Mitsubishi V26 chassis (1st gen DLP) capacitor failures

**MrGreg1** · **07-09-08, 03:26 PM**

I had the bulging capacitors problem on my WD-52525, and it was out of warranty. I sent the following email (see below), and I got a call 15 minutes later from Mits! They offered to pay for half of the repairs, plus give me a 6 month warranty on the tv. I ended up doing the repair myself for dirt cheap and took the warranty. The good news is I'm expecting my bulb to burn out any time now, so the new warranty should cover it for free

Quote:

To: mdeaservice@mdea.com, info@mitsubishi-tv.com, tsupport@mdea.com

Mitsubishi,

My name is xxxxxx. I own a WD-52525 DLP Projection Televsion, which was purchased on 4/17/05.

I have been very happy with this TV until today, when it stopped working. At first the picture started flickering, and then it gradually got worse. The TV will not display anything correctly anymore, no matter what type of input is being used. I am a bit disappointed, but I know that even the best products can't have a 0% failure rate.

Before getting the TV fixed or replaced, I decided to do some research into what may have caused this failure. To my surprise, I came across a wealth of information and discovered that my problem is actually very common. Many people with this (or a similar model) TV are having the same failures, and they have become much more frequent as of late. It appears that the problem stems from bad capacitors, either on the power board, format board, dm board, etc. I doubt I need to go into details, as I'm sure you are aware of this problem.

Now my question becomes this: you know that many of your TV's contain bad capacitors which likely lead to failures. What are you doing to fix the problem? Many of these TV's are out of warranty, but they are still relatively new, so owners are spending a lot of money fixing this problem, sometimes more than once.

I wouldn't be upset if this was an isolated incident, a run a bad luck. I understand that can happen. But this is clearly a pattern that is affecting a decent percentage of your products. It appears that your quality system failed somewhere along the line.

I can relate to this. I work for a medical device company, and I spend some of my time in the top tier of technical support. When we see product failures, we try to identify them as an isolated incident or a trend. If we recognize a trend, we work hard to fix it and do whatever it takes to make the customer happy.

So right now I have a non-working WD-52525 television set that failed because of an unfortunately common problem. What will you do to help me?

I appreciate you taking the time to listen. I look forward to hearing back from you soon.

Regards,
xxxxxxxxx

**lcaillo** · **07-09-08, 03:52 PM**

Nice job. This is a great letter. It communicates that you have done your homework, that you are reasonable, and the nature of the problem. May we use it as an example in a sticky?

**MrGreg1** · **07-09-08, 04:19 PM**

Quote:

lcaillo wrote:

Nice job. This is a great letter. It communicates that you have done your homework, that you are reasonable, and the nature of the problem. May we use it as an example in a sticky?

Absolutely, hopefully it will help someone. And definitely tweak it as you see fit, you know much more about this issue, and I'm sure the letter can be improved.

And I want to point out, tsupport@mdea.com is not the correct Mits division for televisions, but I think they were the key, here was their response to my email...

Quote:

Greetings Mr. xxxxxx,

Our department (PVS) do not handle or support nor do we sell the WD-52525 that you are have issues with.

We will forward this e-mail to the Manager of the Consumer Relations Group for review.

TSupport

It was shortly after that email when I received a telephone call from Mits.

**SGD** · **02-17-09, 04:26 PM**

New user thanks for all the useful info.

I have the 52725 and have a question. My set was just taken away for a chassis rebuild but mentioned other concerns to the repair guy. One of the buttons on the front (enter) of course does not work, remote stopped working and there is strange dead area on the screen about the size of a dime. In your guys experience would a a chassis replacement fix these issues. I know the remote will not be fixed short of replacing it but have concerns about the other issues. I am on my third bulb so that isn't to bad I think. I have also had a few times when the tv does not respond to any of the buttons. The only way to shut the tv down was to unplug the set which is never a good idea. I have a bad feeling that I am in for some trouble with this thing.

Thanks for your help.

**lcaillo** · **02-17-09, 08:33 PM**

The problems could all be chassis related but it is impossible to know without testing. Wait and see when the chassis comes back. I would not assume the remote is bad if you had control problems. Anything that ties up the data bus might keep it from working.

**SGD** · **02-17-09, 09:22 PM**

They called me and said that they have to get approval from philips and if approved the set will be back in about 4 weeks. I am very concerned that this is the beginning of the end for the set since many people seem to have frequent problems after the first repair. I hope they just condemn the thing and get it over with. I'll let you know I hear something back. It's really sad since the TV was really nice for the period it was sold.

**lcaillo** · **02-18-09, 12:00 PM**

We have not had any problems with the chassis that have come back rebuilt from Mitsubishi.

**GTvert90** · **02-19-09, 03:14 PM**

In your opinion would it be worth 75 bucks to pick up one of these sets?

Its got a bulb light on now.

**lcaillo** · **02-19-09, 04:05 PM**

Only if you plan to have the chassis rebuilt by Mitsubishi.

**ktr** · **02-24-09, 11:29 AM**

MrGreg - This was a great letter to post. I tweeked it to my situation but I have received at least 3 calls from Mitshubishi and have been given a ticket number to send my documents regarding my failed light engine. The TV is now only 4 yrs old and I am anxious to see how they will respond to the $867 repair cost.

**SGD** · **02-26-09, 04:04 PM**

Well just got the tv back and what do you know the thing is worse than before. The tech was very well not surprised. I would love to have a tv that works but I think that the 27 inch set on the table will be in place for sometime to come. I would normally just give up and replace the thing but my wife lost her job so money is tight.

**lcaillo** · **02-26-09, 04:49 PM**

Did they send it to Mitsubishi or to another company?

**SGD** · **02-26-09, 05:12 PM**

I was told the set was sent to Mits for repair. What I got back was so much worse. The problems with the front button not working was fixed (broken wire), mark on the screen (hair ball on mirror). I can not believe that the repair center and the service company dind't check the set before it was returned to me.

**lcaillo** · **02-26-09, 05:14 PM**

What exactly are the current symptoms?

**SGD** · **02-26-09, 05:23 PM**

The wavy lines going horizontally were much worse. I should have taken a picture of it but it consisted of lines every half inch or less across the screen. The lines were nothing like blanking bars but rather interference. It was not that since anything that is connect to the analog inputs creates the same result. Hope that makes sense.

**lcaillo** · **02-26-09, 05:37 PM**

I would be willing to bet that they did not send the chassis to Mits, or they just sent a board or two. The lines are one of the things that Mitsubishi QCs for carefully.

**SGD** · **02-26-09, 05:44 PM**

I thouhgt that the 1 week turn around time was rather quick. I have read that several people took much longer to get their sets back.

**lcaillo** · **02-26-09, 09:26 PM**

Never had one come back from Mits in less than 3 weeks.

**j2sgam** · **03-04-09, 11:56 AM**

OK, so my 52525 crapped out last Friday evening. I read this entire thread, along with another that referenced this one, and have decided to follow others' lead and contact Mits about this. I sent them an email (very similar to MrGreg's), and then called them. The entry level tech support I got instructed me to "Press & hold the Menu button for 10 seconds, then enter the code 1-2-3. You will then see a screen letting you know the Reset has been done. If you are still having problems, then call us back". I let him know that I install HD TV's, that I have done some research, mentioned a few tidbits of information about bad cap's, the widespread issue in the 1st gen's, and was told that I need to do this reset before they could proceed. He did let me know that the next step is they will be sending someone out to look at the TV.

Anyone have anything that might help the cause? More than yous already have?

And Mr.Caillo, thanks again for the 'clipping' help with ISF, and now with this. I owe you. Twice..

**ktr** · **03-04-09, 12:06 PM**

Welcome to the club. If you call Mitsu at 800-332-2119 make sure they give you a reference number. This will be handy with providing documentation to them about your broken TV(repair invoice and purchase receipt). Also, once you make a call and report the problem, when you call back make sure you hit option 8. Do not hit option 5. Option 5 takes you to India or Pakistan for customer service. Option 8 takes to you to someone in North America and can actually help you. The people in India only run interference for your goal to get your TV fixed. When I talked to customer service yesterday, it was confirmed that eventually my 52525 was going to die. It may have happened in 12 or 48 months but it was going to eventually happen.
Hopefully your ASC will be helpful in getting the correct diagnosis.
When did you purchase your TV?

GL

**j2sgam** · **03-04-09, 02:14 PM**

Purchased it in Aug'04, factory direct, through the company I was working for at the time for 50% off retail price. I paid $2498 for TV, stand, shipping & tax. Not bad considering it went for close to $4k when I got mine. Problem is, I dont have a receipt, and the have closed the card account I used to purchase it. Now Mits wants it, one of the hoops I will have to jump through Im sure, and I have no way of getting it. Thank you for the '8 option', I will have to try that when I call them back, again. Love my TV, dont think Im going to love having it fixed...

**j2sgam** · **03-05-09, 08:23 AM**

What exactly did they say to you confirming the expiration date on their product? That would not've gone well with me. What Im told now is I need to bring it to a Mits Authorized service Ctr and have it diagnosed and get an estimate for the repair. I asked if they were going to cover any of the cost and in his best broken English the entry level phone guy repeated the process of getting a diagnosis and estimate. I shall keep yous posted...

**ktr** · **03-05-09, 09:40 AM**

I initially thought I purchased my set in January of 2004. It was actually 2005 so I was that much more disappointed that it did not last long. They continued to say that due to the age of the tv and it being out of warranty they could only do .... I asked them many times if I should expect a $2500 tv to last shorter than 48 months or should it be longer?? They never responded.
Continue to gather the information they request, repair estimate with diagnosis, and deal with the people in India. Once they make a decision about what they will assist with, then start dealing with somone in America.

**Latinegro** · **03-27-09, 08:39 AM**

Hello all! I own a WD-62825. Bought it 11/2004 from The Home Theater Store in Houston,TX. I had it about a year and a half before I experienced the flashing timer light. At the time it died quickly to the point where a reset didn't produce any results. I was convinced that the ventilation, ducting and fan placement was the culprit and called Mitsu to complain. Boy was I wrong to think that some cust serv person would care. Of coarse I was promptly told to call a repair tech. Under warranty, a tech with Philips came and spent about 5 minutes doing the same reset procedure that I had done before and told me that the problem was with a switching power supply and was common with this model. He set up a pick up and 3 weeks later I received my repaired set. I was told that the whole chassis was replaced. I had and still do not have a clue as to what the "chassis" is and consists of. But I assumed it included the power supply or DM module as the tech called it.

It has performed very well for me since then with no problems at all except for cleaning the mirror once a year, which I did my self as it was not covered in the warranty. Now I'm having the same flashing timer problem again. I'm not so upset as I have seen other folks on other forums but the inconvenience of is a bit irritating. I can repair board level components but would rather not if I can get someone else, who has the right equipment, to do it. I know I'm speaking to the choir here.

At this point I'm with the others on this forum and with an expired warranty. I just purchased a Samsung 67A750 and I'm eagerly awaiting its delivery soon, but until then I would like to get the Mit repaired and sold even if I have to do it myself. I read the first post listing some of the caps and have read that there are many many more. But if I am to repair it myself, I have some concerns. #1 how difficult is it to remove the chassis? #2 is the circuit board single or double sided? and #3 what is the best way to remove surface mount capacitors? or better yet, to remove any capacitor?

Thank you for your replies!

Hugh

**lcaillo** · **03-27-09, 09:16 AM**

I do not recommend trying to repair these sets. The boards are very hard to get to and they require too many caps to be practical. I suggest you get an estimate to have the chassis rebuilt by Mits from an authorized servicer, then contact customer relations and ask for some assistance. They have rebuilt many of these at no charge, but usually require that you pay for the local servicer's labor to pull and re-install the chassis.

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