If you are the owner of a Panasonic LCD tv that uses a ty-la1000 or similar lamp that has blown. Please sign our petition!!

http://www.petitiononline.com/panbulb/petition.html

Panasonic claims the lamp life is approx. 10,000 hours and we are finding they only last about 1500-2000 hours and cost approx $300 to replace!!

I've got a little over 3100 hours on the bulb of my PT-50LC13 right now. I'm not sure what the model # is of the bulb, but if it is the same as the one listed here, I guess I'm lucky.

1st Bulb 6 months, 1647 hours.

Now 11 1/2 months, ballast died.

Panasonic seem to have got the message that too many PT50LC13 bulbs are blowing way before a reasonable time. The following message I copied from another forum, I am currently trying to get confirmation from Panasonic Canada that they will honor this warranty extension and retroactive reimbursement for replacement bulbs. Reading between the lines it would seem there was a problem with other components (ballast?) that hastened bulb failure.

Michael wrote:-

Some good news everyone. I received a letter back from Panasonic's Customer Affairs Division. They are aware of the problem. What they are doing about is extending any lamp problems (lc13 series) to 18 months from invoice! Here is there letter:

"Thank you for your undated (oops) letter postmarked April 23, 2005. We at Panasonic appreciate your having contacted us. We are committed to assuring that our cutomers experience extreme satisfaction with the Panapsonic products that they purchase.

Having said that, we are aware that a number of people who purchased Panasonic projections TVs are not currently happy because of their experience with the lamps used in those TVs and we lok forward to satisfying you and other valued customers.

To put the prolem into some context, while projection TV lamps are expensive, they are light bulbs. Light bulbs blow out from time to time and need to be replaced. You should also know that based upon the best information that we have, the vast majority of people who have purchased Panasonic projection TVs have not experienced the kinds of premature burnout you and others have seen.

We recognize that this broader perspective does not help you and does not make you a satisfied Panasonic customer, but maybe it will help us find a common ground to a solution.

Based on the best information we have at the present time, we believe that if the lamp in one of our projection TVs does not fail within the first 12months of use, the TV owner is not likely to experience the kind of continuing problems about which you have expressed conscern. If the lamp fail within that period, it is possible that the cause is a defective lamp, but it is also possible that the cause may bea defective ballast or other component.

So here's what we are doing to address the problem. If you purchased a Panasonic LC13 series TV and experienced the burnout of a lamp anytime within 18 months of purchase, call us at (800)211-PANA. We will be happy to provide you with a replacement lamp and, if you have experienced repeated lamp failures, or otherwise suspect theat there may be a defect in your TV causing the lamp failures, we will arrange for an in-home inspection and , if necessary, repair of your TV. If you have already purchased replacement lamps for your TV and provide us with proof of purchase of the replacement lamps, we will refund the purchase cost of the lamp or lamps to you.

Just so you know, we are extending the limited waranty on lamps sold with the newer models to 18 months from the date of purchase and all replacement lamps will carry a one year, rathere then a 90 day, warranty.

We are truly sorry that you experienced dissatisfaction with your Panasonic projection TV and appreciate the oppertunity to turn you into a loyal Panasonic customer.

Very truly yours,
(signed)
Michael Marino Jr.
Manager, Consumer Affairs Division"

Sorry for any typos, I just typed away. We'll I guess that is better then nothing and it looks like most of us have had problems well within the first 18 months. I hope this has helped everyone! Good luck with your TVs as I'm calling to get my $300 bucks back!!

Michael

My bulb burnt out last week, well under a year of use. I called panasonic's head office in Mississauga (May 10) , and was referred to a local authorized dealer in oakville. I was told that the lamps are not in stock, but should arrive shortly.

They called on May (17) to say they have the part, and we scheduled a onsite visit to examine the tv May 19. They mentioned that this should be covered under warranty, as long as its under a year, and all I needed was the receipt.

Service Tech showed up as promised and proceeded to replace bulb, but noticed that the ballast was not firing up....he will need to order the part...hopefully it won't take another week to replace.

.......well the repair guy called back a few days later, and within the week the ballast and bulb had been successfully replaced. My tv fired up right away without any problems.

Let's hope this lasts more than a year this time....

This seems to be a problem with the PT-50LC13 (and perhaps 43) model only as I have not heard of very many PT-XXLC14 models having this issue. Panasonic addressed this problem as Michael Marino's letter states. Kudos to Panny for stepping up and extending the warranty to 18 months on the LC13 models.

My thinking is the 50" being a little smaller than the 60" the lamp has tighter quarters with which to reside and the lamp is over-heating.

I have the PT-60LC14 and have not had one problem with it. However, I have only had my set about half a year but it is on constantly. I read 35 consumer reviews on the PT-60LC14 (about 6 months ago) and in only 2 cases did the lamp burn out early.

P.S. I also have a four year warranty which covers lamp replacement. Just in case. :) Love the PQ on this set.

Now for the bad news - I asked Panasonic Canada if they were extending the bulb warranty to 18 months on the new set, and 12 months on replacements bulbs - here is their response:-

Please be advised that Panasonic Canada Inc. does not have any current plans
at this time to extend the bulb warranty on our Rear Projection LCD TVs.

Any Canadian lawyers who would like to take this on - it should be a slam-dunk given the tacit admission by Panasonic North America that there are problems beyond the bulb with the ...LC13.

Background:

I was the proud owner of a Panasonic PT-50LC13 RPTV(LCD)($4600). Exactly 23 months to the day, the lamp died with 4 490 hours and far from the 10 000 maximum life.

When I bought it, I took the extended warranty($483) but the salesman did not mention that the lamp was not in the warranty. It was pretty much a new technology at that time for him and me but I certainly don't recalled him telling me of this.

Called to get a replacement (not in stock :( ) but as he mentionned in the Panasonic manual, the lamp is only for 90 days and not covered by warranty after that time or by my extended warranty. I finaly got it at a cost of $200+tx(half the cost). I could have gone to small claims court but the waist of my time and not having a working TV would have me more cranky.

Don't get me wrong, I do love my Panny and used it around 6 hrs/day, open most of the time, close 2-3 times a day I think(did not took the "open" counter) and with no excessive brightness.

I could accepted a 90% life but less than 50-75% is pathetic. When you read the manuel about the uses of the lamp you wonder if you should even open it at all. :)

So if you are about to purchase one of this babies beware.

1. Ask what the extended warranty covers and if the lamp is in there and make the person write it on your contract.

2. Ask what is the current price for a lamp.

3. Buy an extra one (and have shorter warranty to balanced the cost). It could be backorder when you need it and not that much lower than now(e.g. Panasonic went from $479 to $450 in 2 years). The tech said that some brands are lower priced.

While talking to the technician, he mention that all brands(LCD/DLP) suffer from this short life issue 5000-6000 hrs.

I think that the industrie should lower the expected life of lamps. Is this the new Ink jet? Sale the TV as low as possible and the the lamp High.

Does Front Project with already a lower lamp life is as bad as this result?

What about other technology(LCD/Plasma with 20000 hrs+)?

I must go now to see if a truck with my lamp is on is way :D . It should arrived this week(I hope) and I'm waiting since Sept. 8. :(

There are several things that impact lamp life.

1. How often do you turn your TV on & off each day.

2. Do you have any power failures (this can cause the fan not to run if the TV is on and you don't have #3).

3. Do you have a UPS for the TV for 2 above?

Edit - 4. Bulb intensity. Some TVs allow several choices for intensity and the higher wattage option would obviously burn out the bulb more quickly. I'm not sure if your TV has that option. End Edit.

We've had posts from people with still shorter lives....

Some extended (Manufacturer) Warranties do cover lamp life. Read/research the extended warranty if getting one.

See the Digital Home FAQ on "Extended Warranties".

There are several things that impact lamp life.
1. How often do you turn your TV on & off each day.
3. Do you have a UPS for the TV for 2 above?
We've had posts from people with still shorter lives....


1. Like I said from 2 to 3 times a day.
3. I do have a UPS for the TV and each computer.
I was not talking about defects in particuliar.

The industrie should ask service people what is number of hours of the lamp when they have to be replaced to better estimate an average real life. After 2-3 years, I think they have a better sample when the lamp is still the same model year after year.

Like you said, research is important.

Good things to think about. Thanks for the post IrishDuke.

Man that stinks

Boy you have to ask soooo many questions now a days with warrenty huh? , because you just don't know what exactly "warrenty" means and what it covers. Todays toys(for lack of a better word) are expensive enough to the consumer, ...

We only have about 400 hours into our projector, but after I started searching on the net for the replacement bulbs and the pricing... I saw that they are fairly pricey, 400 plus.

So I called the store where we bought our projector and he ordered it for us at his cost , so i have a spare bulb put away

Also very important to the bulb life is a voltage regulator. Some UPS's have this function built in, but most do not. I highly recommend the addition of something like an APC Line-R, even if you have a UPS.

Just out of curiousity... how do you know how many hours you have used your bulb?

When comparing TCO (total cost of ownership), one should definitely take this into account.

I paid about $3,000 more for my plasma than I would have an LCD rear projection. If you have to change it 5 times over 10 years, that's $2,500 added to the cost of the rear projection unit.

Not to mention the down time (unless you feel like having a $500 bulb sitting on a shelf at home and replace the bulb halfway through your SuperBowl party).

All of a sudden, the difference in price shrinks a lot, doesn't it?

You're right about the life expectancy. They SHOULD lower it.

Only there's a key difference. Your plasma panel will slowly get darker and darker and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. At least a new bulb in a DLP/LCD display can restore it to like-new condition.

One thing I neglected to mention in post 2 (which I will now edit in) is

4. Bulb intensity. Some TVs allow several choices for intensity and the higher wattage option would obviously burn out the bulb more quickly. I'm not sure if your TV has that option.

Only there's a key difference. Your plasma panel will slowly get darker and darker and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. At least a new bulb in a DLP/LCD display can restore it to like-new condition.
But, don't LCD micro panels suffer a yellowing over time? How much does a new MP cost to install?

And what about full size LCD panels? Are the backlights on that replaceable? What are their lifetime and cost?

Gary

Just out of curiousity... how do you know how many hours you have used your bulb?

Some model has it somewhere in the menu and others(like mine), you have to press multiple keys.(cheat code :-) )

Bulb intensity = brightness, right? I put "cinema" and lowered the brightness a bit

This morning my lamp arrived and it's like a new TV. ;-)

We check, and in 700 days, I open it 1912 times for 2.73 per days.

Talk to tech that came install it (great time saver for me) and said that the salesperson now say 5000 hours to clients not the 8000 and 10000.

They should have a standard user replacement lamp module to force price down. Newer technology in lamp could extend the real longetivity. To late for me, and maybe for LCD/DLP RPTV (unless this is new CRT replacement) as the cost of Plasma and LCD are get getting lower each year.

Bulb intensity = brightness, right? I put "cinema" and lowered the brightness a bitI'm not an expert, but, unlike CRTs, I believe that the bulbs in LCDs and DLPs are operating at a specific wattage, say 100, 130 Watts. You can select only between the two.

I don't know how contrast and brightness are affected if you don't actually change the light output of the bulb... Anyone?