Bulb replacement

[kgveteran]

Anyone ever do a bulb replacement and not the whole chassis, just the bulb.

I found one on ebay for 233.00 (compared to 399.00 whole assembly).

Its for an Optoma HD79. Are there good bulb replacements and bad ones,, or as long as it fits use it.

Thanx guys

[Hdale85]

Why would you change the whole chassis?

[kgveteran]

Right. The bulb is only 233.00.....have you done a bulb replacement ?

[Hdale85]

Bulb replacements are easy. Usually it's one screw and it pops out. Just treat it like a any other special bulb and don't touch the lens or anything as grease can break it. It'll slide right in though its very easy.

[kgveteran]

I'll see more when I get the chassis out and get the replacement bulb in hand. Are there good and bad bulbs, or just 250watt Optoma compatable ones.

[Hdale85]

Yeah I'd just replace it with what was in there.

[Kevin D]

I think he's talking about replacing the actual bulb in the bulb cartridge, not just replacing the bulb cartridge.

I've done it a on a few different models. i would highly recommend pulling the cartridge and see how difficult it could be. On a Mitsu it was no problem. Tried it once on a Runco and you had to pretty much destroy the cartridge to get the bulb out.

So just make sure you can change the bulb only without destroying the cartridge.

Kevin D.

[Hdale85]

Oh, I didn't know you could purchase the bulbs separately like that. If the bulb alone is 233 bucks it isn't much more for the whole assembly usually.

[kgveteran]

The whole assembly is 399.00 . I figure it would be worth the 170.00.....if it doesn't turn the chassis into swiss cheese.

Thanx for clearifying Kevin D. Spot on !!! Only the bulb.

[Dean McManis]

I had done this before with two of my JVC LCOS projectors. But their replacement bulbs were $1100 and the bulb life was only 1000hrs. It was a little tricky to disassemble the cartridge, and you had to make sure that you didn't touch the bulb glass or reflector elements with your fingers as the oil from your fingerprints can superheat and cause early bulb failure.

Of course this was years ago, and generally the bulb prices have dropped and have far longer lifespans. But if the actual bulb is available and fairly easy to remove/replace in the cartridge, then it could be a good option to save money.

As always I'd check online to see other people with your model who have successfully done this bulb swap.

[kgveteran]

Found one on ebay for 150.00 shipped. The projector came back from the repair with a dead bulb. It wasn't dead when I shipped it, they just said it was dim ???????

What do you think of that