Hello ponies! It's Jonin. I'm looking for a TV guy, anyone who knows anything about fixing television sets. I picked up a TV that someone was throwing in the trash the other day. It is a 55" Panasonic HDTV and its model number is PT-50lc14. The reason that they threw it out is because whenever you turn it on, the power light at first flashes green, but then flashes red and another light next to "lamp" comes on and flashes about every five seconds. I found a manual online and was able to find where the lamp is, but when I took it all out to tinker with it didn't look blown or make a rattling sound, although it does look a little old. I'm no television expert, but when I turn the tv on, I hear the typical clicking that means the ballast is trying to light the lamp and is more than likely good. Here is what the lamp looks like: If there are any tv geeks out there, please offer a hoof! I would love to watch some MLP on this screen!
The clicking noise shows the fuse and electrical ballast are working so I would say the lamp itself or some connection in the housing is bad, and disassembling it further poses the risk of breaking and releasing the mercury gas inside the bulb so I wouldn't really recommend going much further unless you understand the precautions. I don't think you will find any electrical experts on this board, nor would I heed anyone's advice over a forum as far as that's concerned (personally speaking). Probably not what you want to hear, but I would just invest in a replacement for your model. They aren't too expensive.
Mercury gas? That doesn't exist until around 600 degrees farenheit, I thought. :I But yes, I haven't touched the lamp, but I am trying to rule out all of the problems that are not causing it to turn on. A lamp light doesn't always necessarily mean it's the lamp. The lamps run around $200 new and $150 old, with no return policy on them really. I'm not a fan of having a TV guy come over for an $85 charge either. So any information at all, or methods I could use to test other possible issues, would be greatly appreciated. But it's nice to know that my theory about the ballast is good. Would have been a lot cheaper to just replace the bulb, though.
Low pressure mercury-vapor lamps. Mercury starts as a liquid in the tubes, yes but it's through high voltage electrical arc combined with argon gas to turn into a vapor. When power is applied, voltage ionizes argon gas to vaporize the mercury. Light is produced through continuing electrical arcs through the mercury and electrodes. Your average CFL bulb contains mercury-argon mixture, but it's a bit of a different more efficient process. The bulbs don't get immensely hot because the process of heating the gas requires only a few minutes. Not all rear-view projection TV lamps contain the vapor, but most do. The lamp for your model should not be that pricey. Have a look here
Well I mean, it wouldn't be super detrimental if it broke. It's about the same as dropping any other average sized fluorescent bulb I would say. You just wouldn't want it to be recently powered down as it can still be in vapor, so that was my bad with the vague wording on my first post. :derpe: Argon isn't toxic either but just wanted to throw the mini-warning in. If you do still want to pursue looking inside, the biggest deal is ventilation. But onto more important stuff - I looked around to see if I could find anything about the light indicator. Found an owner's manual here. Probably the same one that you found as well. Specifically on pg 82, does the blinking light follow any of these patterns?
Thanks for the manual! Yes, it blinks only once every five seconds. I took a closer look at the bulb (even though I wasn't supposed to. I live on the edge.) and it has black cracks all along the silver lining on the inside of the bulb. I'm not entirely sure if that indicates that it's bad. I ordered a new lamp to try it out. the worst that could happen is I lose $30. I'll keep you updated on what happens.
Yeah, not completely sure, but a guess is if the reflector has cracks it could have been heat damage from overuse, or just burned through its lifespan. Good luck with your replacement order, hope it turns out well.
