Z2 Dust

Your experience with dust...

  • I have NEVER removed the filter and I have NO dust blobs.

    Votes: 21 58.3%
  • I HAVE removed the filter and I have NO dust blobs.

    Votes: 2 5.6%
  • I have NEVER removed the filter and I HAVE dust blobs.

    Votes: 10 27.8%
  • I HAVE removed the filter and I HAVE dust blobs.

    Votes: 3 8.3%

  • Total voters
    36
P

Peter G

Guest
I have a theory that the reason that many people are having problems with dust on their Z2s is that it is getting into the system when they remove the filter for inspection and cleaning.

To test my theory I need your feedback.

Please only vote if you have been running your Z2 for a while, as I'm assuming that most units are at least initially dust free.
 
Good theory .. cleaned my filter for the first time about a week ago, saw my first dust blobs last Wednesday, didn't relate the two event till now .. have my Z2 for 7 weeks or so before cleaning the filter.
 
I've had my Z2 for about 7 weeks (110 hours use), no visible dust blobs and have not touched the filter yet.
 
Bought from ivojo on pre-order deal, not opened anything and not got any dust blobs.

Not yet anyway.
 
Bought from ivojo on pre-order deal, not opened anything and not got any dust blobs.

Same as me
 
Clean as a whistle so far. 130 hours on the dial
 
No blobs here after about 75 hrs, havent touched the filter.
 
Havent cracked the Z2 open and no dust blobs.

Saying that i've become pretty religious about de-dusting the living room (rest of the house less so... but more than before), i vacuum hard each week, beat* the woman into doing dusting on shelves, comb the cat twice a week, and vacum the uphosltier at least fortnightly. I also run the hoover over the air intake of the Z2 on the theory it should suck some dust back off the filter.

EDIT: Used right-side up, "coffee table" style, i always close the front flap when not in use. This will change when a dedicated room happens. Sometime....



* not literally, but she needs convincing as to electonric sensitiviety re: dust.
 
It is a shame that Sanyo don’t give more guidance on how often the filter should be checked – I guess they would say it depends on the operating environment but a ball park figure would be helpful.

I am still not convinced that it is a good thing not to check the filter regularly – if the filter does start to clog up either unfiltered air is going be drawn in or insufficient air is going to get in = overheating = drastically lowered bulb life. Also, I reckon there is a much greater risk of dust getting in from removing a really dirty filter rather than a slightly dirty one.

As speculated before on this forum - I reckon a lot of these dust blobs get in near the lens because of poor sealing in that area due to the lens shift mechanism. If the filter clogs more air/dust could be drawn through this area.
 
No problems so far at 120 hrs or so. Unless I see any blobs I plan on not looking until about 300 hrs. This is in a none smoking household with the Z2 fixed in position. I figure a check at 10% of the listed bulb life is a good place to start. If the filter is reasonably clean at 300hrs then I will use a 500hrs usage mark next time. Sometimes you have to use your experience and knowledge to make a decision. :D
 
3 green blobs (turned up before I cleaned the filter). One very visible.

Tried cleaning with air duster can...no luck.

Going back to Sanyo service centre this week to get it cleaned. It'll be interesting to hear how much they had to dismantle it to get at the buggers.

I wish they'd made it easier to get at all the elements in the optical path :(

I really don't fancy having to dismantle it completely to clean it in a year and half when the warrenty runs out...
 
Otf, was the arrival of the dust blobs associated with using the lens shift at all?
 
Nope.

I use a little lens shift, but not too much. I only get the PJ out when I'm using it (generally at the weekends. I use a temporary, removable home made mount).

Don't know if moving it around has had something to do with it (you'd hope not!).

I guess when it's off, there's nothing to stop dust from floating in around the fan (with no guarentee it'd be exhausted as soon as you switch on).

All a bit of a lottery really...

Which is why I'm a bit miffed you can't clean it yourself (even with a screwdriver & airduster).
 
Originally posted by Off The Fence
Don't know if moving it around has had something to do with it (you'd hope not!).

There have been suggestions before that moving a projector around does increase dust problems. Seem to remember that ceiling mounting was the prefered option in the "dust lottery".

Also, it has been suggested that using a dust cover reduces problems of dust been sucked into the projector on start up.
 
Weyhey, First 2 dust blobs and Ive just noticed vertical banding, thanks to the sky scenes in Pirates of the Caribean. Only took 2 months to get them.

This poll didnt prove conclusive did it?

Now to find the link on removing dust blobs (should be in the FAQ me thinks)
 
No dust blobs and haven't cleaned the filter yet (mainly cos it's going to be such a pain getting it down from the ceiling and doing it!). Not sure about how many hours, how do you check that by the way?

Cheers
Andy
 
No dust blobs and I havent removed the filter and trust me,by no stretch of the imagination is my flat dust free:p and I also use quite a bit of lens shift.

A question I have for all you folk that have your pj ceiling mounted,do you leave that front cover thing down or do you close it after each use?
 
I dont close mine, its too high. I used to use a stick but couldnt bare the slap it made when it sprang shut. A sft eject style open and close would have been better!!!
 
Originally posted by Quatermass There have been suggestions before that moving a projector around does increase dust problems. Seem to remember that ceiling mounting was the prefered option in the "dust lottery".
Does it? Maybe people should re-edit to indicate whether or not they are ceiling mounted (and "upside down") or coffee table mounted (any "right side" up), as i'm wondering if this is important or not, ditto keeping the flap closed when not in use.

Also, it has been suggested that using a dust cover reduces problems of dust been sucked into the projector on start up.
Do you mean like a tea-cosy on one's Z2 when not in use? It's an idea, i might be able to get the woman to make one for me; i did buy her an overlocker and sewing machine - payback time! :D
 
Originally posted by iZed
Do you mean like a tea-cosy on one's Z2 when not in use?

Think somebody was using a drawstring motorcycle helmet cover – probably cheaper to get the missus to make you one though :)

Nunew, when you finally get a sofa you could stand on that to close the flap :) Also, I was surprised that you saw vb in Pirates of the Caribbean – I can’t remember seeing any – maybe I was been distracted by Keira Knightly!

Hours are indicated by holding power button down for 30 secs.
 
well i've had my Z2 for three weeks now and the last two weeks have seen a lot of everyday use and this has resulted in three blobs occuring one after another. blowing them out is a little tricky but I'm getting the knack now. For some reason, the room is dusty (wooden floor), and I've noticed that a fair amount of dust circulates in the light. Old sofa dissappears next week (maybe the problem) to be replaced with spanky leather one, so it may get better.

Out of desperation to conquer the dust thing, has anyone used an Ioniser or Hepa filter successfully?

Cheers
 
So any other options for de-dusting one's Z2 without pulling it apart? We seem to have:

- environmental (wood floors, no curtains, leather sofa)
- cleaning regularaly
- tea-cosy
- filters?

But a dust FAQ sounds needed. Like can you reduce the dust if you have a vacuum running as you open to get loose dust to start with. How about sucking the dust off the panels instead of blowing off, i was thinking something like this as surely camera people have similar problems cleaning their expensive equipment? any thing else?
 
Well...

I got my PJ back from servicing (to get the 3 green blobs cleaned out). I've not had a chance to try it yet, but I have spoken to the engineer. He reckoned the dust was on the prism block assembley (as I suspected). He said to clean it, he had to do a fair bit of dissmantling (no surprises there then).

He couldn't really offer up any new clues as to how it might have got there.

I'm hoping that between now & when it happens again (as I'm sure it will) some gung-ho type will publish an advanced 'how-to', with pictures, for those of not afraid to use a screwdriver. :rolleyes: (not just the standard 'lift the lid, blow the panels' job).

I did have a nasty thought that blowing the panels through the slots might kick dust back up onto the prism :eek: ... not that I'd want to scare anyone :p
 

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