How to extend the life of your DLP, LCoS, SXRD, HD-ILA, or LCD TV Lamp -Intuitive Guide
It's a terrible feeling...it sucks when you're anticipating watching your favorite program and "pop", the lamp in your projection TV fails :( Why did it happen? You were just watching TV, it's not like you were wrestling with it! Why?? In our experience, there are a number of factors that can contribute to a premature lamp failure. Keep in mind that there is no fail-safe course of action you can take...these lamps are consumable products...they are designed to need replacing. Nevertheless, there are a few things you can do to insure your lamp has a healthy and long life.
The following list is made in order of importance (remember, there is no scientific data behind this, just years of refurbishing experience)
1)Rapid Power Cycling - Turning on the set, turning it off, turning it on, turning it off...turning it on...turning if off. This is absolutely the worse thing one can do to their TV. If you turn on the TV accidentally, give it a good 15-20 to warm up before turning it down. For more look at #2.
2) Power Cycles - A power cycle happens every time you press the power button on your remote to turn it on. Think of it as your car starter. Imagine an insanely busy pizza delivery boy who has 50 deliveries a day. Every time he leaves the pizza shop he needs to activate his car starter...every time he leaves a customer's house, he needs to activate his starter again. There is a good chance this poor guy's starter (100 starts a day!) is going to fail sooner than someone with an 9 to 5 office job, who starts his/her car once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and once in the evening. The same concept applies here. Do not power cycle your TV set every half hour thinking you're going to save 10 minutes of lamp life–it doesn't work that way. You're doing more damage "sparking" or "striking" the lamp.
3) Dust and Dirt - I cannot stress this enough. Eliminating dust and dirt is another very important aspect of maintaining a healthy Projection TV. Take a look at the back of your TV; there is a good chance there's a lot of dust sitting on the back of the TV. Wipe your finger across the back and you'll see. With so much dust on the outside of the TV you can imagine some of it must be getting into inside, and as a result, shortening your lamp life. After 5,000 + lamps replaced, I can honestly say maintaining a clean and dust free TV is essential to promoting a long life. My recommendations:
a) wipe down the back of your TV once a month with a damp cloth
b) invest ~$100 in a ionic air purifier and place it close to the TV. This will silently attract all the dust, pollen, smoke, etc. away from the TV set. Do NOT take a can of compressed air and go nuts spray air everywhere inside your TV! In general, these ionic purifiers are practical and good to have anyway. http://www.ionicpro.com/howitworks.html.:)
4) Surge Protectors - These are good and bad, but ultimately good if used properly. The manufacturer's typically recommend against plugging our TVs into surge protectors. Why? Because they are afraid that customers might get accustomed to turning off their TVs this way (which is a big no no!). Most projectors and projector TVs need a cool down period after they are shutdown. Most of the time, there is a silent fan running. If there is no power, the fan stops working :(
Surge protectors are important as sudden spikes in voltage can fry your ballast and/or lamp. If your lamp made the infamous "pop" noise, recall seeing if you had a surge protector inline.
5)Ventilation and Filters- Ensure your TV has adequate ventilation. Most sets have at least a vent or fan close by to the lamp. Some have filters. Make sure that the filter is clean and replaced/cleaned per the manufacturer’s specifications
6)Never touch the lamp with your bare hands. Our hands are naturally oily and body oil cause "hot spots" on the lamp which may lead to explosions, implosions, or cracks. Always use a clean, non-abrasive, lent free cloth when handling your lamp.
7) Movement and Vibration – Ever moved your TV and noticed it didn't fire up the first time? Have you noticed a scrambled or distorted picture when adjusting your TV Stand while the TV has been on? What about everyday vibrations of powerful home theater systems? All these can lead to the lamp, light engine, color wheel, etc, etc., from losing alignment. There’s been dozens of times when we're fixed a "lamp problem" by just reseating the lamp or adjusting the lamp cover sensor.All the above recommendations are intuitive suggestions. There isn't any scientific research behind it, but through experience we know that they play some factor in the life of your lamp. I have not mentioned anything about picture brightness or power settings because there is much debate over this. Some claim by putting your lamp in economy mode or low power this will result in longer lamp life. On the contrary, we believe these options do not promote longer lamp life; more on this subject to come.
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Reset your Panasonic Lamp Counter After Installing a new lamp
INSTRUCTIONS:
1) Press the POWER button to turn on your TV
2) Press and hold the VOLUME DOWN button on the TV Set (not the remote, the actual TV)
3) Press and hold the PIP (Picture in Picture) or SPLIT/PLAY button on your REMOTE control
4) After about 5 seconds, the lamp service menu should appear and say your lamp counter has been reset. That’s it, your all done :)
Reset Your Zenith or LG DLP TV Lamp Counter
If you replace the DLP lamp out of your Zenith or LG, you will need to reset the counter…otherwise you may get an annoying reminder every few days if you’re surpassed the predetermined hour mark.
To Reset:
Ensure the TV is powered on.
1) Press and HOLD the MENU button on the TV
2) Press and HOLD the MENU button on your REMOTE (hold both these until the service menu pops up 5-10 secs max.)
3) Let go of the REMOTE button first, and then release the button on the TV
4) Press and HOLD the ENTER (or OK) button on the TV
5) Press and HOLD the MUTE button on the REMOTE (hold both until the LAMP LIFE HOURS appears on the screen)
6) Let go of the REMOTE button first, and then release the button on the TV
We suggest writing your lamp hours on a piece of masking tape and taping it to the back the TV for future reference.
7) To reset the lamp counter, press SELECT (or the button in the middle of the direction arrove buttons). Hit SELECT a second time to confirm clearing the lamp counter
For certain models, you might have to tweak these steps slightly…offer your inputs!
How do I reset my lamp timer / counter of my JVC TV TS-CL110UAA (TS-CL110U) lamp after replacing my lamp?
How do I reset my JVC D-ILA lamp counter? How do I clear the lamp warning message? How do I get rid of the annonying Lamp replacement message on my TV screen? Why is this “Replace your lamp” message on my JVC TV set?
If you’ve got a JVC TV, or even another D-ILA or DLP TV and you’re getting a similar message, chances are it’s as simple as reseting the TV lamp hour counter.
Per the JVC Manual, it’s very simple to reset the lamp counter from any TV using the JVC TS-CL110UAA (TS-CL110U) lamp.
1) Press the Menu button
2) Scroll down to the LAMP TIMER RESET option, scroll right to enter
3) Confirm that it is OK to reset the lamp timer by hitting the OK button.
4) The on-screen menu should confirm the lamp was reset correctly
Below is a snapshot from a JVC Manual (Click to Enlarge):
JVC_HD-DILA_Reset_Counter_Guide
Why is this warning message in place? JVC, and other manufactures know the mean average life of these consumable lamps. Just as your car has a mileage meter that sometimes gets activated for tuneups and service calls at certain mileages, JVC wants to give its consumers a “heads” up, that you lamp has just about reached it’s average life span. This translates to, it’s a good idea to have a spare back up lamp because this sucker might blow up any second now! So in case you get this message, make sure you have a spare lamp on hand and go ahead and reset the lamp counter to get rid of the annoying message. Once your lamp JVC TS-CL110UAA (TS-CL110U or PK-CL120U) finally goes out and you put in a new lamp, you want to reset your counter again.
Resetting your Samsung DLP Lamp Hour Meter / Counter
This is a quick reference guide to show you how to reset your Samsung DLP TV’s lamp hour meter or hour counter. Resetting the counter is a very simple procedure.
Begin with the TV powered off.
Point your remote towards your TV.
Press:
Mute + 1 + 8 + 2 + Power
Your TV set should now say “Loading Factory”.
Browse down to “Option” then press Enter (or the right cursor button).
NOTE: The Mute+1+8+2 buttons needs to be pressed down consecutively and fairly quickly. If your TV does not enter the service menu after using this combination, you can substitute MENU instead of MUTE. This seems to work for some sets. Also, the right cursor arrow also acts as the ENTER button, so try it if you’re having difficulty with the ENTER button.
To exit the service menu, hit press the EXIT button or just turn off your TV (remember not to turn on your TV immediately afterwards!).
Resetting your LG Lamp Counter
This mini-guide should enable you to view and reset your TV lamp hour counter. It’s always a good idea to reset this counter when changing lamps.
Make sure the TV is on and:
1) Press and hold the Menu button on your TV SET
2) Press and hold the Menu button on your REMOTE CONTROL (at the same time)
3) Continue holding BOTH buttons down for 5 seconds or until the Service Menu pops up
4) Release the MENU button from your REMOTE CONTROL, then release the MENU button from the TV Set.
5) Press and hold ENTER (or OK) on the TV Set, then:
6) Press and hold MUTE on the REMOTE CONTROL (while still holding down the ENTER button on the TV SET
7) Holding both buttons down should lead to the Lamp Life Hours screen to pop up.
8) Release the MUTE button the REMOTE CONTROL, then release the ENTER (or OK) button on the TV Set.
9) Now press SELECT, then SELECT again to confirm the reset of the counter
** If the procedure above does not work swap steps 5 & 6.
** For a few special models (including 44SZ8D), you might have to change step 5 to:
5a) Press Enter on the TV Set to enter the Position Adjustment Screen
5b) Press and hold Enter on the TV Set (the TV should go back to the main Service Menu, continue holding Enter) and now also hold down the MUTE button on your REMOTE CONTROL. After about 5 seconds, your Lamp Life Counter should pop up.
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