projectors and smoke

Im very much considering buying a projector, probably a panny ae300, as you lot seem to be rating it very highly, it fits my price range, and has rgb scart (none of my equiptment has component but it all has rgb scart(and svideo)).

BUT

the projector will be mainly used for dvd and gaming and heres the rub, i am a smoker, as are others that may be in the room when the projector is in use. Im not talking all night poker and cigar sessions (well not often) but there will be moderate to light levels of smoke in the room most of the time it is in use. so my question

1) what level (if any) of smoking is exceptable in a projector room (read living room)

2) what damage can smoke cause

3) what can be done to minimise this

-- edit -- forgot to say that this had never occured to me as a problem till i read a thread about problems with the above mentioned projector

i really hope that me being a smoker is not something that excludes me from the joys of the big screen.

[gothmog]

1) Very hard to say..

2) Well the problem with 'cheap' projectors is they do not have a sealed optical path, meaning that contaminated air from outside the projector is able to reach the optics and LCD panels usually this amounts to just dust blobs which beat the filter, these however can easily be blown off with a can of air. I think the big problem with smoke is the slightly sticky nature of the tar residue means you can't just blow it off and it will build up over time. I don't think completely dissassembling the projector to clean the optics with a solvent is really going to be practical.

3) What can be done?

a) Projector with sealed optics (ker-ching! )
b) Provide the projector with clean air.. the AE-300 for example, the AE300 sucks air in from a relatively small aperture in the side, if you could somehow pipe air from another room to this vent you'd be sorted. Or in fact mount the projector in another room completely and project through a hole in the wall
c) Quit (but you knew that )

-- Jon

I've never seen a LCD Front PJ in a pub- it's always been either a CRT RPTV or CRT Front Projector.

Should give you a idea that LCD PJ's and cig. smoke don't mix!

cheers gothmog, mounting in another room may be possible but im going to be buying a house soon and so will have to wait and see on the practicality of this.

nathan_silly, whilst i do smoke quite a bit, the smoke levels would be nothing comparable to a pub. id imagine the max levels of smoke, taking into account for guests, would be around the 10 cigs an hr max level, and more like 3 in most circumstances. I suppose an extractor in the room could be a good start.

Im assuming tha when th epj is not running , and hence the fans arent running, smoke will not be an issue.

[Fjorko]

The moral of the story is:


Stop smoking.....then you don't need to worry !!

Originally posted by Fjorko
The moral of the story is:


Stop smoking.....then you don't need to worry !!

its a possibility, but unlikely, also theres the issue of guests and the odd funny fag

[theritz]

monsta2003,

what level (if any) of smoking is exceptable in a projector room (read living room)

Answer here is none...... LCD projectors and cigarette smoke do not mix, it's as simple as that. Even if you have decent ventilation/extraction, the inlet fans on projectors are reasonably powerful and will still suck in smoke, caoting the insides of the optics with nicotine/tar, which will remain there to cook over time from the heat of the lamp.

I have seen LCD pjs in sports pubs, and they are normally leased or swapped out every sixv months or so. This is a business write-off for the pubs - they couldn't care less.

These two activities are incompatible, imo.

All the best,

Sean G.

[LV426]

I'd agree. Any device where a light path needs to be kept clear, and has a cooling fan inside it, is bound to accumulate smoke residue. Your light output will deteriorate and acquire a brown/orange tint. Unless, as someone else said, you can pipe up the air inlet on the PJ from a clean source, don't do it. Do your smoking in another room. Even when it's off. Smoke lingers and will get dragged in when you switch it on later.

Where I work, smoking inside is prohibited. The only approved place to smoke is an open draughty outside area which had a white false ceiling, 10 feet up. And it is now brown.

thanks for all the replies, so it looks like:

a) dont allow any smokin in the room
b) dont put the projector in the room
c) put it in a cooled hush box ?
d) spend alot more money on a sealed unit

i think it may have to be option b.

[Splice]

my wife and i both smoke, but we now smoke in a different room, so as to avoid any problem with the projector. we generally pop out for a quick cig at around half way through the film, and tie it in with beer/coffee refilling/bladder emptying, seems to work ok for us anyway. it also a: helps us cut down and b: keeps the front room fresher. whatever you decide to do i certainly wouldnt smoke near enough to the projector so as to let it suck in the smoke....You will regret it......Trust me.. the big screen image is most definately worth this small compromise imo dont let it stop you getting one You'll love it.

All the best........Splice

[calibos]

I've made exactly the same compromises as Splice. You get used to it almost straight away. Thats the great thing about Home Cinema. Imagine asking the cinema projectionist to pause the film while you pop out to the loo, top up you coke and to have a fag! Ever since I banned myself from smoking in the PJ room and Computer room, confining my smoking to the kitchen, I've halved the number of ciggies I smoke at home. Still smoke like a trouper in the car and when I'm out of the house though!

Here's a idea ... use a garden hose, place the fag at one end of the hose and in another room. Suck on the hose to inhale the smoke. Then blow down the hose to exhale.

The room will be smoke free!

[nunew33]

Dont be silly nathan, you would need 2 hoses, one for inhaling one for exhaling

[-Jay-]

Originally posted by nathan_silly
Here's a idea ... use a garden hose, place the fag at one end of the hose and in another room. Suck on the hose to inhale the smoke. Then blow down the hose to exhale.

The room will be smoke free!

LOL
I'm sorry i know we shouldn't do LOL but that was funny as hell

dont laugh guys, it had crossed my mind, i could probably resist or at least only have a coule meself, but if the lads came over for the football i dont think theres a chance in hell of stoppin them smokin. smae with the gaming sessions