Rpz Center of the Universe

So hello once again. This past week my Samsung DLP started to make a whirring noise. It sounded like a bearing going bad, well as the week went on, it turned into a grinding/whirring/screaming noise. This isn't good.

So the above prompted me to write this blog entry. How I repaired both situations.

I am going to discuss two repairs that i have done to my TV over the last couple months. I have the 63 inch DLP. Model HLP6163W

First lets discuss the Color Wheel replacement, mine uses BP96-00674A which you can get at www.partstore.com for about 140 bux. So off I go on the internet to read about this 'noise' to find out that it was indeed the color wheel. As you see, there are two moving parts in a DLP, the color wheel and some cooling fans, it was the wheel for sure. So I ordered the wheel and started to read the stories of others who have attempted to fix the wheel. Some were good some where horrible, some just failed. I wasn't feeling great, I am no TV repair man for sure, but I thought what the heck, if it works I save myself 400 or so bux (this is what i hear it costs to have a 'guy' come do it for you). After reading how to do it here I thought it doesn't look that bad. Then I kept searching and found some videos on YouTube where this guy taped himself taking his TV apart following these instructions. There are 5 parts and trust me they are riviting!! .. Ok the part arrives, and yesterday about 4:15 I start the process. Here are the steps from memory. (More on this later).
1. Move the TV to a table so I can work on it.
2. Gather the proper tools, you need a phillips head screw driver 6 or so inches, flash light, needle nose pliers, etc..
3. Remove the rear panel, it's 14 screws
4. Remove the light bulb housing, it's one screw and it has a keeper so you won't loose it.
5. Remove shinny bracked on the right side of the box that has 2 black and 2 brass screws plus one holding the tray along the bottom
6. Remove the other blk screw on the tray to the right, and remove the blu/brn pwr cable that feeds from the right, and move it out of the way.
7. Disconnect the DVI cable and the one ribbon cable on the projector box.
8. Slowly remove the projector box, making sure to not pull any wires, etc.. It will slide right out, but as you remove turn it to the left 90 degrees and sit it on the tv base with the big black fan/housing facing you.
Now the fun begins, take a moment to look at what you have done so far, be amazed...revel in it...
9. Remove the black housing/fan assembly with 3 screws. Make sure to loosen the wire run so you can swing it to the left.
10. Where the power cable to the fan runs, you will see it is kind of attached to a screw that holds the color wheel cover in place. This is next, there are 2 screws to this, remove set aside.
11. Now that you have the cover removed and the blk/fan housing removed, you should be facing a big silver square thing. You need to remove that. Three brass screws, and you will have to wiggle it a bit to get it loose.
12. Ok now you can get to the color wheel, behind where the silver thing was you will see a heat sink, this is the color wheel assembly. If you have your new one in hand it should be obvious where it is.
13. IMPORTANT the blu/wht cable is delicate, be careful removing, be gentle and it comes right out. Also there is a little ribbon cable that will need to be removed as well, it just slides out. THERE SHOULD NOT BE A CONNECTOR on the end of it, don't freak out that you screwed something up...
14. Ok, 3 screws and the color wheel assembly is free, you have to 'giggle' it a bit to get it to come free, but it will. The gasket around it tends to stick a bit.
Now your 1/2 way done. Marvel in your work so far, have a coke, or a cig what ever you choose...Ok back to it.
15. Remove new assembly from box, DON'T TOUCH WHEEL, and make sure gasket is where it should be compare to the one you took out for alignment. (Also here you can try to spin the old one, mine sounded like there was sand in it. Hence when the tv tries to spin this thing at 9K, yes 9000, RPM it sounds like a wounded Banshee. Someone else used that term, so I thought I would borrow it. Sounds correct...If yours is going bad, you understand.
16. Ok install new assembly making sure gasket is in the right place, it will slide right in. Take a flashlight and inspect gasket at this point, I had to pull out a section as it was rolled up a bit, but a pair of needle nose pliers did the charm.
Ok, now you put it back in reverse order.
17. 3 Screws for Color Wheel Housing.
18. 3 Screws for big silver thing, and it has some plastic guides so you can't put it in wrong.
19. 3 Screws for the blk/fan housing
20. 2 Screws for the color wheel cover, here make sure to put the little wire back the way it came off. And the tape...(Not sure what the tape does, but I put it back the way it was)
21. That is it for the projector tray, slide it back in the way it came out, being careful with the wires.
21a. There is a jumper that some have had to pull to get the colors right, I didn't have to do this, so if you replace the wheel and the colors are woperd00ed, then this jumper needs to be pulled look it up on the internet for location.
22. Replace Silver bracket on the right side, with 2 brass screws and 3 black ones. Re-install power cable removed in step 6.
23. Connect ribbon cable and DVI cable disconnected in step 7.
24. Make sure there are only 14 screws left . Put back panel back on with 14 screws.
25. Hook up HDMI, plug in power, turn on and enjoy Nascar!

This whole process took me about 45 mins, I did it mostly from memory from what I read and saw on YouTube. You can do this as well, just be careful of what your doing and it's really simple. The picture is awesome, brighter than before, as the old color wheel the colors were kind of faded. So give it a go, it's not that hard. I didn't include pictures since I think most of the TV's might differ a bit from one to another and it's not that hard. The hard part was moving the beast to get it to where I could work on it. Let me know if you have questions...

Ok the bulb, yes I have replaced it once, they say it will last about 4-5K hours, but I got 9K out of my first one, that equals about 4 years for me, not bad.

Very simple to replace, I need the BP96-00826A housing for a complete replacement. Again you can get this for about 140 at the same place I mentioned up top. Funny you would think the bulb with out the housing would be cheaper but thats not the case, either way they are 140 give or take 5 bux, so I just got the complete package. I was going to buy another bulb, to replace the bad one that I took out but since the price is the same I will just go ahead and get a complete housing. Go figure.

Ok to replace, gain access to rear of TV, on the right side you will see a square opening that requires 4 screws to remove. Remove those and walla, access to the light bulb cage. Mine has one brass screw on the left side of the housing (this screw will not come out all the way, it has a keeper on it) so just loosen that, and remove the housing. Yes you guessed it, replace the old with the new and put panel back on and your good to go. Simple repair.

So how do you know when your bulb is going bad? You power on your Samsung DLP. It takes extra long to turn on. Lots of clicking and a few power cycles? Your TV is trying a few times to get that pesky lamp going. Finally, the process ends with the dreaded three blinking lights. Your lamp is probably burned out.

So thats my story and I am sticking to it.

Rp3
www.twitter.com/rpwhite3

Lets get Indy out of the way first.

I am bummed that JPM didn't win, he had the best car all day and should have won. Do I think there is a conspiracy against him? NO, he just made a mistake, or rather the team did. Due to that mistake he was shuffled back to the top 15 where NO ONE could pass. When the Indy race was done, I was ready to make some changes to the car, it was sad the way no one could pass. Not sure if the tire situation from last year or this year the fact that we had a 43 car train was worse. It was boring! I was happy JJ won, and MM got second don't get me wrong, but it was pretty boring I have to say.

On to todays Pocono race, that I watched while working, luckily I was not traveling this week so I got to watch a good portion of it....WOW, is all I can say the double file restarts, Jimmy Johnson, Tony Stewart, etc.. Emotional win for Denny Hamlin, who really didn't want to be there, where to start.

Jimmy Johnson - You see this race is why they will be champions again. He was leading, had the best car, then something went amiss. Was it a sparkplug wire, was it the points, was it the carb, who knows. So while being as calm as you can be they started to work on it, Jimmy fell down one lap. Seems to have been fixed, but still not running up to full speed, so they work some more, and yes they fall 2 laps down. Still not right, so work some more now 3 laps down, toast right. WRONG, they eventually get it fixed and he is fast, and caution, he gets a lap back, bingo-bamo another wreck, he gets another lap back. See where this is going? You betcha, with less than 50 to go, there is another caution and low and behold JJ is on the lead lap. 20 to go, and he is fighting Jeff G for 12th (I thought at the time he was still a lap down, no way he got them all back. remember I was working ...Well there he was, battling for a top 10. He ultimately finished 13th or so, but talk about taking a bad day and making it great! This team is the best PERIOD.

Jeff Gordon - 8th place isn't bad, I would guess they were looking for a top 5. His car was definitely fast and at times it seemed the fastest, he just never had track position. Over all a good race, it could have ended much worse. He missed a couple wrecks and during some cautions he was mired deep in the field and had to drive aggressively to get back to the front, over all a good day.

Mark Martin - 7th place, that guy is just a rock. If his car doesn't break and he doesn't get caught up in a wreck you just know he will be there at the end. And as usual, you don't talk/see him much during the race, but at the end he is fighting for spots. Just your average 7th place (Great Points) day for Mark. Even though he fell in the standings, he is further infront of 12th now. His goal all along.

Dale Jr - hmmmmm, well yea... Uhhhh, sure... Hmmmmm yes he sucked again. The last stop for gas only did him in. Most the rest of the field had tires and he had AMP energy drink! He has a long way to go to get better, and I bet only a year to do it. 2010 he better step up to the plate, or.... I am not sure about his contract, but I can't see Mr H allowing this to go on for more than this year and next.

On to other things...

I read a story today that doctors are as busy as they have ever been. Wonder why? Well it's due to the fact people are trying to get in and see "Their" doctor before the GOV takes over health care. So hospitals are filling up, doctor offices are filling up, etc.. Just a sign of things to come I guess. Not too much different from the "Gun" scare, and you would stop in your neighborhood gun shop (those of us that are fortunate enough to live where you can get guns) and find the shelves empty of guns and ammo. What can you and I do about this, we can call/email/write our congressmen/women and tell them that we don't want this MASSIVE Health care Reform bill, it will only hurt us. It WILL tax the people that make less than 250K, it's the only way they can pay for it. And one lasting word of note, when was the last time any thing the GOV done good for us. They tell us BIG PHARMA is bad, they tell us BIG OIL is bad, they tell us BIG Phone Companies are bad, and yet we are supposed to let them run one of the most important things in our life? Hmmm not no, but HELL NO, we can stand up and say NO, it's OK.

Enough for now.

Rp3
www.twitter.com/rpwhite3

So it's been a bit over a week with my new Palm Pre. I will try to explain what I feel are the positives and negatives that i have noticed.

Positives:

Multitasking - This is just kewl, the fact I can have twitter (Tweed) running and then open a web page, or listen to a internet radio is just plain cool. You have to admit it. Just makes things easier to do when you don't have to close and re-open all the time.

Google Integration - Again finally a place to keep my contacts so I don't loose them. I also found a tool that will take my company Calendar (Outlook) and sync it with Google Calendar! This is all I really want on this phone is my work calendar, and now I have it auto-magicaly. Sweet. The contacts work just as easy, just add to either the phone or Google Mail and walla it's on your phone or vice versa.

Sprint Network - I personally like it, I used to be on At&T and I couldn't make a call from my house, I would have to go out and talk in the middle of the street, ever since I have been on sprint I have had no issues. Are there times and places I drop calls, sure, but every carrier does this. Now they have 3G, the download speeds on the PRE are whipping fast. So this works for me and I see it as a positive.

SlideOut KB - Ah yes the slide out keyboard. I have tried the Iphone and hated the on-screen keyboard, I guess I just need the feel of a real key, is this too much to ask? As you will see it's also on the negative list as well, but over all I have gotten used to it. Issues below ...

Touch Screen - I assume it's as good as the Iphone but it's neat anyways, the extra gesture area allows you to do some neat actions as well, like flipping through the full screen cards, etc.. Neat feature.

GPS - What great timing, my Garmin unit just stopped working. Now I have one on my phone, and was pleasantly surprised to find out how well it worked. Monday it guided me to a Golf Course I had never been to before in Atlanta. The phone did seem to get a bit warm to the touch on the lower half, not sure about that but it worked as expected. Probably does what my 500 dollar garmin did maybe more, still playing with it.

Negatives:

Battery Life - This sux, after 1 hour on the GPS and some tweeting, I was very low, and concerned I might not make it home before it died. There is a new battery that claims 20% more life with the same size (no hump back deal) so I might have to check that out. Otherwise the phone lasts all day no problem, it is almost 5pm and I have 64% left on the meter. I have been on and off all day, no phone calls though.

Micro USB Connector - Great idea, maybe it's just me, but sometimes when I plug the charger in it doesn't begin to charge? I have to try it a couple times before I get the message that it is working? Maybe it is when I don't get the notification but not sure, so I repeat a couple times and mysteriously it starts to work on #2 or #3 connection? Who knows, not enough to return unless it gets worse. Also I can't seem to find a USB to Micro USB cable so I can charge from my laptop (I Prefer this method) but I guess as more and more devices use this, it will be common place. We shall see...

SlideOut KB - Sometimes it feels like I am going to break it, although I know I am not. Sometimes it feels stuck and I am a bit tentative to open? It always works, but just doesn't feel solid to be honest. The way they suggest to open it gets MAJOR finger prints on the screen, as I try to open with out printing the screen all up. Maybe this is my issue, I just tried the way they suggest and it works fine? Who knows, maybe it's my wanting to keep the device clean in case I need to whip it out and show a Iphone user how much better it is, I want it to be clean...

Well thats it for now, not fully in depth, but ok. As more becomes available on the App Store I will comment on that later.

Ps. Today there was an announcement for a Purity-Ring app for the iphone. This is the kind of crap that I hope they can keep out for a bit on the palm store. Hey give me .99 cents and sware you won't have sex until marriage. Yea that works great...

Rp3
www.twitter.com/rpwhite3

Well it's my favorite holiday of the year, yes the 4th of July. The day we celebrate our independence from Great Britain. I just hope next year we still have a country left after what the anointed ONE is doing to our country. Spend money on this, spend money on that, print money here, print money there. Hey lets bail out GM, oh sorry America they still have to declare bankruptcy, but no fear we (the GOV) will take them over and fix it. Uh sure, I have a lot of confidence there, the only company in the world that can loose money every year for years and still grow, etc.. I know if my company were to loose money, I would be looking for yob. Yes...Indeed..

Ok on to the racing, since that is what this post is really about. Tonights race will be epic I am sure, but I want to comment on last nights race by a few guys.

Dale Jr - Sorry man, wrong place wrong time, see what happens when you make mistakes on pit road. It did look like he had a fast Fastenal Chevy though. Maybe tonight is his night?

Kyle Busch - Sorry man, another Second for you, how do you take it, can you sleep at night? At least we didn't have to listen to the same old shit that pours out of his mouth when he comes in second. And he admitted his car wasn't the fastest? Someone must have slipped something into his drink..

Cousin Carl - Do00d, you had tires, you have time, and then the caution came out. Oh well, but I have to admit he is a great interview after the race very upbeat, and funny. Not like the above mentioned Idiot. If I had a company I would want someone like him driving for me. Why would you pay MILLIONS for someone like KB? Yes he wins, but he's an ass!

Jason Leffler - Dam, I thought you were going to get your 12th top ten in a row, bummer for you man. I guess not having 3rd gear was worse than you and the tv thought. Young zippy didn't look happy on the box.

Clint Boyer - Dam fine way to get your name on the car for the rest of the year. Funny competition at RCR for who would have their name above the door on the Holiday Inn car. So who ever has the best avg finish for their first 4 races (I thinks) that person would get thier name above the door. It was between Clint, Jeff Burton and Stephen Lieght. Well Clint won that little competition easily with a win at Daytona, and nice win for RCR they needed this.

TV - ho hum, not really sure if I liked it or not. I do like Dale Jarret in the booth, but sometimes it's too repetitive, they keep saying the same thing over and over. Hell I am not sure who i would be happy with to be honest. Just glad we don't have to listed to the DW - KB love fest anymore. So for that reason I give them a "A".

The race in general was fun to watch, seeing how it was the last one for those cars at Daytona. Next year they will be in the COT for nationwide on this track. Should be interesting. Of course KB did have a funny statement after the race, he said something to the affect that "hell I could have piled it up and wrecked trying to win, since this car wont' be raced any more, too bad I didn't think of that in the race." Hmmm yea if wrecking to wreck is what this guy does, again makes my point above...Just don't him. Yes he is a great racer, but personally nope...

People you need to follow on twitter : @kylepetty @RutledgeWood

Those two guys are quite funny on twitter...

Rp3
www.twitter.com/rpwhite3

It's that time again, when your contract with your current Cell Phone provider is close to being up and you have to choose which direction you will go with your next phone.

I know already I have lost some of you, who are no doubt saying at this very moment, "It's a phone?"... Yes but its so much more, I will try to explain in the following ramble...

So I went and played with the Palm Pre yesterday, I was not expecting much, as my current Treo doesn't impress me. At the time it was neat, but with the Iphone, and G1 out there it just wasn't the device I wanted it to be. So my first experience with the Pre was amazing. I was delighted with it. The fact it can run multiple programs at once, (the Iphone cannot) amazed me. Hell it's a mini computer. The real time sync with Google seems amazing as well, I didn't play with that just yet but the sales guy told me it works great. Things just show up, maybe this synergy thing works?

So on to other things, the design is sleek and sexy (hey that's important), the browser is quick and no longer are you tied to 'mobile' web pages, as you can just browse normal ones and zoom in and out just like the iphone. It also knows the orientation of the phone so when you turn it sideways it rotates things as it should. Pretty slick.

Did I mention it can run multiple programs at once? Well if you want to put the program in the back ground just hit the only button on the device and it flows back to be a card icon, then just swipe your finger from left to right or right to left to scroll through the existing apps. Way neat. If you want to close one, just swipe from bottom to top and you 'throw' the app away or close it. How neat is that.

The screen was nice and clear, but it does smudge. I always found this to be funny when people complained of that, HELL your wiping your finger across it! What do you expect, and yes if your eating a hamburger then it will get messy. Hey there is this new invention called a napkin, use one!

Contact less charging, need I say more. Yes the charger for this is expensive, but how cool is that, you just lay it on the stand and it charges. No plugging in USB cables, etc.. but if you want you can charge the device from your laptop, etc.. Important for me as I travel and am not about to carry any extra chargers around.

Now for the part some people complain about, it's only on sprint. Well I happen to already be on sprint and I get quite a good deal on my everything plan (with help from my company discount ...so I will be good to go with a plan. Also found out since I pay more than a certain amount a month, I am eligible to get a new phone/device every year for the discounted price, etc.. Neat, it just means I will be tied to Sprint for ever, doesn't bother me too much, my current Treo works everywhere I go so I think thats ok. All the carries SUCK, you have to pay one of them so it might as well be one that you like the devices of,etc...

I didn't get to talk on it or use it past playing with it but was impressed to say the least, I am now on the waiting list. Yes this pisses me off, but it gives me time to research and make sure this is the phone I want for the next year. I am hearing Sprint will eventually get the G1.5 and this is the phone/device I am most interested in. But we shall see.