So, I searched on some forums and on Google and I ran across several posts on how to do it yourself. I also called a technician and found that it would cost me about US$ 400,00 to replace it via him.
So, after finding a few posts and videos about it, I decided to do it myself (links at the end of the post). I found the right part number for my TV from the Samsung website, found a cheap one on EBay and bought it.
I am posting below some pictures of my process, although not complete.
1. First step is to remove the cover of the TV to expose the back. I marked the cables and screws I had to disconnect with a red circle:
2. Take out the display lamp by removing the screw and pulling it out:
3. Pull the optics module out slowly and watch for the cables on top and on the left side. Remove the big fan on the right side. Next, disconnect the cable on top of the lamp housing:
Remove the lamp housing by removing the three screws and slowly remove it:
4. Disconnect the two cables from the color wheel:
5. Remove the two screws holding the color wheel in place and pull it out. Here's my old color wheel:
Here's the new color wheel:
Not much difference between them, but spinning the old color wheel resulted in some small noise.
6. Do the steps above in reverse order. Hopefully you didn't miss any steps and your TV is back working like a charm.
After the fix, my TV is much quieter than what it was before.
Here's the link to the other posts that helped be get this done:
- The closest to my TV model: http://kploymp.net/dlp_cw.aspx
- Great tutorial, slightly different in some places from my TV: http://www.jangro.com/electronics/samsung-dlp-replace-color-wheel/
- Lots of pictures: http://guides.fixyourdlp.com/samsung/bp96-01579a.php
- YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx4pbNjsxfU
I recommend you do this slowly, taking notes and pictures, so you have a reference in case things don't go to plan or your TV is different. Good luck if you decide to try.
