kdf-42we655 lcd panel free sample

In theory, blowing air over the LCD panels and other internal parts could move some dust. In addition, the glass on the projection lens can be cleaned with lens paper and solution. Aerosol (canned) air is not recommended, as it can come out very cold and/or spray moisture, so extreme care should be exercised when using it (do this at your own risk). More thorough cleaning can be accomplished by further disassembling the optical, as described below.

Optical block disassemblyThe method described below requires even more care and patience, particularly the points where the LCD ribbon cables and the light path filters are removed. However, it will allow much more thorough cleaning of the internal parts, as it enables direct access to the filters and LCD panels.Note that Paul Patience has created another web site (Sony LCD Projection TV Cleaning Instructions) that describes this process on a KF-42WE620. It includes instructions and photos on accessing and cleaning the individual LCD panels, prism faces, and filters inside the optical block. Also note that, on the KF-42WE620 (and perhaps all 2003 Grand WEGA or "WE" models), the locations of the blue and red LCD panels are swapped relative to the KDF-55WF655 (and perhaps all 2004 Grand WEGA or "WF" models).Remove the centrifugal lamp cooling fan. It is held by 3 silver-colored screws, as indicated in the photo below.

The following photos show the optical block with the lamp fan, lamp fan mounting plate, LCD panel cover, wedge-shaped piece, and projection lamp removed (note the that the blue and red LCD panel positions are reversed on some models):

Next, remove the portion of the optical block that contains the LCD panels, prism, and projection lens. It is held by four silver-colored and four black screws, as indicated in the photo below. Pull this unit off the rest of the optical block, while carefully monitoring the ribbon cables to make sure they do not get caught. Note that the clear dome on the projection lens appears to be made out of plastic.

The following photo shows the gaps between the LCD panels and the prism through which it is possible to clean the surfaces. DO NOT attempt to unscrew the LCD panels from the prism faces, or you will likely lose your convergence upon re-installation:

I"m NEVER buying Sony again no matter what due to the way they have mishandled this situation. I think every LCD RP model has been subject to this manufacturer defect of the optical block. And now they want to sweep it under the rug becasue they no longer use that technology and dont want to support it. Sad, sad, sad! Sony screwed ALL OF US on this deal.

Personlly, I believe, and would have stated if asked, that the life expectancy should have been at least 15 yrs. And if asked why, I would have said that when I bought my tv in 2004, the LCD rear projection"s strongest selling point was that it would last alot longer than a plasma, which was ONLY expected to last 10 yrs. Also, at that time, for those that chose to keep them, many owned old tvs that were lasting 20 plus yrs. While I didn"t know if the new technology would last 20 plus yrs, I certainly expected it to perform as it was being sold to perform, longer than 10 yrs i.e. probably something in between = 15 yrs.

They say nothing lasts forever--and neither do LCD televisions. The average lifespan of an LCD display is 60,000 hours. If watching TV was your full-time job, and you did it 24 hours a day, it would take you almost 7 years to wear out your LCD display. With more normal viewing habits of, say, 8 hours per day, you can extend the lifespan of your TV by a decade or more (to about 20 years)!"

Registered: May-07Posted on Thursday, September 03, 2009 - 06:31 GMTI have been maintaining a relatively comprehensive informational web site on Sony LCD RPTV optical block problems for the past few years. I recently made a significant update of the content, so I wanted to remind people to visit, if you are interested.

I am hoping someone is still active in this thread and can advise if it is too late to get some resolution for my defective TV. I was not aware this was a known issue of a defective part. I figured I was the only one with this wierd issue. Honestly the TV began going gunnysack last October...and due to lack of funds just live with it. Frankly... I have always and only purchased Sony items for my home from Stereo components, to speakers to car stereo to PS2 and PS3, to TV and it astounds me that Sony will not stand behind this obvious mfg known defect. What can I do? Also...for your viewing pleasure, below is a pic of my wonderful } Sony Grand WEGA KDF-42WE655

Registered: Oct-09Posted on Thursday, October 22, 2009 - 19:54 GMTI just started having trouble with my Sony TV purchased in October 2006. I have been reading these threads and my wonder is what to do! I spoke to sony and they offered me two options. They can replace the OB free of charge (PS a week ago I replaced the lamp for $220) Or they will send me an upgraded TV for $700 + tax. I have a 50" KDF-50E2000 (which I haven"t seen any claims on) and they are offering a 52" KDL-52V5100 LCD flat panel unit. Amazon listed it for $1379 and Best Buy for $1799. Do I want another Sony? I didnt spend $7000 like some of you, but $1800 is still enough money for me! Do I want to see how long it will last if I fix it? Any suggestions?

To date, the V5100 direct-view LCD TVs do not have anywhere near the problem reports of Sony"s rear-projection TVs. On the other hand, I have seen a number of complaints about them, and other brands are likely better. Other brands may also have much better customer service than Sony should you ever have a problem with them.

Oct 2009 - I have a 4 1/2 year old KDF-42WE655 with a growing/glowing blue blob & streaks. Started the size of a dime 2 months ago, slowly but surely we"re now up to the size of an orange. The streaks expand a little each week too.

My call today to Sony "Customer Care" resulted in the predicted result. I was told the TV set was out of warranty and there was nothing that could be done, unless I was willing to pay for another "repair" at significant personal cost. When I told the representative that was unacceptable, my call was escalated to a "Myra" who stone-walled my complaint and informed me that "electronic devices have a short life span." The only thing she would do for me would be to provide a replacement LCD TV: a Sony KDL-52VE5--which is 6" smaller than my current set--at my cost of $1450.00 plus tax (total of $1540.63 with free shipping), but this "offer" would expire in two weeks. Amazon is selling the identical model for $1473.98 with free shipping and NO tax.

We did not do our research first so we didn"t know about this problem with Sony LCD TVs so we initially e-mailed support@info.sel.sony.com, and the Sony Email Response Team told us bunch of steps to follow but we have had no success so we contacted the local Authorized Service Center as suggested. The manager told us that it"s the optical block which will cost $1000 parts and $345 labor.

Registered: Nov-09Posted on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 - 08:27 GMTI too have fallen victim to Sony LCD RP TV. In Jan 2005, I bought a WEGA KDF-42WE655 at Sears in Fairbanks, Alaska with three extra year"s warranty. The TV worked great until May 2009 when the lamp went out but this was expected. I purchase a Sony replacement lamp.

The replacement TV offered to you by Mr. LeClaire is not a rear projection, it"s a straight LCD and the model number is KDL-52VE5. I have the same model 60" RP TV as you and my second Optical Block is now failing. (The first was replaced by Sony in July of 2007...set purchased in 11/04 for $4000.) Talked to Mr. LeClaire and got the same run-around...except that he refused admit that he had any knowledge of whether the Optical Blocks had been re-engineered, even though he admitted to Steve L that they had not been.

Registered: Nov-09Posted on Saturday, November 14, 2009 - 02:57 GMTI recently ran into an issue with my sony 50" LCD that i purchased in 2004 model KF50WE610. I have purple spots all over my screen they range from the size of a dime to the size of a quarter, one area is just turning into a big blob and they are progressively getting worse. I contacted Sony before coming across this forum and they said my model did not have a problem with the optical block. I found this website on one of the members of the forum http://sites.google.com/site/sonylcdrptvproblems/

It sounds like you have the purple fingerprint optical block problem. This is most likely caused by dust/smoke accumulating on the LCD panels and/or adjacent parts. This particular problem was excluded from the extended warranty, although that is expired anyway.

Registered: Sep-09Posted on Monday, November 16, 2009 - 22:50 GMTAaron from Sony called me today! Boy, sure wouldn"t want to have his job right now. We were both polite, I don"t believe yelling and name calling get you any where. Anyway, props go out to Steve Linke for his site http://sites.google.com/site/sonylcdrptvproblems/ which really helped me both in knowledge and facts. Here"s the deal, they will, with proper docs from the repair shop, either pay half the repair, and they can"t guarantee the OB has been re-engineered, or sell me a KDL-52VE5 for $1350 plus tax and free shipping. Told thanks but no thanks, and that as luck would have it, we went to Best Buy last night and bought a G series Panasonic plasma (honest) and have been informing other customers on my visits to do research of Sony"s lack of customer care, to think twice before they purchase a Sony.

Registered: Nov-08Posted on Thursday, November 19, 2009 - 23:28 GMTHey guys and gals(lol), I just tried to post this link http://sites.google.com/site/sonylcdrptvproblems/ on the sony FB page and it disappeared within seconds of me putting it up there.

How can Sony advise their people to act like they are clueless when the defects that caused my tv to bomb are inherent on every lcd model Sony made? They know the defects exist or they wouldn"t have issued those squirrley little recalls. In my case, even though I am a registered owner, I was not notified of the recall and it lasted a mere 6 mos.

And how can they act like the problem doesn"t exist when there is a HUGE combined class action lawsuit in the Courts right now that includes owners of almost, if not all, of the lcd models.

Registered: Feb-09Posted on Tuesday, December 01, 2009 - 20:59 GMTEveryone is doing such great work. Even if it is mostly fruitless, it"s great to keep harrassing Sony. It"s appalling (and telling) that they"ve taken their 800 customer service number off their website for "consumer electronics." It"s 800-222-7669, btw. (Steve, great site!!! http://sites.google.com/site/sonylcdrptvproblems/ ) And they refer customers in their recorded message to their "priority service" number which is not toll free. What a joke.

to see if there was any difference in the picture (which of course there wasn"t). She immediately transferred me to another department where the representative automatically offered me a discount on three LCD flat panel tvs, the KDL52XBR9 for $1,325.00 plus sales tax, the KDL52VE5 for $900.00 and the KDL46VE5 for $550.00 with the stipulation that I would have to accept the offer within two weeks. I don"t know if this represents progress in the battle against Sony but this seems to be a weakening in their stance in that 1. They pretty much took my word for it that the set was going bad without having a repair technician looking at it, 2. They did not offer a discount to have the tv repaired and 3. The discounts on the tvs they offered were anywhere from $300.00 to $600.00 better than what I could find locally or on the internet at this time. Even though the offers seem to be getting better I think I"m going to go the small claims route if anything just for the principle of the whole matter. I do have one question though to help me get the ball rolling and it deals with jurisdiction....I bought the set in a different county than which I currently reside here in Northern California and I wondered if I needed to file in the county where I purchasd it. Thanks for your advice or link.

Your other option is small claims court. It entails a little more work on your part, but the resolution is much faster, and, given a strong case, you are more likely to recover a cash judgment. See my Sony LCD Rear Projection TV Problems web site for additional information.

I"m sorry; the Sony KDF-60WF655 60" High Definition LCD Projection Television is not known by Sony to be defective in any way and we are not aware of a problem.

Registered: May-07Posted on Sunday, December 06, 2009 - 01:06 GMTMike is in Canada. Perhaps all of the KDF-60WF655"s remain defect-free up north due to the cooler weather. :-) Seriously, though, Mike, if you got that response in an email or some other written form, I would appreciate your sending me a copy of it, if you don"t mind. I maintain the Sony LCD Rear Projection TV Problems web site.

Stone truth: Go to Sam"s Club and look at a Sony LCD next to a Vizio. Look at the price tag. Add in the extended warranty for the Vizio & you"ll still save $400-500. No accident which brand is now a best-seller.

Do you have a consumer advocate that this can be forwarded to? We have been dealing with Sony corporation since 11/24/09 regarding a Sony Bravia 55 inch LCD TV that is defective (the display panel went out on it) and was only approximately six weeks old at the time of the issue. We have been given the runaround since then, and now all we are being offered is a refurbished unit. We feel that the item is defective and they should replace it. Their attitude is, "This is all we are offering, take it or leave it." Is there anyone who can help us take on the big boys? Considering the unit was only six weeks old (from 10/11/09 - 11/24/09) when the issue became evident, we don"t feel that asking for a brand new unit is unreasonable. The repair part was ordered on 12/1. Multiple requests were made checking on the status of the order, and on 12/16, we were offered a refurbished unit. On 12/18, they ordered the refurbished unit, but it takes two weeks for it to even ship. We"ve been without the TV longer than we were able to enjoy it. Customer service reps in other countries, who either don’t understand or transfer you over and over until you give up, compound the issue. The only thing they seem to be able to do is apologize and offer understanding, no resolution, and you can never speak to a supervisor.

We purchased a Sony Grand WEGA (LCD Projection HDTV, KDF-42WE655) at Circuit City on 1/29/05 for approximately $2,000.00. The warranty was good for only 1 year (normal life span for TV is approximately 15-20 years depending on usage). The degenerative problem with this Sony TV is with the optical block/light engine which Sony has known about before and after our 2005 model was being distributed in local stores. Sony was well aware of this problem for several years and continued to sell this defective technology, committing massive consumer fraud. Repair for this problem costs between $1,100 -$1,500. Repairing would only be using the same refurbished parts, which once again means that between two and four years, the same problem will occur.

In 2006, I purchased an expensive ($2,000) high definition, large, flat screen TV (Sony KDF-E50A10 LCD rear projection). In 2008, a blue blob began to appear on the TV screen. I called Sony customer service asking for assistance with the picture quality on my TV. The TV has a large and growing blue blob on the screen. Sony initially suggested they knew nothing about the problem and referred me to one of their service vendors for diagnosis. The screen problem at the time was rather small and I elected to do nothing. As the problem grew, I called them again and this time, was told that the warranty had been extended because of the screen issue (a problem with the "optical block" component), but the warranty extension was now expired.

I purchased a Sony KDF60XS955 60" LCD rear projection TV in 2005, including the ridiculously-priced Sony stand. My total investment was well over $4,000. In the past several months, the TV picture is being overrun by blue dots and a blue haze that is quickly making the set unwatchable. I contacted Sony and that indicated that I have a problem with the optical block, but since the warranty was expired, there was nothing they could do. The repair cost is +/-$1,000 and the same problem will probably resurface even when fixed. Their only offer was for discounts on replacement TVs, all of which were substantially smaller. The discounted prices were also not that great, with cheaper prices available from some retailers.

My husband and I purchased a Sony Bravia 42" LCD television in June of 2008. About a week ago, the sound completely went out. Now we received sound on a very limited basis. I called Sony Service and talked with a really nice person who walked me through a few minor steps to see if this would help. Three seconds after I hung up the phone, the sound completely went out again. I immediately called back and this time, got a young man who more or less said, "Sorry, you"re SOL. There is nothing more we can do. Your warranty ran out less than six months ago and you will just have to pay to get it fixed." I told him that since the TV was only a year and a half old, it should not be having this kind of trouble. His response was, "Too Bad, So Sad."

In November of 2004, we purchased a 60" rear projection Sony Grand Wega LCD Projection HDTV (Model KDF-60XS955) at Best Buy in Framingham for $4187 (which included sales tax, delivery and a 4-year service contract). In the spring of 2007 (2 years after purchase), a blue haze with blue dots began to appear on the screen, causing significant deterioration of the picture quality. I called Best Buy about the problem, and they sent an authorized Sony repair serviceman who arrived with a new optical block (which is the equivalent of the picture tube of CRT, the guts of the television).

I decided to search the internet to see if others might be having this same problem and was amazed to discover numerous websites with hundreds of consumers complaining of blue blobs, red squiggles, yellow and green haze and other defects on the screens of their expensive Sony Wega Rear Projection LCD TVs. All of these sets were less than 5 years old. I learned that every Sony rear-projection model has been the subject of a warranty extension, a class-action lawsuit, or both. The first Sony customer service representative I contacted told me there was nothing they could do as my television was now out of warranty.

I purchased a KDF-42WE655 Grand Wega television in January of 2005 for $2,400 that now has the well-documented failure of the optical block. A blue haze and horizontal streaks radiate from the lower left-hand portion of the screen, which impairs viewing. The internet is filled with postings from fellow consumers reporting the same condition and sadly, their stories end with the same customer service treatment I received. It took several minutes of my time and persistence until I reached a fourth customer service employee, who, after much prodding, offered to sell me another television for ~$1,000 or receive a $400 credit towards a $1,200 repair (I called an authorized Sony repair outlet for that estimate).

My four-year old $2,600 Sony LCD/HD TV has started turning to a blue haze on the screen. I have made contact with the service department via email and telephone and have been told that even though this is a known factory defect, I will still have to pay for repair and parts, estimated around $1,200. There are several pending class action lawsuits around the country, unfortunately not in my state, and Sony still is not making good on their defective part. A refurbished part cost nearly $800 and is only warranted for 6 months. I find this kind of support for an expensive TV totally unacceptable. This TV, a KDF-42WE655, has been run only about 10,000 hours of its estimated 60,000 hours of projected life span, so I am very disappointed in the durability of this TV. I have even offered to do the repair work myself, just send me a replacement part and they have refused. My advice is to not purchase Sony equipment any more. I sure won"t!

We lost home and contents in the May 2008 Parkersburg/New Hartford, Iowa tornado. While the home was being rebuilt, we lived with relatives, at motels and rental properties. I purchased a Sony Bravia 32" LCD TV from Best Buy on August 27, 2008. I did not use the TV immediately but probably registered it shortly after the purchase date. We were replacing our items in anticipation of the completion of the rebuilt home. On November 30 of this year, my Bravia started jumping and twice the screen went completely green with no picture for a few seconds. Then the bottom 3/4 of the picture was foggy with vertical lines running and jumping. I called Sony customer service on December 1 and they had me do several checks which did nothing to help the problem. Then, they asked me to have a technician check it which I did. He informed me that it was the display and would cost $500-$600 to repair. I called Sony back with the information and they told me sorry but since my warranty was out 12 months from the date of purchase, they could not help me with the repair. I would assume I ran this TV (which was in my bedroom) 13-1/2 months. With products like this, I will not purchase another Sony product.

I purchased a Sony Wega LCD 42" TV in June of 2005. It has a "blue blob or haze" on the screen caused by a defective light engine, also called an optical block. According to my research, Sony knew of this problem and still sold the Wega series in retail outlets. The consumer was never notified of this recall through USPS or email.There is also an issue with pink spots on the screen, which are caused by a dust problem.

I purchased a Sony Grand Wega model KDF-50WE655 on 09/02/05 for around $2,600 at Costco. It started having trouble with the picture and I called for service. On 03/23/09, I paid $95.00 for the tech to tell me that the blue LCD panel has gone out and the optical block needs to be replaced for an estimated $1,100.00. I was told by a Sony customer service that there was a recall and I missed it. Apparently, it was notified via the web. I am a senior and I do not have access to the web. The daughter is filing this complaint for me. I am now widowed and out of a TV. Sony graciously offered to sell me a new TV at a great discount. Obviously, there is a defect in this model"s parts. Do I have no recourse?