Hi folks,
School starts in three weeks and I've planned an entire year of videos
and presentations around a projector that is now out-of-commision!

The projector is an Infocus LP130. Recently the bulb with aprx 500hrs
just went out...no dimming, fuzzies etc. The next day it worked fine,
but the following day it went out again and won't come back on at all
now. The fans come on, the bulb is seated tightly, the wires to the
bulb look fine. I haven't actually opened the pup up and poked around.

The bulb is a UHP discharge lamp with the very high kick start
voltage, so I don't really want to poke around with a meter during
power up!

Would I be correct in assuming this would not be normal "the bulb is
shot" behavior and the problem would like be something other than bulb
related? I don't have a spare bulb to test it with. These types of
bulbs would always show open with a continuity test wouldn't they?

Any ideas or directions I should take? The only input I received
commercially is the standard "give us $100 and we'll let you know
whether it's going to cost $1,000 or $2,000 to repair".


thanks,
steve cooper

Probably the bulb and the ballast circuit, as well as protect devices.
Typically between 200 - 400 US$ should repair the unit.
"Steve Cooper" wrote in message
om...
Hi folks,
School starts in three weeks and I've planned an entire year of videos
and presentations around a projector that is now out-of-commision!

The projector is an Infocus LP130. Recently the bulb with aprx 500hrs
just went out...no dimming, fuzzies etc. The next day it worked fine,
but the following day it went out again and won't come back on at all
now. The fans come on, the bulb is seated tightly, the wires to the
bulb look fine. I haven't actually opened the pup up and poked around.

The bulb is a UHP discharge lamp with the very high kick start
voltage, so I don't really want to poke around with a meter during
power up!

Would I be correct in assuming this would not be normal "the bulb is
shot" behavior and the problem would like be something other than bulb
related? I don't have a spare bulb to test it with. These types of
bulbs would always show open with a continuity test wouldn't they?

Any ideas or directions I should take? The only input I received
commercially is the standard "give us $100 and we'll let you know
whether it's going to cost $1,000 or $2,000 to repair".


thanks,
steve cooper

Where did you get those $$ amounts?

If the bulb is shot, good luck finding it for less than $400 by itself.
Call Infocus and see if they even still will repair the unit.
Typical ballast circuit repair/replacement is $300 not including the lamp.

David

"Art" wrote in message
...
Probably the bulb and the ballast circuit, as well as protect devices.
Typically between 200 - 400 US$ should repair the unit.
"Steve Cooper" wrote in message
om...
Hi folks,
School starts in three weeks and I've planned an entire year of videos
and presentations around a projector that is now out-of-commision!

The projector is an Infocus LP130. Recently the bulb with aprx 500hrs
just went out...no dimming, fuzzies etc. The next day it worked fine,
but the following day it went out again and won't come back on at all
now. The fans come on, the bulb is seated tightly, the wires to the
bulb look fine. I haven't actually opened the pup up and poked around.

The bulb is a UHP discharge lamp with the very high kick start
voltage, so I don't really want to poke around with a meter during
power up!

Would I be correct in assuming this would not be normal "the bulb is
shot" behavior and the problem would like be something other than bulb
related? I don't have a spare bulb to test it with. These types of
bulbs would always show open with a continuity test wouldn't they?

Any ideas or directions I should take? The only input I received
commercially is the standard "give us $100 and we'll let you know
whether it's going to cost $1,000 or $2,000 to repair".


thanks,
steve cooper

"Steve Cooper" wrote in message
om...
Hi folks,
School starts in three weeks and I've planned an entire year of videos
and presentations around a projector that is now out-of-commision!

The projector is an Infocus LP130. Recently the bulb with aprx 500hrs
just went out...no dimming, fuzzies etc. The next day it worked fine,
but the following day it went out again and won't come back on at all
now. The fans come on, the bulb is seated tightly, the wires to the
bulb look fine. I haven't actually opened the pup up and poked around.

The bulb is a UHP discharge lamp with the very high kick start
voltage, so I don't really want to poke around with a meter during
power up!

Would I be correct in assuming this would not be normal "the bulb is
shot" behavior and the problem would like be something other than bulb
related? I don't have a spare bulb to test it with. These types of
bulbs would always show open with a continuity test wouldn't they?

Any ideas or directions I should take? The only input I received
commercially is the standard "give us $100 and we'll let you know
whether it's going to cost $1,000 or $2,000 to repair".


thanks,
steve cooper

How long is the bulb rated to last? 500 hours is about all you can expect
from some of them. You'll need a new bulb soon anyway, if it were me, I'd
buy the bulb, see if that fixes it, and if it doesn't then have the unit
repaired and use the original bulb until it's rated life expires.

David wrote:
Where did you get those $$ amounts?

If the bulb is shot, good luck finding it for less than $400 by
itself. Call Infocus and see if they even still will repair the unit.
Typical ballast circuit repair/replacement is $300 not including the
lamp.

David

snip

Somebody's gonna make a projector with a $100/2000 hour/2000 lumen
replacement bulb and sweep the market...maybe actually use an existing type
lamp (maybe one of the numerous, multiple sourced, stage lighting types?)
instead of designing one which will only fit that model. At that point, LCD
projectors will become economical for home viewing.

jak

Somebody's gonna make a projector with a $100/2000 hour/2000 lumen
replacement bulb and sweep the market...maybe actually use an existing
type
lamp (maybe one of the numerous, multiple sourced, stage lighting types?)
instead of designing one which will only fit that model. At that point,
LCD
projectors will become economical for home viewing.

jak



Don't hold your breath. Yeah there's some gouging going on, but the lamps
are expensive because they're precision made, taking into account
brightness, color temperature, color rendering index, uniformity, warmup
time, etc, there's a lot more to it than just producing a bright light. The
best hope is that the technology will stabilize and lamps will become
standard across at least projectors of the same class.

James Sweet wrote:
Somebody's gonna make a projector with a $100/2000 hour/2000 lumen
replacement bulb and sweep the market...maybe actually use an
existing type lamp (maybe one of the numerous, multiple sourced,
stage lighting types?) instead of designing one which will only fit
that model. At that point, LCD projectors will become economical
for home viewing.

jak



Don't hold your breath. Yeah there's some gouging going on, but the
lamps are expensive because they're precision made, taking into
account brightness, color temperature, color rendering index,
uniformity, warmup time, etc, there's a lot more to it than just
producing a bright light. The best hope is that the technology will
stabilize and lamps will become standard across at least projectors
of the same class.

Believe me, I'm not gonna be holding my breath. Yes, they are precision
made, but how many parts #'s are out there? I've only seen a few of the
replacement lamps, so I don't know; but would there be any possibility of
producing an adaptor of some sort which would allow at least some
commonality among various brands? As to color temperature, the stage
lighting types are pretty closely matched as well, but could that not be
compensated for in the projector settings? Maybe not close enough for
critical video viewing, but most of these get used to project computer
images, IME (PowerPoint presentations). Absolute color accuracy is not an
issue there. In fact very few projectors--placed side by side--look the
same in this respect, anyway.

I believe, having used these things in the A/V Presentations industry since
they were introduced (and operating CRT projectors for years before that),
that we're reaching a critical mass. The new machines are getting lighter
and smaller. New models are constantly being introduced, but are still
expensive...with a prohibitively high maintenance issue down the line. With
millions of older units out there, I believe that if someone could introduce
a cheaper alternative (I think half list price would be ideal, but even a
25% reduction might do it.) for replacement lamps, that the world would beat
a path....

jak

Try again. The lam alone will be that much, and the ballast a few hundred
more. Add a couple of hundred for labor and add freight. You won't find
any parts or support for an Infocus unless you get lucky and the ballast
needs some generic part. Infocus requires you to send it to them for any
repair.

Leonard

"Art" wrote in message
...
Probably the bulb and the ballast circuit, as well as protect devices.
Typically between 200 - 400 US$ should repair the unit.
"Steve Cooper" wrote in message
om...
Hi folks,
School starts in three weeks and I've planned an entire year of videos
and presentations around a projector that is now out-of-commision!

The projector is an Infocus LP130. Recently the bulb with aprx 500hrs
just went out...no dimming, fuzzies etc. The next day it worked fine,
but the following day it went out again and won't come back on at all
now. The fans come on, the bulb is seated tightly, the wires to the
bulb look fine. I haven't actually opened the pup up and poked around.

The bulb is a UHP discharge lamp with the very high kick start
voltage, so I don't really want to poke around with a meter during
power up!

Would I be correct in assuming this would not be normal "the bulb is
shot" behavior and the problem would like be something other than bulb
related? I don't have a spare bulb to test it with. These types of
bulbs would always show open with a continuity test wouldn't they?

Any ideas or directions I should take? The only input I received
commercially is the standard "give us $100 and we'll let you know
whether it's going to cost $1,000 or $2,000 to repair".


thanks,
steve cooper

Have a look at the price for similar street lamps. I have bought them
for less than $50 for HIDs. Ok, they are different:
- operate via 60 Hz ballasts instead of the DC ballasts in projectors,
- have both electrodes the same size (projector bulbs have one much
larger than the other as they are DC),
- have a much wider gap (projectors need almost point source for even
coverage),
- are not concerned with exact color temperature,
- are contained inside a large glass envelope and not precision
mounted as are projector lamps,
- last 8000 hours upwards!!! (i have one that is still going with good
light output after 8900 hours - in a projector)

jakdedert wrote:
James Sweet wrote:

Somebody's gonna make a projector with a $100/2000 hour/2000 lumen
replacement bulb and sweep the market...maybe actually use an
existing type lamp (maybe one of the numerous, multiple sourced,
stage lighting types?) instead of designing one which will only fit
that model. At that point, LCD projectors will become economical
for home viewing.

jak



Don't hold your breath. Yeah there's some gouging going on, but the
lamps are expensive because they're precision made, taking into
account brightness, color temperature, color rendering index,
uniformity, warmup time, etc, there's a lot more to it than just
producing a bright light. The best hope is that the technology will
stabilize and lamps will become standard across at least projectors
of the same class.


Believe me, I'm not gonna be holding my breath. Yes, they are precision
made, but how many parts #'s are out there? I've only seen a few of the
replacement lamps, so I don't know; but would there be any possibility of
producing an adaptor of some sort which would allow at least some
commonality among various brands? As to color temperature, the stage
lighting types are pretty closely matched as well, but could that not be
compensated for in the projector settings? Maybe not close enough for
critical video viewing, but most of these get used to project computer
images, IME (PowerPoint presentations). Absolute color accuracy is not an
issue there. In fact very few projectors--placed side by side--look the
same in this respect, anyway.

I believe, having used these things in the A/V Presentations industry since
they were introduced (and operating CRT projectors for years before that),
that we're reaching a critical mass. The new machines are getting lighter
and smaller. New models are constantly being introduced, but are still
expensive...with a prohibitively high maintenance issue down the line. With
millions of older units out there, I believe that if someone could introduce
a cheaper alternative (I think half list price would be ideal, but even a
25% reduction might do it.) for replacement lamps, that the world would beat
a path....

jak