We have had new ceiling mount projectors blow lamps. They were never
touched and blew within 300 hours. I have not tried to repair "optical
engine" problems either. Felt the same as you (being a pioneer). These
projectors belong to my company, so there are no estimates / customer
interactions. I have seen bulbs go bad with only a few hundred hours
and some were bright when the "lamp change" message came up. Most don't
make the "specified lifetime". Good Luck


wrote:
It's not top posting when you have the original question.

Lamps explode for one of two reasons, contaminants such as skin oil, or
being fed too much voltage.

All these projectors that use lamps are a pain, not only to fix, but
how to handle the business. Usually these things are just about
untestable, the ballast has to fire the bulb up and then supply a sorta
constant current. Without a proper load it will not work right.

What we do with full explanations of the situation is to get a down
payment on the lamp. If the power supply is bad, if one can be had,
then there is a revised estimate. The customer is free to take the lamp
and sell it if he declines the repair.

I am currently trying to learn about LCD and DLP projectors, it is a
new technology. We need to start getting into those "light engines" as
well. Give me a CRT based projector anytime. It is going to be hard to
make money on this stuff. I'm currently working on a HD 60" wide that
needs one of the polarizing filters, I can find one, but it could take
as many as three or four full R&Rs to get the orientation right. Even
this group is devoid of any real help on the subject, but I have had to
go it alone before, and I don't think this'll be the last time.

If you didn't touch the lamp or get any contaminants on it, it probably
needs the power supply fixed or replaced. But then even if you didn't
touch it, do you know that nobody else has either ?

The new version of a rock and a hard place. With the cost of the lamp,
should you just make sure this time, have to charge probably $600 ? In
my case it is a $5,000 TV, so more is warranted. What if it's only a
43" ? Bulb costs the same.

Just some thoughts, wish I had more real help on this, oh boy do I.

JURB