How to Fix Your Sharp 56DR650 With Color Wheel Issues

This will explain how to disassemble and repair a Sharp 56DR650 DLP television if it has a malfunctioning color wheel. I was looking to buy a replacement color wheel, so I took apart the TV to see if I would actually be able to replace the color wheel myself. In taking it apart, I noticed that the little piece of glass was dirty, it had a semi-opaque whitish film on it, so I cleaned it with Windex. I took the color wheel out, and noticed that it too was a little dirty, so I cleaned it (again with Windex, probably a bad idea, but nothing bad has happened yet) . While cleaning the color wheel, I noticed that the outside of the motor housing had the same filmy substance on it, so I cleaned that too. That is the important part, and is what fixed the tv. I have only done this to my TV, so I can't guarantee that it will work for you.

As always, this is at your own risk. I am not responsible if you ruin your TV or injure yourself in any way.

Step 1: Remove the Back of the TV

Unplug everything from your TV before starting, especially power.

I have color coded all the images:
All red arrows are screws that should be removed
All Green arrows are cables that should be unplugged
The 3 blue arrows point to the orange rubber bumpers (they are semi difficult to peel off)
The Xs are screws or cables that do not need to be removed.

Note the 2 screws in the upper corners of the recessed AV Input area
Once all the screws are removed, this part should come off fairly easily, but the power cable still goes through it, so slide it along that and set it off to the side. Note that there are 3 different screw types here: two small ones from the AV Input area, 10 from the sides and top, and 4 slightly longer ones from the bottom.

Step 2: Prepare to Slide Out the Light Engine (but Do Not Slide It Out Yet)

This picture shows the right half of the TV when viewed from behind. The 2 screws on the flexible black piece in the upper right should be removed so that the cable in step 3 can be easily removed.
The metal support close to the center of the TV will come off, but the switch will still be attached, so I carefully leaned it against the AV inputs.

Step 3: Unplug 2 Cables Before Sliding Out the Light Engine (do Not Slide It Out Yet)

The cable in the upper right should be removed prior to sliding the Light Engine. It is behind the flexible black plastic, which I gently bent out of the way to remove the cable. The cable in the lower left goes to the color wheel, and does not need to be removed now, but I didn't think it was necessary to have another picture showing this when I could do both in one picture. The cable next to the flat ribbon cable does not need to be removed, we will unplug the other end instead.

Step 4: More Cables and Screws to Remove Before Sliding Out the Light Engine

You must remove these 3 cables and 1 screw before sliding out the Light Engine. I missed this screw when I did this, and ended up having to reshape the metal piece it goes into.

Step 5: You May Now Slide Out the Light Engine, But Do So Slowly, As There Are Still More Cables You Need to Unplug.

This picture is a strange orientation, the left side of the image is toward the back of the TV and the right side is toward the front. This view is with the Light Engine slid out slightly, and is from the right side of the TV looking toward the left. There is only 1 cable you need to unplug here. Once you unplug this cable, you may slide out the Light Engine, but again, do so slowly because the power cables to the light are still plugged in, and I could not find an easy way to disconnect them. Since I could do everything I needed to with them still attached, I didn't bother to remove them.

Step 6: Remove the Cover Over the Color Wheel.

There are 4 screws to remove here, then the cover should come off and you will be looking at your color wheel. DO NOT TOUCH the transparent part of color wheel, as the oils on your skin may damage it (I don't know if they will or not, but better safe than sorry).

Step 7: Remove the Color Wheel.

There are 3 screws and a cable that needs to e unplugged. These screws are very hard to remove, so be careful. The glass in the upper right of the color wheel housing may also be cleaned. Once you remove the 3 screws, you may gently pull the color wheel out. I pulled on the metal part near where the cable plugs in.

Step 8: Clean the Color Wheel

I used Windex, and have not had any problems, but I would recommend that you use distilled water. When working with electronics, spray or pour the cleaner onto the paper towel, not the electronics themselves. The part you have to clean is the shiny silver ring (which hopefully is not so shiny right now) between the gold ring and the base of the motor. WARNING: do not use tuner cleaner, or spray anything into the motor. The best way to clean the motor would be to put some distilled water on a paper towel and rub the color wheel and ring with that.

The reason this works is because the color wheel spins at 10800rpm, and in order for the colors to show up properly, it must spin at exactly the right speed, and the TV must also be able to determine where it is in it's rotation, I.E. what color it is shining light through at a given moment. The TV does this by shining a light on the shiny silver part and checking whether it reflects back or not. There is a black sticker that does not reflect light, and when it shines light on the sticker, it no longer reflects, and the TV knows that one rotation has gone by, and what point it is at in its rotation. After much use, my color wheel got this milky white film on the silver part, and the TV would work for a little while, but once it go to a certain temperature in the color wheel housing, the film became less transparent and more opaque, thus preventing the light from reflecting, and confusing the hell of out the TV, and when it tries to compensate for the anomaly, it really distorts the picture. I just wiped of this film, and it has been fine ever since.

Step 9: Put the Color Wheel Back In.

This part is semi difficult. You have to peel off the orange rubber washers carefully, put them back into the color wheel support, then put the color wheel back in. I tried to use needle nosed pliers, but ended up ripping one of the bumpers slightly. I ended up just using my fingers, as that seemed to work best. Peel them off, and fit them back into the color wheel support. They should overlap the top and bottom of the metal on the color wheel. The screws should only touch the orange bumpers when you put the color wheel back in.