Fear Not the XL-5200 Lamp

On Monday, my TV quietly "died" from a burned out bulb. There was no warning message, no fading, no sputtering. I was unprepared for this event, thinking my TV would communicate signs of its distress like the owner's manual described. But no. It was sudden and unexpected. It was even anticlimactic. It just wouldn't turn on. By Tuesday I had the research done, and I ordered a new part. I got the replacement bulb on Friday. Today I started taking apart the "patient."

Burned out bulb in its protective armor

Nice and dusty!

Broken filament

Removing the lamp from the enclosure

Alien?

"The eye" and one cotton glove (included)

New lamp, 2 screws, 1 nut, 2 metal clips

Presto change-o

All clean and ready to go

The cavity awaits

Pushed in and plugged into the wire harness

Latching the lamp door and tightening the set screw

Replacing the outside cover. Doubly protected!

Necessary implements (the coin is for turning the screw on lamp door)

For twice the price, I could have saved myself some labor and ordered a whole new assembly. But why do things the easy way? I couldn't have thrown away the old lamp enclosure. So now I don't have to feel guilty about keeping something I might "need again" someday. It's been cleaned and reused. That's a good feeling. And it was worth an hour of my labor. Satisfaction and a savings of $120, not bad. :)