How long should my bulb last?

[Ombasha]

I have several LCD projectors that say the bulb lifetime should be about 2,000 hours. The best I have been able to get is 600 to 800 hours. The projectors are mounted in the ceiling so they do not get rough treatment. Is this normal for the bulbs? Any ideas about getting longer life out of the bulbs? Are some brand projectors known for short bulb life? In the future what brands last the longest? Your thoughts and ideas would be appreciated.
Thank you.

[Burke Strickland]

Jaime -

First, welcome to the HT Guide Forums. Hope you enjoy participating with us and thanks for posting your questions here.

If I am reading your post correctly, you own and are using several different LCD projectors (several of same model or all different models?) each of which has a stated bulb life of 2,000 hours but you are consistently only getting 600 to 800 hours from any of the bulbs you have used in any of the projectors.

Some bulb designs typically last longer than others and a bulb life of 600 to 800 hours may happen once in a while even in the longest lasting designs due to manufacturing anomalies or certain operating conditions like overheating due to lack of proper cool-down when shutting the projector off. But if that is the best you've been able to get out of a series of bulbs from different manufacturing batches, then you might want to review other factors.

• Does your ceiling-mounted installation allow for adequate ventilation? (Not enclosed in an air tight "hush box", for instance, which is kind of implied by “in the ceiling” as opposed to “suspended from the ceiling” and even if suspended, you need sufficient clearance so heat is not getting trapped between the projector and the ceiling)
• Do you allow the projector to perform its designed cool down cycle every time you turn it off?
• Is the power supply in your area consistent? Or is it subject to periodic surges and/or "brownouts", which could rapidly diminish the life of a projector bulb? (If so you need to consider surge protectors/power conditioners for your projectors.)
• Do you have UPS -- uninterruptible power supply -- for those occasions when you are watching video via the projector and the main power goes out? (Not applicable if there are never any power outages in your area.)
• Do you wait the prescribed length of time after turning off the projector before turning it back on again? (This varies by projector model -- instructions for mine suggest waiting at least a half hour before turning the unit on again after turning it off and letting it cool down.)

Those are some things to check out. If the answer to any of those questions is "no", then you need to tackle those items first and see if that helps with the bulb life.

If you are following the proper procedures for bulb cool down, have consistent power and have mounted the projectors for adequate ventilation but are not getting the rated bulb life, you may want to have the projectors checked out by the manufacturer for defects, especially if they are all the same model or from the same manufacturer.

If the projectors are under warranty and you have met all the manufacturers' operating guidelines, then they should repair or replace the units free of charge to fix the short bulb life problem (or get them to admit their bulb life projections were overly optimistic) and I think they should throw in a free bulb for each one too, given the history. But most manufacturers are typically not very forthcoming with "freebies" even when the problem is from a design or manufacturing defect, so you'll need to document your case pretty well and be persistent in presenting it.

In addition, there may be other issues to consider that others will comment on.

Are some brand projectors known for short bulb life?

Yes, but that is usually reflected in the rated bulb life, even if the estimates are optimistic. If they say "2,000 hours" you should expect at least 75% of that, not 30%.

In the future what brands last the longest?

Sorry, my crystal ball is cloudy at the moment. :>) With the rapid changes in technology and the way various vendors change ownership or suppliers, the past perfomance / longevity of their products isn't always a good predictor of the future.

Good luck,

Burke

[aud19]

A couple other points to consider.

Most FP's have an Economy mode with reduced light output which should extend bulb life as long as you have a dark room to still be able to see the image. A side bonus is generally deeper blacks at the expense of peak white output. However if you're watching in a brighter room you may need the extra light output to compete.

Have you properly set up the Brightness/Contrast? An overly boosted, bright picture will reduce the life of your bulbs. Use a copy of DVE or Avia to set the levels correctly or even better get the setup calibrated by an ISF tech.

Jason

[Brandon B]

I have found very few projectors at the lower end of business unit lines, or HT-specific projectors actually have a lamp rating from the manufacturer anymore. Usually it is the seller that tacks this rating on, based on older models with the same lamp and similar lumen ratings, or who knows what. This is not universal, some like Epson do quote life expectancies for regular and eco modes. Sanyo does not. Sony sometimes does, but lies out their ***.

But to consistently get well under 1000 hours is indicative of a problem. Burke's suggestions are all the best points to investigate.

Another thing to consider is your source for lamps. They may be selling old stock or something. And there is a general trend in the industry right now for replacement lamps to have higher incidences of early failure, as there is a supply problem, and they are struggling to ship sufficent lamps to meet demand.

Where are you getting yours?

BB

[Ombasha]

First, Thahank you all for your quick replys.

There should be adequate ventilation for all of the projectors. They are all at least 9 inches below the Ceiling. I try to allow enough time for cool-down. Though there are times this has not been possible. I also know one of the bulbs going bad has to do with a thunder storm then a brownout. Which reminds me every bulb when it fails physically breaks, in some cases raining down a shower of tiny glass fragments. This does not seem right. None of them are on a UPS. My facilities manager says everything is filtered before it comes in the building. Maybe I will have to break down and buy a UPS for each and have them mounted in the ceiling. The bulbs are supposed to be coming from the manufacturer and the boxes they come in are not damaged. The projectors are not under warrantee but about half of them did have an upgrade done with no noticeable differences in bulb life. As for the brightness these do not have an Economy mode. I do try to keep the brightness and contrast around half way.

I am being asked to start thinking about replacing the projectors and I am worried about still having short bulb life. When I call sales people or the manufacturer I get “Oh yea brand X is known for short bulb life ours will last a lot longer.” What do you that have been using these projectors recommend? I am trying to get something about 2,000 Lumens for around $2K. Is this possible?
Thank you,
Jaime

[George Bellefontaine]

You should get a UPS so you have enough power to cool the PJ down after a power interruption.

I have owned two LCD projectors and a dlp projectror without any premature bulb failure. I usually swap out a lamp betrween 1200 to 1500 hours of a 2000 hour rated lamp because the pic starts to dim a little too much once you het the 1000 hour mark.

[Brandon B]

Brightness and contrast have absolutely no effect on bulb. These are calibrations to control of the optical block. Lamps are always just on, excepting eco-mode type settings, which you say your projectors do not have.

The fact that your lamps are exploding is also a bad sign.

What kind of space are these in? An apartment? Are they exposed to anything like air from a kitchen, or candles burning? When you install them, I assume you are taking great care not to touch the glass of the lamp with your fingers. I ask this as an exploding bulb is a sign of either a defect, or some sort of film or residue being on the glass of the lamp causing it to become thermally stressed unequally over its surface and crack/explode.

Other than these two causes, it is pretty rare

BB

[Dean McManis]

Burke and the others have hit the main points that I would have asked about. I've had 6 digital projectors, and my bulb life has always exceeded the manufacturer rating. In fact I have not yet had a bulb fail at all over the last 5 years. But I usually pull them out a few hundred hours after the maximum life rating because of the bulb's brightness dropoff.

I'd really suspect something with the power or the shutdown/cooling for these very early bulb failures. Most projectors have a cooldown phase, but sometimes installers do a shortcut, and hardwire the supply power switch to shut all of the power to the projector, skipping the post-viewing cooldown phase.

Have you checked the AC vent path relative to the projectors. If you have alternately room temp, and refrigerated cold air blowing on the projector, it could easily shorten the life of the bulbs.

You might check the projector's manual to see if you can extend the cooldown period using the internal service menu.

With those things checked, I'd suspect the bulb vendor, or shipping methods. Although usually abuse will cause the bulb to not work at all.

Also many bulbs cannot be touched by hand, and the skin oils cause premature bulb failure.

-Dean.

[Ombasha]

Again, Thank you for your quick replies.

All of the projectors are in relatively clean air-conditioned environment, smoking free building (no smoke from a kitchen, fire place, or candles burning either). Room size varies from small bedroom size to small Auditorium size.

From what is being said I think my problem is either (or both) bad power and people powering the projectors down and up too soon. So since I can not control other people short cutting the cool down process I will try the UPS thing.


Thanks,
Jaime

[Azeke]

Jamie,

One other thing to consider is the filter, this should be cleaned at least every 100 hrs. I try to clean my filter approximately every 75 hours or 2 weeks which every comes first.

I've also heard that every lamp strike takes approximately 2 hours out of a bulbs life, however I can't substantiate that claim with any data.

Just my quick thoughts.

Peace and blessings,

Azeke

[Chris D]

Interesting, Azeke. I should probably do that with my Panny AE700, but don't know how.

[Kevin P]

Like Azeke says, the #1 killer of PJ bulbs is heat. As long as the PJ has adequate ventilation, the filters are clean, and the fans are working properly the bulb should last its rated life *most* of the time (some bulbs fail early no matter what you do).

Also, like Azeke said, a lot of bulb life is lost when the lamp is struck (started, when the PJ is turned on). It's better to leave the PJ on instead of turning it off and back on if you know you'll be using it again within say, 2 hours.

[Azeke]

Interesting, Azeke. I should probably do that with my Panny AE700, but don't know how.

Indeed you should Sir Chris :T .

I know the 900U filter is located underneath the projector on the same side as the lens shift to the rear, just pull the filter out with your fingernails and vacuum. The manual recommends every 100 hours, I go for every 75 hours.

Here's a link to the manual:

Panasonic AE700 U

Peace and blessings,

Azeke

[Chris D]

Well, thanks for bringing this up, guys... I've got maybe 700 hours on my AE700, and had never cleaned the filter. Just pulled it out--SO easy. I have my PJ mounted inverted, with a low-profile ceiling mount that only keeps it a few inches away from the ceiling, so I was a bit worried that I would have to take it down to reach the filter on the bottom of the unit. (on top when inverted) But it just needed one fingernail, and slid right out the bottom with room to spare. No tools required.

I vacuumed it off really well, and found that yes, it had accumulated a "semi-thin" layer of grey/brown dirt on the outer filter layer. All clean now. I even used a can of compressed air to blow out what I could in the unit while I was cleaning it. I'm about to fire it up--not anticipating any real difference in operation, but every little bit helps, especially in long-term longevity.

[George Bellefontaine]

I have owned( 2 currently ) 4 front projectors and in every case lamp life has been normal, or according to specs, and I owe that to not employing frequent start-ups, vacuuming the vents and cleaning the filters every 50 hours. Then again, maybe I have been just lucky with lamps.