Yep, the moment we all dread happened tonight, the bulb blew. Only thing is I've only had this projector a little over two months. On the plus side the bulb's still under warranty, and the minus side if this is the life I can expect from these things then the pj will cost me £150 per month to run!

Now I've been using it a lot, as a TV-replacement, but it was still a little under 500 hours (and most of that was in economy mode). Now if it had lasted 2000 hours as rated then it would have lasted me 8 months, which I could live with.

Anyway here's my mail to BenQ, which includes links to the threads on AVSForum discussing this issue:




Hi. I bought a PE7700 from ivojo,co,uk a couple of months ago. Unfortunately the bulb just blew, fortunately it's within the 90-day warranty period.

I'd be grateful if you could advise me of the procedure for obtaining a replacement bulb.

I'm also very concerned about the lifetimes of the bulbs. This one has only lasted a couple of months, which means that once the bulb-warranty expires this projector is likely to cost me over £150 per month to run!

That's if I can find anywhere with them in stock, I've only found one site that lists the bulbs and they have no ETA on stock.

A little research has shown me that I'm not alone in having this problem. Check out these threads on the well-known AVS forum:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=576422
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=579808

If you click on "Show Results" in both threads you'll see that the poll gives extreme cause for concern. Admittedly these polls can be skewed, but even if that plays a large factor the results are so bad that there's clearly a serious problem with the bulbs.

Incidentally the projector was generally run in "Economy" mode.

I'd be grateful if you can firstly advise me of the procedure for obtaining a replacement bulb and secondly let me know what's happening with these bulbs. For example was there a manufacturing defect that has now been eliminated?

Many thanks,

Called up BenQ to get a replacement bulb. Sounds like a bit of a palava all told, but they told me a couple of interesting things. Firstly BenQ has acknowledged that the initial bulbs were faulty and secondly the bulb warranty has been extended to six months for pjs bought after 1st July.

It'd be better if the problem had never happened, but to their credit BenQ are handling it very well

[FlyingBig]

Nice to know, whats the PJ like? Thinking of getting one myself.

[Penfold73]

Yes, there's a big thread on it at avsforums. Seems BenQ were given a batch of flawed bulbs for part of the first release of the PE7700, but they seem to be replacing the bulbs without argument.

[moosie]

... anyone get anything in writing or by email from Benq to acknowledge the problem with the early ones.

I bought prior to 1/7. I think I was first on this forum to get one. Approx 100 hours on the clock.

Nope, nothing in writing.

Perhaps ones bought before 1/7 didn't have the faulty bulbs, otherwise why have that cut-off date?

As for what I think of it...well the contrast ratio is currently rather low... 1:1 in fact

It's very good, especially when driven from DVI/HDMI. There are a few things it could do with, picture-shift and more of a zoom for example. It's a little noisy in normal lamp mode but in economy mode it's very quiet.

One thing that's a little annoying is that the colours don't quite line up, so a white line has a purple top and a green bottom. I'm guessing that this is a timing issue, and I don't think it's uncommon, but I couldn't find anything to fix it even in the service menu. I'd guess that this problem probably exists with other pjs too.

It's my first pj so I can't really rate it in comparison to other models, the PQ seems excellent to me.

[FlyingBig]

Moose have you noticed what bugblatter mentioned about teh colours not lining up properely? Sounds very strange indeed.

[moosie]

... very helpful.

While not admitting any problems exist with the bulbs they said that the bulb was guaranteed was 6 months. They are going to send me a new bulb for same ( once I give them some code on the back of same ).

Colours not lining up? Never noticed this. That from top to bottom or left to right? I'll check once I get sorted which I'd imagine will probably take a week or so. Would this be caused by a slight ripple in your screen perhaps?

It's not the screen, I'm projecting to a flat wall and the colours not lining up is consistent across the entire image.

The easiest way to spot it is to input a signal from a PC, preferably DVI/HDMI. Go close to the screen and see if the white lines are uniformly white or whether they're coloured on the edges. I get colouration on the top, bottom and sides.

It's not a big deal but at normal viewing distance it's just about noticeable as a slight lack of sharpness on text and such. On films I can't see the problem at all, although it's probably reducing the sharpness slightly even then.

Moosie the serial number is in two parts on the bottom of the pj and they need both (I think they're labelled serial no. and part no.). They'll also need a copy of the invoice faxed or e-mailed to them. Once that's done they'll give you a reference number to put on the box when you send the bulb back to them.

I wish they'd told me the procedure up-front, I could have saved myself a day or two and would have had the new bulb by now.

[moosie]

..... all sorted. Most impressed with Benq in UK. Posted off the blown bulb and a courier arrived 4 days later with the replacement ( which I assume comes with a 6 month warranty ). Am i'm in Ireland.

Brilliant, now the fan's gone. It's been making a whirring noise when it starts up for about a week now, but quietened down after a few minutes. Now the fans just not going nearly fast enough to cool the bulb, there's very little air coming out of the front and it's making a lot more noise. The pj just shuts off with a temperature warning after a few seconds.

So not only do I have to send the damn thing in to have the fan replaced but it's probably done the bulb no favours either!

I'm not having a lot of luck with this thing. Has anyone else had the fan go?

[moosie]

After bulb no 1 blowing after less than 100 hours, bulb No 2 blew last night after only 50-60 hours. Starting to wonder if it might be an issue with the fan.

[moosie]

Again impressed with BenQ. They reckon the fan is probably to blame and are taking the whole unit back to examine. Unfortunately their service area is in Hemel Hempstead and due to the fire they are disarray and in the process of relocating. They are to come back to me to tell me how to proceed.

[moosie]

Bulb No 3 gone. First to go on machine no 2. Got to 200 hours though. A new record.

Machine no 3 on way I think.

Stunning picture on the PE7700 but this bulb issue is breaking my heart.

[Big Slick KA]

lalalalalalalalalala !!!! I'm not listening.........

Hi Moosie

I have 30 hours on my 7700 and was hoping not to see anymore of these bulb blown posts.

I was also rather hoping that Benq had solved these issues with the new units. Do you know the manufacture date of your second unit.

Cheers

BS

[moosie]

.... any machines that have firmware version 48 and later are fine.

To find what version you have.

Press Menu, Up, Down, Up, Down, Up, Down, Menu another menu will come up. In a sub menu off this there is a "Firmware Version". The one I got from BenQ y'day is version 49 which from what I have been reading is fine.

The machines I had that casued trouble where both manufactured in 2005.
I think any after Jan/Feb 2006 should be okay.

[Big Slick KA]

Thanks Moosie

Phew (ish)

The firmware is 48. something, and was bought in April of this year. The supplier assured me that the bulb would not be an issue as the units they had were new models that month. I am a little supprised that version 49 is alive and kicking, do you know how to obtain and/or update the firmware.

Thanks

BS

[moosie]

... you could do worse than ring 0207 216 0039 ( BenQ )

Have noticed a definite improvement in the picture (especially Sky through S Video) on the previous versions I' ve had.