FixYourDLP.com Forums

Hello, new to the forum (thankfully) but am in search of wisdom. I have a HLN 5065W purchased in 2004. THE set will startup and display a pictire for a few minutes, then start to distort, colors are wrong and picture is twisted. The lamp does light and all 3 fans are turning. Then the 3 flashing lights will come on and the set won't respond to the remote or control just the plug
I don't have the high pitched sound from the color wheel and it appears to be intact.
Since the lamp works for a few minutes, I don't think that is the issue (replaced 10/2009) And reset the lamp timer.
The lamp fires so I THINK the ballast is OK.
I have the same sdcreen response via the COMPONENT inputs and the Video inputs.
The TV menu also distorts when this happens.
It now does not seem to last as long, the distortion does not occur and the screen goes from picture to black.
Is this the COLOR WHEEL? THAT is the best guess I have from reading various forums.
Can I rule out the DMD and Video cards since I do get a picture even only for a few minutes?
I am ruling out the balast and lamp since they do seem to work at the start.
There is also a louder sound from the unit now, thinking dying color wheel.
BUT would the color wheel 1) distort the picture 2) shut the unit down 3) give the 3 flashing lights of doom
Appreciate any and all help, trying to decide on a repaire attempt or purhcase a new TV.
But my 3 year old LCD has been fixed once and symptoms of a power supply and CPU failure are coming back.
DLP has it's problems, but at least it lasted 7 years and has some parts that a regular person can work on

Hello!
to answer your questions;
-this sounds like a textbook colorwheel issue, except for the fact that the TV fails to respond to commands!
-Yes most likely the input boards and digital video are fine because of the clear image.
-The colorwheel can distort the picture in terms of coloration, not lines or bars. maybe a little colored shadowing or dancing lights wrong hue etc.
-It can shut the the down once the DMD recognizes the colorwheel is defective or out of sync it shuts everything down
-This later one will cause the three lights to flash!

Yes that is the beauty of a DLP besides its better contrast ratio. They are easy to fix at a relatively cheap price if you do it yourself (considering these were thousands of dolars when they came out and years ahead of their time)
As a tech I would recommend this, buy a colorwheel and try it out (I find them on discount-merchant.com for my customers for under 90$).
Easy way to diagnose and just as much as a tech charges to just come out and look at your TV! trust me I know

IF this solves it, then good times! if not then you might have to change the DMD/lightengine
hope this helps

Gray fox you are a genius. I did replace the color wheel and the set now works, cleand out the dust and have a great picture.
A few abnormal things still exist, on the inital startup, it freezes or goes to black and white, then shuts down or restarts.
It seems like the color wheel needs to warm up or get spinning for a few minutes before it will work.
Have you experienced any "break in" period with the color wheels? I just want to make sure I don't have a defective wheel or knocked something else loose.
Really does appear to be the wheel, since that corrected the previous problem.

Again, many thanks. Bless those folks that take the time to generate repair guides on line!

thank you, and yes they are selfless in a way, I just cannot find one for your TV model

hmm well the colorwheel should boot like new right off the bat there is no "break in" time...
I would reinstall and double check all my conections, like I mentioned in my first post, the fact it sometimes does not respond has me a bit curious..