I have a Sony VPL-VW40 and am curious if it's better to turn the projector off (hit power twice) when not using it, or leave it in standby mode. And is the best way to prolong the bulb is to limit the number of times it's turned off and back on? Any other tips?

Thanks,
Shawn

I make sure when I turn the bulb off it stays off long enough to cool completely. Brightness kept lower also helps.

Brightness kept lower also helps.No ... it doesn't!

Projector "brightness" has no effect on lamp brightness or life.

Conventional wisdom has been that running a lamp at low power setting instead of high power extended lamp life but that has turned out to be a myth.

No ... it doesn't!

Projector "brightness" has no effect on lamp brightness or life.

Conventional wisdom has been that running a lamp at low power setting instead of high power extended lamp life but that has turned out to be a myth.

Since when was running a projector in eco-mode proven a myth?

Since when was running a projector in eco-mode proven a myth?About two years ago, Bob Williams, chief design engineer at Infocus, presented a discussion (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7899772#post7899772) which showed that lamp-life was not related to power level.

He did point out though that each time the lamp power was cycled it equated to about two-hours of lamp life - hence the recommendation that if you are returning to use your projector within two hours, it was better to leave it running.

Take away: Lamp strikes are much more important to lamp life than power level.

I also want to know. pj manufacturers say 3000hrs in eco-mode and 2000hrs in normal mode. Is it just BS?

Running a projector in eco-mode DOS prolong the bulb life. This is very simple to figure out. The hotter the arc gets in the bulb, the faster its going to burn up the gases. Also, the arc will lengthen faster. If the bulb is running cooler, both of those factors are effected by how much voltage the bulb gets. If you overdrive a bulb, it will die faster. The theory you apply pretty much means that weather the bulb is overdriven 50W or under driven 50W life will staye the same. Thats obviosuly false. For instance, take a halogen bulb rated for 100 watts and run it at 100 and then get another one with a dimmer and run it much lower. Leave them on and you will see, the under driven bulb lasts much longer.

Running a projector in eco-mode DOS [sic] prolong the bulb life.Thanks, but I'll take Bob William's word on this one. He has designed and built some of the most successful projectors in history.

Did you actually see a video or actualy see those words come out of his mouth? I agree on striking, but its obvious that lowering the voltage for a bulb increases bulb life.

Did you actually see a video or actualy see those words come out of his mouth?Yes - did you not read the link I provided in my post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14403033#post14403033) above?!?! :confused:

I see what Bob is saying, but what about when running a projector in eco-mode with the fan on high? A cooler operation bulb should yield better results, at least in my case so far. Only problem is the Infocus 7210 has no fan control.

A fan only moves heat away from the PJ to prevent damage to the PJ from the massive amount of heat the lamp creates. It might help maintain a certain temp in the lamp but that temp is still VERY high. These lamps are made of quartz because the temp rises above 1000 degrees and 200psi inside the lamp when it is operating. The quartz becomes somewhat pliable because of the heat and is the reason a lamp when turned off must be allowed to cool before restriking. If you restrike while still superheated the bulb could fail from being restressed before it has solidified and restrengthened. Running in eco mode or normal mode makes little difference in this process. The lower wattage just generates less light.

This is why a lamp will sometimes explode when it fails. 200psi is a lot of pressure. Earlier PJs that would run the fan until the lamp was room temp were actually cooling the bulb too quickly, eventually resulting in microfractures that would cause premature failure. So some infocus owners were told to shut off the power rather than run their fan for 5 minutes. Newer PJs will run the fan just long enough to move out the last bit of high heat before shutting off and letting the lamp cool gradually.

Fewer lamp strikes and only striking a cool lamp help make your lamp last longer.

How does the room temp affect the bulb and the cooling process? - Is it ok to run AC @ full power?

How does the room temp affect the bulb and the cooling process? - Is it ok to run AC @ full power?Should not affect the PJ at all.

Should not affect the PJ at all.

What if the A/C is on eco mode?

What if the A/C is on eco mode?Might affect the viewers...

Another factor in promoting longer life in bulbs is to provide clean power to the projector. Which means using a well designed and manufactured UPS. I use a TrippLite Double Conversion UPS which transforms the utility power from AC to DC batteries and then transforms the DC from the batteries to AC. This type of unit provides extremely clean and stable AC with little or no spikes or corrupted sine wave AC and no transfer lag time since the AC power is always on even during a utility power outage. High intensity lamps love this type of power.

What is the cost of a typical budget-level UPS device? In other words, how do I know I'm not overpaying?

Another factor in promoting longer life in bulbs is to provide clean power to the projector. Which means using a well designed and manufactured UPS. I use a TrippLite Double Conversion UPS which transforms the utility power from AC to DC batteries and then transforms the DC from the batteries to AC. This type of unit provides extremely clean and stable AC with little or no spikes or corrupted sine wave AC and no transfer lag time since the AC power is always on even during a utility power outage. High intensity lamps love this type of power.

Since these projectors are useing electroic ballast and not coil and core ballasts, I dont thing this would matter as the bulb is getting a constant voltage because the electronic ballast is taking all of the spikes. Not the bulb. I may be wrong but from what I know about electronic ballasts, they supply constant voltage/amps to a bulb.

I see what Bob is saying, but what about when running a projector in eco-mode with the fan on high? A cooler operation bulb should yield better results, at least in my case so far. Only problem is the Infocus 7210 has no fan control.

I had 560 hours on the bulb of my Panny 300U in spring of 2005 and I was running it on the recommended low resolution/low fan setting that I read about on the forum. The main reason for the low fan setting was less noise. I am using a 5.1 100 watt Per channel audio/video receiver and a subwoofer. There was no way I was going to hear that fan on high!

I switched the fan to high and the bulb hour counter stopped counting. I thought it was broken so I just kept on watching video for several weeks. After approx. 40 hrs the count picked up again at 560 hrs. That was spring of 2004 and the counter is still functioning fine and is now at 1750 hrs. I can only assume that the projector reconfigured bulb usage for a higher fan speed. I believe that is how you reach the max 3000 hr. estimated bulb life. Higher fan speeds move hot air out of the projector faster..thus lowering the ambient temperature..fact.

So I am an advocate of higher fan speeds no matter what anyone says to the contrary.

What is the cost of a typical budget-level UPS device? In other words, how do I know I'm not overpaying?

A decent one for a projector and a few other components will cost around $150. Just make sure the UPS has AVR otherwise it is a waste.

I had 560 hours on the bulb of my Panny 300U in spring of 2005 and I was running it on the recommended low resolution/low fan setting that I read about on the forum. The main reason for the low fan setting was less noise. I am using a 5.1 100 watt Per channel audio/video receiver and a subwoofer. There was no way I was going to hear that fan on high!

I switched the fan to high and the bulb hour counter stopped counting. I thought it was broken so I just kept on watching video for several weeks. After approx. 40 hrs the count picked up again at 560 hrs. That was spring of 2004 and the counter is still functioning fine and is now at 1750 hrs. I can only assume that the projector reconfigured bulb usage for a higher fan speed. I believe that is how you reach the max 3000 hr. estimated bulb life. Higher fan speeds move hot air out of the projector faster..thus lowering the ambient temperature..fact.

So I am an advocate of higher fan speeds no matter what anyone says to the contrary.

I still have my L500U, I know I used the thing more then the 2000 hour it has listed since I had it mounted for over 3 years. I will have to check it out.

I have consistently gotten 4600hrs+ by controlling the number of strikes.

So... running a bulb in low power mode actually doesn't make a difference?

That can't be true. How can that be true? Is it really true?

From my experience running in lower mode seems to make em last longer, i got close to 4000 hrs on my last bulb, always ran in eco mode. Makes sense anyways, i also have the VW40 and so far its going strong at 600 hrs, no flickering bulb like all those Pany projectors!:)

Since these projectors are useing electroic ballast and not coil and core ballasts, I dont thing this would matter as the bulb is getting a constant voltage because the electronic ballast is taking all of the spikes. Not the bulb. I may be wrong but from what I know about electronic ballasts, they supply constant voltage/amps to a bulb.

I don't agree with your assessment. The quality of the utilitly power to the projector does matter especially if the utility power tends to vary widely in voltage and frequency. A projector's ballast isn't robust enough to be able to correct any major deficiencies in the utility power.

Since these projectors are useing electroic ballast and not coil and core ballasts, I dont thing this would matter as the bulb is getting a constant voltage because the electronic ballast is taking all of the spikes. Not the bulb. I may be wrong but from what I know about electronic ballasts, they supply constant voltage/amps to a bulb.

You could argue the constant voltage,but there is no denying the benefits of a UPS when the power goes out,or even worse,comes back on again imediately.This has detramental effects on the bulb's life.

My last two Optoma projectors have circuit to prevent the pj from switching back on again when power comes back after an outage. Do most pjs have this design?

My last two Optoma projectors have circuit to prevent the pj from switching back on again when power comes back after an outage. Do most pjs have this design? I think most PJs that have lost power for long enough to shut them off will default to standby when the power comes back up.

The real problem is when the power glitches and flickers a few times - not enough to trigger a shutdown but enough to sag or surge the PJ circuitry. A good line interactive UPS with brown-out protection circuitry will save your PJ from being abused by this kind of power fault.

Lasers anyone?
All this scary chatter drives me nuts. We're long overdue for a practical solution.

I just don't worry about it, if the weather looks nasty I jjust won't power it up other wise I treat it like a tv, I prefer eco for most movies anyway cause high settings is just to bright and put fan on high since you'll never hear it with 7.1 true dolby sound. Just enjoy and don't worry, some last and some don't.

I just don't worry about it, if the weather looks nasty I jjust won't power it up other wise I treat it like a tv, I prefer eco for most movies anyway cause high settings is just to bright and put fan on high since you'll never hear it with 7.1 true dolby sound. Just enjoy and don't worry, some last and some don't.


It seems to me that weather like this is ideal to stay home and watch movies. So why waste the opportunity? A well designed and manufactured UPS with adequate back up power will insure the projector and sound system can continue to function despite loss of power. Just unplug the UPS from the wall and plug the UPS to a portable generator and you're good to go! :D

It seems to me that weather like this is ideal to stay home and watch movies. So why waste the opportunity? A well designed and manufactured UPS with adequate back up power will insure the projector and sound system can continue to function despite loss of power. Just unplug the UPS from the wall and plug the UPS to a portable generator and you're good to go! :D
Depending on the UPS you could continue watching until the power comes back, its all about how much you want to spend, and how bad your power is.

I don't know if anyone has gotten more life out of a bulb yet but i got a little over 11800 hours on the one in my 4805 over 4 years, during that time i always let it cool atleast an hour before restarts,left it on low, ran it on high for about half an hour every couple of months for new flame path, cleaned the filters about every 500hr.s, it was usually run for about 5-8 hours at a time.I did have one color wheel fail while under warr .which was fixed quickly by infocus,about 5000 hr's later the color wheel started to make noise again so i bought a optoma hd 65 and am very happy with it.
gave the 4805 to a friend to use along with some wireless headphone's.
I' m not sure how many hr's are on it now but it's still working
Russ

I doubt that your 4805 has been running on the same bulb for 12K hours. The big arc metal halides only last for around 20K hours, and those are as big as footballs. So a super micro arc used in a projector will certainly not reach much over 4K hours, and thats extremely lucky.

^ Although I can't attest to his situation, I've seen other posts of lamps lasting in excess of 10,000 hours. I see no reason for him to lie about it...

ufo i have no doubt whatsoever as i have had it since new and have not change it and when it went in for a warr repair I marked the bulb hoping i might get a new one ,I didnt get a new one so that makes it as i stated .

:mad: LIAR!




(just kidding)

That is shocking. They must have terrible, terrible quality controll on these projector bulbs, as ive seen bulbs go at 100 hours, and then your 14K hour bulb.

lol , but you must remember that this is someone that dissed both cavu and bob williams both in only one post! if electronics had soul's and he had an sp4805 it would never start again.

I dised no one. Everyone can have their opinion, and I know alot, alot, about lighting and electrical. The smaller the arc is on a bulb, the shorter life span it will have for the same givin wattage. A 400watt bulb with a 30mm arc and a 400wat bulb with a 3mm arc will have dramaticly different life spans. Alot of other things come into play, such as contamination, oils, dust, and other things. I do however, have a hard time beleiving that a 200watt SHP bulb, will burn for 14K hours. I guess it might be possible under the most perfect conditions, and extreme care, but thats pretty unlikely. I am not saying his bulb didnt last that long though, just hard to believe.

My projector is always in the Standby mode. I only unplugged it when ceiling-mounting the unit.

Is standby what you guys refer to as soft, and unplugging the unit as hard-powering?

What's better?

Does anyone know a way to make a bulb fail on purpose??? Say.......uh hypothetically before a 2 year warranty runs out??? (covers the bulb) ;)

Does anyone know a way to make a bulb fail on purpose??? Say.......uh hypothetically before a 2 year warranty runs out??? (covers the bulb) ;)


Remove the bulb and connect it directly to a 12kv source... :p