Edit: Read this then scroll down to the bottom for resolution and cause.

Hey guys,

I'm really at my wits end with JVC and wanted to post about my misfortunes in the hope that somebody at JVC gets off their lazy arses and actually supplies me with a product that is fit for purpose.

I've had 2 machines and 4 problems spread over 9 months.

Right from the start I've had nothing problems. I ordered my HD1 in late Dec 07 and within a week the first unit stopped displaying an image via HDMI. I got a brand new replacement and very quickly too so I was impressed at the speedy after sales service at that time. Things go down hill from here though.

Fast forward 5 months and around 1800 lamp hours later. I'd got shading problems on this second machine causing a red/blue/yellow/green tints in the corners of the image. I got on to my supplier again, told them the problem and they arranged to have JVC collect the projector. I had to wait over a month before the machine was returned and yep, they seemingly fixed the problem by replacing the 'optical block' according to the repair sheet that was returned with the projector.

At this point I also bought a new lamp as the other was approaching 2000 hours.

Now 3 months after the repair and about 600 hours into the new lamp I can see a very clear green shading in the bottom left and a magenta one the whole way across the top 1/2 of the image. I've ignored it for a couple of weeks now but its clearly getting worse and this is exactly the same symptoms as before.

To top it all off a fan has just started an intermittent squeak which is very annoying during quiet moments in films.

And guess what? I'm going to have to wait another 4+ weeks to get these latest problems fixed. So out of 9 months of owning the machine, 2 of those will have been spent at JVC for repair, about 3 months suffering degraded image quality due to shading and only 4 months of the projector actually working as it should.

I'm really at my wits end with this company and its product, its one thing after another. I'm no stranger to projectors and this will be my 7th model spanning a period of nearly 10 years. I've had Sony, Hitachi, Barco, Themescene, Yamaha and NEC. None have ever given me the trouble this thing has. I will never touch JVC products again and I'm pressing for a swap out to a different model from my supplier.

IMO JVC is the pits and I'll never recommend anything from them.

Hey guys,

I'm really at my wits end with JVC and wanted to post about my misfortunes in the hope that somebody at JVC gets off their lazy arses and actually supplies me with a product that is fit for purpose.

I've had 2 machines and 4 problems spread over 9 months.

Right from the start I've had nothing problems. I ordered my HD1 in late Dec 07 and within a week the first unit stopped displaying an image via HDMI. I got a brand new replacement and very quickly too so I was impressed at the speedy after sales service at that time. Things go down hill from here though.

Fast forward 5 months and around 1800 lamp hours later. I'd got shading problems on this second machine causing a red/blue/yellow/green tints in the corners of the image. I got on to my supplier again, told them the problem and they arranged to have JVC collect the projector. I had to wait over a month before the machine was returned and yep, they seemingly fixed the problem by replacing the 'optical block' according to the repair sheet that was returned with the projector.

At this point I also bought a new lamp as the other was approaching 2000 hours.

Now 3 months after the repair and about 600 hours into the new lamp I can see a very clear green shading in the bottom left and a magenta one the whole way across the top 1/2 of the image. I've ignored it for a couple of weeks now but its clearly getting worse and this is exactly the same symptom as

To top it all off a fan has just started an intermittent squeak which is very annoying during quiet moments in films.

And guess what? I'm going to have to wait another 4+ weeks to get these latest problems fixed. So out of 9 months of owning the machine, 2 of those will have been spent at JVC for repair, about 3 months suffering degraded image quality due to shading and only 4 months of the projector actually working as it should.

I'm really at my wits end with this company and its product, its one thing after another. I'm no stranger to projectors and this will be my 7th model spanning a period of nearly 10 years. I've had Sony, Hitachi, Barco, Themescene, Yamaha and NEC. None have ever given me the trouble this thing has. I will never touch JVC products again and I'm pressing for a swap out to a different model from my supplier.

IMO JVC is the pits and I'll never recommend anything from them.

If you read the JVC threads this is a very unusual case as far as reliability is concerned. As an example, I have well over 1,000 hrs on my RS1 and haven't run into any issues so far with reliability. It sounds like they have stood by the product and swapped it out for a new one once and later swapped out the optical block. I've used 4 different JVC projectors over the years and never had a problem with any of them, although others have posted that if you do have problems their customer support isn't the best. Is your projector used in a potentially harsh environment (hush box for example)?

It's too bad you are having these problems but JVC is a great company with great products and I'm sure they will address the issues.

I too have a JVC RS1, the US equivalentt to yours which is the european model, & have never had any problems, plus, you are the 1st I've heard with a major issue to this projector period....I wish you luck.

HD1 here and so far so good. I also bought the additional 3 yr warranty just in case though. Hope you get it worked out. HD1 is a very nice projector.

Have to agree with everyone else here - unfortunately no product is infallible and somebody (or two) will always end up with issues. Based on how JVC have handled your case I cant really fault them. Your first issue was relatively fast into your new PJs life so they did the right thing and replaced the whole unit, the other two issues were months down the track and they did what any other PJ manufacturer would do.
BTW the I am currently on my second Sony VW60 that exhibits the same issue as the first, but Im not unhappy with Sony nor the dealer I bought it from.

That's an average of 12 hours per day...so presumably it's often on for significantly longer than that?
I can't find any numbers for the RS/HD1, but it may be that this model isn't designed for such usage levels (some projectors list a max duty cycle).

The symptoms sound like heat damage - maybe a thermistor is not working. Or, if the fan does regularly kick in to high-speed mode, then cleaning filters/active cooling/allowing more airflow space would hopefully help prevent recurrence after it's fixed.

Truefully what has been your filter maintenance schedule ??

I have had front projectors for many years and kinda got into the habit of air intake cleaning every two weeks depending on usage of course. There in no greater projector problem "booster" than dirty filter('s) that will build up internal heat. I admit my house can be called dirty because of grandkids, two large dogs and just normal daily traffic.
If we want to increase dependability and decrease problems like your having we have to keep those filters clear.

My experience with JVC is they make some of the most robust and reliable projectors around.

except for that first lens screw on the RS1. That thing was junk ;)

You know, I never mount upside down anymore, with the robust lens shifts many of the new projectors have. To many reports of the upside down mounting leading to issues.

I'm glad you got this taken care of, but please post the details of what caused the issue. I know it may be embarrassing, but that info may help others that find themselves in a similar situation.

And maybe change the thread title to something more positive?

I will bet he had mounting screws that were too long

"I will bet he had mounting screws that were too long"

To be fair, if that's the case, I'd count that as a design flaw, since it's an accident waiting to happen.

Shinobiwan - http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14681772#post14681772

I was openly complaining about dust blobs on my new PJ that turned out to be (wait for it) the *wall*. Embarassing but it helps others notice that maybe they need to do a quick check before calling support or complaining.

To be honest, what you think was embarassing or stupid WILL help another in your situation who googles for help for similar problems, or comes here hoping for answers. Imagine how pissed they would be if they see your thread, have the same issues and the thread just STOPS without your helpful yet embarassing solution?

I would personally emplore you to post the shame so we can all get a good laugh, and knowledge from it.

Sorry guys, forgot about this thread. I don't visit this part of the forum very often. Only when I want to bitch. :D Wasn't intentionally leaving you hanging... honest.

Lets just say that you don't let folks smoke in the same room as the projector whilst its on ;)

Thanks Shinobiwan. That's actually not too embarrassing...I was thinking something along the lines of taping the filters shut due to light spill or removing a fan or two because the projector's too loud. :D

I'm sure everyone understands something simple like this can easily be overlooked. Now when people search for a problem and find this thread they'll understand how seemingly simple things can drastically affect sensitive equipment like this over time, and they won't make the same mistake. I'm sure the dealer and manufacturer understand as well since it wouldn't be difficult to tell it had smoke damage yet they still swapped the unit and upgraded it!

You may want to change/add to the title or add to your first post for those that read half of or skim through threads like this since the dealer and manufacturer really hooked you up.

Good luck!

I took the liberty of editing your thread title so that folks don't make any judgements based on an incomplete story. If you would like it changed to something different, just drop me a PM and I'll take care of it for you.

Thats one of the reasons why I love projectors. When Im not watching movies, I turn it on so it can double as a smokeless ashtray. When I get a new projector, the first thing I do is replace the filter with a HEPA one... it sucks that smoke right up! Just sit back, pop in a flick, light up a smoke and relax. Projectors are built for this.















Dont smoke in your theaters guys!

"This blokes the internal filter eventually and causes a rise in internal temperature which burns the panels."

I'd have expected the pj to protect itself by turning itself off if overheated.

Luckily I have a projector room with a hole in the wall to project through. The room has windows near the ceiling for ventilation and I can run the fan on high altitude mode to keep the projector cooler. Try putting your hand near the projector vent with the fan on normal and feel how hot it is. Then turn it on high and give it a few minutes to cool down. You'll be surprised at how much cooler the air is coming from the vents. The vented air goes from almost burning hot with low fan to luke warm with high fan. The optical block will be a lot cooler with high fan mode.

Ron

Good advice IF you can stand the noise. The JVC, in the same room as yourself, is quite loud indeed! However its something I'm now considering enforcing when people in the house use the machine for long periods. However for serious, single movie viewing then I'd always use in normal fan mode.

Yeah the projector room blocks most of the noise. My previous projector was just as loud as the RS1 on high fan so I am used to it. In very quiet scenes I can still hear it in the other room but it isn't loud enough to distract. If it was over my head then that's a completely different story. My projector throw is 23 feet back from the screen. I sit 16 feet from the screen and the projector is in another room so it never bothers me. So in my case using high fan is just another means to help it last longer. I am not one to upgrade often.

Ron

My RS1 has about 4500 hours on it, so far. No problems. Looks as good as the day I bought it. Isn't any louder. I think it is very well built. JVC has been known for making reliable PJs.

I was talking to the one of the JVC national trainers for the Western USA a couple of weeks ago. According to him they have so few warranty repairs for the HD/RS PJs in the US that it only takes a single technician to handle them all. He said they typically have a 3 day turnaround time for warranty repairs. The MTBF for the imaging chips is 100K hours.

My previous PJ was an Infocus SP7200. I put somewhere between 15K and 20K hours on it. I had to stop using it because it developed excessive color wheel whine, though. I fully expect the RS1 to go much longer than that.

Glenn