Have gone through replacement lamps quite frequently - twice in the last year. Is this common or should we be looking for a contributing cause?

in time the sections of the aerial become stiff or slightly bent from road gunk and the drive is a plastic strip so it will not take much to strip it. I believe that there are replacement strips available at your local auto parts store that you can install yourself.

It is as far as the set is concerned, it sees the lamp not on.

Most likely cause would be the lamp ballast that drives the lamp.

yes it is time to replace lamp again , this new lamp dont last long

Hi, usually an indication the lamp has failed,
replace in last 2 years??? video-tek

No.

You must replace both cartridges with new ones for a successful alignment.

when lamp goes out frequently.

all lamp filters need changed...call tech

umm this is very common with progresive scan hd tvs with the lamp. i had a panasonic 52' for 6 years and mines just never turned on. i figured it ws da lamo but we also got fixed before and since these tvs are outdated i suggest u throw it out and sont sell it or fix it its not worth fixing. i suggest you buy a flat screeen lcd because thats all they sell and lcd is better than plasma. they last longer and fixing that JVC you have will cost $$$$ because of labor, bulb replacement and tax.

the hlr series had a few problem with intermittent turning off. one was the lamp door cover switch, the other was the thermostat.. neither one is very costly and a good tech should be able to replace bothe parts at the same time..

do you get an error code? hold the MENU and DEVICE buttons when turning on the TV and get error code

Intermittant convergence alignment issues are quite common.
Either solder the convergence IC pins or better yet , change out
the IC's with first quality OEM spec or upgrade..............T.