Lamp has shattered twice on Hitachi LCD tv!?

[hans030390]

My family has a Hitachi 50" LCD projection tv (I forget the exact model, but it's not on their site anymore). A few weeks ago the lamp randomly shattered. We'd only had the tv for a little over a year.

Lamps are supposed to last a LOT longer than that. I figured it was just a bad lamp, so we went ahead and bought a replacement.

We've had the replacement for about 2 weeks, and today this one also shattered.

My parents are extremely frustrated by this...they want to get rid of the tv, yet they don't want to keep spending money on stuff.

There is obviously something really wrong with the tv. Any ideas?

 

[Gautama2]

Check the outlet?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Did you contact Hitachi about it yet?

Did you do the install of the new lamp yourselves or was this a service that needed to be done?

 

[fstime]

Get one of those power surge protectors, one of the cheaper monster units works great.

I know for plasmas, a sudden jump can wreck the tv, or so I have heard....

 

[deadken]

Make sure that whoever changes the lamp doesn't touch the surface with their bare hands. It may sound silly, but the oil from your skin can cause a bulb to overheat and fail prematurely. If the serviceperson didn't wear gloves while installing the new bulb, that could be the cause for the second one failing. If someone does touch the bulb, you can clean it with rubbing alcohol.

As the previous person mentioned, a surge protector would be a good idea also. It should be a reasonably new one. Don't trust one that is more then 3-4 years old.

 

[AsianriceX]

Beyond surge protection, what you'd want is a line conditioner. Those help smooth out any ripples in the line and keep power clean to your TV. I think Belkin's PureAV series is pretty decent for the price.

 

[hans030390]

Originally posted by: Gautama2
Check the outlet?

What exactly do you mean by that?

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Did you contact Hitachi about it yet?

Did you do the install of the new lamp yourselves or was this a service that needed to be done?

We called Hitachi. They said it's not the TV causing it, and that likely the lamp was fragile from shipping.

We installed the lamp ourselves...we got it through some company through H.H. Gregg.

Originally posted by: BouZouki
Get one of those power surge protectors, one of the cheaper monster units works great.

I know for plasmas, a sudden jump can wreck the tv, or so I have heard....

Ok, thanks...I'll look into that...I don't think we have one.

Originally posted by: deadken
Make sure that whoever changes the lamp doesn't touch the surface with their bare hands. It may sound silly, but the oil from your skin can cause a bulb to overheat and fail prematurely. If the serviceperson didn't wear gloves while installing the new bulb, that could be the cause for the second one failing. If someone does touch the bulb, you can clean it with rubbing alcohol.

As the previous person mentioned, a surge protector would be a good idea also. It should be a reasonably new one. Don't trust one that is more then 3-4 years old.

I don't think anyone touched the surface...but I can't be for sure (and it doesn't matter now). I'll make sure my dad installs it with gloves.

Originally posted by: AsianriceX
Beyond surge protection, what you'd want is a line conditioner. Those help smooth out any ripples in the line and keep power clean to your TV. I think Belkin's PureAV series is pretty decent for the price.

I'll have to look into that...but I'm still rather confused by what exactly that is...I looked it up and I still am a little confused...what exactly does it do and how does it work? And the Belkin one was really expensive...

Thanks for everyone's help! Any other suggestions? Thankfully we have a 1 year warranty on the lamps...so the replacement is free.

 

[aka1nas]

Originally posted by: deadken
Make sure that whoever changes the lamp doesn't touch the surface with their bare hands. It may sound silly, but the oil from your skin can cause a bulb to overheat and fail prematurely. If the serviceperson didn't wear gloves while installing the new bulb, that could be the cause for the second one failing. If someone does touch the bulb, you can clean it with rubbing alcohol.

As the previous person mentioned, a surge protector would be a good idea also. It should be a reasonably new one. Don't trust one that is more then 3-4 years old.

I'll second this. I did some temp work while I was in college for an uncle with a stage lighting business and I got it drilled into me never to touch the bulbs while we were moving or assembling lighting fixtures as the oil on your fingers will basically start frying when the light is turned on and can shatter the bulb.

 

[hans030390]

Anything else that anyone can add? We're getting the replacement lamp soon, and we got a nice surge protector.

 

[bobsmith1492]

Does this happen at random times or do you bump into the TV and the lamp shatters? Do you have a subwoofer rocking out right under/behind/next to your TV?

 

[hans030390]

Originally posted by: bobsmith1492
Does this happen at random times or do you bump into the TV and the lamp shatters? Do you have a subwoofer rocking out right under/behind/next to your TV?

No, it just happens at random times.

We have a subwoofer a couple feet to the left of the tv (lamp is on left front side of tv), but it's been up really loud before without causing problems.

The first time it shattered was over a year after we had it...my dad was watching a movie, nothing special.

Then two weeks after it was replaced, it shattered while the tv was just on normal television.

I'm not quite sure how the subwoofer would do anything, considering it's sometimes up really loud without any harm.

 

[bobsmith1492]

Well, I was thinking the vibrations might not be helping the lamp much.

 

[hans030390]

Ok...where would be a good place to put it?

 

[Creig]

Anywhere else in the room. Low frequency sound waves are non-directional. In other words, you can place a subwoofer virtually anywhere in the room and it will be fine. Unlike mid-range/tweeters which are highly directional and must be aimed/spaced carefully in order to have accurate imaging.

And ditto on the "never touch a high-temp bulb with bare hands". The oils from your fingers will create a hot spot on the bulb which can seriously reduce its lifespan.