ive had this for just over a month now and put about 100 hours on it. i am thoroughly impressed by this so far and have been very happy, but two days ago it started being a little finicky about powering up. it would power cycle 2 or 3 times before firing the lamp. then yesterday it worked fine, now today it just wouldnt fire. tried unplugging it a few times, it would just power cycle then eventually go to red led(lamp error, not standby). so i un-mounted it, pulled the lamp and reseated it, tried again and same thing. i pulled it down, reseated the lamp again and just put on a table to try it again and now it fires up without issue. its now back on the ceiling and working fine. ive also but it one bright mode in case the lamp needs to burn in a little(could that be the case?).

when i got it, i read up on proper lamp usage. i never turn it off then on again right away, ive used the rule that if i will be using it again within 2 hours i will just leave it on rather than turn it off, and i never use it for short periods. it usually gets turned on once a day, runs for 2-6 hours and gets turned off(standby).

it was a refurb, and im 3 days past the factory lamp warranty but i have another 2 months on the projector itself. i also have a mack warranty on it. should i contact optoma? id sure hate to lose this thing for 2-3 weeks. could this be a problem that needs fixing? or was it just an improperly seated lamp, or something else? anyone else experience this? i would think if the lamp itself was actually toast it wouldnt be working again now......

i knew i was taking a chance with a refurb, but thats why i want to be on top of this if i can get optoma to fix the issue(if there is one).

I have HD 70 and had similar issues , first thing you make sure you have a good UPS with at least the twice the wattage of the projector power usage. When I replaced the power cable mine is working OK. Just a thought, if you have desktop power cable lying around just switch it and see

i tried a different power cable, made no difference. and when it runs, there is no issue, it works great untill i shut it off.......its been running fine since i posted.

ive heard conflicting views on using a UPS, we never have power outages and even so ive heard different things on whether this is bad or not for the bulb. that and i dont really have $150 or more to spend on a UPS right now.

thanks for the input though.

well, i suppose i should be concerned. today it wont fire up at all(yet), just keeps power cycling then goes to red lamp led. optoma's office is closed of course, so i'm gonna call them tommorow.

sigh.....suppose i will have to ship it in, likely be without it for a month or so. i sure hope its not the lamp, it only has 100hrs and the factory warranty ran out like 5 days ago........

edit: after a quick google, looks like overall people have had good luck with optoma regardring this and similar issues, some even well past warranty......so hopefully all goes well.

edit again: after unplugging it, and replugging it about 10 times on the table it finally lit back up. i let it run on the table a few minutes, then turned it off and mounted it on the ceiling again, it fired up again without hesitation. seems after its warm, it works ok. im still wondering if this is a lamp driver issue, or the lamp itself is just having difficulty firing. obviously, the problem lies in getting the lamp to fire initially, once it does it runs great(no flicker or anything). ill have to see what optoma says.......

in case anyone else has this problem:

after some phone tag with optoma, they said its most likely a lamp driver problem and that i should send it in to be checked out. today it actually fired up on it's second attempt......but i might as well have it checked out since my factory warranty is only another 60 days or so.....

on a side note, my old sp4805 is really close to shattering the colour wheel(the noise is almost unbearable), so i wont even have a backup to use......oh well.

Thanks for the update biztyke. Nice to know just in case any of use have the same problem.

Please keep us updated through the rest of the process. My HD65 is still great but I'd like to be prepared if I need to deal with Optoma for service. Thanks again.

will do, im waiting till monday to send it in. forgot today is a holiday and i still need an RMA# before i send it in.

well, i said i would update this, so i am. i have not sent my projector in, this was due to some unexpected financial setbacks and i couldnt afford the $50 shipping at the time. well, it's 2 weeks later and i can afford it now.......but the projector seems to have ironed itself out. its been working just fine, and fires up without hesitation every day.

i'm still a little leary, as i dont want this to crop up again.....but at the same time, theres no point in sending it in now because likely they wont be able to reproduce the error. so right now it sits at the "we'll see" status.....

I've had a problem similar to this on occasion. In every instance it occurred after the HDMI connection had been changed for one reason or another.

For instance, one time I decided to run my HD Cable box via HDMI instead of component just to see if I could tell the difference. So I powered the HD-65 down, swapped-out the cables, waited 30 minutes, and then fired it back up. Instead of coming on, all three warning lamps illuminated on the "top" of the projector. (It's wall mounted, so the "top" is actually the "bottom"; but you get the idea.) I switched it off, waited about 5 minutes, and tried it again. This time it came up fine. Well after trying the HD Cable box for a few days via HDMI, I decided that it did look a little better, but I was compromising too much by not being able to run my DVD player in 1080p upconversion mode. So I switched the cables again --- and the same thing happened. Since that last cable switch I've had no problems.?? :confused:

I've had a problem similar to this on occasion. In every instance it occurred after the HDMI connection had been changed for one reason or another.

For instance, one time I decided to run my HD Cable box via HDMI instead of component just to see if I could tell the difference. So I powered the HD-65 down, swapped-out the cables, waited 30 minutes, and then fired it back up. Instead of coming on, all three warning lamps illuminated on the "top" of the projector. (It's wall mounted, so the "top" is actually the "bottom"; but you get the idea.) I switched it off, waited about 5 minutes, and tried it again. This time it came up fine. Well after trying the HD Cable box for a few days via HDMI, I decided that it did look a little better, but I was compromising too much by not being able to run my DVD player in 1080p upconversion mode. So I switched the cables again --- and the same thing happened. Since that last cable switch I've had no problems.?? :confused:

Sounds like the Cable box may have a ground problem that is messing with your PJ. I'd get that swapped out before it messes it up.

ok, i have an update for this situation.

the projector ran fine for about a month since i posted this thread, then about 2 weeks ago it started doing the same thing. after a few days it wouldnt fire up at all, so i popped it open and found the lamp was gone(not exploded, but deformed). needless to say i was not impressed, after two months and just over 300 hours i found this to be unacceptable for a lamp rated at 3000 hours.

i had about 2 weeks warranty left, though no bulb warranty through optoma. i decided to send it in anyways, because i thought there must be something else wrong based on how it was acting. after it was received by optoma they sent me a quote for $400CDN to replace the lamp. this irritated me to no end because not only did i get only 10% of the bulb's life, but they quoted me a "dealer" price that is higher than i can find online.

so i decided to call them up and voice my concern, i basically said that if something wasn't done that i was most likely going to sell the unit as soon as i got it back, cut my losses and never buy optoma again(which was the truth). i just recieved an email from their rma dept saying they are going to cover the cost of the lamp!

so, although this has been a dissapointment, overall i am very happy with the way optoma took care of me and have a new found respect for them. i hope that the first lamp was a dud from the get go and that this wont be a common occurrence with this unit, but for now i am a happy customer.:)

thanks for an update. I just hope you haven't had any flickering issues prior to your lamp dying.

well, it's been shipped out today so hopefully i will get it by the end of the week:).

i didnt notice any flickering, only the issue explained above.

well, it's been shipped out today so hopefully i will get it by the end of the week:).

i didnt notice any flickering, only the issue explained above.

Thanks for replying :D. Hopefully you won't have any issues and you'll enjoy the little guy. As much as I enjoy my. Last night I've watched "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" bluray extended edition, it was pure joy watching this old classic.... ;)

well, a final update for those who might be interested. i received my projector today. i did not try it first, and went to mount it immediately but upon turning it on it would not fire the lamp again. so i took it down and checked the lamp, they did indeed put a new one in so i put it back together and tried it on the table. after two attempts it fired up, i turned it off and let it cool for 45mins. when i mounted it again, it fired up immediately although it flickered for about the first 5 minutes.

now, hopefully this does not continue, but as far as the lamp is concerned i am convinced the original lamp was no good from the get go. this one is substantially brighter than the old one ever was, it is sunny out and i can even leave the curtains cracked and still find it very watchable......its an incredible difference.

one thing that puzzles me though is that when i sent it in i thought it had around 250hrs on it, and when i talked to optoma they said it had well over 300.......but they didnt reset the timer, and it currently says 230hrs(like i thought).......so it still leaves me somewhat skeptical of their service. i think for anyone who sends in a unit to optoma, you should make note of everything relevant and be assertive in order to get good service, otherwise i suspect they will try to do as little as possible.

hopefully all goes well from now on, as my warranty of any kind is used up completely and i will not have any recourse should this start acting up on me again. we shall see.......

one thing that puzzles me though is that when i sent it in i thought it had around 250hrs on it, and when i talked to optoma they said it had well over 300.......but they didnt reset the timer, and it currently says 230hrs(like i thought).......so it still leaves me somewhat skeptical of their service.
one way to reconcile their claim of hours vs the projector menu's might be if you ran it in eco (std) mode very often or not. I think the timer actually counts either 1.5 or 2hrs of eco mode use as one "regular" hour on the lamp timer. There may very well be a service menu they can get into that gives them the exact total hours, not the "estimated" hours. If that makes any sense, I feel like i'm explaining it wrong.

well, heres another update to this seemingly unending saga. within a few days of getting my projector back, it again would not turn on. i checked the bulb, they indeed did put a new one in......but it was still almost impossible to turn it on.

i emailed them, and stated that i had complained of this issue months ago and was told i did something wrong. then when i sent it in, i specifically asked whether or not the projector had been tested to make sure everything else was functioning properly, i was told it had been. i again told them how displeased i was with it.........

their response basically said that it was designed to work that way. really? are you kidding me?

i responded back saying that i tried 3 hours the night before to start the thing up and it wouldnt, if this is how it was designed to work then there is something seriously wrong with your R&D department.

so after reading that, they sent me a new RMA# and told me to ship it out again. i shipped it out almost 2 weeks ago, and not wanting to pay for express shipping twice i just did regular parcel.......and now canada post seems to have just left it sitting in their sorting office in mississauga for over a week now. now i have to phone them to find out what's going on........at least i insured it.

this whole mess has left me disheartened with optoma. i have now been without my HD65 for almost 2 months, and friday i broke down and bought a used benq pb6240 to tide me over for $150. it is by no means a match for hd65 in terms of image quality........but it is still pretty decent, and hey, it actually turns on when i want it to! how about that.

i dont know what i intended by posting this. maybe just to ease my frustrations a bit by sharing my experience. and hopefully if i can straighten out canada post, optoma will actually be able to track down the problem this time.


one way to reconcile their claim of hours vs the projector menu's might be if you ran it in eco (std) mode very often or not. I think the timer actually counts either 1.5 or 2hrs of eco mode use as one "regular" hour on the lamp timer. There may very well be a service menu they can get into that gives them the exact total hours, not the "estimated" hours. If that makes any sense, I feel like i'm explaining it wrong.

that makes perfect sense. but how am i suppose to know that? i said i thought it had 250hrs, and their response indicated i was lying about it.

Very sorry to hear of all your problems with the HD65 biztyke..You certainly have had a bad time of it..

I bought my refurbished HD65 from a Canadian seller ( probably the same one!) about a month ago, and so far no problems..

One thing I've noticed with this unit (compared to my previous Benq W100) is that either the front sensor, or the remote..or both.. are not as sensitive as the Benq..
With the Benq I could point the remote at the screen and bounce the beam back to the projector to turn it on..With the Optoma it won't turn on..

On several occasions I've had to hold the remote power button down for several seconds before it would fire up..pointing it at the sensor..but it does eventually work..

I don't know whether this may be your problem, but if you haven't tried that it might be worth a shot..

The other thing I've noticed with this remote is that it has a very narrow beam angle.(probably part of the reason why I can't bounce it off the screen) and if you don't point the remote straight on at the sensor, it won't work..

I hope you get your problems sorted because it is a great little projector,,

no, my problem is most likely a bad ballast and optoma has just overlooked it thus far. i can get the unit to "try" to power on, but it just wont ignite the lamp.

as far as the remote, mine didnt work very well out of the box. i have a harmony 550 universal remote that i programmed for it and it works just fine. funny thing is, the remote for this used benq doesnt work very well either...and again, my harmony does just fine with it. so my guess is it is just a weak remote, i think the sensor on the unit is just fine.

as far as the remote, mine didnt work very well out of the box. i have a harmony 550 universal remote that i programmed for it and it works just fine. funny thing is, the remote for this used benq doesnt work very well either...and again, my harmony does just fine with it. so my guess is it is just a weak remote, i think the sensor on the unit is just fine.
That's interesting!..I have the Harmony 525 and it won't change anything on the projector..
My IR sensor for the equipment is just below the screen..and it controls all the gear in another room just fine, but pointing the 525 at the IR sensor won't operate the HD65, which makes me think that the HD65 sensor is just not up to it..
The Benq worked fine with this setup..

Any update on your issue did Optoma find the problem? I've been seriously considering this projector but iv heard some mixed things about the bulb =/

Not trying to hijack your thread but has anyone with this projector reached over 1000 hours yet?

Hope you get your problem resloved!

as a matter of fact, i just got home and saw an email saying it has been shipped back to me. they have had it for a total of 2 weeks, so i would hope that would be enough time to find and fix the problem. i have not gotten any emails stating exactly what was done, though i haven't really been pushing the issue. we shall see when it gets here either friday or monday...........

ok, hopefully this will be the end of this saga. i got the projector back today, mounted it and it fired up without a hitch. apparently they replaced the lamp driver, which is exactly what i thought the problem was all along......but what do i know, i'm just a lowly consumer.

i am happy they finally spent some time, tested it and replaced the faulty part.....but at the same time i am dissapointed that it took 3 months to finally get a result(working projector).

ah well, c'est la vie. now i can actually start enjoying this beautiful picture.