When is a DLP projector's lamp toast?

[Cracking Oboe]

I have an older Plus U2-1080 that I have successfully been using in my home theater set-up. It randomly shut down a couple times a few days ago. Today it only runs for 2-3 min and then shuts down.

I checked the hours on the bulb and it’s just a couple of hours over the 1000 hrs expected lifespan for the bulbs in this projector.

Could it be the bulb that is the problem, or something else?
Is it possible that the projector recognized that I reached the 1000hr mark on the bulb and just shuts it self down?

Cracking.

[Azeke]

Just a shot in the dark here, see if you can reset the bulb hours in the menu.

If you can reset, you need to remember still you must replace the bulb, it's not good to exceed the specs.

Regards,

Azeke

[JonMarsh]

Digital projector bulb life is not just a function of the number of bulb hours, but also how often they're turned on and off. The ratings are based on more continous operation than you might expect in a home theater- unless you watch for 6-8 hours at a crack. I don't.

Often folks may only get 700 hours out of a bulb nominally rated at 1000 hours. Also, whether there is an "economy" or low brightness mode makes a difference in lamp life, too.

Also, it may be cycling off because the electronic ballast which fires up and provides power to the bulb is going into a protection mode due to excessive current.

Bottom line, replace the bulb ASAP. If you try to run a bulb past it's safe life, sometimes they literally explode, which can result in collateral damage in the rest of the projector. Then things get expensive.

~Jon

[Doug S]

I wonder then is it a better thing to shut down your projector after a couple hours to let it cool down rather then leave it run for 5 or 6 hours at a time?

[JonMarsh]

I wonder then is it a better thing to shut down your projector after a couple hours to let it cool down rather then leave it run for 5 or 6 hours at a time?

The "thermal" mass of the bulbs and components in projectors is not very high- they will hit their normal operating temperature quickly and maintain it only by virtue of the fan cooling. DLP's are quite reliable operating at their rated temperatures- no organics in the imaing system. LCD's do fine on for several hours, but as TI showed, and as my own experience with older LCD projectors shows, polarizer plate or display imager lifetime is affected by sustained high operating temperatures- but we're talking about problems with tests at 24/7 conditions, not having them on for 6-8 hours in an HT. The worst thing you can do for bulb life is to turn it on and off for an hour or so. It's the voltage and current it takes to strike the lamp that takes the biggest toll. CRTs aren't fussy that way, thank heavens.

[Dean McManis]

The other side of that bulb-use coin is that bulbs can be conservatively rated from the factory because they have always been a big money-maker for manufacturers and resellers. Often more profitable than the projectors themselves.

Disney was running bulbs in their D-ILA projectors until they died, and most lasted 2200-2700 hours, even though the bulbs were factory rated at 1000 hours, and you needed to reset the projector to continue using the bulb.

I ran one of mine to 1300, and another to 1700 hours before I replaced them, and even though the brightness dropped off, the bulbs didn't fail.

And the UHP bulb in my Sony LCD RPTV had over 9000 hours when I sold it, and was still working fine.

The bigger issue is that there is the risk that the bulb can implode and damage the projector's optics. Even though this hasn't happened to me, I've seen it on business projectors where people just unplug the units (not allowing proper bulb cool-down time), and also those projectors that I've seen bulbs fail in are usually moved around a lot for presentations and shows.

I swapped out my last DLP projector's UHP bulb at 1200 hours(rated at 1000hrs), but that was easier to justify because the bulb was under $200, as opposed to the JVC bulbs which were $1000 from the dealer, $700 if you replaced the actual bulb yourself with aftermarket parts.

And of course bulb life is improving dramatically with newer projectors.

My approach is that if I'm going to come back again to watch something else on my projector in anything less than 2 hours, I'll just leave the projector on. But longer than that and I switch it off.

-Dean.

[Cracking Oboe]

Azeke, Thanks for the advice to reset the timer. It took a bit of work to figure it out (the manual I have is in Japanese). After reseting it, I was able to watch a full movie without a problem. Now I'm pretty certain it is the lamp, and not a problem with the projector.

Also, it may be cycling off because the electronic ballast which fires up and provides power to the bulb is going into a protection mode due to excessive current.

Bottom line, replace the bulb ASAP. If you try to run a bulb past it's safe life, sometimes they literally explode, which can result in collateral damage in the rest of the projector. Then things get expensive. ~Jon

Jon,
I appreciate that it could be a bulb problem which causes the projector to shut down.

Explode?! :blowup:
I'll get a new lamp right away as you suggest.
Thanks, for your help!

Cracking!

[foursim]

LG projector

I Would not be supprise that you have a LG projector
And are looking for a replacement lamp

I have run mine for more than 2000 hours

The secret is that when you are finish with the showing just shut the light off and let the main switch on for about 1 hour so the the bulb cool down

People making their business ,projection have used that to extend the
light bulb life