Hello.

I've had my Epson HC720 projector for 7 months now and it has been working great. However, a couple months ago something weird started showing up on the image it projects.

In four places on the screen there are circular blotches that are approx. 4 to 6 inches in diameter. They can only be seen in dark scenes....really only in scenes that are almost totally black. For example, while viewing my PS3's User Menu. They are hard to see when the projector is in economy mode, but become more apparent with brighter modes. I have verified that these are *not* on the screen.....they are definitely coming from the projector.

A pic is below. Two of the "blotches" are in the blue circle. You have to look really hard to even see them in the pic....my camera kept overstating my screen's hot spot and it makes the blotches harder to see. It was really hard to photograph this. I find it helpful to view the pic with a dark background.....the default white AVS background is definitely not good for viewing that pic....you might want to temporarily change the forum skin to black.

Anyway, are those "infamous" dust blobs? Any other ideas?

Thanks!

Here is the pic:

http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh40/chadt927/spots-1.jpg

Yeah, Chad, looks like you've got the dreaded dust blobs! :eek:

Judicious use of a vacuum cleaner may help the problem... I'm not familiar with your particular pj, so I don't know if there are any removable access covers, filters, etc. You can open up the area where you access the bulb for replacement, and try vacuuming in there really well.

Of course, do it when the pj is cooled down, and be very careful when you do. In the past, I heard of a case or two where this just rearranged the blobbage, but it seems to work in a fair number of cases. If that doesn't work, compressed air (aka "canned farts") may work, but be careful that what you're using doesn't have a lubricant in it; test it out by spraying a clean sheet of white paper. If it leaves no residue or wet spots, you're probably safe.

I accept no liability for anyone murdering their projectors based on my half-cocked advice....

;)

Since it's only 7 month old, I would pack it up and send it in for warranty repair. I did it a few weeks ago when my mitshubishi had some dust. Came back dust free and with a much improved filter too.

So those are dust blobs? That's a bummer.

I have religiously cleaned this projector's filter once every month (which equates out to about every 100 hours). Epson doesn't really repair projectors but rather they send out replacements. Shipping is quick and free, but I've heard they almost always send refurbished projectors and I've heard of people getting projectors with worn out polarizers and so forth. I like everything about this projector aside from the blobs (the iris doesn't even make noise like it used to), so I think I'll borrow my parent's shop vac and see what happens.....that thing could suck the chrome off of a trailer hitch. lol. May try compressed air too. I don't think I have anything to lose and if that doesn't work, I'll go ahead with warranty replacement.

xmenxmenxmen: Did Mits send your exact same projector and bulb back? That's another thing I worry about with getting a replacement projector from Epson. No way to know how old the bulb is. I'd probably put my current bulb in a replacement projector. It has almost 700 hours on it, but at least I know that number is accurate.

i am so scared that mine will get dust blobs too. Every time i look at the projector's lense I see dust flying all around :(

I had the same thing happen a couple of times. The solution with Epson is to call their support line (make sure you tell them you have tried removing and reinstalling the bulb even though it won't help). They will send you a new(refurb) blob free projector and you send your back. Its that simple. Its one of the nice things about the long no hassle epson warranty.

If those are in fact dust blobs, you should be able to bring them into focus by turning the focus ring around. They should come into focus and look (usually) like a thread of lint.

Chad, I remember reading that you can call them and it said to let them know if "it is important to get your own unit back." I know that line was in my Home 20's manual, but have not looked in my 720's manual yet.

They would probably repair your own with the only downside being your time away from your Epson :) Give em a call! It can't hurt!

Windrider

If those are in fact dust blobs, you should be able to bring them into focus by turning the focus ring around. They should come into focus and look (usually) like a thread of lint.

I did this tonight and found that there are several very small pieces of lint/dust, but those particles aren't even visible once I actually re-focus for normal viewing.

The perplexing part is that the blob areas that I'm complaining about did not have any lint/dust particles near them.

Does that mean they aren't dust blobs after all? Could that be slight panel deterioration?

this looks like a serious issue of the "circle of blue dots". This problem is very rare, but its fixable. Hold tight, help is on the way. I feel sorry for people with this issue because I could not live with such a distraction