# Sony KDS-60a3000 lamp cycling on/off every 30 seconds.



## Janax (Apr 29, 2011)

Greetings all! I'm not expecting a miracle, but hope someone can point me in a good direction.

I've had a Sony (DLP) KDS-60a3000 TV since early 2007. I replaced the lamp due to heavy use of the TV last fall (2010), but have had no other issues with the set. This morning the TV started to cycle the lamp on and off - after about 45 seconds on initially, then the lamp alternates off for ~30 seconds, then on ~30 seconds.
The audio stays on all the time, so the TV still is "on"; only the lamp is affected.

I initially suspected a fan or something for overheating, but heard the fan running and the service menu confirmed that no fan errors had been detected. Searching via Google has told me that the lamp is bad (unlikely to me since it does work ~50% of the time), or that the ballast is bad (unsure). Surfing the service/diagnostic menus in the TV itself - while the picture works - told me that the lamp was sitting about 25C, so I take that as confirmation that it's not a heat problem. I also found - through the Service Manual - that the TV isn't detecting any problems in the diagnostic screen(s), including the lamp, ballast, and circuit boards. The number of "flashes" of the power LED also indicates that the TV isn't detecting the problem itself (# of flashes is too many for problems listed in the Service Manual).

Should I just give in and call a professional? I'd hate to call a one if it's something simple, but then again since I've failed with my minimal experience to identify the issue, that's probably where I'll have to go. I guess I'm hoping that someone with more experience could say that it's likely one area or another so that I have good information with which to proceed. If it's the ballast or something relatively simple, then I feel confident in my ability to replace that. If the problem is too involved, however, then I'll have to weigh calling in a professional or buying a new TV...

Thanks in advance for any help or advice!


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## mechman (Feb 8, 2007)

Welcome to HTS. :wave:

My hunch would be a ballast problem. But the replacement lamp could be defective or not to proper specs as well. Is it an OEM bulb? If it's a Philips bulb I wouldn't suspect the bulb since they have a low failure/DOA rate.


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