Lamp Failures and Repairs
-
Scott Dixon
- Member
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Sat Jul 31, 2004 10:32 am
-
Richard
- SUPER VIP!
- Posts: 2578
- Joined: Wed Sep 08, 2004 1:28 pm
- Location: Atlanta, GA
- Contact:
Scott was local and contacted me...
Preventing Premature Lamp Failure
Keep power cycles to a minimum: Lamps are arc based and turning them on, called striking the lamp, is the most destructive process and plays one of the biggest roles in lamp life. Try to keep this at 2-3 times a day at the most. Rather than turn it off for a few hours of non use only to be turned on again just leave it on instead.
Proper ventilation: Be careful of applications where the product is buried in an enclosed environment with out good ventialtion not just for air movement but also for the exchange of out going warm air with incoming cool air.
Keep filters clean: Not all products have filters, LCD is common, but if they do it is covered in the owners manual and you must maintain them to either enhance lamp life or keep light path cooling at peak efficiency.
Loss of AC power: You should not uplug or remove AC power from the unit to turn it off. Turning off requires a typical 2 minute process to cool the lamp or you will have premature lamp failure. Many auxillary products offer a switched AC outlet to conveniently turn your TV on and off - don't use it! If your electricity provider has problems maintaining the power while you are watching TV then you need a UPS, uninterrupted power supply, like you would use for a computer.
Preventing Premature Lamp Failure
Keep power cycles to a minimum: Lamps are arc based and turning them on, called striking the lamp, is the most destructive process and plays one of the biggest roles in lamp life. Try to keep this at 2-3 times a day at the most. Rather than turn it off for a few hours of non use only to be turned on again just leave it on instead.
Proper ventilation: Be careful of applications where the product is buried in an enclosed environment with out good ventialtion not just for air movement but also for the exchange of out going warm air with incoming cool air.
Keep filters clean: Not all products have filters, LCD is common, but if they do it is covered in the owners manual and you must maintain them to either enhance lamp life or keep light path cooling at peak efficiency.
Loss of AC power: You should not uplug or remove AC power from the unit to turn it off. Turning off requires a typical 2 minute process to cool the lamp or you will have premature lamp failure. Many auxillary products offer a switched AC outlet to conveniently turn your TV on and off - don't use it! If your electricity provider has problems maintaining the power while you are watching TV then you need a UPS, uninterrupted power supply, like you would use for a computer.
Last edited by Richard on Mon Sep 25, 2006 10:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
-
Scott Dixon
- Member
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Sat Jul 31, 2004 10:32 am
-
Richard
- SUPER VIP!
- Posts: 2578
- Joined: Wed Sep 08, 2004 1:28 pm
- Location: Atlanta, GA
- Contact:
Seems a ballast is in order... will be in touch with a price...
Some products have to cool the light path as well, hence the filters. Working up a list of what those products are or might be. As for a filter and your Samsung DLP there are none.
The main concern for any lamp based display owner is the particulate content of your air. Is your house a dusty environment? Do you smoke? Burn candles (get the soot free type NOW)? Pets with hair dander all over the place? Those things will get pushed through the air path. Heavy dust deposits on fan blades reduces air flow efficiency.
Some products have to cool the light path as well, hence the filters. Working up a list of what those products are or might be. As for a filter and your Samsung DLP there are none.
The main concern for any lamp based display owner is the particulate content of your air. Is your house a dusty environment? Do you smoke? Burn candles (get the soot free type NOW)? Pets with hair dander all over the place? Those things will get pushed through the air path. Heavy dust deposits on fan blades reduces air flow efficiency.
-
Richard
- SUPER VIP!
- Posts: 2578
- Joined: Wed Sep 08, 2004 1:28 pm
- Location: Atlanta, GA
- Contact:
Extending Lamp Life
Power Settings: Many displays offer two power levels for the lamp. If you want to increase lamp life set it for low power at the expense of light output and remember lamp based rear projection displays are brighter than necessary in nearly all cases so this is not much of a penalty and in most cases slightly improves black levels. As the lamp ages light output will drop and you will notice it does not seem to be as bright as it once was. That is the time to go back in the menu and switch it to high power. Ordering a replacement lamp at this time is not a bad idea. Light output will continue to drop and at this point in the life cycle it will also start to change color creating a yellowish overcast most evident in the whites. Once you notice that replace it. As a videophile be aware you lose 25% of your light output within the first 500 hours and that by the time the lamp turns yellow you are well past a loss of 75% so replacing the lamp well before it has reached that point is in your best interest.
Power cycles: A common feature on most displays is a grace period of 30-60 seconds where initiating a power down sequence is delayed to prevent unnecessary and multiple striking of the lamp just in case that power down command was by mistake. Some manufacturers like Toshiba have this as a menu item called instant startup. Testing such a feature is easy. With the display on press the power button, within 30 seconds press power again and within a few moments the picture should return. If you find yourself waiting a minute or longer or the power on command is being ignored then the lamp was turned off and will not be turned on again until the sequence has completed. This could be due to an older display in which case there is no solution or like the Toshiba you may have a menu item that addresses this.
Power Settings: Many displays offer two power levels for the lamp. If you want to increase lamp life set it for low power at the expense of light output and remember lamp based rear projection displays are brighter than necessary in nearly all cases so this is not much of a penalty and in most cases slightly improves black levels. As the lamp ages light output will drop and you will notice it does not seem to be as bright as it once was. That is the time to go back in the menu and switch it to high power. Ordering a replacement lamp at this time is not a bad idea. Light output will continue to drop and at this point in the life cycle it will also start to change color creating a yellowish overcast most evident in the whites. Once you notice that replace it. As a videophile be aware you lose 25% of your light output within the first 500 hours and that by the time the lamp turns yellow you are well past a loss of 75% so replacing the lamp well before it has reached that point is in your best interest.
Power cycles: A common feature on most displays is a grace period of 30-60 seconds where initiating a power down sequence is delayed to prevent unnecessary and multiple striking of the lamp just in case that power down command was by mistake. Some manufacturers like Toshiba have this as a menu item called instant startup. Testing such a feature is easy. With the display on press the power button, within 30 seconds press power again and within a few moments the picture should return. If you find yourself waiting a minute or longer or the power on command is being ignored then the lamp was turned off and will not be turned on again until the sequence has completed. This could be due to an older display in which case there is no solution or like the Toshiba you may have a menu item that addresses this.
-
Richard
- SUPER VIP!
- Posts: 2578
- Joined: Wed Sep 08, 2004 1:28 pm
- Location: Atlanta, GA
- Contact:
Guess I was next on the lamp hit list...
Last friday my Samsung SPH710AE threw me for a loop. For a good ten times it would come on for about 1-2 minutes, look great, and then the lamp would turn off. The projector still thought it was on! No error codes what so ever . It would sit there and run until I turned it off.
So I decided to test the Samsung service network and their Field Engineer 24 hour response program. I called in the situation and was told I would receive a call back from an engineer since there was no service center. That call never came so i called Samsung for an update and got the same person believe it or not and she took care of it on the spot. The engineer says it must be returned, they will send out a shipping label, I ship it out and upon receipt they will ship me a new one ( I smell an easy 1-2 weeks ). I ask her if we could try a lamp first considering what the problem is, she balks, I explain who I am, she talks with the engineer, he insists it be shipped back because that is how it is. K... I tell her I am going to order a lamp and she says lamps are covered under warranty, I tell her I know that, she says she can't help me because the projector is not indicating it needs a lamp. So they want me to uninstall this projector and ship it out when it could easily be a few screws and a lamp...
It was the lamp. Since I ordered from Samsung parts the next step is to get them to do a refund on my credit card and if they don't then I will have them send me another for free.
And that will work because in my application I am pushing the light output of the product so early lamp replacement is part and parcel of my rig. The old one had 791 hours but it had become rather dim and ordering a lamp had been on my mind for the last month. Wow what an improvement! That had to be more than a 25% loss!
Being in this industry I found how Samsung dealt with this disheartening. This product could have easily been serviced out in the field but in todays world if it can go in a box and be shipped UPS, no matter what, that is what will happen. This one size fits all scheme creates an inconvenience for the customer, my own experience the perfect example, lost repair dollars for the industry and unnecessary expense to the manufacturer. Some things are best replaced but manufacturers need someone at the drivers seat, like your local repair center, to assist in that decision.
Last friday my Samsung SPH710AE threw me for a loop. For a good ten times it would come on for about 1-2 minutes, look great, and then the lamp would turn off. The projector still thought it was on! No error codes what so ever . It would sit there and run until I turned it off.
So I decided to test the Samsung service network and their Field Engineer 24 hour response program. I called in the situation and was told I would receive a call back from an engineer since there was no service center. That call never came so i called Samsung for an update and got the same person believe it or not and she took care of it on the spot. The engineer says it must be returned, they will send out a shipping label, I ship it out and upon receipt they will ship me a new one ( I smell an easy 1-2 weeks ). I ask her if we could try a lamp first considering what the problem is, she balks, I explain who I am, she talks with the engineer, he insists it be shipped back because that is how it is. K... I tell her I am going to order a lamp and she says lamps are covered under warranty, I tell her I know that, she says she can't help me because the projector is not indicating it needs a lamp. So they want me to uninstall this projector and ship it out when it could easily be a few screws and a lamp...
It was the lamp. Since I ordered from Samsung parts the next step is to get them to do a refund on my credit card and if they don't then I will have them send me another for free.
And that will work because in my application I am pushing the light output of the product so early lamp replacement is part and parcel of my rig. The old one had 791 hours but it had become rather dim and ordering a lamp had been on my mind for the last month. Wow what an improvement! That had to be more than a 25% loss!
Being in this industry I found how Samsung dealt with this disheartening. This product could have easily been serviced out in the field but in todays world if it can go in a box and be shipped UPS, no matter what, that is what will happen. This one size fits all scheme creates an inconvenience for the customer, my own experience the perfect example, lost repair dollars for the industry and unnecessary expense to the manufacturer. Some things are best replaced but manufacturers need someone at the drivers seat, like your local repair center, to assist in that decision.
-
Richard
- SUPER VIP!
- Posts: 2578
- Joined: Wed Sep 08, 2004 1:28 pm
- Location: Atlanta, GA
- Contact:
-
HiDeffjeff
- Major Contributor
- Posts: 128
- Joined: Sun May 21, 2006 11:04 am
Thanks for the info Richard...I'm glad I got rid of the Samsung I ordered...(No offense but couldn't handle the screen-door and occasional rainbows) Say what you will, but I'm sticking with my good old faithful Panasonic Brand... My 700U I've had for 2 years, no problems at all...and the 900U I've had for almost a year and no problems at all. I am looking forward now to moving up to the 1080P Panny and feel confident I'm getting a solid performer. After all comparisons are done, and all other things being relatively equal, I will buy the next 1080P Projector which has the least screen door. And I'm betting it will be the Panasonic brand.
-
Richard
- SUPER VIP!
- Posts: 2578
- Joined: Wed Sep 08, 2004 1:28 pm
- Location: Atlanta, GA
- Contact:
