rca m50wh92syx1 cap on ballast board?

[WILDCHILD]

hi , I have rca m50wh92syx1 DLP tv and my tv wasn`t working properly with the blue led flashing 5x`s in the front when I 1st turn it on then it would go solid for about 30sec and repeat again.so I took the ac power supply board out and everything looked good ,so I took out the ballast board it looked good to ,so on the ballast board I let set for about an hr and made sure to discharge the 450v 47uf cap when I did discharge the cap there was a big snap and sparks from it for a sec.so I decided to put everything back together and now the tv works like it did when it was new (2007) and up to now it has been running for at least 10hrs with no probs.
My ? is can a bad cap not discharge at all and cause the ballast not to work?

[Wizard]

Re: rca m50wh92syx1 cap on ballast board?

This was not the discharge, your had unplugged and replugged cleaned up bad connection.

This unit have color wheel and lamp issues. How old is lamp?

Cheers, Wizard

[WILDCHILD]

Re: rca m50wh92syx1 cap on ballast board?

lamp(phillips) is about 8 months old ,replaced the 1st lamp(osram) in 9 months looked at both lamps closely and both don`t have any black spots or broken glass.color wheel runs nice and smooth .maybe when I replaced the osram lamp with the phillips and the tv worked right away was a quinsadence maybe the osram lamp is still good.don`t want to try it yet since the tv is still working as we speak.
So u don`t think its a cap issue on the ballast board?

[Wizard]

Re: rca m50wh92syx1 cap on ballast board?

Should been exact replacement bulb from reputable bulb reseller, around 130-150. Next time around. If RCA publishes cross reference bulb chart to sub with they will, Otherwise some will put out a bulletin to replace both ballast and bulb as a set to provide another type of bulb for better availability.

Ballast uses top quality capacitors in there and is well cooled to begin with, also ballast is made by the bulb maker not RCA's.

At each bulb start up normal for ballast to arc few times in the spark gap, round thing with metal lids with solder leads near HV transformer. Let TV cool down, hear fans run in hot standby after turnoff and let fans stop before unplugging power cord. Also all DLP/LCD with HID bulb sets have a good feature that give customer a chance to turn tv back on quickly (note screen is still faintly glowing) because of time delay in HID stays on for few seconds. Other wise you are forced to wait 5 minutes cool down to preserve HID bulb life if HID light is shut off.

Cheers, Wizard

[WILDCHILD]

Re: rca m50wh92syx1 cap on ballast board?

here is the the part# for the bulb I replaced 275179 phillips and it was from a very reputable company.I was told that a phillips bulb is better than the osram whats ur opinion on that?
if u want I can pm u the company name that I got the bulb from if thats ok with you.
I just wish I knew why my tv is working 100% now .
is there any conections that could have cost me trouble on this tv ?( I have unplugged the db connector for the color wheel and it looked fine but then again those are small conections.)

[stevemcg]

Re: rca m50wh92syx1 cap on ballast board?

I have a similar problem with my RCA DLP TV and was wondering about replacing/repairing the ballast assembly. I had already tried replacing the capacitors on the power supply board with no luck, so I then took it down to the local reair shop where they did basically the same thing again. It worked for about a month but then the problem came back. Now he says it may be the bulb. Unfortunately, the technician is out indefinately due to a car accident, and I'm anxious to get the thing fixed. Replacing the bulb seems easy enough, but not sure about the ballast. What is the trick to getting the ballast board out? Do I need to remove the top part of the TV that covers the back of the screen? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

- Steve

[Wizard]

Re: rca m50wh92syx1 cap on ballast board?

-Steve,

Did the TV say LAMP flashing?

Ballast is in the back of TV on the stilts with "cardboard" shround covering this and DMD board, this is where fan is.

Did you hear TV arc few times (sound from the ballast) when trying to strike light? If so, replace lamp. Use exact lamp type that is marked on the lamp bulb itself but also inspect the connectors for the HV wires for the bulb and the one that is plugged into. This can burn out as well.

Also if you DO NOT hear ballast arc, then TV also might have bad color wheel. This wheel is spun up first and is monitored for spin up and at correct speed before striking lamp. Listen hard for a faint whine, don't mistake for the fans noise.

Ballast is top quality construction and use UCC caps in this. And ballast is replacement only as well.

Carefully diagnose and also carefully consider how much should you invest in a 4 years old DLP? Especially with extremely spotty parts availabity especially RCA. Ebay have parts as well but why bother? LCD is really more useful and Samsung is good for parts and if it needs recap, you will know and is doable than a DLP or Plasma.

Lamp: around 120-150, use exact for same kind, it is stamped on the lamp reflector itself. (Osram, Philips, Slavia sp?). Do not use generic.

Color wheel range wildly from 150 to 400 and few can be NLA esp RCA unless one can cross reference these color wheels.

Ballast between 150 to 200.

If worst comes worst, DMD board can be anywhere from 200 to 500 and some are NLA.

RCA DLP units are worst ones to do since RCA basically threw away the support and insanely expensive.
For people who have Samsung and other brands of DLP units you are far off better in regards of support.

Cheers, Wizard

[FLyGuYnH33]

Re: rca m50wh92syx1 cap on ballast board?

Hi, I seem to be having the same problem with my RCA M50WH92SYX1. I turn on my TV and starts up as “normal,” warming up process and faint humming noises. After several minutes of running with perfect visual, it shuts off partially with the screen turning black but still has sound; then the power indicator blinks five times and turns back on with perfect visual and the shuts off and repeats the process.

My TV has been repaired once by a TV tech. I had to have my power supply replaced. When I had this problem it was doing something different (every button turned the TV off/on). After the repair, it worked smoothly for almost a year.

The following are some things I have considered:

1. According to manual, this would be a lamp light issue? However, if the lamp was broken would it even still turn on?
2. If the color wheel was broken, would I even get color? I also have not been able to locate the color wheel.
3. I have opened the back of the TV and I can't find the fan(s). How large are they? I did not see or notice them when I was looking at the ballast. I also placed a household fan behind the TV which didn't help (makes me think its not a heating issue).
4. From what I can see, there is nothing wrong, such as bulging capacitors. However, there is a green light on, with a little hint of red.

My TV was originally 1,000 dollars. The first repair was from about two to three hundred dollars. If I spend much more, I will have bought this TV nearly twice. I was wondering how the first respondent did this “sparking” method with the ballast, seems we had the same kind of problem.

[Wizard]

Re: rca m50wh92syx1 cap on ballast board?

Not the method!!

OP wasn't understanding what is going on, what he is doing is discharging capacitors is for and this is not fixing a problem. Don't attempt this!

The RCA DLP is very poor investment-wise. These color wheels are getting hard to get and very high price especially for RCA, and capacitors bloating (four usually on the power supply, left side - fixable if you can do the job). Lamp ballast modules are same quality for all makers as they are made by philips (high quality and high specialized to work with specific lamps, hence the pairing and only replaced as a board only). Lamps I don't discuss as they are normal for them to fail eventually.

Remember: If the spark gap on the lamp ballast *not* sparking, check the color wheel first! Listen for a good faint "whine" when attempted to turn this tv on not the slow spin or grating or screech.

Cooling fans should make soft whoosh sound, one is for lamp, one for DMD board/ballast, sometimes a third fan is used.

Sorry to be bit curt.

Cheers, Wizard

[amarine1]

Re: rca m50wh92syx1 cap on ballast board?

Hi there:

I am having the same problem with my RCA M50WH92S-YX1. Last year before I put it into my man cave (my garage) for storage until I could affect repair myself, I turned on my TV and it started up as normal. After a couple of minutes of running fine, it shut off partially with the screen turning black but still having sound. Then the power indicator blinked five times and turned back on with a normal picture, and then shut off and repeated the process. At some point, the video stopped coming on altogether.

Now, one can get a new 50” 720p Plasma for less than $500.00 at Walmart (so my TV is not worth spending over $300.00 in repairs for this used DLP that may have other issues, which is why this is not at Barrett's TV repair in Carol Stream, IL. getting repaired). The thing is, I have 3 new bulbs for this TV (my initial effort at ldealing with this was to get multiple Philips / Osram bulbs via volume discount when I first had a bulb problem in 2008, so I would have enough bulbs for the next 7 to 10 years). I would prefer to get it running if I can keep the repair cost down as I have the extra bulbs and would like to get use out of them, and the TV still has a great picture at 1080i when working, and it has HDMI ports.

Side note: I just went to the Garage (it is a man cave fully insulated and sheetrocked/painted) and turned the TV on for the first time in 8 months. The picture stayed on (with the "no signal" screen saver bouncing around) for 5 minutes. I am wondering if the fact it was 40 degrees out played a role.

Given its age (a little over 3 years) and the fact it is still in mint condition(and it is still a viable commodity as it is 1080i capable with HDMI ports), I'd rather not throw it away because of a possible bad ballast (which is what Barrett TV thought the problem was per their visit last spring).

I am technically savvy (I've been working on old Zenith tube radios and PC's for years), so if someone has instructions on how to replace the Ballast (and can source the part), I'd purchase / ship the part and replace it myself (if it appears to be the ballast). Given the TV turned on in a 40 degree environment, I am wondering if the problem is a bad cap either in the ballast or PCB? The bulbs themselves are brand new.

I look forward to any response.