Short Lamp Life

[rcdesign]

It seems like equipment failures always happen on weekends. I just had the red light (kiss of of death) come on at just 600 hrs. The projector is out of warranty but according to InFocus, the bulb life should extend into the 4-5000 hr range but for our purposes maybe closer to 2000. Has anyone here dealt with this and wondering what it may be attributed to-excessive heat, dust or just the plain luck of the draw? I'll give InFocus a call Monday, fingers crossed. These lamps are 1/3the cost of the projector (8606) at $230 on their website. Thanks if anyone has any thoughts.

Robert

[mongerdesigns]

Does the projector still work? Or does it shut down after a while?

Also why is the projector out of warranty? There is a 3 year warranty on those things and I believe 6 months on the bulb.

[rcdesign]

Yesterday the lamp shut off during the first part of the grow at which time I noticed the solid red light. The projector does work. I tried to reprint and the model grew fine and right now it's illuminating/growing just fine BUT the red light is on. A solid red light indicates a lamp failure doesn't it? Later today I'll check the lamp seating and maybe there's a reset?

Well, on the 8606, there's a 2 yr warranty on the projector/1 year on the lamp so I'm covered in either case. I thought it was only 6 months so that's good to know. Thanks!

[Jewelermdt]

My red light came on last week. Was having weird stuff happening with printer. Found out I had an electrical problem from the power line feeds into the store. Power company said it was a loose connection on there end. You could also get this problem if you are using a UPS power supply. (Which you should be.) If the voltage start fluctuating in and out it can cause problems. Most of the other stores didn't know there was a problem. The projector is most susceptible to this interference.

[Wdshea]

don't buy the entire housing assembly. you can purchase just the lamp inside of the housing for ~$50. remove the lamp housing from the projector and look at the ceramic on the back of the lamp. it will say 'p-vip 240/0.8 e20.8' or something similar. i forget, but i believe that is right. you must get the EXACT lamp, or it won't fit.

and while you're at it, don't get some off brand, get a good one. i think osram is OEM. i've found with most things, especially light bulbs, you get what you pay for.

for more reading:
https://assets.sylvania.com/assets/Docu ... 06d229.pdf

[rcdesign]

Mystery solved! InFocus picked up right away and said it could have been an errant signal or it shut off as a safety measure due to overheating. I'm now pretty sure it was due to the ambient room temperature. It was a hot day here as I recall. I'll adjust the fan speed if possible and explore better in-house or direct cooling. I'm glad that safety feature was designed into it.

Jewelermdt-I couldn't agree with you more on battery backups. They're indispensable and on all computers/equipment.

Wdshea-Thanks for the tip! I'll plan purchase a spare lamp or two. I was under the impression I needed to purchase the whole housing.

[mongerdesigns]

Glad you got it sorted out Robert.

Ya, heat would do it. Make sure to run the fan on High.

If others have the Optoma projector, make sure to run it on High Altitude Mode (same as having the fan on High on the Infocus)

[Wdshea]

I just purchased a new lamp on amazon. i'd like to suggest that you verify everything before you purchase. for instance, this is the lamp for the 8606HD:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C7 ... e=UTF8&me=

if you look at the pic of the ceramic on the lamp, it shows a P-VIP 230 which means 230w. the 8606 uses a 240w.

i contacted the seller, and they said the image is for reference only... anyway, some other lamps i looked at showed an osram ceramic base of the lamp (in the image), but under the specs it showed manufacturer to be some other (off) brand. just wanted to make sure y'all didn't make a mistake that i almost made.

according to the seller i spoke with, the spec sheet should always be correct. images are for "reference only"...

[rkundla]

That is why even though it may be more expensive to buy it from the manufacturer, it helps prevent any confusion from grey market or 'refurbished' lamps being sold as new.

[mongerdesigns]

I agree. We don't recommend buying the "cheaper" bulbs. In the long run it may cost you a lot more.