DO you have the "sticky iris" issue?
Does your unit turn off after 30-60 and must be power cycled.

I do.

I called Panasonic support tonight. THe did extend the warranty on these devices to 18mo or 3000hr (which every comes first). I'm @ 20 months and 1300 hours and I have a nice brick.

Reading on the web, it seems that this is a very common problem and panasonic has somewhat recognized that this is a flaw. (extending the warranty and replacing it with a completly different part)...

I'm thinking of contacting lawyer for class action lawsuit.

Any thoughts?

DO you have the "sticky iris" issue?
Does your unit turn off after 30-60 and must be power cycled.

I do.

I called Panasonic support tonight. THe did extend the warranty on these devices to 18mo or 3000hr (which every comes first). I'm @ 20 months and 1300 hours and I have a nice brick.

Reading on the web, it seems that this is a very common problem and panasonic has somewhat recognized that this is a flaw. (extending the warranty and replacing it with a completly different part)...

I'm thinking of contacting lawyer for class action lawsuit.

Any thoughts?

Good luck:rolleyes:

Here's my thought... send it in like everyone else did and get the ax200u iris installed at no charge, warranty or not, that's what Panny has been doing.

^ +1

DO you have the "sticky iris" issue?
Does your unit turn off after 30-60 and must be power cycled.

I do.

I called Panasonic support tonight. THe did extend the warranty on these devices to 18mo or 3000hr (which every comes first). I'm @ 20 months and 1300 hours and I have a nice brick.

Reading on the web, it seems that this is a very common problem and panasonic has somewhat recognized that this is a flaw. (extending the warranty and replacing it with a completly different part)...

I'm thinking of contacting lawyer for class action lawsuit.

Any thoughts?

My thoughts - you are 2 years too late.

This was beaten into the ground long ago. If there was ever going to be a class action lawsuit it would have already occurred. Panasonic has released a new model with a fix and dealt with those who had the problem in a manner that would cover them legally had this been dragged into court back when the AX100u was the current model.

It sounds like you contacted Panasonic directly. Try contacting Heartland and see what they tell you. No harm in asking.

Does anyone know if Heartland will replace the iris as a pre-emptive measure? My ax100 is coming up on 18 months and haven't had any problems. I know from the ax100 issues thread, there were cases if Heartland couldn't reproduce the symptom, they basically shipped it back to you. I am really worried that my iris could start acting up after exceeding this grace period and then be stuck with a repair bill.

Mine was just repaired under the "extended" warranty and works perfectly now. Sorry you are having issues. I agree that a class action will likely not work given the olive branch they have offered in extending the warranty. Mine was about 20 months, but only had 600 hours and panny covered it. Did you ask them about your specific situation? They got panny to cover mine.
Good luck,
Pat

I just started having this problem about two weeks ago with 986 hours on the bulb, searched the web, found the answer here and called Heartland on Monday 8 Dec 2008. According to them Panasonic decided to stop covering this as a defect on Friday 5 Dec 2008. I've since talked with Panasonic only to be told (after an "appeal") that Panasonic would replace the part but I had to pay the labor. Class actions only make lawyers rich, what we want is fairness.

Call on another day and see if you get the same answer or a more forgiving CSR! Good Luck!

You can also try the DIY options listed in the other thread.

wow, I *just* sent mine in and got it back on the 5th for the iris issue. That sucks that they stopped warrantying the bad iris. only problem now is that I'm seeing a small red spot on the bottom left corner of the screen and the screen goes lighter, darker, lighter, darker when watching anything. they said I need to replace the lamp and that should fix it. has anyone else experienced the lighter/darker thing and didi replacing the lamp resolve it? Thanks.

Just to let everyone know, I started seeing flickering issues months ago (the start of the issue?) then it started the shutting down thing. BTW, powering off the toggle switch in the back of the unit would correct it until the next cold start. I contacted Panasonic, and they tried blowing me off at first. I persisted and I am even past the extended 6 month period, and they are replacing the iris.

I agree though, it is a known issue, they have the serial numbers of the units that had this known issue. If you want to stay on top in the consumer eye they should have stepped up and done a recall.

Go for it. I will gladly enlist in the pursuit of "stop screwing the consumer" on this one. The unit should never have made it to the market. For $1500 - $2000 we should all expect more than what we were sold. Further.... being treated like I was the ONLY one with the problem, and no one there had any clue as to what was wrong (yeah right), really pizzered me off. I'd have to say that for me.... this was the worst purchase I have made in a long while. Now my bulb holder is crumbling into powder from heat, and contaminating my entire lens and bulb interior, making my image complete crap.

Again this product should never have made it to the shelf.

Sign me up!

I suggest you escalate the calls to Panasonic in regards to repairing your unit.
There are other folks that have had more hours and longer ownership than you have.

Don't take no for an answer, escalate to a manager, etc....

They denied me when mine crapped out(was over the hours), and I just bitched about it, and they took it in and repaired it.

I have the same "sticky iris" issue ~ shutting off now four times before the unit operates correctly. I was advised that once it gets up to 8 times, the unit will no longer work. I have owned this unit for slightly over 2 years and have less than 800 hours on it.

The CSR at ProjectorPeople is sending an e-mail to some top guy at Panasonic to see if they will replace the iris for the cost of labor. I also called a more local repair place. The tech there said these Panasonic LCD projectors don't have an iris, so I didn't know what I was talking about. He double checked with another technician and, guess what, he didn't know what HE was talking about!

If this many people are having the identical problem, it is something that Panasonic should certainly have taken care of. I didn't send it back during the first year, as the problem was so intermittent that I was afraid that they would not find a problem and I would be stuck with all sorts of charges. Had I known that they would have been looking for a specific problem, I would have sent it in.

Otherwise, I really do love having a projector! I just don't want to spend an additional arm and leg over the original $2k purchase price for a known defect!

on 13/2/8 my ax100 was repaired unter warrenty because it's brightness was pulsating. Invoice says 2 parts were replaced. analysis block and Iris pt-ax100E/200E (TXZEN01VKF7). On 12/6/8 it was sent in again because it would start up for a minute or so then shutdown. Iris was red in diagnostic menu. The iris was again replaced.

I assume by the part description that an ax200 iris was replaced the first time. Anyone else found there problems returning after an iris replacement?

I just bought this projector, demo with 95 hours on it. Could have the ax200 for 500$ cnd more, but kind of short in money and from what i've read, the ax200 isn't much of an upgrade.

What are the effect of a bad iris, how i'll see it?
Is there any other issue i shuld check for while i still can get a crdit and take the ax200?
thx

Hopefully this helps:

www. fixya .com/support/t451897-panasonic_pt_ax100u_ec

It's a very easy fix. :)

Hi!

Sure would appreciate if you could help me figure out how to read what you tried before I ship out my AE1000U (Panasonic Projector).

I've searched for your article on Fixya a number of times, but no luck.

Please?

Steve