Hello all,
I have been reading a ton and have landed on several projectors I can't decide between.

Two of the projectors AE200U and 1080UB are noted in several threads as having "dust blob" problems.

My questions are: are all projectors susceptible? Is this a problem that occurs in the factory or by dust in the home?

Thanks,
Gordon

Some are worse than others. Projectors with sealed light paths such as DLP and LCOS (Sony and JVC) do not suffer from the problem to anywhere near the same extend.

It is usually caused by dust in the house.

Thank you Steve. I live in a very dusty area and had already expected to change the filter often. This gives me a lot to think about.

On another note, I was trying to find a way to convince the "boss" we needed an RS2. Got a little ammo now. :D


Gordon

Yeah definitely work on getting the RS2! :)

There are things that can be done to reduce dust too. We are in a dusty area and I have electrostatic speakers that are sensitive to dust buildup. About once a month I leave a box fan with a filtrete alergen filter running overnight in the ht. This keeps the dust under control for the most part. I also use a vacuum that has a hepa filter in it for that room. So far so good.

If you can get a RS2- nice. But keep in mind there are other options with sealed optics in between the ub and panny and the RS2:
Sony vw60, RS1 obviously, benq w20000, infocus in82, in83 and the Planar 8130 to name a few. Just in case you can't hit the grand slam with the RS2.

Cameron - I have the Hepa vacuum. Great idea on the fan with a filter... :)

fmarasco - This question probably has been beat to death elsewhere, but which would you pick the RS1 or the RS2? Seems like the RS1 is the price performer between the two. From what I have read it would be hard to go wrong either way.

Thanks,
Gordon

RS2 is better. If you can afford it, I believe it is the way to go. It all depends on what your priorities are and what your budget is.

I got the fan idea from the construction forum.

I only saw an rs2 briefly. Spent some time with RS1. The question has been beat to death and a search will give you lots of detail. Plus reviews over at projectorreviews really detail some of the differences. In a nutshell RS1 slightly brighter, RS2 better contrast/blacks and a bit sharper. Is it worth the difference? Only you can decide. They are pretty close and the value probably isn't there. Some would actually take the RS1x over the RS2 because of the difference in brightness. But you can't go wrong...

Another good source of information would be Greg Rogers RS1 and RS2 reviews in Widescreen Review magazine.

Hello all,
I have been reading a ton and have landed on several projectors I can't decide between.

Two of the projectors AE200U and 1080UB are noted in several threads as having "dust blob" problems.

My questions are: are all projectors susceptible? Is this a problem that occurs in the factory or by dust in the home?

Thanks,
Gordon1. I think you meant the PT-AE2000U, not the AE200U (which is a 720p PJ). For several hundred more, the Epson Home Cinema 1080UB is a better PJ (much better blacks), but the initial production run did have worse than typical alignment problems. Those two PJs are on my "A" list (since I can't afford a JVC-RS2, or a RS1x). LCD PJs have air filters which have to be cleaned on a regular basis (every 100 hours or less - I clean mine every week, whether it needs it or not - no dust blobs in a dusty room).

2. For a dusty area, one solution is to use an auxiliary filter material (HEPA or Electrostatic). With the AE2000, there are 2 air intake vents (I believe - at least there is one on the bottom of the unit) that do not have a filter on them. One owner reported that he installed (taped) an electrostatic air filter over those vents. He used this one from Home Depot (on-line only): http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?jspStoreDir=hdus&catalogId=10053&productId=100351384&navFlow=3&keyword=vent+filter&langId=-1&searchRedirect=vent+filter&storeId=10051&endecaDataBean=com.homedepot.sa.el.wc.catalog.beans.EndecaDa taBean%4085bb3d0&ddkey=Search. I just got back from my local Home Depot where I found a 3M Filtrete A/C filter material in the store (it's about twice the price though, but similar, thin, trimable, material).

3. Cameron has some good suggestions, too. A HEPA air cleaner in the room really helps to keep the dust down in my HT room.

4. As the other members have said, a PJ with a sealed light path is the best choice, but DLP versions, at least, wont work in my set-up, due to their limited zoom range and fixed offset. The BenQ W5000 (DLP) has a vertical lens shift, but its focal length is too long for me.

PS -- Read http://www.projectorreviews.com/Best1080pProjectors032008/index.php for comparisons of the current crop of 1080p PJs.

I have seen the hepa filters taped over LCD projectors before. It does help a lot. You just have to make sure you don't forget to replace it on occasion or it will start to block airflow which will most likely end up killing off your lamp prematurely.

One other thing... When cutting the filter to fit your projector, make sure you leave some overhang room as the edges of many filters once cut can introduce crap into your projector too. I saw this happen once.

I have seen the hepa filters taped over LCD projectors before. It does help a lot. You just have to make sure you don't forget to replace it on occasion or it will start to block airflow which will most likely end up killing off your lamp prematurely.

One other thing... When cutting the filter to fit your projector, make sure you leave some overhang room as the edges of many filters once cut can introduce crap into your projector too. I saw this happen once.

I have to question this practice (not you Cameron). HEPA filters are very restrictive when it comes to airflow. Even normal (non-HEPA) filters can cause a significant pressure differential. If you live in a house with a modern HVAC unit, they often come with a thick 6" filter by the unit. All air returns grates in the house have no filters at all. The manual will warn you in big large letters not to add filters to these returns. The blower in the HVAC unit cannot handle pulling air through all those filters.

The AE2000U (or any projector) is not designed to pull air through a HEPA filter. I'm shocked the bub doesn't die from increased temperatures and/or the fan from increased stress.

I'm working on my first FP theater room and I'm worried about dust, as well. But taping a HEPA vacuum filter to a unit that wasn't designed for it seems like a dangerous way to go.

I have to question this practice (not you Cameron). HEPA filters are very restrictive when it comes to airflow. Even normal (non-HEPA) filters can cause a significant pressure differential. If you live in a house with a modern HVAC unit, they often come with a thick 6" filter by the unit. All air returns grates in the house have no filters at all. The manual will warn you in big large letters not to add filters to these returns. The blower in the HVAC unit cannot handle pulling air through all those filters.

The AE2000U (or any projector) is not designed to pull air through a HEPA filter. I'm shocked the bub doesn't die from increased temperatures and/or the fan from increased stress.

I'm working on my first FP theater room and I'm worried about dust, as well. But taping a HEPA vacuum filter to a unit that wasn't designed for it seems like a dangerous way to go.


Agreed. The Hepa filter that I saw successfully used was not one of the vacuum types. I was told that it was a special order type that was designed for limiting air resistance. He created an enclosure for the filter material that was larger by twice the square inches of the actual intake area for the projector. There was never a problem with overheating or bulb death, but he did swap out the filter material every 6-8 weeks or so. It was a very dusty environment. (book binding factory) most days you can see the dust in the factory. Never a dust blob with this. It was on an Infocus LP820 LCD projector.

Now like I said above, using a box fan overnight (once a month) with an Allergen HVAC air filter on the back keeps my dust super low. I can tell how much dust is in the air by sticking my ear up to the electrostatic speakers to hear if they are ionizing any of the particles.

I wish I had done this at my last HT, because I always started coughing a little after watching a full-length movie. I think it was from fiberglass acoustic treatments behind GoM fabric that would float around in the air. The room was nearly airtight also.

So for now, my HT is my most dust-free area of the house.