copy of posting before crash:
**********************************************************
I started to hijack someone else's similar post but thought it best to start my own. I looked through all the archives and couldn't find much to help.

I have owned this PB6100 for 5+ years and have only about 1100 hours on the bulb. I have received no warnings so far. One morning I got up and it was making a loud fan noise, but it was off. (in standby). The back fans weren't spinning at all and I can't get any display. I thought if I just unplugged it from the wall for a bit that might help, but it didn't.

Has anyone had any similar problems? Is there any way to do a reset without using the display? I think the 6200, 6110, etc are similar so if you own one of those and have any ideas please share. I don't want a $1150 paperweight, but it would probably not be worth it to send it to get it fixed.

Thanks in advance,

Mike
*********************************************************

copy of posting before crash:
**********************************************************
I started to hijack someone else's similar post but thought it best to start my own. I looked through all the archives and couldn't find much to help.

I have owned this PB6100 for 5+ years and have only about 1100 hours on the bulb. I have received no warnings so far. One morning I got up and it was making a loud fan noise, but it was off. (in standby). The back fans weren't spinning at all and I can't get any display. I thought if I just unplugged it from the wall for a bit that might help, but it didn't.

Has anyone had any similar problems? Is there any way to do a reset without using the display? I think the 6200, 6110, etc are similar so if you own one of those and have any ideas please share. I don't want a $1150 paperweight, but it would probably not be worth it to send it to get it fixed.

Thanks in advance,

Mike
*********************************************************

Reply from reconlabtech:

Sounds like either the lamp or the circuitry. In the early 2000's millions of bad capacitors flooded the market and made a lot of devices fail early. You could try a new lamp, they seem to still be available and under $300 but at this point, I'd say it's time to upgrade from 800x600 to HD. The Mitsubishi HC1500 is being closed out and can be found for @ $600 at BB if they have one left and there are a few machines in the $900 range like the Sharp DT-510. If you only need a 4:3 data PJ, there are several good ones for cheap these days.

BTW: Did you try pulling the lamp and then reinserting it and trying the power again?

Thanks for the reply, reconlabtech!

That's not good to hear about the bad batch of capacitors though....that might be the cause unless someone else can think of something. I don't want to go and buy a new lamp in case that's not the problem....I wish I had one to test it with. There were no warnings about the lamp and it doesn't *look* damaged in any way. I like the idea of upgrading, but it's not really in the budget right now, especially since I spent $1200 5-6 years ago for the projector in the first place. In my head, I wanted it to last at least 10 years.

To answer your other question, I did try pulling the lamp, but it didn't change anything. Actually I took the cover off and tried to find a lose connection, or something obviously wrong, but nothing jumped out at me. How hard would it be to change the capacitor? I have a friend who is pretty handy with a soldering iron.

Anyone else have any ideas on what the problem could be?

response from reconlabtech:

Get a strong light and look at the tops of every cap you can see and see if there is any leakage or bulging. Caps are easy to replace. I've repaired at least a dozen motherboards with a simple soldering iron.


Thanks for the reply, reconlabtech!

That's not good to hear about the bad batch of capacitors though....that might be the cause unless someone else can think of something. I don't want to go and buy a new lamp in case that's not the problem....I wish I had one to test it with. There were no warnings about the lamp and it doesn't *look* damaged in any way. I like the idea of upgrading, but it's not really in the budget right now, especially since I spent $1200 5-6 years ago for the projector in the first place. In my head, I wanted it to last at least 10 years.

To answer your other question, I did try pulling the lamp, but it didn't change anything. Actually I took the cover off and tried to find a lose connection, or something obviously wrong, but nothing jumped out at me. How hard would it be to change the capacitor? I have a friend who is pretty handy with a soldering iron.

Anyone else have any ideas on what the problem could be?

I might just have to do that. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll have to wait a couple weeks though for my friend with the soldering/electronics expertise to get back into town. Any good sources for replacement capacitors?

How does the 6100/6200 behave when it needs a new bulb? Anyone remember? Do the two fans in the back still spin up when the bulb is dead?

reply from reconlabtech:

Radio Shack, Parts Express, and ebay have been my sources.

I would give BenQ a call for technical support and ask them several questions to see if they will give you any troubleshooting ideas.


I might just have to do that. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll have to wait a couple weeks though for my friend with the soldering/electronics expertise to get back into town. Any good sources for replacement capacitors?

How does the 6100/6200 behave when it needs a new bulb? Anyone remember? Do the two fans in the back still spin up when the bulb is dead?

Hey reconlabtech,

I started taking the projector apart, and on the one board there appears to be what I'm guessing you meant by leakage or bulging. Could this be enough to completely mess up the projector? I've attached a picture and you can see the one in the center looks pretty bad. It's also bulging, but it's hard to tell from that angle. What do you think?

Thanks in advance,
Mike

Hey reconlabtech,

I started taking the projector apart, and on the one board there appears to be what I'm guessing you meant by leakage or bulging. Could this be enough to completely mess up the projector? I've attached a picture and you can see the one in the center looks pretty bad. It's also bulging, but it's hard to tell from that angle. What do you think?

Thanks in advance,
Mike

reply from reconlabtech:

DEFINITELY a blown cap. Good find! Get that replaced and you may be back in business.

Good photo too!

wow, really....I wonder if that's all it was? Just a blown cap. I took some pictures of the bulb as well. It doesn't look blown, but then I don't know what to look for. It does seem to have something on the filament. What do you guys think?

P.S. Sorry for the confusing posts, I tried to recreate the lost thread so that it can help any one in the future or someone can add to it.

Bulging caps like that would probably result in serious under-voltage on what looks like a power supply board. Good job, if you're not so sure about your soldering skills, find something to practice on. The pads for that should be quite large so it should be handily repairable with a typical soldering iron & solder sucker. Keep the heat on the pads to a minimum so they don't lift/break off but with moderate skill and taking care to not glob on any extra, you could get away quite lucky!

Cheers,
-M

Bulging caps like that would probably result in serious under-voltage on what looks like a power supply board. Good job, if you're not so sure about your soldering skills, find something to practice on. The pads for that should be quite large so it should be handily repairable with a typical soldering iron & solder sucker. Keep the heat on the pads to a minimum so they don't lift/break off but with moderate skill and taking care to not glob on any extra, you could get away quite lucky!

Cheers,
-M

I don't have any "soldering skills" so I'm going to practice removing and then soldering capacitors back on an old motherboard that I have laying around. Thanks for the advice, I hope this works!

Speaking of bad capacitors, the motherboard that I'm going to be using to practice on came from an old computer that I was having all sorts of problems with that I couldn't troubleshoot (and I'm a computer guy). Looking at it now, I see there must be 20 bulged and leaking capacitors on it. No wonder it wasn't working. I also had a TV die on me not too long ago, but it was covered un warranty. Could dirty power coming into my apartment be causing all of these problems with capacitors?

Almost impossible to know without taking some readings but I think bad power would manifest itself in other ways. Do you go though a lot of light bulbs? Do you computers seem to crash more than they 'should' etc...
It could be that you've had a few more caps from the "bad batch" of caps mentioned by reconlabtech...

I have a motherboard like that too - next time I have a really flaky computer, I'll be inspecting the mobo first! I wasted hours on that one before I noticed the problem.

-M

Update

I got all the soldering materials, and taught myself how to solder. I found a replacement capacitor and discharged all the old ones on the internal power boards. I practiced soldering and desoldering on an old motherboard for a couple hours. I removed the old capacitor and replaced it with the new one.

Spent about 2 hours putting everything back together and powered it up. The good news is that the capacitor WAS causing the problem of the fans and light not coming on. So the lamp and the back fans turned on and I was happy. The bad news is that the mainboard might have been fried in whatever incident that caused the capacitor to blow in the first place....or the blown capacitor killed the mainboard. All that I get is a white or grey screen. No menu or anything. :-(

Anyone have any experience with a white or grey screen?

Good job with the soldering iron - Too bad you're not back in business yet. Assuming the optics are assembled properly it sounds like the next problem is with a video circuit... These get a lot harder to troubleshoot and may require some special equipment.

Anyone?

Good job with the soldering iron - Too bad you're not back in business yet. Assuming the optics are assembled properly it sounds like the next problem is with a video circuit... These get a lot harder to troubleshoot and may require some special equipment.

Anyone?

Thanks, I'm happy I didn't mess up the power/fan board with my lack of experience in soldering. In the end I took my time and practiced first and it all worked out. I'm going to take a look at the optics part of the set up again because it was 1:30 in the morning and I wasn't thinking 100% straight at the time. I already took the main board out again and reseated all the connectors with no luck. I'm hoping that I put something back on incorrectly, and by taking it apart again I can get it right this time.

I don't think I will try to repair the main board, just replace it if it's not too expensive. I guess the only place to get them is Benq, so I will give them a call.

Well I took the optical unit apart again and looked for something obviously wrong, but couldn't find anything. Put everything back together and still get the same white image. Here's an attachment(s). Normally I wouldn't post a picture of a white image, but around the edges it looks a little odd to me. And something you can't see on the photo is that at the edge there is about 10% of the image where the projector looks like it's trying to do black, then another 20% of the image where the projector looks like it's try to do gray. It looks like a frame or something. Did I forget to put something back and and it fell behind the fridge or something?

Any ideas?

When you replaced your cap, did you make sure to put the new one in with the same polarity as the old one? There is a positive and a negative lead...

Probably should have mentioned that earlier. Darn. I'd start loking over the other caps but it is possible that something else is also gone. If recapping is easy and cheap, then keep replacing them. It's probably a better idea anyway.

Oh, and just in case you didn't get a reply on the lamp filament - PJ lamps don't have filaments.

Here's an informative link: http://www.ercservice.com/lamps/philips/PhilipsUHPLamps.html

When you replaced your cap, did you make sure to put the new one in with the same polarity as the old one? There is a positive and a negative lead...

Probably should have mentioned that earlier. Darn. I'd start loking over the other caps but it is possible that something else is also gone. If recapping is easy and cheap, then keep replacing them. It's probably a better idea anyway.

No worries, I made sure that I had the right polarity when I replaced the cap. I did a bit of reading before I jumped into anything. Replacing the cap got past the first problem of the bulb and back fans not coming on. Now I just have the problem of a white image. I need to figure out how to test the rest of the capacitors (without replacing), then replace if needed.

I wouldn't say removing the capacitor and putting a new one on was in any way easy for me. I think I got lucky my first time around. If I don't have to replace any more, then I'm reluctant to do so.

From what I can guess there's a ballast, a "fan power board", and small power board and the main board. I guess I'll have to test the capacitors on all of them.....once I figure out how to.

Testing Capacitors with a Multimeter
Some DMMs have modes for capacitor testing. These work fairly well to determine approximate uF rating. However, for most applications, they do not test at anywhere near the normal working voltage or test for leakage. Normally, this type of testing requires disconnecting at least one lead of the suspect capacitor from the circuit to get a reasonably accurate reading - or any reading at all. However, newer models may also do a decent job of testing capacitors in-circuit. Of course, all power must be removed and the capacitors should be discharged. This will generally work as long as the components attached to the capacitor are either semiconductors (which won't conduct with the low test voltage) or passive components with a high enough impedance to not load the tester too much. The reading may not be as accurate in-circuit, but probably won't result in a false negative - calling a capacitor good that is bad. But I don't know which models are better in this regard.
CAUTION: For this and any other testing of large capacitors and/or capacitors in power supply, power amplifier, or similar circuits, make sure the capacitor is fully discharged or else your multimeter may be damaged or destroyed!

However, a VOM or DMM without capacitance ranges can make certain types of tests.

For small caps (like 0.01 uf or less), about all you can really test is for shorts or leakage. (However, on an analog multimeter on the high ohms scale you may see a momentary deflection when you touch the probes to the capacitor or reverse them. A DMM may not provide any indication at all.) Any capacitor that measures a few ohms or less is bad. Most should test infinite even on the highest resistance range.

For electrolytics in the uF range or above, you should be able to see the cap charge when you use a high ohms scale with the proper polarity - the resistance will increase until it goes to (nearly) infinity. If the capacitor is shorted, then it will never charge. If it is open, the resistance will be infinite immediately and won't change. If the polarity of the probes is reversed, it will not charge properly either - determine the polarity of your meter and mark it - they are not all the same. Red is usually **negative** with (analog) VOMs but **positive** with most DMMs, for example. Confirm with a marked diode - a low reading across a good diode (VOM on ohms or DMM on diode test) indicates that the positive lead is on the anode (triangle) and negative lead is on the cathode (bar).

If the resistance never goes very high, the capacitor is leaky.

The best way to really test a capacitor is to substitute a known good one. A VOM or DMM will not test the cap under normal operating conditions or at its full rated voltage. However, it is a quick way of finding major faults.

A simple way of determining the capacitance fairly accurately is to build an oscillator using a 555 timer. Substitute the cap in the circuit and then calculate the C value from the frequency. With a few resistor values, this will work over quite a wide range.

Alternatively, using a DC power supply and series resistor, capacitance can be calculated by measuring the rise time to 63% of the power supply voltage from T=RC or C=T/R.

Testing Capacitors with a Multimeter
Some DMMs have modes for capacitor testing. These work fairly well to determine approximate uF rating. However, for most applications, they do not test at anywhere near the normal working voltage or test for leakage. Normally, this type of testing requires disconnecting at least one lead of the suspect capacitor from the circuit to get a reasonably accurate reading - or any reading at all. However, newer models may also do a decent job of testing capacitors in-circuit. Of course, all power must be removed and the capacitors should be discharged. This will generally work as long as the components attached to the capacitor are either semiconductors (which won't conduct with the low test voltage) or passive components with a high enough impedance to not load the tester too much. The reading may not be as accurate in-circuit, but probably won't result in a false negative - calling a capacitor good that is bad. But I don't know which models are better in this regard.
CAUTION: For this and any other testing of large capacitors and/or capacitors in power supply, power amplifier, or similar circuits, make sure the capacitor is fully discharged or else your multimeter may be damaged or destroyed!

However, a VOM or DMM without capacitance ranges can make certain types of tests.

For small caps (like 0.01 uf or less), about all you can really test is for shorts or leakage. (However, on an analog multimeter on the high ohms scale you may see a momentary deflection when you touch the probes to the capacitor or reverse them. A DMM may not provide any indication at all.) Any capacitor that measures a few ohms or less is bad. Most should test infinite even on the highest resistance range.

For electrolytics in the uF range or above, you should be able to see the cap charge when you use a high ohms scale with the proper polarity - the resistance will increase until it goes to (nearly) infinity. If the capacitor is shorted, then it will never charge. If it is open, the resistance will be infinite immediately and won't change. If the polarity of the probes is reversed, it will not charge properly either - determine the polarity of your meter and mark it - they are not all the same. Red is usually **negative** with (analog) VOMs but **positive** with most DMMs, for example. Confirm with a marked diode - a low reading across a good diode (VOM on ohms or DMM on diode test) indicates that the positive lead is on the anode (triangle) and negative lead is on the cathode (bar).

If the resistance never goes very high, the capacitor is leaky.

The best way to really test a capacitor is to substitute a known good one. A VOM or DMM will not test the cap under normal operating conditions or at its full rated voltage. However, it is a quick way of finding major faults.

A simple way of determining the capacitance fairly accurately is to build an oscillator using a 555 timer. Substitute the cap in the circuit and then calculate the C value from the frequency. With a few resistor values, this will work over quite a wide range.

Alternatively, using a DC power supply and series resistor, capacitance can be calculated by measuring the rise time to 63% of the power supply voltage from T=RC or C=T/R.


Thanks for the info, actually that's from the page I was using when I was removing the first capacitor. It says that you can do some tests in circuit, but not all of them. From many other pages and forums, I read that testing capacitors in circuit is very difficult and usually doesn't give you accurate results. The best way is to remove them all, test them and replace the bad ones. I might end up doing that, but don't really want to since I'm not that experienced in desoldering/soldering.

I wish I knew what a plain white image meant. The only thing Benq tech support would tell me is that I needed to bring it in for service and that I couldn't order any parts from them without being a qualified electrician...or something along those lines.

I had the same problem and after looking at this post took the projector apart - sure enough, blew the same capacitor that you did. Will be attempting to solder a new one in soon. Thanks for the posts.

I had the same problem and after looking at this post took the projector apart - sure enough, blew the same capacitor that you did. Will be attempting to solder a new one in soon. Thanks for the posts.

You blew the EXACT same cap as I did (from the pictures)? Well I wish you luck, all that I ever got out of it was a blank white screen. I think I also blew the main board, and to me that's not worth spending $300-400 on it. Of course if I did the bulb would need replacing like 2 weeks after wards. On a good note, I learned how to solder. :-)

Also I learned to take apart and put back the pb6100 blindfolded. Add that to my resume.

Hi all,

Thanks for the thread.

I got exactly the same problem (blew the exactly same cap):

Sorry... the image is not so good.

I'll try to replace the cap and test if I'll succeed in make it working again.

I'll update this thread in a few days.

Hi all,

Thanks for the thread.

I got exactly the same problem (blew the exactly same cap):

Sorry... the image is not so good.

I'll try to replace the cap and test if I'll succeed in make it working again.

I'll update this thread in a few days.

wow, that is terrible! Same cap causing all the problems here. My projector is junk now. If anyone wants it for parts, let me know....I'll include the bulb as well for a hundred bucks or so.

Let us know if replacing that cap fixes it. I think I had other issues and could only get the white screen after that.

Add me to the list of benq pb6100's with bad caps. It was the same cap as yours... :) I also had the same white image and couldn't get it to work. I just purchased a plv-1080hd and I am in the process of mounting it in the theater. I only had 1450 hours on the bulb and it was working great, then poof it just stopped working.

Add me to the list of benq pb6100's with bad caps. It was the same cap as yours... :) I also had the same white image and couldn't get it to work. I just purchased a plv-1080hd and I am in the process of mounting it in the theater. I only had 1450 hours on the bulb and it was working great, then poof it just stopped working.

Holy, out of nowhere everyone sees this thread! :-)
That's terrible you had the same issue! Did you have your projector hooked up to a surge protector or anything. In the end I moved it over to a wall outlet and forgot. I thought that might have caused the blown cap and cb or whatever else died.

Mine was not on a surge protector....my stupid fault. It was my first projector and I was new to the technology. The new one will be on a surge for sure.

I have owned this PB6100 for 5+ years and have only about 1100 hours on the bulb. I have received no warnings so far. One morning I got up and it was making a loud fan noise, but it was off. (in standby).
Arrghhhh... wish I had seen your thread. Very similar bulb life. Returned home from a trip in Sept. to hear the fan whirring. Replaced a cap on one of the supply boards (may have been the same one) but couldn't get it to power up. Tried to force the issue with the pushbutton "reset relay/breaker?" (near the AC input), which, of course, was a bad idea. Smoke from one of the auxiliary boards... At that point I realized I had bought it with a Visa gold card which doubles the manufacturers warranty. :mad:
That said, I'm enjoying my XGA (aka poor man's HD) upgrade.

I've another instance of a BenQ PB model projector likely having the same issue. Mine is a PB6200 but (as I understand it) very similar to the PB6100. The internal fan started running with only the main power switch ON and nothing else.

Called BenQ, same result as those above. "Send it in and for $90 we'll give you an estimate to repair". I called around to local repair shops and found one close. Their diagnosis is a complete new system control board for $1,290.30. OUCH!!! No way would I pay for a repair on a 4 year old unit that was less than that when purchased new!

I think I'll print this thread and take it to the repair shop and see if there's anything helpful to them. Otherwise, it appears I am into finding another projector.

If that is the case, by my estimate my projector has only 600 hrs (haven't looked for a while), and that makes the operating cost at around $2 per hour!! Two separate reps at BenQ immediately mention their refurbished projector purchase program. I asked them "why the HE!! would I go back to BenQ after this issue." Their response "I don't know."

NICE!!

Hey guys! Digging a very old thread here!

I have the same problem, i just woke up and i swear i could hear something humming it was my BP6100 fans, as you can imagine i leave it 24h per day connected to the Power outlet, and as it seems i burned a Cap.
I will replace it in a few days so hang on as i will tell you the result

Did you already take it apart and look at it and find the popped capacitor? I wish you luck as my projector is sitting in pieces in a box. It turned out the main board must have fried as well after that cap (my guess....not sure, maybe the main board is fine).

Does anyone have more information on this topic? My BenQ PB8240 just died with less than 650 hours on it and I'm about to take it apart to look at the capacitors. I will take pictures and provide information as time allows.

bloring, what additional information are you looking for? It might be more helpful for us if you tell us exactly what happened and the symptoms. Like are the back fans still on or not? Does the lamp turn on?

Hey guys! After three weeks I finally got a day off work and this morning I took the projector apart. I didn't discover any popped capacitors or anything out of the ordinary so I put it back together. Then I plugged it in, and now it works just fine! I have no idea why it wasn't working before.

Before, when I would turn it on, the back fans would start up and get really loud and it seemed like it was trying to turn the lamp on but didn't have enough power? I am not very good at diagnosing electronics problems but after I would press the on button on top, it would run the back fans and then I heard what sounded like a ballast turn on and then nothing would happen for about two seconds. Finally, red red "lamp" led would come on indicating a problem with the lamp.

Also, I have always turned both the top and side power buttons off, completely turning power off to the unit when it was not in use. Is it better for it to just leave the main power on and have it sit in standby?

Thanks!

Same problem here. Just ordered the Panasonic AX200 as a replacement, hope that is a good projector. I took mine apart and it is the internal fan which is perpendicular to the rear fans that is spinning. I did not see any capacitors that looked messed up, but I didn't spend much time with it.

It started doing this a few days ago.

got a 470uf cap blowned up, a quick check on all other sytems seems fine.. i suspect i have a burnt resistor in the same board as well... syncmaster750b have you checked the green resistor? is it Orange, Red Yellow? or Orange Brown Yellow?
42 Kohms, +/-5% or 41 Kohms, +/-5% the difference isnt much from Red to brown, but anyway just to be sure, grab a multimeter and check your resistor as i suspect mine is burned as well... (havent checked mine, it's just a suspicion)

i have to get my multimeter badly (and my soldering iron too)

Hey guys, same luck here: got it to work, but it turns on goest ot he first cycle (the white screen) then it would click into the second state and show what's going on...
I suspect the power board is still damaged, i will inspect other components
cheers
dan

I had the same problem as SyncMaster750b earlier. Thanks to this forum I knew to look inside my BenQ PB6100 projector and learned that I have exactly the same blown cap as the other people did. I checked all the other sub boards and everything else looked fine. This one board appears to be the power supply/conditioning board, which makes sense that the rest of the projector can't get going without it.

I'm off to Radio Shack to find a 470 micro Farad electrolytic and a baby soldering iron. I'll repost my results. The resistor on the same board in my unit is orange brown yellow, and doesn't appear damaged.

Brion K.
Orange, CA

Sounds like anyone using this particular PJ might want to change that cap BEFORE it blows and takes out some other parts with it. I still have my 6100 but i'm saving it as a backup to my Mitsu 3000. I did start it up about 5 months ago and it worked fine. I may change the cap proactively. Seems like when it goes it causes much more trouble after the fact. just a thought.

Follow up to my post yesterday: I changed the 470uF cap and now the unit starts up and runs but the lamp is not bright and the screen looks like cottage cheese, kind of like the beginning of the Twilight Zone without the door or the fake eyeball.

I had a real hard time making a clean solder on one side of the cap so i wonder if that's causing the problem with the video. The fans work, the cool-down on shut-down works, and the logic on the control panel lights seems normal. The menu does not display and the blank screen button does not work, however.

There's nothing left to lose so I guess I'll try more aggressively to resolder that connection and see what happens. Very frustrating that a $2 capacitor can end the life of a $800 projector. Harumpf.

hey guys, i am going to fish for the problem in the next few days, i will be working night shift leaving lots of time for whatever i want to do, i will definetly tear this projector piece by piece and check if everything is in order.
Please follow this thread and if you have any input just reply to this
many thanks

hey DeepSnoozer!

Good luck with the problem. If you can post some pics that would be great! My poor projector has been sitting in a box in pieces for the last 6 months.
Keep us all updated!

hey guys, i told you to stick to this thread as i found the problem :)
The main system board (the one that connects to the main DLP chip behind the lens, and has the SVGA and SVideo Ports) has a faulty SMT Capacitor too...

Here's the picutres of my mainboard:
http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/6493/pict0009nx.jpg

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/9959/pict0002zs.jpg

And here's the schematic

http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/3170/screenshotxw.jpg
Sorry for the Portuguese annotations, i posted this same picture in a Portuguse electronics forum asking for their opinion.

According to the schematics this might be a 10uf 20v Film Capacitor, i am not sure about the values because as you can see the schematics says 10U (as in 10uf) and has an "M" that i dont know what it means..., probably Micro but i am not sure!
Anyway, i will keep you guys posted and lets see if we can get this thing working again :)

If anyone has an comment about this please reply
also if you are lost and you dont know how to take of the system board i would say it's prety easy, you have about 2 or 3 screws holding it down, plus you have to take all the flat cables and other cables that go to the system board...
Plus there's a huge cable that connects to the DLP and that's hold down trough a black piece of metal also screwed down, be extra careful with that!

Guys! Green light! it's definetly a 10Uf Capacitor, the M means that it's 20% tolerance.
Even tough you may not find a SMT type capacitor (the small type etc...) i do think that a normal tantalum or ceramic cap might do the trick, altough i would advice you to ask on your local electronic store about that
i will be off until monday, i will give you news afterwards

Here is one more with the exact same capacitor blown on a PB6200. Don't think I'll bother trying to do the fix given the lack of success of others here.

Oh well, I needed an excuse to buy a 1080p projector anyway. :)

Here is one more with the exact same capacitor blown on a PB6200. Don't think I'll bother trying to do the fix given the lack of success of others here.

Oh well, I needed an excuse to buy a 1080p projector anyway. :)

that will soon change! please stick with this topic and lets fix it! :)

My PB6100 just went today....damn! just bought a PS3 today and wanted to see how it would look on the big screen...timing sucks :-(

I noticed the low level fan noise and LED lights illuminated and the projector wouldn't "turn on".

Luckily found this thread and opened the unit up. Low and behold, the same cap popped (25V 470uF). I removed it and will look for one locally on Monday. Didn't see anything else damaged, but didn't look on the main board yet.

These were great little projectors, would be good to get a few more years out of them. If the recent activity on this thread is any indication, there will be more and more people popping their caps in the coming days.

Let's work together and stick to the thread to see if this can be fixed.

My PB6100 just went today....damn! just bought a PS3 today and wanted to see how it would look on the big screen...timing sucks :-(

I noticed the low level fan noise and LED lights illuminated and the projector wouldn't "turn on".

Luckily found this thread and opened the unit up. Low and behold, the same cap popped (25V 470uF). I removed it and will look for one locally on Monday. Didn't see anything else damaged, but didn't look on the main board yet.

These were great little projectors, would be good to get a few more years out of them. If the recent activity on this thread is any indication, there will be more and more people popping their caps in the coming days.

Let's work together and stick to the thread to see if this can be fixed.
you came just right on time!

buy one of these:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Tantalum-Chip-Capacitor-10uF-20V-Pk-of-10-Item-151_W0QQitemZ230160656537QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_ConsumerElect ronics_SpecialistRadioEquipment_SM?hash=item3596a4e899&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

or if you are in usa:
http://cgi.ebay.com/80-Kemet-10uF-10-20V-SMT-Tantalum-Capacitors_W0QQitemZ200206189489QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_Defaul tDomain_0?hash=item2e9d3803b1&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

the search word is 10uf 20v tantalum try to get at least 20% tolerance on those :)

Btw, i am going to ask you guys a little favor
I dont know if i can get these tantalum caps in Portugal and i am not sure if i can use other type of caps like ceramic or electrolytic... ( i am going to start the hunting monday )
if i cant find them anywhere here i would ask anyone who lives in UK os US and has the ability to find me one of these, while you buy them for yourself would you mind to buy an extra one for me , and put it in an envelope ship it here? i would gladly pay you for that, as someone asked me about 30 bucks just for shipping them from US and 7£ (arround 10bucks) from UK (my second bet) i would be glad if i can save a few bucks :p

Guys! Green light! it's definetly a 10Uf Capacitor, the M means that it's 20% tolerance.
Even tough you may not find a SMT type capacitor (the small type etc...) i do think that a normal tantalum or ceramic cap might do the trick, altough i would advice you to ask on your local electronic store about that
i will be off until monday, i will give you news afterwards

That's awesome that you think you've got it figured out. I'll take a look at the main board tomorrow to see if that same capacitor is blow. I would love to get this thing working again.

Good work!

My PB6100 just went today....damn! just bought a PS3 today and wanted to see how it would look on the big screen...timing sucks :-(

I noticed the low level fan noise and LED lights illuminated and the projector wouldn't "turn on".

Luckily found this thread and opened the unit up. Low and behold, the same cap popped (25V 470uF). I removed it and will look for one locally on Monday. Didn't see anything else damaged, but didn't look on the main board yet.

These were great little projectors, would be good to get a few more years out of them. If the recent activity on this thread is any indication, there will be more and more people popping their caps in the coming days.

Let's work together and stick to the thread to see if this can be fixed.

You should be able to find the same 470 cap at most electronics stores....and that should get you to at least the white screen...from there, well I think DeepSnoozer has a hunch and if he manages to get his fixed, then we all could have working projectors again!!

I have my fingers crossed!

Btw, i am going to ask you guys a little favor
I dont know if i can get these tantalum caps in Portugal and i am not sure if i can use other type of caps like ceramic or electrolytic... ( i am going to start the hunting monday )
if i cant find them anywhere here i would ask anyone who lives in UK os US and has the ability to find me one of these, while you buy them for yourself would you mind to buy an extra one for me , and put it in an envelope ship it here? i would gladly pay you for that, as someone asked me about 30 bucks just for shipping them from US and 7£ (arround 10bucks) from UK (my second bet) i would be glad if i can save a few bucks :p

If you can find the right ones available in Canada, let me know and I can pick them up and ship you a few in an envelope or something. After I check my board, I'm going to call around to some of the electronics stores to see what I can find.

i forgot that today is an holiday and the stores are closed...
gonna leave that for tomorow :)
if you find the tantalum 10uF 20V M (20% or better tolerance) cap, please tell me

DeepSnoozer,

Just took apart my projector again, that specific cap isn't blown on mine. Do you get the white fuzzy screen when you turn your projector on? We might have different problems.

DeepSnoozer,

Just took apart my projector again, that specific cap isn't blown on mine. Do you get the white fuzzy screen when you turn your projector on? We might have different problems.

Hi, if you dont have that cap blowned out, check at the shcematic and try to measure the filter that you have before the cap, they are made to be blowned out before the cap itself i was suprised that my cap blew up but the filter didnt...
you might wanna take a look :)
cheers

Hi, if you dont have that cap blowned out, check at the shcematic and try to measure the filter that you have before the cap, they are made to be blowned out before the cap itself i was suprised that my cap blew up but the filter didnt...
you might wanna take a look :)
cheers

unfortunately I don't have the tools to replace the filter....don't you need very special (read:expensive) tools for that kind of work? I doubt I would be able to replace that capacitor that has blown on yours either.

hi, but have you figured out that the filter might be off? take a multimeter in that and see if you have any passage, also, if you need to replace it, just get your soldering iron and heat it up a little bit and try to prise it off :)

I replaced the blown capacitor and did an inspection of the main board (nothing else seemed blown). Re-Assembled the projector and success! It is working again.

I guess I was lucky that the capacitor blowing didn't take anything else out.

hi, but have you figured out that the filter might be off? take a multimeter in that and see if you have any passage, also, if you need to replace it, just get your soldering iron and heat it up a little bit and try to prise it off :)

Can you do me a favour, since I'm sort an amateur here...can you point out the filter on the picture you took?

I replaced the blown capacitor and did an inspection of the main board (nothing else seemed blown). Re-Assembled the projector and success! It is working again.

I guess I was lucky that the capacitor blowing didn't take anything else out.

Congrats that's awesome! That's the cap from page one of the thread? From one of the power boards?

hey guys, game over for me..., my "dad1000" chip is also dead, this is the chip that receives the 12v from that line where the capacitor blew out. the capacitor blew because of the chip being burned out...,
in sum.. it's garbabe, these chips are nearly impossible to find and even worse to soldier them.

Forget about it!

the end

hey guys, game over for me..., my "dad1000" chip is also dead, this is the chip that receives the 12v from that line where the capacitor blew out. the capacitor blew because of the chip being burned out...,
in sum.. it's garbabe, these chips are nearly impossible to find and even worse to soldier them.

Forget about it!

the end

What a piece of crap these BenQ's are. I won't be buying them again. The same failure in so many cases....something like 10 on this thread alone. Think of the thousands out there that don't know about this board with the same failure.

Wow, Sounds like a lot of PB6100 projectors are failing. I never had any problems with my PB6100. My projector suffered a lot abuse and it still works like new. My projector was been in Iraq for over a year in temps in the 100+ F. I also left my projector in the freezing cold a couple times. ( I accidentally left it in trunk of my car) :p

Hi, somebody have a Picture of a Main Board (or Shematic) of the Benq PB8140, mine has a transistor burn and I can read the model # (just RK) of the transistor. Look in the pictures.:(

I am not sure it is a transistor or not, but it look like and i think the ID is Q7. Thank You for your help.

sorry for my english...

I got it...:rolleyes:

I got it...:rolleyes:

What do you mean you got it?

My 6100 just packed it in too. I paid $500 4 years ago and it has seen extensive use so I have got my moneys worth.

Failure mode… 1 hour into a movie the screen goes dark, Bulb is off and the fans die!

Let the projector cool, turned it on and there is light , get the Blue Benq logo then bam the Bulb goes off and the fans die!

I was just going to replace it but so close to Xmas I am going to delay purchasing the replacement until January. After reading the form I am motivated to trouble shoot the box and will post on what I find. I have a very strong feeling it’s related to the power supply!

Anyone out there using the View Sonic JD6210-3D , looks like a nice step up from the PB6100. Not sure if it would be compatible with the ExpressVu 6141N IRD. I suspect that the YpYrYb output is compatible with the projector but I want to make sure.

The capacitor that SyncMaster750b referes to in the post 08-11-08, 09:09 PM “ Picture 042_resize.jpg” isn’t blown . The white stuff you see is an adhesive to keep the capacitor in place!

I took my PB6100 apart last night but I wasn’t so lucky as to find an obvious component failure. I did clean out the dust, reseat all the connectors and had some success. I fired it up for 40 minutes which is about 38 minutes longer then before. I may have bought some time which is OK. I was a little disappointed that I got it going …. 5 years and lots of use on this box, looking forward to upgrading soon!

The capacitor that SyncMaster750b referes to in the post 08-11-08, 09:09 PM “ Picture 042_resize.jpg” isn’t blown . The white stuff you see is an adhesive to keep the capacitor in place!

I took my PB6100 apart last night but I wasn’t so lucky as to find an obvious component failure. I did clean out the dust, reseat all the connectors and had some success. I fired it up for 40 minutes which is about 38 minutes longer then before. I may have bought some time which is OK. I was a little disappointed that I got it going …. 5 years and lots of use on this box, looking forward to upgrading soon!

I wasn't talking about the capacitor near the upper right, with the white adhesive on it, I was talking about the bulging cap in the center of the image.

Another case of blown capacitor. Thanks to your prior discussions, I located and changed the capacitor in question. After that, I got a pale/grey screen like most of you had.

Has anyone of you replaced all the capacitors on the same board? Or, has anyone looked at the parts before and after the blown capacitor? I suspect that this bad capacitor might be caused by the bad part before it or this leaking capacitor might have damage the part after it.

By the way, does anyone out there own schematics of the circuit boards?

Same thing here...replaced the blown 470uF cap and now my PB6200 turns on but the screen is all white/grey.

Add me to the list of a benq 6100 failure. My problem is similar, if not identical, to ronirwin. Turn the pj on, I get the blue screen but in about 10 seconds, it shuts down and the lamp led on top of the machine goes red. Was using this as a second pj in the basement, so at least my main one isn't lost. But had just hooked up the wii for the kids to use down there on the screen...

With the white/gray screen issue after replacing the bulging cap...I never tested the component before or after as I don't have the knowledge or tools for it. Other than a visual inspection by a buddy who is a electronics engineer...and he couldn't find anything without some expensive tools as well.

I'm sure that something fried on the mainboard....but until someone with the ability can test it, we will never know. Unfortunately most guys who know how to do that kind of stuff, wouldn't be looking on the message board....they would just fix it themselves.

hey guys...

my wife turned my PB6100 last night and I got a green light but no fans, no projection... I searched the internet and came across this site.

Oddly enough, I was JUST replacing caps on my broken LCD monitor.. so i was not suprised to read this. I opened my projector and what do you know... the same exact cap was shot on mine... the exact one!

and it was the EXACT brand/voltage/capacitance as the bad ones in my LCD monitor!

I was all excited, replaced the cap... plugged it in, powered it up and the fans came right on. The projector powered up.. and of course, like you, I got this dingy grey/white screen.

total bummer.


with that said, I had over 3000 hours on the bulb, so the bulb was on its way out... however I would really like to figure this out. I was going to look at it some more today.

sigh...

hey guys...

my wife turned my PB6100 last night and I got a green light but no fans, no projection... I searched the internet and came across this site.

Oddly enough, I was JUST replacing caps on my broken LCD monitor.. so i was not suprised to read this. I opened my projector and what do you know... the same exact cap was shot on mine... the exact one!

and it was the EXACT brand/voltage/capacitance as the bad ones in my LCD monitor!

I was all excited, replaced the cap... plugged it in, powered it up and the fans came right on. The projector powered up.. and of course, like you, I got this dingy grey/white screen.

total bummer.


with that said, I had over 3000 hours on the bulb, so the bulb was on its way out... however I would really like to figure this out. I was going to look at it some more today.

sigh...

I think the cap probably protects something further down the line...once the caps blows....something else does too. Although not exactly sure how caps work. Those caps suck!

Wanted to follow up on a previous post. I was having a problem where the benq would start up, stay on or a second or two (blue screen), then shut off with the lamp light blinking.

So I took it apart and checked the caps - didn't see anything overt, put the wires back together, blew some dust out of there, put it back together and now everything seems to work just fine. The bulb stays one without issues.

Just thought I would post in case that helps others in a similar situation.

Oh, and btw, has about 1750 hours on the bulb.

hey guys, i told you to stick to this thread as i found the problem :)
The main system board (the one that connects to the main DLP chip behind the lens, and has the SVGA and SVideo Ports) has a faulty SMT Capacitor too...

Here's the picutres of my mainboard:
http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/6493/pict0009nx.jpg




after I changed my one cap and got the grey/white screen, i reopened the projector, pulled out my main board, and the same surface mount capacitor was shot on mine.

im throwing in the towel - clearly there is a defect here, and of course everyone's warranty is out.

oh well.

I got 3000 hours out of the bulb - which is more than I should have gotten.

after I changed my one cap and got the grey/white screen, i reopened the projector, pulled out my main board, and the same surface mount capacitor was shot on mine.

im throwing in the towel - clearly there is a defect here, and of course everyone's warranty is out.

oh well.

I got 3000 hours out of the bulb - which is more than I should have gotten.

I took my board apart again, and that SMT resistor doesn't seem blown at all.

Same issue here. Walked into the theater the other night and the projector fan was running even though the projector was off. A quick power cycle proved fruitless so a quick search turned up this thread. After a quick tear down of the projector I've confirmed the the same cap is blown on my projector. UGH! It has been a great projector and I've got years of use out of it but wasn't expecting it to die. I think there are only about 1500 hours on the original bulb and I've got a brand new spare that I got via a rebate when I bought the projector.

I'll source a new cap and replace the blown one but am not holding my breath. Anyone in the market for a brand new 6200 bulb?

Brian

I am not one to join forums, but this one seems to be one of the most informative and timely ones I've ever seen. You all are incredible. I have a Benq PB6100 as well and last night I went to turn it on and just green lights and no power light. After reading this thread I dug in and found just exactly the same problem parts as all of you were discribing, I'm going to do the work tonight, (wish me luck). I spose Benq has done some reengineering, to bad we were the guinee pigs!

well everyone, i guess i had to learn with all of you. I put in the new 470 cap and just like u all, white and grey screen. My resister looks fine on my main video board, so unless there are any other great ideas, i'm going to hang this one up. Its so strange that just like that ....no warning this just went, and yes right after i purchased a new lamp for it. Thanks again for all your help!

Wow, this is crazy how many people have had the same exact problem, well, chalk me as another with the same symptoms. I will be opening my projector this weekend to see if it is salvageable. It lasted since 2003, with 2700 hrs, a good life, but not when you consider it was a grand then :/

Is have the same problem too.

Replaced the broken cap (the same one)
But now a white screen.

Me too.. Same problem here... Same cap... I'll replace it and see if I'm one of the blessed ones.. Hope so, as this economy has me in a state where the idea of buying another projector is a fantasy.... I guess the home theater is now a reading room.. or storage.. maybe I can fix it up real nice for the dog to live in....

This is obviously a chronic issue... BenQ should research this thoroughly and provide us with a list of all possible affected parts to look at/check out, and at least offer us replacement parts (complete boards) at cost or serious discount...

Total bummer.... Football season will never be the same.... :-(

Same blown capacitor here. I would post a picture, except that it would look the same as everyone else's! Has replacing it worked for ANYONE?

Same story. Came home to throw on a movie, whurring sound coming from the benq, no joy on power down/up, found the forum, popped open the unit, same bulging cap, smt cap is good, will replace 470 cap hoping no white screen of doom.

LoL...will keep you guys posted. If all else fails, I'm taking it out back and will reenact the scene from office space with the fax machine. =D

Same story here..same caps is blown , will try tomorrow to replace it .
Just bought a new lamp and no power up..so i did some reading and found this thread..checked the electronic and found the same capacitors is blown.

BENQ PB6200 ( 2004 )

same here, the same capacitor:
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u160/diesel93_ufp/DSCF2486.jpg

Same problem replaced the capacitor and now have white screen. Did anyone every figure this out? I also noticed the led lights light up a pale green color.
So what we know is the capacitor blows. Wonder if something else is damaged that caused the capacitor to blow?

Ok reading this thread was like a mystery novel and it seems the last page is now missing. Did anyone get their projector to work again???? Anyone out there??

Had the same problem as most of you guys..replaced L714 and measured the SMD caps around the DAD1000 chip. Noticed that C701 and C735 had shorted. So a quick replacement with some spares, powered up and blue screen with BENQ logo...Give it a try before scrapping your PB6100's as if a white screen i present it does mean that most of the peripherals are operational just that there is not signal to he DMD chip from the DAD1000 chip. and if you are lucky enough just by replacing those caps (Measure them first) and if your DAD1000 chip is not fried, you will be back in business. the two caps are connected to the VBIAS and VRST rails...give it a try and repost your results. Cheers!

Anyone still looking for a cure or still have their projector? Mine failed with the same symptoms and I just purchased the service manual. I plan to study it over the next few days.

rmgruendel

have you tried measuring the caps i mentioned in my previous post?

Yup. I was fully prepared to fix this baby. I was very naive going into this. I ended up downloading the TI manuals for their chips. I warmed up the soldering iron, multimeter, cap meter and O-scope. Then I opened the main board and found the DAD1000 chip split in half. I read the TI manual where they are very clear the DAD1000 chip must have highly regulated voltage of damage will occur. In summary, the main board is unrepairable. I spoke to BenQ about repairs just to put my mind at ease that I had explored all options. The customer service rep was very honest and steered me away from service. He said "I cannot tell you that what you have read online is accurate, but I will tell you that I would not try to repair this model of projector." I thanked him for his honesty and hung up. It did annoy me when he said that the projector was very old. Seriously? Six years is considered very old?

I started a brief search on projectors that met my budget and required features, then I let out a curse when a GD BenQ came up as the first result.

I think one of the lessons learned here is in this case I got what I paid for. At the time this was the least expensive projector with these features. Don't get me wrong it hurts to have to throw away anything that cost $1,700 and was not over ten years old (3500 hours of use), but it doesn't change the fact that the closest model with the same performance was 50% more. Which leads me to a question for all the suffering PB6xxx owners.

Where do you go to learn what a manufacturers quality and service history is?

Ouch the DAD1000 chip split in half? talk about a poor design on the power regulation side. well i found that many component dealers in china do have stock of the TI DAD1000 chip but than again like you said i think its not worth it. So far i have fixed 4 units with the same problem and i have noticed a simple problem like a loose cable would cause the caps near the DAD chip to give way.

As to answer your question on the history and quality, i guess the only way is look at blogs regarding a particular model you are interested in and do an indepth study on the common problems owners face. Tho problems may not arise immediately but its a start. Another important aspect to consider is the cooling of the projector. Most of the designs i have seen have poor cooling which leads to component failure and most importantly do not ever leave your projector on standby when not in use, as most of the chips on the mainboard are still on without the aid of any cooling. Even tho they are designed to withstand high operating temps but still why waste the lifespan of a chip when not in use.

Just my thoughts,
Cheers

Well, my PB6100 lasted about a year and a half after changing out the capacitor and yesterday, I heard the terrible "fan" sound again.

I took it apart and the same capacitor had blown - Argh!!!

Luckily I had a spare and replaced it. Powered it up and it worked like a charm...until about 15 minutes of use...then it seemed like the image was phasing in and out of colors/brightness....then the lamp turned off and the Lamp light is blinking red. I power cycled and tried a few other things (re-seating the lamp), but the lamp light still flashes red.

From what I know, there is no way to test the lamp. The lamp only has around 1000 hours on it, so it 'should' still have lots of use on it.

Any ideas out there on how to troubleshoot it. I would spend the money on a new lamp (I've found them for around $150 online) if that was the issue (and hopefully get another few years out of it), but definitely don't want to waste the money if it isn't the problem.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Hi all,

I too have the Benq PB6100 and have had same cap 25V 470uF blown.

I have managed to replace the cap but the rear fans do not turn on.

The projector turns on and I get the blue screen with the BenQ logo and after about 10 seconds the bulb turns off and the Power and Temp light flashes red while the lamp light flashes green.

I have looked over the board the fans are connected to and can not see anything else damaged.

I am not sure how to test each component but I do have a multi meter to use if somebody can guide me. Can anybody give me and idea on what to check?

Thanks

I also have a similar problem with my PB6200. I wonder, how many people were able to change the capacitor and have a working unit? is it worth the effort?

Thanks!

I changed the capacitor... now it does power on, but it would be a white screen! :(

My PB6100 had the same symptoms and I found this forum.
I looked for the 470uF cap and it was dead. Replaced it, fixed a cable I broke in the meantime, turned it on .... tam tam and IT WORKED again. ;)

Thanks to this forum and SyncMaster750b.
There should be a counter for dead PB6100/PB6200 and perhaps even more BenQ's with the same Power-supply board, which could be revived and which could not be revived.

Think 20% they could be revived rest is dead.

Same thing for my PB6100. Bought it used about 2.5 years ago (it came with my house). A couple weeks ago I heard the fan noise. Figured the kids left it on so I went to turn the power off and it would not turn off. I then unplugged it.

Went to turn it on a few days later and same thing. Automatically figured it was the bulb so bought a new one and replaced it...wasted $130.

After finding this forum I took a look at the cap, same exact one blown.

Oh, well - cheap crap, what can you expect. Never heard of benq before this, now I know not to ever buy that brand again.

Followed the advice and checked the capacitor as in the picuture and sure enough it was blown. I'll be replacing and let y'all know how it worked out.

I have the same issue on my unit, replaced the cap, and now it powers on OK, but now the white screen issue. Does anyone have a fix for this?

My issue was that I believe the blown cap also caused the main board to fail, and it just wasn't worth it at the time to replace the main board and cross my fingers. I sold it for parts for $75.

If nothing from this post works for you, then cut your losses.