DLP projector question

[Wedge1]

I bought a Sharp XR-10XL XGA 2000 LUMENS PROJECTOR almost 3 years ago. The picture has gone very dim.

Is this a symptom of needing a new bulb or a new projector altogether? A little help for the novice please...

 

[sdifox]

how many hours have you logged? there should be a setting that shows hours.

 

[Wedge1]

Not sure...

I purchased/installed this for a funeral home. They use it for slide shows of the deceased and family during the visitation.

I have it mounted very high, hanging from a metal bracket that drops down from the ceiling, in order to be somewhat inconspicuous to the guests. It will be helpful to know where to look for the hours logged setting. Is this something on the exterior of the projector?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

There should be a display of lamp hours in the menu for the "On Screen Display", so you'll need to turn it on and look through the menu to find where it is.

Another thing besides the bulb (although it's probably the bulb going dim over time) is some dust in the light path somewhere. On a DLP, that might mean that the color wheel segments have some dust on them that is reducing the brightness for example.

If you're logging a lot of hours on it though, it's natural that the brightness is going to go down over time.

Hopefully affordable LED projectors are going to be a reality in a year or two.

 

[Wedge1]

[831] hrs, 58%

That is what the OSD shows.

 

[sivart]

Normally when you hit 100% of the hours advertised, the bulb should be at 1/2 of the original brightness.

A couple of things to check.

1) Is it in economy mode (per the specs that is 1500 lumens versus the brighter 2000 lumens)
-- Economy mode will last longer, but be dimmer, full mode will be brighter, but not last as long. Normally the bulb life is measured in economy mode to make it look better from a marketing perspective. (My guess is that your bulb was good for 1500 hours -- until the 1/2 life in economy mode. Or about 33% less in full mode (990 hours). So it looks like the bulb is getting close to the 1/2 life (831 of 990 hours)
2) Check your brightness in the settings...did it get turned way down by accident?
3) Maybe the hours were reset by accident, thus the 831 isn't an accurate number.

What size of image are you projecting? The bigger the image, the darker the picture.
Specs -- http://www.projectorcentral.com/Sharp-XR-10XL.htm

Now that large screen TV's are much cheaper than 3 years ago, would a large screen TV with a built in DVD player be a suitable replacement.

I know that it was nice a couple of week ago at my grandmother's funeral to show a slideshow on the TV that they had mounted in the funeral home. Just popped the DVD into the TV and that was it. We also brought a couple of digital picture frames, too.

 

[loudandclear]

Another thing that will greatly reduce bulb life on a projector is removing the power before the unit has had time to cool down after shut off. Most projectors let their cooling fan run for a while after the power button has been pressed and if this is fed through an external switch like a power strip/surge supressor it is not allowing the bulb to cool properly if turned off in this way.

 

[Wedge1]

loudandclear, I believe that is what caused this problem, though I can't be sure. I had to power on the surge protector in order to start the PC and projector. That is just a clue to me that perhaps they have been shutting power off prematurely.


sivart
1. It was not in economy mode. It was in the mode that makes it show the brightest
2. Brightness settings are maxxed.
3. Hours could have been reset, but I seriously doubt the users ever tampered with this.

Size of image - 1024 x 768 on a rather large screen. It is much dimmer than 3 years ago when I installed it.

If this unit is dying and still under warranty, they will expect me to get it replaced. I just want to be able to diagnose this correctly. But they have already talked about going with a large-screen LCD + DVD player as an alternative.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Usually bulbs have a VERY short warranty period. If it's a bulb issue, you're probably out of luck for a replacement. (90 days or a couple hundred hours... whichever comes first... is a common warranty)

 

[Wedge1]

I do tend to believe it is the bulb. Not really sure why. Just a gut-feeling.

Any idea how long a projector's warranty typically runs?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I do tend to believe it is the bulb. Not really sure why. Just a gut-feeling.

Any idea how long a projector's warranty typically runs?

Well I didn't search around too hard, but projector central lists it as a 3 year warranty
http://www.projectorcentral.com/Sharp-XR-10XL.htm

Some credit cards will extend the warranty on anything you buy, so it may still be covered through that.

If it's the bulb though, that's not covered under the warranty.

It looks like bulbs for that model run about $250-$300

 

[ericlp]

Whens the last time the projector has been cleaned? Projectors are not just hang and FORGET about em. They got fans that move a lot of Dust around.

A lot of projectors esp, LCD type have air filters... When did you clean/inspect them? When was the last time you cleaned the lens? Looked for dead bugs?

A dirty filter you guessed it.... makes the projector run hotter and shortening it's bulb life. Want the maximum bulb life? Clean your projector every 3-6 months depending on use. Set fans on always High if you can. If it has a high altitude setting enable it... HEAT doesn't just kill bulbs but other electronics inside the box.

Good Luck!

 

[loudandclear]

Being that they are shutting it off with out letting it cool down they shortened the life of the bulb. When I got my first projector InFocus 7205 5 yrs ago I did that a few times until a friend who has had a DLP projector said not to do it. Needless to say my bulb gave me about half the hours is was rated for. Near the end of it's life I noticed it got really dim and I tried to tweak the settings but it didn't help.

If you are handy with your hands you can buy just the bulb and switch it out from it's housing at a considerable discount..... like $100 less. I did it on mine myself in about 20 minutes time. Most places sell the bulb in the housing so you can just drop it in.... but at a higher price. This is where I got just the bulb https://www.interlight.biz/ which was hard to find.

It might be a good idea to replace the bulb now because you wouldn't want it to go out while a viewing is taking place. 😱

 

[sivart]

Normally the bulb life is measured in economy mode to make it look better from a marketing perspective. (My guess is that your bulb was good for 1500 hours -- until the 1/2 life in economy mode. Or about 33% less in full mode (990 hours). So it looks like the bulb is getting close to the 1/2 life (831 of 990 hours)

Now that you confirmed that it was not in economy mode, it looks like you nearing the end of the bulb's life (as advertised). Sounds like it is time for a new bulb.