Hello,

I purchased a Sanyo PLVZ2 (serial G4107798) in January of 2004 from Projector people. It is used exclusively for movies and is still on the original bulb. I have been very happy except within the last 4 months I have been having shut-down issues. Here it is:

I have the projector configured so it requires a second confirmation to shut off (i.e. you have to press the power button twice). Now approximately 66% of the time it does not recognize the second power button push. I am left hanging with the "power off" message. In order to shut the machine off, I have been using the 'reset' button in back with a ballpoint pen. I can't imagine this is good for it. After reset, the pj can be shut off by the normal two stroke of power button method 100% of the time. It is like a game of russian roulette. Will the machine require a reset after this movie? I have tried using both the power button on the pj and the remote. No descernable difference.

Today I placed a call to Sanyo at 18004215013. David was very polite, however, he had no idea why it would be doing this. He thought perhaps firmware (which I am hoping) or perhaps something wrong with the computer board. He quoted a $200 minimum, plus shipping charges if it turns out to be firmware, or "minor". If it is the board, it is a "major" repair and that is a flat rate of $600 plus shipping. The kicker is that I would have no way of knowing whether it was $200 or $600 before I sent it. I also called projector people.com to see if they have any suggestions, they haven't got back to me yet.

If anybody has any suggestions, I'd be happy to entertain them. Otherwise I'm going to continue watching movies with a ballpoint pen handy until I break something else with my reset trick. Frankly for the $2k I spent, and how well I treat my equipment, I expect more than 4 years from my pj.

Thank you for your time.

Whatever you do don't pay $600 for the Z2 repair, not when for roughly $700 you can get a brand new Mitsubishi HC1500 that will put the Z2 to shame.

Might be the wire inside the lid has come loose, try taking of the lid and have a look at the wire.
Here is a link for step by step cleanning the Z2, you only need to do the first part.
Z2PDF (http://www.esnips.com/doc/5668121c-4b8a-4441-901f-8cc1bc261592/Z2-dust-blob-cleaning.pdf)

Thanks for the advice. Rover2002, I appreciate the Z2 cleaning guide. I'll check the loose wire theory - however I am not hopeful as I don't believe I would see the same correlation with the remote if it was a wire short. Nor would it consistently turn on.

As an update (and to close out the thread) Projector People returned my call promptly and left a helpful voicemail. They were willing to have me send it there to have them fix it out of warranty (meaning out of pocket for me), although they did suggest a better alternative was to just send it to sanyo. Based on the advice to not get it fixed for $600 above I have decided that at this time I will run it into the ground. I did, however, make a slight adjustment that appears to have helped a little (but not 100%). I have turned off the function that requires two keystrokes of the power button to turn off. Going to a 1 push appears (although I really haven't done exhaustive tests) to have increased my chances of a complete shutdown.

Thank you for your suggestions.

Don,
I upgraded in December to a Mitsubishi HC1500 and my Z2 is 4 yrs old with 6500 hrs on the original lamp. The picture is pretty dim with 6500 hrs on the lamp, but other than that I think it's fine. I hate hearing about your Z2 problems and considering mine is just sitting around, you're welcome to my Z2 free of charge, all you have to do is pay for the packaging and shipping(sorry I don't have the original box anymore).

Since my lamp is dim just replace my high milage lamp with yours and you should be good to go. It has the latest and LAST firmware Sanyo produced for the Z2, version 109.

Legairre

That's very nice of you Legairre! How do you like the HC1500? I've never had a projector before and am looking at one under $1000.

Don,
I upgraded in December to a Mitsubishi HC1500 and my Z2 is 4 yrs old with 6500 hrs on the original lamp. The picture is pretty dim with 6500 hrs on the lamp, but other than that I think it's fine. I hate hearing about your Z2 problems and considering mine is just sitting around, you're welcome to my Z2 free of charge, all you have to do is pay for the packaging and shipping(sorry I don't have the original box anymore).

Since my lamp is dim just replace my high milage lamp with yours and you should be good to go. It has the latest and LAST firmware Sanyo produced for the Z2, version 109.

Legairre

^^:cool:
(that right there's purty cool)

Wow,

Legairre - Thank you, that is an extremely generous offer, and I shall accept, of course! I'm a little unfamiliar with how to proceed, but Ill leave you a private message and we can go from there.

P.s. I've taken a look at your home theater set-up, very nice!

Don

That's very nice of you Legairre! How do you like the HC1500? I've never had a projector before and am looking at one under $1000.
^^:cool:
(that right there's purty cool)
Guys, thanks for the compliments. I figure what the heck, I'm not using it, and I'm not going to throw a new $250 lamp in a projector that now goes for around $75-$100 on ebay. So Don might as well take mine and get some use out of it. Besides I'd hate to see someone have to deal with a bad unit when a good one is just sitting at my house collecting dust.

Wow,

Legairre - Thank you, that is an extremely generous offer, and I shall accept, of course! I'm a little unfamiliar with how to proceed, but Ill leave you a private message and we can go from there.

P.s. I've taken a look at your home theater set-up, very nice!

DonNo problem Don. Just pm me with your address, and I'll ship it to you. Once you receive it, you can just send the shipping and packaging cost to my paypal account. I'll put receipts for FedEx and packaging (box from Staples + shipping popcorn) in the box and you can just reimburse me after you get the Z2.

Legairre

No problem Don. Just pm me with your address, and I'll ship it to you. Once you receive it, you can just send the shipping and packaging cost to my paypal account. I'll put receipts for FedEx and packaging (box from Staples + shipping popcorn) in the box and you can just reimburse me after you get the Z2.

Legairre

This is why I love AVS.

You're hooking yourself up with some serious good Karma, Legairre.

Thanks Ghost, hopefully some good karma will come my way. Especially considering the price of gas, and everything else these days I can use all the good Karma I can get.:D

What an awesome thread....very glad to read this to begin my week on a positive note!
Legairre you are a class act.

What an awesome thread....very glad to read this to begin my weel on a positive note!
Legairre you are a class act.

You're making a wheel?

Yep...a squared one...coming along nicely. :D

That's very nice of you Legairre! How do you like the HC1500? I've never had a projector before and am looking at one under $1000.I just realized I never answered your question. I love the HC1500. It's a nice upgrade from the Z2 and I couldn't be happier.

What an awesome thread....very glad to read this to begin my week on a positive note!
Legairre you are a class act.Thanks Luis I hope Don is happy with the Z2.



Don, check your pm, I shipped the Z2 today and sent you the DHL tracking number. so you'll know when to expect it.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Legairre

Don,
I upgraded in December to a Mitsubishi HC1500 and my Z2 is 4 yrs old with 6500 hrs on the original lamp. The picture is pretty dim with 6500 hrs on the lamp, but other than that I think it's fine. I hate hearing about your Z2 problems and considering mine is just sitting around, you're welcome to my Z2 free of charge, all you have to do is pay for the packaging and shipping(sorry I don't have the original box anymore).

Since my lamp is dim just replace my high milage lamp with yours and you should be good to go. It has the latest and LAST firmware Sanyo produced for the Z2, version 109.

Legairre

Damn, sometimes, being a home-theater nut allows you to cross paths with COOL people. This guy right here is cool beyond belief.

Just a FYI don....I had this problem as well....it started every so often...and then it seemed like I always had to do a hard shut down...and that is crap because then the fan doesn't cool the bulb.

I sent it in under warranty...but they didn't give me anything about what they did....some guy said when I called back it was some resistor or some thing.

been workin great got about 3k hours on it....and now teh Replace lamp light has been on for about 3 months....but its still working....still undecided If I will get a bulb for it...and jump up to something else....just need to find something with the same throw distances so that I wont have to move my mount much.

Damn, sometimes, being a home-theater nut allows you to cross paths with COOL people. This guy right here is cool beyond belief.I have to admit when I posted that I was going to give the Z2 to Don free of charge, I was expecting a ton of people to post saying I'm and idot. I completely under estimated how kind hearted the members of this forum are for seeing this as the right thing to do.

Thank you and all the other members for your nice comments.

Legairre

Very cool thing to see!!!

I have to admit when I posted that I was going to give the Z2 to Don free of charge, I was expecting a ton of people to post saying I'm and idot. I completely under estimated how kind hearted the members of this forum are for seeing this as the right thing to do.

Thank you and all the other members for your nice comments.

Legairre

Nope, not an idiot. Generous beyond belief, but not nutso, LOL! Most people, I would LIKE to say, would do that for a family member or close friend. But to do it for a complete stranger, with nothing in common except being a home theater freak like yourself is just plain goooood kharma!

Well done. :D

While it sounds as though you have a replacement projector coming (darned nice fellow...), I thought I would suggest a potential cause:

My Z2 would do the same thing -- hang on shutdown -- if I went into the menu and adjust some combination of color/tint/brightness. I don't know exactly what combination does it, but if I stay out of the menu the hanging never happens (it hasn't for close to 2 years anyway).

Maybe your russian roulette result came from poking in the menus 2/3 of the time? Have you been in "tweaking mode" for the last 4 months?

Rod.

Hello,

I purchased a Sanyo PLVZ2 (serial G4107798) in January of 2004 from Projector people. It is used exclusively for movies and is still on the original bulb. I have been very happy except within the last 4 months I have been having shut-down issues. Here it is:

I have the projector configured so it requires a second confirmation to shut off (i.e. you have to press the power button twice). Now approximately 66% of the time it does not recognize the second power button push. I am left hanging with the "power off" message. In order to shut the machine off, I have been using the 'reset' button in back with a ballpoint pen. I can't imagine this is good for it. After reset, the pj can be shut off by the normal two stroke of power button method 100% of the time. It is like a game of russian roulette.
Thank you for your time.

Legairre,

Your replacement unit showed up on my doorstep today! It's in fine shape and I believe I completed our transaction according to the instructions, PM me if that is not the case. I clicked it on and it works - so I look forward to many more hours of Z2 enjoyment. You deserve every bit of the compliments the others have posted.

freon - both you and Legairre have mentioned that you knew how many hours your bulb had on it. I believe I've looked a couple of times through both the manual and the menu's and I've seen a 'reset the hours' (not to be done unless a new bulb is used) or something like that, but not a count of the actual hours used? I've been curious for a while on where I was on lamp life, especially as freon noted I too believe my fan is impacted by my manual reset.

rrempel - very interesting. I wish I would have documented better when the problem started. You know how it goes, at first it is so random you think nothing of it. By the time you realize it is very often it has been a while. As you mention it fairly recently I did buy AVIA so I could calibrate. I hadn't tweaked before that. Problem is I can't remember whether the issue was before or after calibration. I also do know that I haven't been in the menu's since that one marathon night of calibration. I'll have to think about it more.

Don

...freon - both you and Legairre have mentioned that you knew how many hours your bulb had on it. I believe I've looked a couple of times through both the manual and the menu's and I've seen a 'reset the hours' (not to be done unless a new bulb is used) or something like that, but not a count of the actual hours used? I've been curious for a while on where I was on lamp life, especially as freon noted I too believe my fan is impacted by my manual reset.

While the projector is on, press and hold the power on/off button until the hours are displayed on screen (it takes 10 seconds or more).

You can use the remote, but make sure it keeps pointing at the projector the whole time. It seems to take ages (I gave up on it the first few times I tried it) but it will eventually display the bulb usage.

Legairre,

Your replacement unit showed up on my doorstep today! It's in fine shape and I believe I completed our transaction according to the instructions, PM me if that is not the case. I clicked it on and it works - so I look forward to many more hours of Z2 enjoyment. You deserve every bit of the compliments the others have posted.
DonDon, thank you for the timely payapl transaction. I also want to thank you for sending a lot more than the actual shipping charges and telling me to keep the extra as a token of your appreciation.

I hope everyting works out for you and the Z2. Have you had a chance to put your lamp in it yet. With my 6000+ hour lamp the picture was really dim. Hows the picture with your lamp?

Legairre

Legairre,

I haven't had time to do a lamp replacement yet (as I just got married on the 25th of June), before I did a lamp switch I wanted to make sure everything looks o.k. with yours so I set it up and ran Avia. After dialing it in to my surroundings, I somehow convinced the newly minted wife to watch a movie on it (less than 3 hours after being wedded) to 'confirm' that before I started messing with any lamp replacement that it functions fully. Too many times I've dived into a fixit project and when it doesn't work afterword couldn't really confirm that it worked beforehand. Makes for an unsatisfying conclusion. The wife felt that the 'new' projector looked better than the old one (crisper, cleaner) and she asked to see more movies on it before I "messed with it". So - I'll keep you posted when the lamp replacement actually occurs. (frankly I'm a little nervous, I'm afraid i'll short out the bulb or greatly reduce its life by handling it, so this works out well for the time being.) - however since you DO have 6300 hours on yours and I only have 1800, i'm thinking it'll be a nice improvement to get the fresh one in there.

Don

Hi,
Don I'm happy things are going well with the Z2. Right before the 3 yr warrenty ran out I sent the Z2 to Sanyo, because the left side of the screen had a yellow tint. When I got it back the service note said they re-aligned and cleaned the LCD panels and replaced the air filter with the new model that filters out dust better. Before the new air filter, I use to get dust blobs every 3 or 4 months. Since the new filter I hadn't seen a single blob in over a years worth of use.

The my Z2 may look sharper than yours due to the alignment and panel cleaning. When you change the lanp don't touch the base just grab it at the top/widest part. Once you replace it, it should be a good bit brighter and then you'll have a high milage sprare in case yours blows.

During the 6300 hrs the Z2 has been a great projector and has been very reliable. I hope you get a lot of use out of it.

Legairre

Hi guy's just stumbled on this thread and must say that was a nice thing that was done giving the z2 away to him Legairre. Anyhow, my Z2 also has the same issue however it only does it about 10% of the time (not shutting off) I did find a better way than pushing the reset button, I simply close the front cover and it automatically shuts off the bulb but keeps the fan running so it does a proper cool down.
Has anyone tried to do a firmware update on the projector and what benefits it has?

Have you ever given away a cherished object of yours and years later thought "I wonder how that item held up and whether it is still in use?" Well, one year ago Legairre saw my below thread asking for Sanyo PLVZ2 help and decided to mail me his own Sanyo PLVZ2 - free of charge. He had upgraded and had taken the PLVZ2 out of play after 6,000 hours.

To Legairre and all who are curious - the PLVZ2 is still going strong. It currently has 6609 hours - and is the center piece to my system.

I look forward to many more years of PLVZ2 enjoyment! I'll check in with you next year. My goal is to make it to January 2014 as that will be 10 years since my original purchase.

Cheers,

Don

Wow! Good to hear! Thanks for the update, Don!

I have to say that this is the best thread I have read in quite sometime. I know it feels good to do something for somebody like that. With over 6000 hrs it makes the Sanyo look good.

Dave
Z5 Owner