Hi Everybody,  I’ve been searching here before I bought a replacement bulb for my DLP but now I actually need to post a question.

So I ordered a new bulb from discount merchant and installed it, it worked for 3 hours and then my TV quit on me.  I took out the bulb….once it cooled and looked at it, It did not have the broken glass in it that was present in the bulb it replaced so I assumed it was okay.  I looked up stuff online, read the troubleshooting tips that came with my new bulb and called DM about the problem.  All the advise suggested that the ballast was bad and needed replaced.  For reference the TV attempts to turn on, plays the melody and there are a series of clicking noises then the TV powers down and powers up again with the same noises and results, there is no light from the screen and the picture was fine before it died, no weird colors or anything.  

So I ordered a new ballast from Sears and installed it and the lamp, and nothing has changed, same sounds.  I want to be convinced that the bulb has failed but I thought I would turn to you guys before spending anymore money.

Thanks in advance,

   -Pat