My bulb is blinking yellow. It needs to be replaced, my question is can i just wait until it pops to replace it or do i have to replace it right now. will letting it pop ruin my projector? i wanna milk it for all its worth

I was in a local store a few days ago checking out their theater room with a front projector running and one of the staff started talking with me. We talked about front projectors and the conversation came around to bulb life/cost/technology and he mentioned that a bulb had failed in their room with a pop so loud it scared the hell out of a customer. My friend who was with me asked why and I told him the UHP on the bulb type stands for ultra high pressure. Later that evening I looked it up on the internet and they are at a pressure of about 200 atmospheres! In other words, you don't want to risk having it blow up since it could potentially damage your projector, but if your projector is old enough that it's worth less than a new bulb, then it may not be so bad to risk it. Just food for thought... ;)

are you serious? sounds bad.

I always stay with the cheaper "business" projectors so that my investment is never more than $1000, so I've never been squeamish about resetting lamp hours to keep using a bulb until it pops. That, and the fact that I use the PJ for 8 to 16 hours a day as my primary TV, work computer, and game display--so I'm well-motivated to coax extra hours from each lamp.

IIRC, I've gone through 5 lamps on 2 different PJs, each of which lasted for at least 5000 hours and one of which lasted over 7000 hours--no doubt due to my atypical usage patterns, which make for less wear-and-tear from fewer on/off cycles since I leave projectors on for so long. My current lamp is nearing 6000 hours in a Sharp XR-11XC (a repackaged 10x).

Point being, 5 pops and no damage. The Sharp is supposed to have "sealed optics" which may theoretically help, but my first PJ (trusty old Infocus X1, purchased when they were still quite popular) didn't and it went through 3 lamp explosions undamaged. Maybe others have "horror stories" about exploding bulbs, but running mine until they popped has saved me about $750 in lamp costs over the years.

I manage 20+ projectors for some local sports bars. Popped lamps are not uncommon. They run them as long as they can. No damage to the projectors.

This website (http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/Ultra-High+Performance+(projector+lamps)) defines UHP as Ultra High Performance, not pressure.

I manage 20+ projectors for some local sports bars. Popped lamps are not uncommon. They run them as long as they can. No damage to the projectors.

This website (http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/Ultra-High+Performance+(projector+lamps)) defines UHP as Ultra High Performance, not pressure.It does indeed appear that Philips calls them "ultra high performance", but 200 bar pressure is still damn high! I agree that the probability of damage is slight, and would mostly be cleaning up the glass shards even if it did fragment plus maybe a change of underwear times the number of people in the room:D. By the time the bulb warning appears, my projector will be worth less than a new bulb, so I may risk it too if it is not too dim. Of course, I'll probably upgrade way before then anyway.

I manage 20+ projectors for some local sports bars. Popped lamps are not uncommon. They run them as long as they can. No damage to the projectors.

This website (http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/Ultra-High+Performance+(projector+lamps)) defines UHP as Ultra High Performance, not pressure.

Actually, the history on the Philips website says it means ultra high power.

1995
The T5 system, featuring a thin fluorescent tube with a diameter of only 16 mm, offers a considerable reduction in total operating costs as well as substantial savings in energy and materials. Because of its small size, the lamps allow much more freedom and flexibility in the design of optics and luminaires.
Introduction of the UHP (Ultra High Power) lamp for data projection (beamers).
Introduction of MPXL (Micro Power Xenon Light) automotive lamps, which give more than twice as much light as conventional halogen lamps while using 30 per cent less energy, contributing to greater safety and comfort on the roads.

The trademark UHP however is defined as you stated, ultra high performance.

The term is really HPS= 'High Pressure "Sodium" just like the street lights which are made of the same components , the only difference is that the projector lamps are brighter and enclosed in a case ,but the street lamps last longer because they have more of a free air flow..

Click here for some threads with horror stories of exploded bulbs (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/search.php?searchid=9707389)

Click here for some threads with horror stories of exploded bulbs (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/search.php?searchid=9707389)

This link is not working...

This link is not working...Hmmm... it worked last night:o Just "search this forum" for "+lamp +exploded +glass" and select "show posts".

Hmmm... it worked last night:o Just "search this forum" for "+lamp +exploded +glass" and select "show posts".

Thanks. I searched for +eploded +bulb yesterday but didn't bother to try any other searches - I found some pretty interesting stuff...