LCD projector bulb ignition problem

T

terrynutkins

Guest
Hi guys,

I have a Delta AV2100 projector (rebadged to "Sahara" for U.K.) which uses a 120W UHP bulb. Recently I have found that after pressing the "power on" button, the exhaust fan comes on as usual, but the bulb flickers a few times at less than normal brightness and then the projector reverts back to its standby state again. Sometimes after repeating this process many times, the bulb lights up to normal output and the projector runs fine for as long as I want until I switch it off.

The bulb has only had 149 hours use and is the original bulb although the projector is coming upto four years old now. There is one air intake and this is clean and the fan has virtually no dust around it.

Is this a sign of impending bulb failure or something else that I should address to prevent damage to the projector?

Cheers.
 
kindof sounds like a poor electrical contact somewhere, perhaps mild corrosion

unplug (of course) and have a look at the lamp terminals - are they shiny/clean/dull ?

that's my first thought - give it a look

alternatively it could be failed solder somewhere or power supply misbehaving, or even something silly like the power cord being loose

best of luck :) as you say, may be the bulb
 
Thanks for the advice throwit :)

I've just tried swapping to a different power cable and i've taken the bulb out, cleaned the contacts and reseated it, but unfortunately to no avail.

I bought this projector second hand (bit of a gamble, but hey you only live once!) and the cost of a new bulb is more than I paid for the projector so I guess my next step is have a go at dismantling the whole projector to see if there is anything obviously wrong i.e. a bursting capacitor or loose solder etc. Is there anything I should be particularly careful about when taking apart a projector?

Cheers.
 
sorry about this tardy reply

bulbs if they blow will give off mercury vapour

sometimes, power supplies can hold a charge after unplugging, so best to unplug, and then press power switch on unit to drain any residue

feeeling really brave ?...you could always try to make a diy lamp, not that i've been able to yet ! (see links in my signature)

and good luck

let us know what it was if you find the trouble

:)
 
Ok I dismantled the projector this evening and everything looks fine inside - no dust, no dodgy solder, no ruptured capacitors etc. However, I discovered that the main fan cooling the bulb is sealed in place by some poorly cut masking tape - looks very much like a home replacement job. In fact some of the masking tape had come loose and so there was a sizeable gap meaning that the fan would be sucking in lots of air that wasn't coming over the bulb. Also the fan itself is just a standard 0.14A 12V DC fan that you'd find extracting the air out of most PC cases. To me this seems somewhat underpowered for the task of cooling the bulb and smacks of a badly done home repair job!

Anyway I sealed up the gap, reassembled the projector but the bulb still won't ignite properly. Does anyone know if this is the right sort of fan for the task?? Is it possible the projector has damaged itself by overheating as a result of an underpowered fan?

Sorry this is such a long post but if anyone has any ideas i'd be very grateful! Can't afford any new equipment you see :(

Cheers.
 
you could do what i and others are planning...fool the circuit that there is a lamp in place with a microprocessor, and assemble 16 x luxeonIII emitters into a 45mm x 45mm x 45mm, 1200 lumen lamp, provide them with a dimmable power supply, adjust/rip out the projectors' internal filters/polarsiers and away you go...simple - as - that :)

theres's more blarney about this in my signature

to make this happen would require a lot of knowhow and around £200
 
I have the same projector with the same fault, it flashes five times then goes out, then after about 30 secs the lamp and power light start to flash, the power light continuse flashing the lamp ready light flashes 5 times stops 5 times stops etc etc etc.......

anybody any pointers for the fault?

Oh and its a new lamp.

Bogget
 

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