"Cr*p Circles" AE300

[Duke]

HELP! My PTAE300 has a faint, fist sized, greenish blob in the black margin when watching 2.85:1 material, and I get two of them when I go to shutter mode (or in the dark bits between scenes. It's nothing on the front of the lens 'cause A - I cleaned it and B - it doesn't rotate when focusing. It doesn't seem to be on the image plane because it does not come into sharper relief when the picture is focused (it blurs out slightly). They are distracting at best.

Many thanks in advance for suggestions (cause and/or cure)

 

[LV426]

Dust particles loged in the optics - probably on one of the LCD panels.

Dismantle it until you can see the X-prism block and blow the 3 sides that aren't right behind the lens clean using an engineer's aerosol (from Maplins etc) taking care not to allow any of the contents of the can to make contact with your LCDs until AFTER it has vaporised. (Experiment on a mirror, first, to practice your blowing technique; if you can see residue on the glass, even for a moment, you aren't doing it right).

 

[Duke]

Thanks Nigel I'll certainly give it a try. One quick question though - will this be a reoccuring problem? I do have the PJ ceiling mounted and keep it covered when not in use. I'd hate to think I have to take it down from its mounting every few weeks to clean it.

 

[LV426]

It may be. Depends on how dirty the environment is (I'm not passing any persional comment there).

My Sony VW10 has been down for a blow-job three times in 1600+ hours (3.5 years). The last time was probably over 500 hours ago and it isn't showing any signs at present.

Possibilities:

1: The particles are actually loose material from the air filter, or were present inside the machine somewhere when new. In which case, it is probable that no more will arise.

2: The cover - the act of placing and removing it may be introducing more contamination into the immediate area of the machine making ingress more likely. My Sony is never covered.

3: Do you have animals in your home? What do you do with that cover when it's off?

Just some thoughts for you to consider.

 

[dragonfly]

Nigel,
My VW12 was installed 6months ago,I've got a dust blob I suppose cleaning it will be similar to your VW10 and should i just follow your last instruction?

 

[LV426]

All you need to know about doing this on a Sony right here....

http://www.thecitycinema.com/new_page_7.htm

I can say from personal experience that, the second time you do it, it takes about 20 minutes including unmounting, dismantling, cleaning, reassembling, re-mounting, refocussing and centreing etc....

 

[chic]

its very easy to remove dust from the 300 i had to do it straight away after i ceiling mounted it, it now hasnt returned after 70 hrs, i only had to clean my old 100 3 times in 3200 hrs, i copied this guide from the avs forums which explains how to do it

1. Find a dust-free location
2. Remove the AE300's filter for cleaning and get in and around the filter vent with a vacuum cleaner to clear any loose dust.
3. Unscrew the screws in the base of the AE-300.
4. Remove the lid.
5. Locate the LCD panel ribbon cables as seen HERE
6. With the projector on it's side hold the can of air vertical (THIS IS IMPORTANT! ) and blow a few sharp bursts down either side of the ribbons where they go down into the optical path.
7. Replace the lid, replace the screws.
8. Re-mount the projector.
9. Job done.

The dust blobs have no re-occured in the last 200hrs viewing, so I think the lesson is to avoid disturbing the projector physically (ie run it for a month on a table then ceiling mount it) and be careful when cleaning the filter as this generates a fair bit of loose dust so make sure you suck it up before powering up the projector.

Note: If you are using a can of air make sure you keep it vertical or you'll get a projector full of propellant, and you probably don't want this

 

[Duke]

Thanks to everyone for the invaluable info. I'll intoduce myself properly when I get a few minutes.

 

[MGH]

Hi, guys. Recently I took the plunge and bought an AE300. I'm still waiting for it to arrive but I'm wondering do I need to keep it covered (or alternatively put it in its carrying case) when not in use, lest dust gets in it? The room I'm putting it in sometimes gets quite dusty. Thanks, Mark.

 

[chic]

Originally posted by MGH
Hi, guys. Recently I took the plunge and bought an AE300. I'm still waiting for it to arrive but I'm wondering do I need to keep it covered (or alternatively put it in its carrying case) when not in use, lest dust gets in it? The room I'm putting it in sometimes gets quite dusty. Thanks, Mark.

its up to you but i have a 300 now as well & it can get quite dusty in my room and i have only had to clean it once so far and i had a a100 and only had to clean it 3 times in 2 yrs, the main thing to do is to clean the filter regularly, the main point to note is when removing the filter to clean this is where dust has the best chance to get in the unit, so what i do before removing the filter is i wipe around and above the filter hole to remove any loose dust then i remove the filter to clean it .

 

[gothmog]

Originally posted by MGH
Hi, guys. Recently I took the plunge and bought an AE300. I'm still waiting for it to arrive but I'm wondering do I need to keep it covered (or alternatively put it in its carrying case) when not in use, lest dust gets in it? The room I'm putting it in sometimes gets quite dusty. Thanks, Mark.

The dust only causes a problem when it makes it as far as the optics, the dust it gets on it when not in use shouldn't be much of an issue.

The worst thing you can do though is keep moving the projector around and stirring up the dust inside

Like chic, I had a few blobs early on, I am pretty sure because initially I ran it on a tripod for 20-30hrs and then flipped it upside down and ceiling mounted it - dust blobs everywhere Not had a reoccurance in 600+ hrs.

Chic is spot on with the filter cleaning, it can pay to have a vacuum cleaner handy to suck any dislodged dust out from around filter slot when you have removed it.

-- Jon