that I should be high on the list for the next expected date of availability, 1/9/08.

I was shocked today to get a call from Tweeter to schedule a time for the tech to come out and install the new optical engine. I'm somewhat concerned that I'm not getting the latest "corrected" optical engine for this set. I double checked with the service manager @ Tweeter, who assured me this is the "new" optical engine that should correct the problem. Fingers crossed.

Have not seen many posts, anywhere on the web, from owners of these TV's that have had a successful "new" optical engine installed. Or posts on what exactly is failing within the optical engine, i.e. color wheel made of inferior parts, heat issues, etc.

Thanks for everyone for prior posts, they were extremely helpful when talking with Tweeter and Mitsu.

I'll let everyone know how things go.

Zeebo.

[MrSmoofy]

Purchased from SoundAdvice (Tweeter) April 25, 2006 and last week I started seeing blue smuf people and having all the issues everyone has described, I'm glad I found this thread and the letter on Mitsubishi's site about this problem.

I hope I can get my TV fixed before Superbowl or get a new one (even better).

Thanks for all that have posted, I still feel there should be some kind of class action law suit as this is obviouse a huge problem and customers are getting shafted by Mitsubishi.