Hello All

I searched for this problem I am having; but usually I find that the lamp totally fails, not what I am experiencing. I have a HC1500 & I love it; has been great. Picture is nice and bright.

I have had it for about 14 months - 600 hours 'low mode'.

Turned it on about 2 weeks ago and it was no longer as bright as usual; probably about 60% lower; previously you could see an image in the daytime; now you can't.

Sorry; I am inexperienced with projectors - but I haven't read about this situation before, I have read that if they go - then they don't work at all. Is this another indication of a bad lamp? - that it suddenly will drop in brightness like this.

I took the lamp enclosure out and I wasn't really sure what I was looking for; but it seemed fine. I was a little nervous as all these warning labels going on about Mercury and it exploding ;)

I have tried different video sources - all same problem.

I'm gonna have to suck it up and buy a new lamp aren't I.

Thank you!!
David

Projector lamps do not maintain the same level of brightness throughout their life. You can expect at least a reduction of 60% - 75% by the time the lamp reaches its rated life.

It is not unusual for a lamp to have a drop in brightness. Not all lamps behave the same, some will fail before their time, some will go longer. It's a crap shoot and it's the way it is.

Yes, when a lamp does fail, it no longer functions. But there are "in-betweens". A lamp can get weak and fail to stay on. It will fire and run for a few minutes, but then shut down. Also, a lamp can explode. But that is not as dramatic as it sounds. You'll hear a "pop", and then no picture. No Marvin the Martian Earth Shattering Kaboom.

Inspecting the lamp will do you no good, there is nothing to look for. It's time to replace the lamp.

Thank you very much; I shall take a deep breath and order the lamp. I've been reading about how to extend lamp life on these forums and its seems I've been doing many things wrong (aka 'time between power cycles')

I've so much to learn :)

What is in this forum is the reported experience of other users. You can do everything right and still have a lamp fail early.

As car manufacturers say, "Your Mileage May Vary".

Thank you very much; I shall take a deep breath and order the lamp. I've been reading about how to extend lamp life on these forums and its seems I've been doing many things wrong (aka 'time between power cycles')

I've so much to learn :)

Just in case anyone else has a HC1500 - I did send a note to Mitsubishi about this; they even called me back. They said; if the hours were under 600 hours - they 'would replace it'. (Of course I'm JUST over that ;-)) - but I thought that was neat; seems like good customer service. My proj is over 12 mos old.

If anyone else has a new one and their lamp goes at 580 hours... you might be in luck.

One caveat .. I would have had to send the entire projector to California; which seemed odd.

Anyway - thats it - new lamp ordered ;)

^ That's so they can confirm the number of hours and test the new lamp before returning it. There's a slight chance an internal issue could've caused what you reported, or you could be BSing about the lamp life...

Oh ok - thanks TF Ghost. Didn't even think about that - guess I'm too honest ;) -

BTW: It was the lamp as previously suggested; my new lamp looks great.

One thing about this experience is I've learned a great deal about projectors from this forum; it prompted me to paint my wall with one of those paint mixes - and it really did improve the image - I am so pleased with the results. Maybe one day I can get a dedicated screen :)

HC1500 here, had for year or more. Have 1500 hours on it now and looks good.