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Problem Mitsubishi WD-52525 Scrambled Picture and no picture

36K views 101 replies 13 participants last post by  lcaillo 
#1 ·
The picture looks scrambled like if you turned to a premium channel back in 1990. It was working fine, I hooked up my PS3 and it was scrambled so I stopped and went back to watching normal TV for a while (no problems) then I changed to a HD channel and it was scrambled again, so I pressed the reset button (had to do it twice before it stopped flashing) and then all I got was a blue screen on HD channels and now the analog channels look all scrambled even if I bypass may cable box and plug the cable directly to the TV.

Does anyone know what has happened? And what I can Do?


Here is a picture of what it first looked like. Scrabled TV Picture.JPG

So then I turned everything off then unplugged it for a while.

Now through the HDMI I get a blue screen with white flashing in the center but doesn't seem to effect the menu you can still see those. Scrabled TV Picture 2.JPG

It did say my input 1 (VCR) is using S-Video which its not I do not have anything connected to S-Video. Now its doesn't and I only get a blue screen, and no sound.

Using the cable directly to the TV I got bright green Wavy lines for a while, Scrabled TV Picture 3.JPG now there very very dull and switches back to the bright green., I get sound but you can hear static every once and a while more so when its bright green , it still outputs sound to the receiver.

It now has a red light for lamp indicator so I can't turn it on any more.

Does anyone know what has happened? And what I can Do,and cost?
 

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#2 ·
The situation is not a good one on this set and others in the first generation of Mitsubishi DLPs (V26 chassis series). First, there are a few dozen Jamicon radial electrolytic caps that tend to swell up and fail. Second, nearly all of the surface mount polar electrolytic caps seem to be having very short life and are starting to fail. The bottom line is, if you wanted to fix one of these reliably, you would have to replace a couple of hundred capacitors.

What I would do is get an estimate from an authorized Mitsubishi service center, then contact customer relations and ask them to cover a rebuild of the chassis. If they refuse, point out to them that you know that they are having hundreds of failing caps in these sets and that there are class action lawsuits in development on the matter and you will be pursuing the latter if they do not provide some assistance.

The dealer cost on the chassis rebuild is $300 and the chassis has to be sent back to them. I do not know the degree to which they are rebuilding these sets, but suspect that eventually there will be more problems with them becuase it is unlikely that they are changing all of the caps.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the info so quickly, I had posted it first at AVS but no one has still helped and 50+ people looked at it.


The guy that looked at my TV said it is the light engine, by the sound it was making before the red lamp light came on. He is going go over it more at his store just in case, but he was very confident and said he has had to replace quite a few them.

We had a hard time deciding whether to fix it or not because it is going to cost $554 plus tax (about $450 for the light engine), so we may have been able to find a new 50+" TV for twice as much. We also may not have the TV for 7-10 days because the light engine has to be shipped from California to West Virginia.


The firmware for the WD-52525 was never upgraded, even though it would turn itself off every time you would do auto channel program when it got to the digital channels and wouldn't remember any of them, also it would ask if I replaced the lamp upon start up quite a few times, I believe that is because the TV was reseting itself when the power was off, I would be at the computer and hear a click and look at the TV and the status light would be flashing green. The person I asked said the firmware was only given if people had certain problems and these were not any of them.

We have put 18,000 hours on the TV in 3 years 8 months. But the previous TV we had was a 36" tube Toshiba and it lasted about 14 years and then one of the guns burned out and the TV was pink, I also have had my computer monitor (CRT) on 24/7 for 5 years with no problems.

We had been planning to get the WD-73833, but when we buy a TV in needs to last at least 10 years. Should I worry about getting WD-73833?

I will update you If anything changes or when I get it back.
 
#4 ·
The WD-73833 is a great set, but who knows what issues they will have a few years down the road. I would be very hesitant to put any money into your set. You will have chassis problems before long if you get the LE rebuilt.
 
#5 ·
What is the deal? My 4 yr old Mitsubishi WD-52525 did the exact same thing on Sunday night with no warning. I turned it off and came back in an hour and I received the blue screen with the white shading in the center along with no sound.
I inititally thought it was the cable box and switched it out last night but to no avail. This is very disheartening if I will have to sink $500 for repairs on a relatively new TV. I have a 20 yr old Sony tube TV that has been moved 5 times over the years that is working perfect to this day.

:gah:
 
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#6 ·
Me Too,i was watching Tv Sunday afternoon just fine.I leave for a few hours and come home and i get a picture but with wavy lines running through the screen,i thought was my directv reciever but i changed to different componets i have hooked up to the tv and it happened there too.then after bout an hour or so of those lines,the screen went blue and says that there is no device signal to any of the devices i try to view.now i get a blue screen with a white wavy box in the middle of the screen.I bought the tv in april 2005,i just chagned the bulb...again...in january of this year.what is the problem with this..also ive had the issue of my tv randomly turning off and resetting since last summer,but that only happenes during the summer time
 
#7 ·
I have had to replace the lamp only once, January 2007. The original one lasted almost 2 yrs. This blue screen came out of left field. No yellow light flashing, no warning message, nothing.... Now I have to find a local service dealer, load it and drive it over to them only to have them tell me I have to drop at least $500 for repairs.
 
#8 ·
I agree with Leonard. IMHO it is not worth putting any money into something that has a bad batch of electrolytic capacitors. A huge amount of labor to fix it right.

This same time of problem did occur a few years ago with PC motherboards. Now some motherboard vendors make a big deal of how they are now using quality capacitors and name the capacitor brand.
 
G
#12 ·
Good day to all -

Same verdict, blue screen with wavy white lines, what did you end up doing?
Is my only action to get a new TV, if so that sucks because I really liked the picture.

Any help would be appreciated,
 
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#13 ·
Let me add something else, I ran across this gem - anxious to hear your thoughts....


I had a similar problem when I change out my lamp - it would come on for 5 seconds then go out. I looked at the DM board, but the capacitors looked good. I did notice that two capacitors (3300uf 10V) were bulding on top. I replaced them and to my complete surprise, the TV worked perfectly again. I used Techman's suggestion on looking at the boards, but the diagrams and pictures weren't accurate. I just used my intuition and took it apart making sure I marked all the wires ( a ton of them!) appropriately. If you are mechanically inclined, it takes some patience, but isn't that difficult. It cost me $12.00 to fix, plus buying the solder and de-soldering guns. Good Luck.
 
#14 ·
When you have capacitors failing in large numbers, obviously they do not do so at the same time. A problem occurs, it might be caused by one or two that have gotten to the point that they cannot operate any more. You might fix the set with a few, or even one cap. We have done a few sets this way. The problem is that they seem to be coming back with other problems and looking deeper we find a pervasive trend toward failing capacitors that numbers, not in the handfulls, but in the dozens or even hundreds. The larger electrolytics are usually obvious to find because the bulge. Many others that are not bulging are on their way to failure in the sets that I have tested.

I suggest getting an estimate from a Mits ASC. Then call Mits customer relations and work them for some accomodation. You can try fixing it yourself, but if you damage something or delay attempting to get some help on the matter from Mitsubishi, you may reduce your chances of an accommodation.
 
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#15 · (Edited)
:reading: I am in the same boat with all you guys. The blue screen with the white cloud appearing somewhat in a circle first appeared July 24, 2008. The set was bought February 4, 2005. Eventually the white cloud moved to a more horizontal white pulsating stripe composed of zillions of horizontal pinstripes of different brightness. I called Mitsubishi and they referred me to a Big Store repair service called Fry's Electronics. I left a message there and nobody called back in a weeks time. Oh well. I called the store I bought it from, Best Buy, and they were kind enough to schedule an appointment with a private TV repair party. Of course its not under warranty. I'd sure like to call off that service call scheduled in a week from today and save some money now that I see what is going on. Can anybody step up and say what kind of compensation/accomodation they were given by going to Mitsubishi?
 

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#16 ·
Get an estimate from a Mitsubishi ASC ONLY! Do not let anyone else work on it. Once you have an estimate for the repair, then you can contact Mitsubishi to see if you can get some accomodation. If you have someone else work on it, they may tell want to use that as an excuse not to help out. Play by their rules and procedures, make notes on everything you do and everyone you talk to.
 
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#17 ·
What is a Mitsubishi ASC? Would I need to see some certification from the TY repair guy?
Is there a database of Mit ASC companies like there would be for registered contractors?

Thanks for the previous reply I will follow your advice lcaillo. I added my pictures to my post for everyone to see what the boat we're in looks like. Hope this helps everyone.

Pepe
 
#18 ·
What is a Mitsubishi ASC? Would I need to see some certification from the TY repair guy?
Is there a database of Mit ASC companies like there would be for registered contractors?
ASC = Authorized Service Center

I suspect that just asking would be good enough, if they're authorized, they'll say so. A reputable servicer wouldn't lie about it.

Mitsubishi probably has a list on their web site.
 
#19 ·
I had the exact same problem - two capacitors on the power supply took a dump - the service guy offered to replace all the capacitors for about $15 - he said most of these models that he repairs has this exact same problem - the total service call was for $40 in parts and $250 in labor - not sure why, but the picture has never looked so good - almost like it has more power and generates a crisper picture :jump:
 
#20 ·
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but my experience is that fixing a few caps will not be a long term solution. They almost always come back with more bad caps eventually. The problem is widespread on the Signal, FMT, Terminal, DM, and PS boards. The best solution is to send the entire chassis back to Mitsubishi for a rebuild and press their Customer Relations people to give you some form of accomodation on the repair.
 
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#21 ·
Are folks aware of any new developments here? Has anyone had Mitsubishi extend warranty, facilitate a repair or other compromise?

I also have a failed WD-52525 that exhibits these exact same problems taking up a chunk of space in the garage.
 
#22 ·
I have had Mits cover part of the repair for several clients. The rebuild process for the chassis appears to be pretty extensive with respect to the caps replaced as well as the testing.
 
#23 ·
I shot off an email to Mitsubishi today and received a reply directing me to the 800 customer care department. They stated that I need to fax them the diagnosis and repair estimate along with the sales receipt for proof of purchase before they would tell me if they would assist me. Luckly, I have a local repair shop that can diagnose the problem for $60. The technician stated that with a 4 yr old TV the chances of Mitsubishi assisting with the repairs is pretty low. Oh well, I have to try.
 
#24 ·
Your servicer has not worked with Mitsubishi much on these matters. It is possible they don't want to. When manufacturers extend warranties, the servicer generally makes no profit on the parts at all and often loses money on the labor. In this case, Mitsubishi has, in many cases, covered the rebuild, but not the labor and service calls to pull and reinstall the chassis.
 
#25 ·
I am interested in getting the problem diagnosed, the estimate completed and then forward it to Mitsubishi to see how they respond. I will do everything that they request in order for them to make a decision. That way I will be able to decide on what to do with this 52 inch paper weight. I won't have to re-tell the story to everyone that walks in my house and sees the non-working TV sitting in the corner.
 
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#27 ·
I have just experienced the same problems with my 52525. Picture turned blue and eventually went away or is scrambled. Now red "lamp" light is on. Have tried 2 different new lamps unsuccessfully. I have noticed a few people discussing class action lawsuits, does anyone know the latest on that front?
Jeff
 
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