my story thus far:

my x1 has 2300 hours on it and is about to leave the 2yr full warranty window.

about 2 weeks ago I waded thru the infocus on-line warranty repair process, as I live > 250 miles from a repair center. I received a robot-reply indicating a tech would contact me withing 2 days.

nothing for 2 weeks. I called infocus, waded thru the phone menus ["this is modern communication?"] and was on hold for ~ 20 minutes and then spoke to a tech. Got an email w/ the RMA and sent it off yesterday.

So. I'm not the first w/ a noisy color wheel -- did you get yours fixed? how long did it take? was it like pulling teeth or a good experience?

thanks,

Mark

bump. bump. nudge and bump.

anybody ?

I haven't yet, but i need to send mine is as well. I have until May of next year to get it sent over to them. I haven't had this experience yet but am very interested to see how it goes for you :). Hopefully they will get it back to you in a reasonable amount of time

I know what you mean about Infocus' customer service, IT SUCKS. I called a couple times with questions but had to hang up after being on hold for 20-30 minutes. I love my X1 and haven't had any problems yet, but I don't know if I will ever buy an Infocus projector again.

thanks for the feedback, -- anyone else ?

[ This is my first PJ and won't be my last -- I factor things like build quality, look/feel, and customer service response into my buying decision ... I also recognize that if I bought from a brick/mortar dealer, I'd have paid more, but would have some place to take it for repairs.

the X1 focus ring feels sloppy to me. the noisy color wheel is one more black mark in terms of build quality ... ]

I'm also sympathetic to those kept on hold for ever -- I have a cordless phone w/ a headset ... while on hold I was really hoping the tech wouldn't come on the phone while I was in the bathroom ... I had visions of starting the conversation w/ a loud flush -- wouldn't do, at all.

Mark

i haven't got mine fixed (hmmm 9 months of warrenty left, should pull my finger out)

I do "hear" the isse on very rare occation, probably not even once a month (and i use the X1 like a TV (ie i don't have a TV everything is viewed on X1)

Probably send it away and they would say cannot find the fault :(

Mark, do you or anyone else have a problem with your X1 losing focus? I asked this question a week or 2 ago, and a couple guys said yes, and that they focus it after it warms up. I've had mine for about 3 months (255 hrs) and I always have to re-focus after movie runs for about 20 minutes. Anyone have any ideas, I really don't want to send it in to be checked? I called twice to the Tech. Dept. but of course I was on hold for 20-30 minutes each time, and I had to leave the house. Thanks.

i think you asked the question twice. both times i tried to follow the thread and people did say they reported having the problem but nobody seemed to be able to answer your question. to be honest i never have focus problems, i have started to notice a non-uniformity as focus is concerned but i just used keystone correction for the first time so i blame it on that. its not a problem that should be occuring and i couldn't imagine it going away any time soon.
i don't know what else could cause it to lose focus besides the ring and when i put a filter on i also used a rubber band. the rubber band made it harder for me to turn the focus ring and it might help you out a little bit. making it harder for the ring to adjust itself if it is too lose... its just a thought. sorry you have had this problem for so long, especially on a fairly new projector :(

Bootron, tell me more about the rubber band.
How do you have it on there?

the focus ring on my X1 is sloppy, but ceiling mounted, mine needs a refocus every couple of weeks or so, if that. I have heard this is more of a problem w/ table-top X1s than ceiling mounted ... might be a cooling issue.

I just shipped X1 to InFocus for the shrill noise problem, which began suddenly after about 1 year of fairly heavy use. It sounds like there is a power saw operating just outside my room.

It took several days for InFocus to issue an RMA after I reported the problem on their web site. They promise a turnaround time of 15 business days, so including shipping I'll be without the unit for about a month. And I had to pay shipping one-way to the service center.

It will be interesting to see if they fix the problem.

A footnote, I first believed --- naively, it seems -- that my extended warranty from the retailer, Circuit City, would cover the issue. But it seems that coverage only applies after the two-year manufacturer's warranty is over. I wonder what will happen if the problem recurs a year from now, expecially since the X1 is no longer manufactured. (I would not accept an X1a or X2 as a replacement.)

After 13 months of heavy use (3000+ hours on bulb), I also got the "buzz saw" noise. I emailed InFocus and they returned an RMA to me within a day or so.

I sent the X1 to the local service center and they waited for a replacement color wheel for about 3 weeks. When it didn't arrive, they replaced my PJ (new or refurb, I'm not sure). I also got a new bulb out of it!

I really believe this is a design defect. What I'd really like to know is: does this happen with other, more expensive, DLPs?

I filled out the form earlier this month and got the RMA email a day or two later. I'm going to send it in next Monday. It has to go all the way to Louisville, Kentucky :(

It absolutely is a design defect, but it also happens with plenty of other DLPs. I haven't read anything about the more expensive projectors, but plenty about the RPTVs and lower end DLP projectors in this forum. Go check the Optoma threads. They seemed to have this happen a lot more than the X1. It seems common for the X1 to start making noise after it's been used a while. I had mine for about 6 months and 600 hours when I first heard it. After a year and a half mine makes the noise pretty much all the time.

The color wheel is cooled by a fan. Perhaps the motor runs hot too.
A 1/4 drop of oil on the dry bearings ?

believe me, if it weren't still under warranty I would take it apart and try that. May as well let them fix it, even if it means I have to go awhile without it. I can always cross my fingers and hope I get a new lamp out of it like some people because I'm going to have to probably replace the lamp this year anyway.

Originally posted by K_9
The color wheel is cooled by a fan. Perhaps the motor runs hot too.
A drop of oil on the dry bearings ?

and if that drop of oil migrates to the wheel ... you'd get an oil film on the nearby components.

Originally posted by Roto
... It absolutely is a design defect, but it also happens with plenty of other DLPs. . . .

The flaw seems to occur fairly often in the X1's descendent, the InFocus SP4805, too. Search this thread http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=414103 for "wheel" and you'll find quite a lot of chatter about it. There was some speculation that a newer bearing design was supposed to prevent this behaviour in the SP4805, but if so it obviously was less than 100 percent effective.

The hit-or-miss statistical occurrence of the problem occasions a lot of "does-not"/"does-so" flaming within this forum. Also, a lot of people apparently confuse the whine of defective color wheels with normal fan noise, which is a different and much less obtrusive issue.

For either the X1 or the SP4805, the wheel-grinding problem seems to occur in only some units, and may crop up only after some use as it did in mine. It is obviously a known problem, and it seems that InFocus' primary response is just to deal with the warranty defects. So long as they honor the warranty, that would be okay except for the huge hassle factor.

I just sent in my RMA request to Infocus yesterday on their website and just minutes ago I got the approval and all required information. Not too bad of a turn around, holidays and all...

lordsiris

I think mine is starting to do this as well... about a week ago there was a loud buzz coming out of the unit - I hard powered it off and waited half an hour then it was fine. About 10 minutes ago I was watching Bad Taste and it happened again this time I let it go and after about 10 minutes of off and on noise it seems to have stopped. I've had the unit for about 14 months and have 2700 hours on it (we use it as our primary tv as well).

Please keep the thread up to date as to your experiances in getting this fixed - specifically how long it takes. Good luck :)

Originally posted by Fancy_Lad
...<snip>...10 minutes ago I was watching Bad Taste...<snip>...

Awesome! I've been a Bad Taste and Peter Jackson fan since I first rented the video in the early nineties. BT is one of the funniest movies ever made! I was thrilled when Bad Taste was mentioned from the podium of the Academy Awards last year. Heaven!

Well dammit.

I love my SP4800 but it JUST developed the 'buzz saw' problem! Is the warranty on these things 1 or 2 years? I ordered mine on 12/30/03 and if it's one year I'm sure they'll say it's out of warranty (despite the fact that I don't think I actually got the thing until 1/7/04). How big of a prick with Infocus support be if it's one year and my order date is as above?

I am so seriously bummed it's indescribable.... please cheer me up guys :(

I believe the standard warranty is two years.

2 years is the warrenty. also my understanding is infocus is international warrenty too (irrelevant of purchase country) which is rare.

i'll have to get mine "looked" at as it does buzz saw noise but possibly only 5 times in 1 year, they will probably find nothing wrong with it but :(

Well, I certainly hope it's 2 years - I read their warranty stuff on their site and it lead me to believe it was only one year (pretty typical). I'd rather have them look at it while under warranty anyway. This thing gets so loud I can hear it upstairs (PJ in the basement)!!

It is two years...I had to fight with Future Shop about that because they would not "best price" the PJ when I found it online cheaper. The pimply faced 15 year old kid in the brick and mortor store said I was ineligible because THEY have a two year warrantee and the standard is one year...Horsesh!t!! Why the F&^K would that not have been advertised up front and I NEVER would have paid more for that anyways, everybody knows extended warrantees are a scam!!!

I sent a nasty gram to their head office and faxed them the link to the site that says TWO YEARS warrantee in it, excluding the bulb of course, and I finally got my refund...stupid future shop.

Mine just started the buzzsaw effect too... what a bummer, going into NFL playoffs, etc. I got the RMA and all, now I just have to ship it.

I hope whatever they do to it is a permanant fix... I got my X1 in May, a little under 400 hours on the bulb. But in my basement setup the noise is REAL annoying, and I can't comfortably raise the sound system volume to overcome it... the buzz just bites through everything.

I'm wondering if temperature drops caused this... it seems like all the X1 owners had this happen in December.

or that's when the discussion reached critical mass ... that and we all wanted it fixed in time for the superbowl ?!

I suspect this is a fairly small problem, unless it's happening to us. then it's a biggie. given the # of X1 owners here, there'd be quite a bit of noise if this was biting everyone -- that was the driving reason for posting the question in the first place.

MArk

If anyone finds our how to repair this, let us know if it is user repairable and how it is done. My pj is still new but for those that have many hours and are either out of warrenty or will be, I'm sure they would like to know. I certainly would like to even though hopefully this won't happen to me for a long time.

Originally posted by Mike2000
If anyone finds our how to repair this, let us know if it is user repairable and how it is done. . . .
My understanding is that the problem occurs in the bearing(s) of the color wheel, which I believe are sealed. A typical end user is no more capable of repairing this than they are of repairing a faulty disc drive in their PC. I think even a factory repair involves replacing the color wheel assembly.

To mpilon's point - if this is a small problem - perhaps someone could start a thread regarding this - ask X1 owners 1. how many hours they have on their PJ (and on their bulb or bulbs), and 2. Have they experienced any color wheel noise or had a problem with it - especially question 2 for the people with 1000+ hours. Title could be something like - "How many hours are on your X1 - Any color wheel noise?" and then ask the two questions inside the post. I'm a newbie here so maybe one of you regulars could post it and word it correctly to receive the best response. I think this thread is a good one but I think it is more likely to attract people that already may have the problem. It would be nice to hear the reports from people who don't have the problem and how many hours they have. If you get quite a few posts with people in the 1000's of hours with no buzz, well that would be helpful to resolve the question about if this is going to happen to all of us.

say we get 30 responses -- how is it helpful? what you want is a statistical sample, to know what the failure rate is. you won't get that from a self-selecting set of responders.

w/ this, as w/ most things here, a few problems tend to drown out the successes.

I think this thread is a good one but I think it is more likely to attract people that already may have the problem.

yes -- if you look at the title of this thread you'll see I was looking for how well infocus handled this repair. sorry it didn't work for you.

Mark

I shipped out my X1 via UPS yesterday evening and it is scheduled to arrive in Kentucky on Wednesday... I'll keep all posted on Infocus status messages via email (if any) as well as when I get it back (and based on tracking number when they sent it from Kentucky).

Mark,
Your right that we wouldn't get any statistical sample, I wouldn't have expected that. I was just curious if this happened to all the X1's eventually, but I guess if this was happening to everyone there would be many more posts here as you had mentioned in a previous post.
Mike

Just an update on by buzzing X1 RMA experience... they got the projector on Jan 5, and as of this weekend it still wasn't coming up in the infocus.com/status facility. I email tech support on Saturday and got an email Monday with confirmation that they received it. The email mentioned ten-day turnaround, but no mention of the status of my 11-day-old visit :) Still no luck with infocus.com/status. It's comforting to know they haven't lost my projector, but then again I'd like some warning when they ship it in case I need to be home to sign for it.

Update to add:
Right after I posted this, I got a followup email from tech support saying they conducted an inventory that ended Jan 17, which is apparently why it didn't get entered intot he system but they assured me it was in hand and being repaired.

UPDATE --

it seems like I picked the wrong time to send the projector into infocus several different ways --

- my projector was stuck in UPS while a late-december snowstorm blew thru the midwest; -- next time I use UPS - blue ...
- infocus' repair facility shut down until 1/17 for inventory ... had I blue'd it to ifocus they might have gotten it doen before the shutdown.

the good news is that my X1 is on its way back to me ... no idea if they fixed anything or even if I'm getting my projector back, instead of a refurbished unit.

I'll post another update once the silly thing is back in my hands and can see what I've got.

Mark

My color wheel has buzzed a few times in the past, it always goes away. Somehow it works itself out. I'm not sure how it gets unbalanced or what causes the buzz. Over the 2 years I have had the projector, I've had the buzz maybe 4 times. The first time I thought I was going to have to return it for repairs but it disappeared after a day.

I use my projector a lot and the projector has had flawless performance over those two years other than the occational buzz problem. I got 3500 hours off of my first bulb.

Originally posted by Mash
My color wheel has buzzed a few times in the past, it always goes away. Somehow it works itself out. I'm not sure how it gets unbalanced or what causes the buzz. Over the 2 years I have had the projector, I've had the buzz maybe 4 times. The first time I thought I was going to have to return it for repairs but it disappeared after a day.

I use my projector a lot and the projector has had flawless performance over those two years other than the occational buzz problem. I got 3500 hours off of my first bulb.

That buzz you hear is the color wheel bearings. It will only get worse. Get it repaired while it is under warranty.

Ditto on the bearings...fix it under warantee, color wheel is NOT CHEAP, looks like I'll never get mine fixed under warantee if need be...10 months and only 185 hours on it :)

Originally posted by Taiser
Ditto on the bearings...fix it under warantee, color wheel is NOT CHEAP, looks like I'll never get mine fixed under warantee if need be...10 months and only 185 hours on it :)

You may not have a need to. From what I've seen, it does not seem to be a certainty that everyone with an X1 (or the oem equivalents) will have a problem.

We have 26 units installed in businesses and so far, only 4 have had the noise. And these are run 16/7. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

We have 26 units installed in businesses and so far, only 4 have had the noise. And these are run 16/7. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

OOOOOOOOO me likum those odds...THANKS, feel better already :)

Originally posted by mpilon

- infocus' repair facility shut down until 1/17 for inventory ... had I blue'd it to ifocus they might have gotten it doen before the shutdown.

the good news is that my X1 is on its way back to me ... no idea if they fixed anything or even if I'm getting my projector back, instead of a refurbished unit.


I had it to them on 1/5, but it got caught in the inventory and it appears my "start date" (the date showing on infocus.com/status) is 1/17.

When was your start date on the status page? 1/17?

I sure missed the X1 during the NFL Championships... I hope I have it back soon. Also, how did they ship your unit back to you? Regular UPS Ground?

Originally posted by pgens
I had it to them on 1/5, but it got caught in the inventory and it appears my "start date" (the date showing on infocus.com/status) is 1/17.

When was your start date on the status page? 1/17?

I sure missed the X1 during the NFL Championships... I hope I have it back soon. Also, how did they ship your unit back to you? Regular UPS Ground?

my start date was 12/28 ... and it's coming ups ground. had made it as far as HODGKINS, IL this morning. couple more days and then I'll have it back up and running.

Mark

Cool... I'm assuming they make you sign for it, but if they don't let me know. I'm not especially worried about it being stolen since someone will probably be there, but it would be nice to know if I need to be at home the day it is scheduled to arrive.

...I'm assuming they make you sign for it

Don't count on it.

Here is my experience:

I requested an RMA for my screeching X1 just before Christmas. It took a week to get the RMA returned to me. By the time my faulty projector arrived at the InFocus Service center, it got caught up in the two-week inventory moratorium others have mentioned above. (No one notified me in advance there would be an additional two-week delay.)

The only way I discovered this was by investing the time (about 45 minutes) to call, not email the InFocus Customer Service desk. They don't make it easy to get through. But once connected, I stayed on the line until they agreed to send a replacement, shipped from their Oregon HQ because the Louisville service center was still shut down.

The good news was that they upgraded me to an SP 4805 -- partly to ease my pain and suffering and partly because X1s are relatively scarce. The bad news was that, after more than a week with no projector arriving, I had to call back (another 45 minutes). It turned out that the projector was out of stock in Oregon's limited inventory and my order was sitting in back-order status. So they changed the order to have the SP 4805 warranty-exchange unit shipped out of Louisville (which meanwhile had reopened) after all. According to UPS tracking, it was delivered today. I have no way of knowing if it is new or remanufactured. Whew!

I will be careful to keep all the paperwork documenting the exhange, because a year from now the InFocus warranty will expire and my retailer's extended warranty will kick in.

It took a month, but I hope I will be happier with my newer model. Moral: The squeeky wheel (pun intended) gets the grease.

In my case I've got a new problem... they called me yesterday to tell me they couldn't reproduce the buzzsaw effect (figures). I told them it happened plenty here... they said they would let it run for half an hour to see if it happened.

The WORST thing that could happen is they just send it back without the color wheel replacement, 'cause sure enough it'll happen again to me as soon as I get it out of the box :mad:. This isn't an uncommon problem with the X1 and I hope they replace the assembly even if they can't get it to misbehave there. It's really unusable with that noise.

bjoomerbubba,

thats a bonus, id be happy to loose it for some time if was upgraded to an SP4805!!!!!

certainly ain't going to happen down here, only "authorised" service agents about (not Infocus themselves)

Originally posted by pgens
In my case I've got a new problem... they called me yesterday to tell me they couldn't reproduce the buzzsaw effect (figures). I told them it happened plenty here... they said they would let it run for half an hour to see if it happened.

The WORST thing that could happen is they just send it back without the color wheel replacement, 'cause sure enough it'll happen again to me as soon as I get it out of the box :mad:. This isn't an uncommon problem with the X1 and I hope they replace the assembly even if they can't get it to misbehave there. It's really unusable with that noise.

Called them today, they said the assembly wouldn't be replaced if they don't hear it, even though they run into this problem all the time with the X1. He did ask if it was ceiling mounted... maybe they tested it upside down as if it was ceiling mounted and it didn't buzz... not sure why that would make a difference though. The rep was very unsympathetic that I had been without the projector for four weeks. :rolleyes:

This is the kind of report I've been looking for ... and unfortunately it speaks to infocus' attitude towards their lower-end projectors. I don't have mine back yet, but a month is too long, inventory or no. I'll be paying attention to the repair policies for the maker of the next projector -- there will be a 'next one', and I'll be spending more $$ for it than the first.

Maybe infocus thinks they're doing a sterling job ... their attitudes toward the customer speak volumes; -- you just don't doubt the customer when they report an intermittent problem; They should just replace the damned color wheel assembly. Instead, it's a bit of the Spanish Inquisition.

[ 'nobody expects the spanish inquisition ...']

I'll report back when I've had it back and running a bit.

Mark

Yeah, I'm really bummed over the experience. I really don't want to sink money into another projector but if I have to I'm looking at the BenQ 6100... roughly the same specs and it has a three-year warranty with a replacement swap-out for any problems in the first year.

The tech during today's call tried to tell me that circuit board noise could have been the source, was I sure it was coming from the projector, etc... just a bunch of nonsense.

Originally posted by pgens
Yeah, I'm really bummed over the experience. I really don't want to sink money into another projector but if I have to I'm looking at the BenQ 6100... roughly the same specs and it has a three-year warranty with a replacement swap-out for any problems in the first year.

The tech during today's call tried to tell me that circuit board noise could have been the source, was I sure it was coming from the projector, etc... just a bunch of nonsense.

you might ask the next tech you talk to if they, personally, would tolerate not being believed ...

and, if you're going to consider a new PJ, you might look at a mitsu xd300 -- xga, faroujda (I think) and probably a good upgrade. if you want benq, the 6200 is xga and not much more than the 6100.

hard not to bash infucus here ... good luck, hope it works out better for you.

Mark

time to bash infucus ... got the X1 back, w/ the same serial-# sticker ... mounted it, calibrated it and instead of a noisy color wheel, I've got a dead pixel.

I'm on hold w/ customer service, but this just isn't going to work. very disappointed. Makes me want to upgrade -- to something other than infocus.

by the increased light spill, it seems they swapped my bulb and serial # w/ another unit, and sent it to me. wonder what I;ll get the next time ...

Unbelievable. Try to demand a warranty exchange.

I'll be on the phone to them today ... we'll see what they come up with.

the thing is, swapping for a 4805 is a bad solution for me - my screen area is severely width-limited; I built one just as large as the space and zoom would allow.

and, all I watch on satellite teevee is SDef - I won't be going hidef for some time. I like old movies and it would be a step backwards to frame that 4:3 content inside a 16:9 display.

like I said, we'll see - I'll probably have more later today.

Mark

Yeah, the screen width limitation is my problem too, which is why I was looking into the BenQ 6100... the throw calculations are very similar.

I have pretty much ruled out buying a 4805 because they have noisy wheel issues too. I guess I should just get used to the noise or build a hush box. At this point I just want the X1 back... it's not doing anyone any good sitting in their repair facility while they refuse to fix it. Or maybe it buzzed in their followup test and I'll be a happy camper... who knows.

Meant to ask, did you end up having to sign for it when it was delivered? Good luck with them on the phone.

Originally posted by pgens
Yeah, the screen width limitation is my problem too, which is why I was looking into the BenQ 6100... the throw calculations are very similar.

I have pretty much ruled out buying a 4805 because they have noisy wheel issues too. I guess I should just get used to the noise or build a hush box. At this point I just want the X1 back... it's not doing anyone any good sitting in their repair facility while they refuse to fix it. Or maybe it buzzed in their followup test and I'll be a happy camper... who knows.

Meant to ask, did you end up having to sign for it when it was delivered? Good luck with them on the phone.

I wouldn't try to live with a noisy wheel w/ a hush box -- when bearing get bad enough it will affect the balance and timing of the color wheel. w/ the color wheel spinning as fast as it is, it won't tolerate vibration for long. how long does an out-of-balance tire last before it chews itself up ...?

I didn't have to sign ... but I live very much in the middle of nowhere; my driver knows me and there's nobody else who could come along and pick it up in my place.

Mark

I'd love to swap my X1 for a 4805 :) hehe

Round 3 -- after spending 70 minutes on hold to infocus [that's an hour and 10 minutes, -- don't try this w/o a cordless phone and a headset] -- I reached a first-line tech who couldn't authorize a drop-ship of a replacement to me.

but he called someone who could, against the security of my credit card. As I recall my experience w/ infocus X1 repair and hearing others' accounts, I have to suggest that any 'success' I've had is due to initiative by individuals @ infocus and reaching the right people.

and this success should be put into perspective of my repair timeline:

12/7 - apply on-line for an RMA, rec'd return email indicating a tech would contact me in 2 days.
12/18 [or so] -- no contact; I call, spend 20 minutes on hold, get the RMA #; I send the projector in. I should have sent it UPS blue because it gets caught in a blizzard and then the inventory shutdown.

1/14 [or so] I call, am told flatly that no info is available, won't be available until 1/17 ... no offer of an advance exchange .... (send the replacement against the security of a credit card). tech was barely polite.

<during this time an infocus telemarketer calls to ask if I want to extend my service contract. I decline.>

1/27 -- as noted above, I get the projector back -- nice quiet color wheel, and 1 dead pixel when I had none before. due to the different light spill pattern on the screen, I infer infocus swapped the whole light engine.

1/28 -- I'm allowed to do an 'advance echange' ... I guess I got lucky in reaching the people who were able to make that happen but it doesn't seem like 'policy' for this model; but measure that luck against the 6 - 7 weeks this has been going on.

At this point I've got 2 choices - if the new replacement is OK, I'll probably buy a new bulb for it and expect to get 2 more years out of it.

if it's not, then I'll donate it to a school, take the deduction and apply it towards an upgrade. the nec 1100 and mitsu xd300 && 450 look interesting but I hope I can get 2 more years out of my X1. I'll be building a new theater in 2 years or so ...

stay tuned,

Mark

final chapter in this saga:

Yesterday the man in brown delivered a new (different) X1 -- no color wheel whine, no dead pixels -- and it has a youngish lamp.

people, I was really blown away by the quality of the picture w/ that bulb -- I've resolved to replace the lamp about every year or so. I wasn't aware how much my picture has degraded until looking at a new bulb. sure it's got a 4000-hour life, -- but w/ my 95" screen, I need every lumen. think about a new bulb if you've got 2K or more hours on yours.

so ends this tale ... I'm not grateful for how long it took to get things right. And I feel for those who end up talking w/ techs not as responsive as the one I chanced to get ...

my work here is done ...
Mark

Mine is still hostage in Kentucky... I haven't called back since last Thursday, I guess it's time to get a status update. I had assumed shipping it out on Jan 3rd would give me plenty of time to have it back by the Superbowl... that obviously isn't happening.

Edit to add: called and wasn't on hold too long... the tech said it was staged for shipping back but there wasn't any info in the system yet on what they had/hadn't done to it.

I've got the "buzz" ... but it only happens every so often and usually goes away (or becomes less noticeable anyway) after a few minutes. My two-year mark hits in May, so I'm thinking I should probably send it in.

Do they have their delays behind them now? How long should it take?

What are they going to do if they turn it on a few times and don't hear the buzz? I'd say it happens about 1 out of every 10 times, but it seems to be getting more frequent.

I'm assuming I just go to the InFocus website to get the RMA? What's the best phone number to call and check on the status once I send it in?

Thanks in advance for any insights!

Based on my experience I wouldn't send it in if it happens infrequently, unless you want to give it a shot and they happen to hear it when they try it. They turn it on and let it go 30 minutes (or 2 hours, I have gotten two different stories). The downside is that you will likely be without your projector a month and there may be zero fix. I was told they don't do anything to it if they don't hear the buzz.

They have an online status checker, where you enter your RMA number and projector serial number. You can always call them for status too.

An update... the projector is scheduled for delivery today. I don't know yet what they have or haven't done to it.

Edit to add:

Projector is here and hooked up... so far so good, no wheel whine. I'm still not sure if I got a swapped unit with same serial number or not... the bulb life setting was at zero.

So far it's a happy ending!

:mad:
I received my Dukane 7100HC projector (X1 clone) back Friday after they replaced the optical engine because of color wheel noise. I purchased the Dukane (2 years ago) because of the 5 year warranty and figured whatever happens at least I'll have a decent projector for 5 years. This is not the case.
The color wheel in the optical engine must be from some other supplier because the colors are now completely wrong. I tried using the INHD setup program but cannot fix the problems: the reds are orange and the yellows are mustard color. Anyone who has seen the picture asks what happened to my good projector. I removed the bulb to check the color wheel and it is clean and new but the dyes are not as intense as the old unit. The only other change to the projector is that they updated the software to version 4.2 from version 3.8.
Oh yes, I also have 2 dead mirrors in the new optical engine and they are in about 1/3 in from the edge of the screen where I can continuously be reminded of their presence.
I will be emailing Dukane service this week to see what they have to say.
I don't know if Infocus uses the same replacement parts, but check your repaired projector carefully.
I'll let you know when I receive a response from Dukane.

I received an email from Dukane. They are sending me a new projector due to arrive next week. This is 26 months after buying the original 7100HC (X1 clone)!

My X1 just started the color wheel whining. I’ve had it for a little over a year, and it probably has about 400 hours on it. I found this thread and am not encouraged by what I’ve read here! After 20 minutes on hold, I just got hold of someone and he said I would get an e-mail with the RMA information within 24 – 48 hours. He also said that the turnaround time they quote is 20 business days, but that they have been faster than that lately. Seems like I definitely won’t have it for the beginning of the NCAAs. That is a big bummer. :( I was surprised when he said that I could not send it to a Service Center closer to my house because they don’t work on X1s. Can anybody else report on their RMA experiences lately? Thanks.

I just got back my X1 today. All told it took about 3 weeks from when I sent it off to when I got it back. I never had to call them or anything. Suprisingly, they never said anything about the pry marks from when I took it completely apart to clean the whole thing. I can't believe how quiet is is now compared to the jet engine that it used to be.

Brandon

Well, I got my RMA information via e-mail from Infocus in under 24 hours. I'm thinking now that I may wait until after the NCAA tourney to send it in. I don't want to miss that, and I'm the type of person that can easily tune out the noise.

My (3rd) X1 started getting noisy after about 3 months but just the other day with less then 200 hours on it, it started doing coffee grinder impressions. When you turn off the projector you can hear the bearings grind as the color wheel quickly slows down. I used the infocus web site to request RMA and got a email response 2 days later telling me to expect another email in 2 more days. The second email came with the RMA information and I sent the projector off on 3/2/05.

Hopefully all will go well and it will be returned to me quickly in it's former glory.

Russ

mine did the "buzz" for maybe 1 min last night, went away as it always does. I think my warrenty is near up, though as it only happens on occations i wonder if they will fix it? Should do it is a design fault etc (given its so wide spread).

My X1 started to buzz around 1800 hours on and off. It became serious around 2200 hours. I took it to the only Calgary authorized Infocus repair shop. They ordered an new Optical Engine, it took 2 weeks for the replacement unit to arrive from the U.S. It was repaired and returned, working fine now, looks better than ever. The shop did scratch my case tho, offered to replace it, but I took my X1 home as it's my only source, I use it for T.V. (StarChoice Hi-Def) and movies (DVD prog-scan). Still under warranty till May, I had no issue getting the unit replaced, except for the scratch on the case, no hassles at all.

hopefully i can get a similar experience here. I think there's about 6months left on the warrenty, i'll leave it till the last 2 months, it may be more common by then.

My X1 with 1400 hours (26 months' use - 2 months out of warranty) has begun to whine. Although I signed up for the original 5 year warranty offer when I first got my projector, the last 3 years are labor only. Infocus says the optical engine has to be replaced to fix this little problem. Cost is over $1000 for parts - no charge for labor, of course. At that price there's no point in getting it fixed.

Other options: I can buy a reconditioned X1 from them for $600. Still not worth it. I think I'll use it till the whine gets worse and then open it and try a tiny bit of oil. There's really nothing else to be done. I take it no one else here has had experience with trying to oil the bearings. I suspect, with time, there will be more X1 owners who do get this experience.

I've heard that some projectors use something called "air bearings" and don't have this problem. Anyone know which ones?

Btw, you can also send your unit back to Infocus and they'll send you a check for $100.

Richard

Well i posted about mine doing this last night, but I just found this thread. So now I get to join the club.

Mine has done the loud noise on and off maybe twice or three times in its life but would usually end after a min or two. Last night it started doing it and wouldnt stop. I left it on for about an hour to see if it would stop and i didnt. Then this morning I turned it on again but its still doing it. It sounds like a freakin table saw... sooooo annoying.

I'm past my two year warranty but I did sign up for the extra 5 years when I bought it. I live close to Portland and I know that Infocus's headquarters is around here somewhere. Would I just be able to bring it there and tell them to fix it? Or do I have to ship it no matter what? I'd rather not waste my $20 or whatever on shipping my projector ($20 could buy me alot of beer).

Im trying to look to where I need to send it via their website, but their site seems to be down right now (im starting to think everything Infocus makes is crap, from projectors to websites).

All i know is they had better fix this, and for free. Or someone at IF is getting my foot up their a$$.

Well, if you get it done for free, let us know. And how you managed to get them to do it. But generally, when it's out of warranty, it's out.

Is there any way to check on how much you have left on your warranty? I know I bought mine exactly around this time 2 years ago (i'm pretty sure it was sometime in March 2003). So it may still have some time left, or it may be expired by a few days. I'm not exactly sure. I did however sign up for the extra few years during that promotion they were having (one of the major reasons i ended up buying it in the first place).

OK, so i found out i bought mine May 25, 2003. For some reason I thought it was much earlier than that, but that means its still under warranty.

So I sent an RMA request and got an email back today, the guy said it was probably the color wheel, then he said i'd get my RMA # and shipping details within 48 hours.

So, I start up my projector today to re-flash it back to an X1 (its flashed to a 4800 currently) and guess what? No noise. So I let it sit for quite some time and nothing... its running just like it used to. So what do I do now? I've read here that they will only service it if they can get the problem to occur for them. But, I know this noise will come back so its still a problem. But I dont want to spend money shipping the projector only to have it be sent back just like it was.

The RMA number should be good for thirty days... I'd say give it another three weeks and if it doesn't recur then leave it alone. If the whine pops back up by early May then re-request.

the problem is the noise keeps coming back at random times, its very inconvient and annoying. The reason i'm just now talking about it is that it was going on for so long (two days) therefore I couldnt use my projector at all during that time. I dont want that to happen again, but im pretty sure it will... eventually. Then i'll go to send it in again and it'll stop just like it did now...

Well, I've just been informed by my fiancee who is home sick that the whining on my X1 has started... *again*.

That would make it the 3rd optical engine that has bit the dust. 1st one occurred at 1500 hours, second at 3000, and now the third at 3200. Each time it was sent in for warranty repair and the optical assembly was replaced. I never thought that the colour wheel was going to be a bigger issue than the bulb, but go figure.

Colour me one unhappy Infocus customer. Unfortunately I think it's time to bite the bullet and upgrade.

Well, I was supposed to get my RMA info "within 48 hours" , so far it's been five days and still nothing...

Its funny because my video card for my computer died out on me, so I sent an RMA request to ATI and got the info within the hour. I sent it out via USPS and like three days later I got an email saying my replacement card had been shipped, it arrived here the next day.

On another note, my projector hasnt acted up all week. Last night it made the loud noise for about 5 seconds but thats it. I'm still trying to figure out if I should send it in. I really want the problem fixed but im afraid they wont work on it if they cant get it to make the noise. Maybe I should just "help" the color wheel break some more...

Mine's just getting louder gradually......

Should I send it all the way to the USA or should I just send it to Calgary?

The cons of sending it to the in focus depot is shipping cost (I pay one way, right?)

The pro's might be a new unit, or a different unit depending (could be a con)

The pro's of calgary is cheaper shipping, and they will probably just replace the light engine?
Is it true some people who send to infocus get new lamps too?

I wonder which would be faster.....

I'm a bit surprised this thread is still going 'round ... too bad really.
an update from me, this thread's starter:

I have very mixed views on how my color wheel repair was handled --

pros: my unit was swapped for one w/ a clean light engine w/ a new bulb.

cons: [quite a list]
- it took ~ 6 - 8 weeks,
- and 2 units ... the 1'st exchange resulted in receiving an X1 w/ a dead pixel -- and my original unit had none,
- several hours, total, on hold,
- like a poster above, I had to call and ask for an RMA (much time on hold) ... the on-line method request was never answered by infocus.
- apparently there was some intervention on my behalf by an infocus customer service person who's a visitor here.

[ sorry, dude, you know who you are ... I appreciate the intervention in my case, but you might try to make that kind of treatment corporate policy ... the other 99% of X1 owners who don't post here deserve clean replacement units too ...]

All in all, it seems infocus' customer service, at least for lower-end projectors owned by individuals, is designed to give a thin layer of service, so dificult to obtain that it has the effect of discouraging warranty service requests. Service that bad is designed, -- it doesn't just happen.

I somehow think that corporate / larger-volume customers will be treated better ... and I have no problem w/ that sales model. Just don't sell to end-users if you're only willing to take care of the big corporate accounts.

The X1 is my 1'st projector ... it certainly won't be my last, but I'll be looking at different brands and the next one will be a more expensive unit - which is my way of saying infocus service blew the sale of my next PJ.

Their service is too painful to deal with, and the projectors aren't cheap enough (at least in my household) to treat as a throw-away item.

============================================================ ===

BUY a new bulb!!

yes, I got a new bulb and I can't tell you how great the image looks -- as the hours crept up to the 2K mark, I kept fiddling w/ the picture because it never seemed right.

If you're getting near 2000 hours and are noticing picture degradation, just get the new bulb and clean the color wheel ... so what if the counter is good to 4000 if the bulb is too dim for the size screen you want to watch ?

Mark

I just caught up w/ reading some of the recent posts -- $1000 to change out the optical engine is a bit astounding.

a couple of points --

that kind of inflated parts cost serves 2 purposes -- to artificially justify the price of the extended service contracts, and, to push the customer into buying new rather than fixing what they have. Combine that with the understaffed X1 tech support maze and it isn't a pretty picture of infocus' service operation. The X1 service process was carefully designed.

[ that 'free' 3-year warranty extension offered a couple of years ago is pretty cute -- for $1K for parts, they can certainly afford to give away the labor. They got some good press for that -- and it seems an empty gesture. ]

It could be that the optical engine is 90% of the projector and really not open for single-part replacement -- like replacing only the color wheel.

but asking $1000 because of a bad color wheel which costs (maybe) $60 - $100 is wildly out of line -- especially when the street prices for the whole projector are in the $1K range.

And I'm willing to bet that the motor+wheel assemblies are individually replaceable. -- anyone out there who can confirm that? This sounds like being required to replace the axle due to a flat tire.

All in all, I'm seeing a side of infocus which I didn't expect and am very disappointed. It always comes down to 'buyer beware'.

Remember this when it comes time to upgrade ... why stick with infocus ?

Mark

Based on what I have read on line, mainly at AVS, it does appear like Infocus has little intention to support us, the X-1 owner. I can only hope this is a temporary problem and that they will get it together in the near future. If not, it seems the informed HT consuming public will ask themselves the question posed by mpilon..."why stick with Infocus?"...and look elsewhere when it is time to upgrade or make recommendations to friends. After producing a good product(s) at a reasonable price unacceptable after sales service may end up costing them a lot of good will.

I suspect Infocus is more familiar with commercial clients who are not as sensitive to over priced parts or a slow response. The informed consumer however has a reasonable expectation of customer service. If they want to be a player in the retail space, and their RPT products suggest they do, they will have to develop some more enlightened policies.

I would add my only personal experience dealing directly with Infocus was positive. When I purchased my X-1 I applied for the rebate and somehow failed to fully complete the form. I received an e-mail from them within a day of sending of my fax, requesting the forgotten information. I was impressed at how fast the response was.

My concern regarding my X-1 is the colour wheel noise, which is intermittent at this time. If it does not become permanent prior to the end of the warranty period it seems I will be stuck with this faulty product even though it is a defect known to Infocus. I don't understand the companies thinking here.

I for one hope Infocus can learn to deal with consumers. I like the product.

wp

A follow-up on the cost of $1K to replace the optics engine -- it seems the color wheel assembly can be replaced separately from the whole optics engine, not what infocus service is telling us. read on.

[ before I go off on a rant, will anyone confirm that repair cost here: ]

Originally posted by rgs
My X1 with 1400 hours (26 months' use - 2 months out of warranty) has begun to whine. Although I signed up for the original 5 year warranty offer when I first got my projector, the last 3 years are labor only. Infocus says the optical engine has to be replaced to fix this little problem. Cost is over $1000 for parts - no charge for labor, of course. At that price there's no point in getting it fixed.
.
.
.
Richard

So w/ the disclaimer that what follows is based on the belief that infocus charges over $1000 (I'm assuming $cdn, as rgs' location is Canada) to replace the color wheel --

I received a PM from a tech who had been inside the X1 -- to replace the color wheel assembly by itself, it takes 2 screws, a swap of the motor mount from the old to the new, and plugging a 4-pin ribbon cable. About 20 minutes of work for a competent tech.

[ NO, DON'T PM ME ASKING FOR DIRECTIONS. I'M NOT GOING INTO THE COLOR-WHEEL REPLACEMENT BUSINESS ... ]

But it doesn't sound like rocket science, either.

It actually seems like the whole optics engine is manufactured elsewhere, and that level of assembly-swap is how infocus first-line service operates. But given the above on how to change the color wheel only, replacing the optics engine is infocus' choice in how to handle it.

I'm fine with that, except for the price they want and for the frequency of this repair.

regarding that frequency of repair:
Sheridan1952 wrote: "We have 26 units installed in businesses and so far, only 4 have had the noise. And these are run 16/7. I'm keeping my fingers crossed."

-- for that sample that's a 15% failure rate, and I can argue that running 16/7 is less stressful than HT usage w/ nightly startup/shutdown, warmup+cooldown cycles ...

OK, enough of the reasonable nice-nice talk.

Infocus seems to be using the retail price of the whole optics engine to push people into buying new or buying the service contract. Given the failure rate, that's an immoral, dishonest corporate policy.

I truly don't care if it is the most convenient service path. convenient for infocus -- it's still wrong. 'Clutch worn out on the car, sorry, have to replace the whole drivetrain' ... who would accept that?

Given the rate at which color wheels are failing, infocus should rework their pricing structure for this repair -- call it a 'recondition' ... new bulb, cleaning, and, oh by the way, replace the color wheel, even if the noise is reported as only intermittent ... catch it before it becomes a problem.

I'd pay for that recondition every 1-1/2 - 2 years -- I'm that impressed w/ the look of a new bulb and clean color wheel. And it would be a classy way to handle HT users -- treat them like valued customers, rather than, say, pond scum.

[ that recondition should be made available, w/ or w/o the bulb ... the color wheels do get so dirty. ]

And the rate of this failure suggests that the X1 and its children have this problem and if you buy an X1, X1a or X, 4800, 4805 ... ? (how many other infocus projectors use motors of this particular model from this particular motor manufacturer?) you're at some increased risk of this expensive failure. one caveat before jumping all over the motor manufacturer ... it could be just one bad run of a particular assembly -- it's infoucs' response I'm mad at.

I view the X1 two different ways:
- as a new product it's a terrific groundbreaking projector,
- with an unacceptable risk of expensive repair and high cost of ownership, w/ no real service available after the 2-year warranty runs out.

[ price the parts high enough, as is the color wheel, and it doesn't matter if you're giving the labor away ... and w/ their tech-support maze as it is, I can argue that servide within the first 2 years is a big maybe. ]]

let infocus know what you think, -- and there are other great projectors out there. Consider those before infocus.

Mark

bump, bump, nudge and bump --

HAS ANYONE OUT THERE BEEN QUOTED A COST FOR AN OUT-OF-WARRANTY COLOR WHEEL REPAIR ??

mark

There is a reference to a whine and a buzz. Is this the same noise?


I have a 4805 and it started to to make a high pitch shrill this month, that can be heard anywhere in the room. It is constant and doesn't change intensity. I've only had the unit since Jan. 31, 2005. I will probably wait till April or June depending if my HDTV service pickups NBA playoffs.

Yes, get it repaired while it is still under warranty. Out-of-Warranty, it is very expensive.

Originally posted by russ_h
My (3rd) X1 started getting noisy after about 3 months but just the other day with less then 200 hours on it, it started doing coffee grinder impressions. When you turn off the projector you can hear the bearings grind as the color wheel quickly slows down. I used the infocus web site to request RMA and got a email response 2 days later telling me to expect another email in 2 more days. The second email came with the RMA information and I sent the projector off on 3/2/05.

Hopefully all will go well and it will be returned to me quickly in it's former glory.

Russ

Latest Update:

I came home today (3/23/05) to find a box from Infocus sitting on my front porch. I unpacked it, it was well packed and looked in good shape except the lens has a large smear on it that wasn't there when I sent it off. It is much quieter now and sounds like it did when I first got it. Unfortunately it now has a bad pixel :mad: that shows up as a large black dot :mad: about the center third of the screen vertically and 4/5th of the way horizontally.

The other thing that seems disappointing is that the focus ring has to be rotated all the way against the stop to get a focused picture. The focus ring used to have some travel left once it was focused and the ring feels loose. When focusing the picture the lens will wiggle causing the picture placement on the screen to change about an inch up and to the left, (on a 92" 16x9) then return close to where is was before once you release the lens. I don't remember the lens having any wiggle before I sent it off. I could be nitpicking about this point, but I really had higher expectations.

I am not happy.

-Russ

you're not nitpicking ... the same thing happened to me -- right down to the dead pixel. when they fix the color wheel whine, they actually swap out the entire optics engine -- DLP, colorwheel, lens ...

see post #86, above. They don't have to replace the whole engine to replace the color wheel, that's how infocus is chosing to do it.

I've been trading emails w/ a member of the infocus service staff on my repair, and his take is they've gone thru a bad few months, hired more people, yadda, yadda, yadda ... sounds like that bad few months is still going on.

I think there's more to it than that -- how this matter is being handled speaks right to infucus' low-end-user warranty repair philosophy -- make it as painful as possible.

I've tried to be even-handed in my opinions, -- I used to think they just don't get it. I've moved more in the direction that they're doing things just the way they want to, as a matter of policy which is not subject to question.

If you get fed up and consider an upgrade, you might look to other brands -- until infocus' handling of service for home theater users changes, there's no reason to live w/ that nonsense.

There are other projectors which perform as well. the trick will be to find a manufacturer which treats home theater users better.

Mark

I think this thread is ready for another perspective. After a year and a half my colorwheel started to grind a little. Not wanting to wait until the warranty expired I called InFocus today. Based on the rantings I've read in this thread I expected a nightmare. I was surprised when my call was answered within two minutes. Later in the day I received an e-mail with an RMA and instructions to send my little guy off to KY for repair. It was very painless and one of the best service experiences I've ever had. Of course, I will reserve final judgement until I get my projector returned but I just wanted everone to know that not everyone has had the same experience.

htrr

I know there is no written policy for dead pixels, but if you sent in a unit for repair with no dead pixels and it came back with a dead pixel, I'd have to say that they have not restored it to its prior condition. I got the funny feeling the DLP chips that have a dead pixel don't get sold as new, but get used as repairs, the thinking that the person will not be as irate as at least he got it 'fixed'. Of corse, I'm paranoid, as is evident from all those X files DVDs I've been watching. Trust noone!

I did get a report from infocus about staffing up their X1 service branch -- HTRR's experience might be some good news in that regard.

I did wait on hold for 70 minutes when I called ... 40 minutes on another call ... It's not a 'rant' if you're telling the truth ...

my take on dead pixels --
If my X1 has none and I send it in for repair I expect 0 dead pixels in the unit they send back -- I really don't care if they exchange all or part of it, so long as it comes back working and w/ the same # of dead pixels (and lamp life) that it had before.

in this small subset of the X1 universe [this thread, for this short period of time] there have been at least 2 of us who sent in PJs w/ clean displays only to receive projectors back w/ a dead pixel.

I wouldn't think that DLPs w/ dead pixels are 'saved' for repairs ... I suspect it's more that the whole light engine assembly is refurbished and put back on the shelf, while allowing for some # of dead pixels. it would cost $$ and time to sort thru them to cull those w/ dead pixels.

A more reasonable approach would be to match the # of dead pixels on the PJ being fixed w/ the # in the replacement light engine. The truly classy thing would be to always send out light engines w/o any dead pixels ... that would be noticed.

but as I noted above, the color wheel can be replaced apart from the whole light engine, -- if repaired that way, you keep the DLP chip you started with. I suspect it takes more bench time for that repair than a whole assembly swap.

Mark

I'm not sure I want to wait another month without a projector even if infocus agrees to do something about the dead pixel. I know most people never have a problem with their X1's, but what's important to me is the problems I've had. I'm on my 3rd X1 in less then a year. I don't abuse them and have less then 300 hours of usage between the three of them.

--- Update ---

Just got off the phone with someone in the repair dept and they are going to exchange the projector for a 'like new' projector even though "the dead pixel is within the tolerances of the manufacturer of the light engine, Ti". The conversation was quick, easy and pleasant. If the exchange goes well I'll be very happy.

Russ

in this small subset of the X1 universe [this thread, for this short period of time] there have been at least 2 of us who sent in PJs w/ clean displays only to receive projectors back w/ a dead pixel.

Make that a least 3 to have received back a "repaired" X1 with a dead pixel. None when the unit was sent back.

I've put approx 2K hrs on it since sending the the original unit back at 2200 hrs. Color wheel noise began again almost immediately, on and off, loud and quiet. I might have been more put off if I had not received a bright new bulb in the deal! $300 right there.

At the very end of my warrenty periiod I will RMA it one last time and keep my fingers crossed I get a clean unit.

Do many of you smoke cigarettes around your projector?

Just curious.

not me.

Originally posted by jcathc00
Do many of you smoke cigarettes around your projector?

Just curious.

Oh absolutely! Of course, I don't mean me, I don't smoke. But we have about 30 projectors in sports bars, so you can imagine the atmosphere. Not only tobacco smoke, but greasy fumes from the kitchens. Really bad for the projectors. I have to clean them every 6 months.

I think there was a thread on this a while ago, people expressing concern over the "damage" they may have been doing to their PJ through smoking, I just thought, how ironic :)

Originally posted by Sheridan1952
Oh absolutely! Of course, I don't mean me, I don't smoke. But we have about 30 projectors in sports bars, so you can imagine the atmosphere. Not only tobacco smoke, but greasy fumes from the kitchens. Really bad for the projectors. I have to clean them every 6 months.

When you clean them, do you clean the color wheels too ? -- if so, how?

any comments on the percentage of your installed base w/ the color wheel whine ? -- there was a recent post, above, from a 4805 owner w/ the same problem ....

Mark

Yes, the color wheels are cleaned. A cotton swab soaked in denatured alcohol, GENTLY swab an area at a time, reversing the swab to wipe off the film. It usually takes 2 or 3 times.

Yes we have color wheel bearing whine in 4 projectors so far, which, in our statistics, gives us a 13% failure rate. They have been repaired under warranty.

I should point out that these are the Dukane branded versions of the Infocus X1 and X2 projectors. Not that it makes a difference, inside they're still Infocus.

We are concerned about the frequency of these bearing issues, both with our own units and the apparent widespread problem as evidenced in this forum, but there is little we can do at this point.

I don't know wether to be happy or upset, but my unit has settled down again. Last 50 or so hours on the bulb no grinding.....
Just hope it stays that way.....

let us know how it works out -- whether it comes back, if/how you get it fixed.

Mark

To clean my color wheel i took the bulb assembly out.. used a paper towel with rubbing alchohol... start the PJ and the wheel spins for bout 10 seconds... i just dab it and it cleans right up...

have done this bout 6 times over the last 2 years with no ill effects..

Originally posted by mpilon


but as I noted above, the color wheel can be replaced apart from the whole light engine, -- if repaired that way, you keep the DLP chip you started with. I suspect it takes more bench time for that repair than a whole assembly swap.

Mark

Actually, no, it requires more effort to replace the entire optics package than it does to swap out a color wheel. I've done either thing at least a dozen times. The color wheel swap might take, oh, 30 minutes for the first time for a tech, and then maybe 15-20 minutes with experience. Swapping out the light engine takes about 5 minutes more for each level of experience. Under duress, I can personally do either in 10 minutes. Less without the blindfold. :)

OK. who am I kidding. I've done each at least 50 times.

Ken, Ken ... I was trying to retain some slim vestige of responsibility in suggesting that replacing the light engine might be easier ...

I'll try to be reasonable another way -- infocus' whole X1 service branch is designed to provide light-weight service on a low-margin product to customers who are perceived to be computer video presenters - used in meetings of bored pissed-off marketing weasels who can't get thru to fleshbot because some IT geek has firewalled it off (again) -- instead of something meaningful like home theater.

which is why they think it's OK to receive an X1 w/ a clean DLP chip, and send it back w/ dead pixels.

But that's not my problem, not ours. 'dude, they like so just don't get it.' The problem dealing w/ companies w/ bad attitudes is it takes more than a whack to the head to get them to admit fault and change their ways.

so much for being reasonable ... it lasted maybe 2 paragraphs or so. don't thank me, I'm only doing my job ...

-M.

Originally posted by Rpml
To clean my color wheel i took the bulb assembly out.. used a paper towel with rubbing alchohol... start the PJ and the wheel spins for bout 10 seconds... i just dab it and it cleans right up...

have done this bout 6 times over the last 2 years with no ill effects..

I take it you bypass the bulb door interlock?

The voltage to strike the bulb is on the region of 2kV. This can arc over ~ 1cm in a moist environment. Since the X1 is earthed, you will provide a nice alternative current path.

Please, be careful. On the plus side, it probably won't hurt for long enough for you to notice it.

Cheers,

Allan.

Time to chime in...I just heard the "buzzsaw" noise last night. AND MY MACHINE ONLY HAS 224 HOURS ON IT!!! WTF??? It really does sound like a buzzsaw spinning in the distance. In my case it only lasted less than a minute but is definetely pretty loud. I can't believe my bearings are dying at 224 hours. I always let it cool before turning off the switch!

Again WTF???

This happened during LOTR TT about 2-3 minutes after turning the unit on and has not made the noise again since. I've had it for a year so I still have a year of warantee. I don't want to send it in if they don't hear it so what do I do? Hold on to it until the warantee is almost up then send it in whether it's making the noise or not? This is depressing, up until now the things been working flawlessly :(

Try blowing out the inside. Flies and other insects like to get inside, attracted by the light. After I blew out half a dozen flies with an air compressor the buzzing stopped.

No bugs in mine, I have an r2000 house, the PJ is in a dedicated room, little to no dust, sealed darkroom door, a very clean environment, not even a window to open :).

I just watched another movie and no noise, really weird :(

I'll still take a peek inside though just to be sure :)

No bugs in mine, I have an r2000 house, the PJ is in a dedicated room, little to no dust, sealed darkroom door, a very clean environment, not even a window to open :).

I just watched another movie and no noise, really weird :(

I'll still take a peek inside though just to be sure :)

Oops, sorry double post, damn slow internet today :(

No bugs in mine, I have an r2000 house, the PJ is in a dedicated room, little to no dust, sealed darkroom door, a very clean environment, not even a window to open :).

I just watched another movie and no noise, really weird :(

I'll still take a peek inside though just to be sure :)

To be fair, the resulting issue might seem concentrated around the color wheel, but it may be a combination of things. For example, the manufacturer of the color wheel has been making color wheels for the industry for quite some time. I don't think they are in the game of lousy color wheel design, as they have many designs out there. So the exact issue is indeterminate, until Infocus addresses the issue. I feel that the results of such research into the source of the issue ...will still be kept internal to the company. Standard business practice, for good and reasonable standard reasons. Nobody is hiding anything, a company simply doesn't wash its underwear in public.

I installed my X-1 since last fall and have about 600hrs already. I have experienced the buzz from time to time, perhaps 8 or 9 times in total. It will occur near the beginning of a session, usually right after start up. It seems to be less often and of shorter duration as time goes on. This may coincide with a change in use of the projector as I seem to be running it longer per session. I figure either it will fail while under warranty or the bearings (if that is the problem) will seat well with wear and the problem will be solved. Time will tell, but meanwhile I continue to enjoy this PJ.

wp

Oh yeah, as with Taiser I also have an R2000 home with little dust and no bugs in the PJ. In fact, I first experienced the buzz when it had less then 10 hrs on it. It is not a dust/debris problem in my case.

My roommate has the X1, and he has been having this buzzsaw problem. I was playing a video game on the projector when I first heard it, and for the first hour or so that I heard it, I honestly thought someone in the neighborhood was sawing, so it was quite funny when I got on this forum and saw y'all calling it that.

But, anyway, that's not what this post is about. My roommate doesn't know whether he can get the projector fixed under warranty. I was wondering if any of you know how much you saved by getting it repaired under warranty? Or if there's anyone out there who has had to get it repaired not under warranty, how much did it cost you? I couldn't seem to find this information anywhere. Thanks for any help!

the only reported cost for this repair was reported earlier in this thread, here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=5299599#post5299599

-- since his location is canada I take it to mean $1000 canadian.

[ you might want to back up to that point and read this thread thru to the present time. ]

I did receive a message from a service rep at infocus who quoted me $565+labor to replace the whole optical engine, just to fix a $80 motor+wheel ... see the posts from page 4 to the present.

There are several issues here -- (our story thus far) --
1) that infocus is replacing more than needed to fix this (the whole optical engine, instead of the motor+wheel),

2) charging far more than the cost of the actual defective part,

3) the X1, X1+, X2, 4800 and possibly the 4805 appear to have an unacceptably high rate of color wheel motor failures. this is a product defect, not wear+tear and infocus seems to be charging top dollar to fix this defect, if out of warranty, -- we're bearing the cost for their design defect,

4) at least 2 of us have sent in X1s for warranty repair -- w/ clean DLP chips -- only to receive projectors back w/ a dead pixel. I am one of those two.

Yes, if not under warranty, your roommate is screwed; until infocus starts to act more resonably about their defect there's not much to be done. They may still fix it if asked nicely ... please keep us posted.

Just keep all this in mind when shopping for your own projector. And tell your friends.

Mark

P.S. When your roommate contacts infocus post the results here and please keep us up to date -- good or bad, please post it here.

Arrg, mine started doing it tonight for the first time, at 1300 hours :( The sound went away after a minute, but I guess it's going to do it all the time now.

My X1 is a little over a year old and about 500 hours. The buzz has started on mine. When it first cropped up it came and went for about an hour. Now for whatever reason, when I first turn it on it makes the noise for about 30 secs to a minute then fades out without returning.

Kinda annoying... :(

keep on top of it -- mine started out intermittent and then got worse. I knew it was time to get it fixed when my wife kept glancing up at it during movies. not a good sign ...

Mark

For those of you that sent them in, did you get hooked up with a new bulb? :)

Yes, but not the first time --
I sent my x1 in, waited some weeks for its return, only to have it come back w/ a dead pixel; I then did an 'advance exchange', something not typically done for the X1 and received an exchange unit w/ 0 dead pixels and 0 hours on the bulb. looks great.

I can't say if it was some informal compensation for dragging my repair out for 7 weeks and 2 projectors; maybe they hold better units for 'advance exchange' ... maybe I just got lucky.

I posted it above but it bears repeating: if you have 1500 - 2000 hours on your bulb and you find yourself trying to tweak (again and again) to restore the picture, get a new bulb ... for my theater, the quoted 4K hour lifespan isn't too meaningful as I need every lumen I can get and brightness falls off as the bulb ages.

w/ my 95" 4:3 screen (75" x 57") the new bulb brought the picture alive again.

Mark

Sorry for the delayed response...

I think I read this entire thread before posting my question, but I didn't remember seeing any definitive prices for getting the color wheel replaced in the projector. I probably refused to believe that repair would cost $1000, which is more than the price of an X1 (I wouldn't have realized the poster was in Canada, and even so, that price is outrageous, as you have said).

I had previously read all of those problems you guys had with Infocus and the X1, and I agree wholeheartedly that their service is terrible. I myself have zero tolerance for such terrible service... if I ever buy a projector, you can bet it will not be an Infocus projector, even if it costs me more money; you can also bet that I will be informing anyone I meet who is thinking about buying a projector of the risks they're taking if they buy an Infocus projector.

Thanks for the quote on $565 + labor. I informed my roommate of that quote. My roommate says if he has a one year warranty, it's too late, and if he has a two year warranty he has until the end of the summer... and knowing his personality, he is likely to wait until then to get it repaired. I keep telling him he should have a two year warranty like the rest of you, but he doesn't seem convinced.

Anyway, thanks for all your help and I'll let you know how it goes if I can find this thread again by the time he gets it repaired.

Hi,

My X1 started the chainsaw/buzz saw problem/noise about two weeks ago. It is very loud. The projector is 11 months old and has 652 hours on the lamp. Send in RMA request on 04/12/2005 @ 4:00pm EDT via In-focus website. Received response about 7:00pm EDT (auto-generated) Received response from what appears to be a first line CSR on 04/13/2005 @ 12:45 am EDT. Email stated that in 24/48 hours I will be receiving RMA/Shipping instructions. Hopefully, this will be resolved quickly and painlessly. I will update as the process continues.

William

Originally posted by akdude47
For those of you that sent them in, did you get hooked up with a new bulb? :)
I didn't get a new bulb, but it was flickering when I first got mine back. I did a search and found a thread where people were saying this was a common problem with new bulbs and someone was told by infocus to burn it in for about 8 hours straight. I did that and the flicker is gone, so at least I won't need a new bulb for a while longer. Maybe shipping caused the flicker?

Anyway, I've had mine back from repair for a couple months now. I've heard the noise come back a couple times since but not for more than a second. It doesn't inspire a lot of confidence, but on the plus side, the 2 dead pixels I had since I bought it are gone. I didn't expect that. Hopefully this colorwheel stays quiet.

I'd call receiving an engine w/ no dead pixels in place of your original light engine w/ 2 dead pixels to be a win -- certainly good news.

I've heard bits of noise from mine but wondered if that was the sound of the color wheel speed changing ... ?

I suspect, though, that infocus is replacing the wheel+motor w/ the same part -- that no 'new+improved' assembly has been developed to address this problem. At least I have not heard anything to that effect. So we might be right back in the same boat in a year or two ...

thanks for the replies, folks, keep them coming.

Mark

anyone else have the color wheel whine going on ?

I heard it for a while (intermittently) a few months back, but have only heard it very infrequently recently. I was thinking about sending it in a few months ago, but didn't want to be without it for the Super Bowl. Now that I'm hearing it much less frequently (rarely), I'm debating what to do. My original 2-year warranty is up in mid-May (I have ~1700 hours on the bulb), so I should probably decide what to do. I know that I signed up for the free 5-year warranty option when I purchased it, but as I recall it was only for parts (not labor)??? What do you think, should I send it in and risk having them say that they can't replicate my problem?

Mine started with a horrible super loud saw sound that went in and out, then it stopped that, but continued with a steady quieter sawing noise.. its still quite noticeable, especially in the quiet scenese of a movie. Sounds like a hard drive in your computer.. Ive had mine for around a year with about 1600 hours on it. I submitted a request for service via the web, and received a response almost immediately.. then about a day later got an RMA. It was received at infocus on 4/10 and I was just notified today that it shipped today and they provided a tracking # from UPS. Thats ten days turnaround.. I was preparing to be without it for weeks.. not too bad. Im anxious to see if I get the buzz fixed, but have dead pixels or some other problem. I have a year left on the warranty, so we will see if I have to repeat this.

marshdom,

you might read back thru this thread -- the extended warranty is for labor. infocus charges $585 for the parts. a couple of pages ago, I broke down the real costs of the failing parts ...

globaljase,
10 day turnaround is great! hope it works for you -- please keep us posted here.

Mark

I bought an Infocus SP4805 back in October. I love this machine but always thought the fan was a bit loud. Anyway I started getting very picky about some little things I was seeing, real or not but ultimately I am judge and jury. Then I started to get this scraping sound on start up about 2 months ago, I think it is the color wheel. Anyway I was disappointed with the Infocus web site for service. Every time I filled out the service request it would kick me to an error page and tell me to go to the contact page, which I did. It ended up taking me thru the same stuff.

This started back in Feb. I finally contacted one of the tech guys (feb) that helped me with a cable. I gave him all the info and he said he would take care of it and help me. fast forward to March and I heard nothing from him. I was getting a bit PO'd. I called them only to find out service was only open 7-5 Pacific Time. Well by this time I am at work and by the time I get home they are closed. And we all know how long you can sit on the phone waiting to talk to someone. Well today I had time and called them. I explained all of the problems I had been having with there service site and what not and the lady put me in touch with a lead tech.

I told him I did not want it serviced and would like a replacement. He had me email him all the emails I had sent infocus about this and said he would call me back on my cell. Well he did call back about 2 hours later and said that they would only service it but would cover shipping to and from. I explained to him that considering everything I had to go through they should replace it, He said let me call you back. Well about 4 today he called me back and explained that they only exchange within 30 days and it had been to long already.

Again I explained that it was not my fault that it took 3 months for me to finally get to this point and that infocus should care in these instants how important customer service is. I also went on to let him know how many BB I frequent and that good customer service goes a long way and bad goes even further. He asked me to hold on. I held for a few min and he came back on and told me that they were going to exchange it for a new one and also cover shipping both ways. Yeah! I thanked him for going the extra mile to make a good customer happy.

Bottom line is, when you feel you deserve a little more then the norm sometimes you have to be persistent with kindness. Now I will get a brand new unit and Infocus has gained a loyal customer, Infocus took care of me.

Scooter

Originally posted by scooterdog

.
.
.

Bottom line is, when you feel you deserve a little more then the norm sometimes you have to be persistent with kindness. Now I will get a brand new unit and Infocus has gained a loyal customer, Infocus took care of me.

Scooter

service, like quality, is in the eye of the beholder. from where I sit, infocus did right by you, but only after much persistence on your part. if infocus had a committment to its customers that persistence wouldn't have been necessary. The burden should not be on the customer.

glad it worked out for you,

Mark

My repaired x1 arrived today.. I dont remember it ever being this quiet, I had gotton so used to the sawing. Flashed to 4800 and everything looks beautiful...no problems. Awesome 10 day turnaround.

oooooh 4800, u reminded me, im gonna send mine in to try repair the occational/rare buzz saw under warrenty (about 4 months left) in a few months, must remember to flash back to X1 :) hehe

Originally posted by scooterdog
Bottom line is, when you feel you deserve a little more then the norm sometimes you have to be persistent with kindness. Now I will get a brand new unit and Infocus has gained a loyal customer, Infocus took care of me.

Scooter
I have no idea why you felt that you deserved a new unit rather than just having it repaired for free :confused: You had to be persistent to get them to break their policy for you. Good for you, but I don't think their warranty policy is unfair. I'll be curious to find out if you get a refurb. That's what most companies give out for warranty replacements.

So Mine is apparently on the way back.. That was under a week turnaround.

I never got any information as to what they actually fixed. Unfortunately i'm going to be out of town for 2 weeks so it'll be a bit before i can actually see if it's fixed or not.


But so far this has been extremely painless..

good to hear -- hope they've turned things around @ their repair dept ... I'm really interested to see if they've dealt with the matter of out-of-warranty color wheel motors --

Is infocus still charging top dollar to fix this or will they mitigate this design issue? I can see the occasional bad motor, but this is a more persistent problem and is isn't fair to stick the customer for this repair.

Mark

Originally posted by mpilon
good to hear -- hope they've turned things around @ their repair dept ... I'm really interested to see if they've dealt with the matter of out-of-warranty color wheel motors --

Is infocus still charging top dollar to fix this or will they mitigate this design issue? I can see the occasional bad motor, but this is a more persistent problem and is isn't fair to stick the customer for this repair.

Mark
Mark,
Respectfully....

Please quote your sources. According to the latest press release Infocus has sold over 350,000 of these units. I don't have access to repair numbers but from what I have seen here, it is probably nothing more than the occasional bad motor. There are probably several hundred X1 users actively posting here. What have we seen here, less than 20 complaints?

You've been actively bashing InFocus for weeks. Do you have any hard data to back up the motor pricing, time it takes a tech to repair, or are you purely speculating. What facts do you have that call this a design issue? Do you really think, as your posts imply, that InFocus purposely set out to build this failure in to the machine as a "feature" so they can gain extra revenue once the units reach the end of the warranty period?

By the way, I got my X1 back in a week, no dead pixels. Sounds like they took good care of you too, (eventually) despite your constant rantings.

htr

would be intersting to know the failure stats.

the 2 local ones i know of/view (mine and mates) both have the issue, so form "personal" experience of used units with reasonable hours (2000 and 2800) im 100% failure :)

Well, I'm up to about 280 hours now and the sound has not come back. I got a year of warrantee left but I'm scared that if it does not start "sawing" again soon, I'll be screwed when it needs to be fixed :(.

I'm curious though if the room being cold had anything to do with it. The room is isolated and my wife turnes down the heat in there. It was probably about 15 degrees (C) in there when I fired it up and it started making noise. Would that be a cause?

Oh and I'll have to flash it back to the x1 settings as well :)

Originally posted by The HT Rookie
Mark,
Respectfully....

Please quote your sources. According to the latest press release Infocus has sold over 350,000 of these units. I don't have access to repair numbers but from what I have seen here, it is probably nothing more than the occasional bad motor. There are probably several hundred X1 users actively posting here. What have we seen here, less than 20 complaints?

You've been actively bashing InFocus for weeks. Do you have any hard data to back up the motor pricing, time it takes a tech to repair, or are you purely speculating. What facts do you have that call this a design issue? Do you really think, as your posts imply, that InFocus purposely set out to build this failure in to the machine as a "feature" so they can gain extra revenue once the units reach the end of the warranty period?

By the way, I got my X1 back in a week, no dead pixels. Sounds like they took good care of you too, (eventually) despite your constant rantings.

htr

a new definition for the word 'respectfully' ... must tell the folks at OED. downright Orwellian.

the specifics are here, including a failure rate calculated from one poster w/ multiple X1s as a commercial installed base. I take what people tell me at face value. One vendor has an installed base of multiple X1s and reported his # of failures -- a failure rate of between 10% and 15%. [doing the math from your own guestimates, '20 complaints' / 'hundreds' ... that's a 5% or higher failure rate. you want dependability in a product, you go for a 0.01% failure rate or lower.

take my specifics or you own sloppy language, we're still in the same neighborhood when talking about failure rate. A less empirical comment on that failure rate is the steady drip, drip of replies to this thread. if the CWmotors weren't failing at a higher rate than background noise, this thread would have died long ago. I didn't start it; I just started paying attention to this issue when my motor acted up.

the repair times, as I noted in the post, came after receiving a PM from a tech who repaired the CWMotor by either swapping the light engine or the motor. From him I got the parts cost and repair time. go back and re-read the posts. I've supplied the specifics but have kept the identities private to protect that tech.

the $585 parts cost to fix an out-of-warranty CWmotor I got from an infocus service rep.

go back and show me where I ...imply, that InFocus purposely set out to build this failure in to the machine as a "feature".... it's not there.

I am suggesting that the people running infocus service are treating the X1 out of warranty repairs of the CWM repair as a real cash cow; and that it is not a moral thing to do, given the higher failure rate for the CWmotor. whether intentional or not, it's wrong. And now that I know how infocus prices their out-of-warranty parts, I can factor that into my next PJ purchase decision. I encourage others to consider this aspect too.

It's not 'bashing' when I have the facts behind me. try it sometime.

And in the spirit of respect, let me suggest that you provide some facts of your own when you ding me for [alleged] speculation. The words 'hypocrisy', 'pot' and 'kettle' come to mind.

Originally posted by Taiser
Well, I'm up to about 280 hours now and the sound has not come back. I got a year of warrantee left but I'm scared that if it does not start "sawing" again soon, I'll be screwed when it needs to be fixed :(.

I'm curious though if the room being cold had anything to do with it. The room is isolated and my wife turnes down the heat in there. It was probably about 15 degrees (C) in there when I fired it up and it started making noise. Would that be a cause?

Oh and I'll have to flash it back to the x1 settings as well :)

15C isn't cold, just cool ... I wouldn't keep listening over your shoulder, waiting for the noise to come back -- you'll ruin your enjoyment of your theater. No point in worrying -- even w/ the failures you've been reading about here, it's still very good odds you won't be bitten ...

I'd like to see infocus extend its parts warranty a couple of years more for this part / PJ ... even if a problem crops up later, customers would know they're covered. I just wonder how long it's going to take before they do the right thing ?

Mark

I had the opposite thought to Taiser. I have not had the buzz for some time now and I felt it may have something to do with the room being cooler. With the recent on set of spring north of Lake Superior my furnace does not kick in during the day leaving it cool, 65F, in my basement HT. My buzz, which was intermittent and brief even then, has not been heard for some time.

I also occurred to me that operating it for many hours at a time(4 or more), rather then a couple of hours here and there, may also be helpful to seat bearings or otherwise break it in properly. I have nothing to base this on but note this PJ was designed for business use where my experience is they are left on for long periods and maybe shut down over lunch.

I certainly agree with mpilon. Forget about the buzz and enjoy. Put some hours on it while you have time left on warranty. Either the problem will correct itself or it will fail while your only exposure is to shipping costs.

wp

how many others have had the loud buzz but only for say 30sec's then it goes away, maybe for 6months (500hrs + (maybe more), could it just be a slight inbalance or something that brings on the failure?

I want to "induce" it bad in mine (the buzz) as warrenty is running out and im affaired if i try to claim without any sign of the random issue they will turn me away (it will be with a local infocus rep/dealer here)

Mine has had the buzz 5 or 6 times...only for a few minutes or so. the last time it lasted a few hours...then disappeared again.

I am not worried about it since it always goes away. I do not think it is due to a defective part because the first two times I heard it was during my first 10 hours of use.

I imagine even those units that get repaired are susceptible to the noise still, and you run a significant risk of getting a replacement unit with a dead pixel. If the noise isn't constant, for sure, perhaps you're better off forgetting about it.

Shane

how many others have had the loud buzz but only for say 30sec's then it goes away, maybe for 6months (500hrs + (maybe more), could it just be a slight inbalance or something that brings on the failure?

That's EXACTLY what I had, buzzed for about 30 sec to a minute, really faint, now over 50 hours later I've never heard it again WTF. Like I said it was about 15 degrees C in the room (about 59 F). Now I'm almost positive that's what the problem was, not other reason for a PJ with less than 300 hours on it to do this. Since it was short I'm guessing it warmed up pretty quick and the noise stopped.

BAH I got another year warantee left, either it craps out by then or if it does after it's an excuse to upgrade! :)

taiser,

hmmmm our summers get pretty hot here, my unit has been run in the high 30deg C's (when the A/C has been busted..... stupid LG crap) for lengthy periods. In winter maybe down to 14degC, but does not seem to correlate with either.

I wonder if mounting style effects? Ie roof or table? Mine has always been roof (or as it temporately is now, taped to the top of a ladder, bhahahaha)

As for running times, id say mines on at least 3hrs most days, maybe 3 days a week its on for near 8hrs straight.

Oh, another thought. We are PAL here so i run the HTPC at 50hz, the wheel speed/noise is noticable less than at 60hz, i wonder if this could add life? (or possibly the fact that it "starts" up a 60hz evertime for a while then slows as it syncs up..... ie it gets to run at varied speed, where US users would only likely see 60hz wheel speed?)

the temp of interest here is the temp of the _motor_ -- w/ the lamp running it probably stays uniformly warm.

while I use my X1 for mostly ntsc, I do have a multi-region dvd player and have caught it buzzing a bit as it synchs up (down) going between ntsc and pal.

as I said earlier. go enjoy your projectors, don't let the anticipation of CWM noise ruin your theater for you.

Mark

Originally posted by Spoonfed
I want to "induce" it bad in mine (the buzz) as warrenty is running out and im affaired if i try to claim without any sign of the random issue they will turn me away (it will be with a local infocus rep/dealer here) [/B]

Check out the old color wheel cleaning thread. Maybe someone can help out with a link, I don't remember enough about it to search for it. Anyway, I think there were a few people in that thread whose color wheel started buzzing immediately after they cleaned it. Then it went away. Probably because they put sideways pressure on the wheel while cleaning it.

Might be worth trying to find the thread and take a look.

Still trying to decide if I should send mine in before my 2 years runs out (in a few weeks). I'm rarely hearing the buzzsaw anymore (after hearing it a number of times a few months back), but occasionally I convince myself that I'm hearing a constant noise that is not too bad - but louder than when it was new (as I recall, anyway).

Has anyone requested an RMA and been declined and/or had their X1 sent back with no fix? Glad to hear that turnaround time seems to be picking up.

Two other random questions:

1) What are replacement bulbs going for these days? Have they come down in price at all? As I approach 2000 hours, I'm beginning to think about the merits of trying to sell the X1 before the bulb runs out (and getting a 4805 or similar) versus having a replacement bulb on hand.

2) Could I bother someone to provide me with a link(s) to good updated info/discussion on the best firmware (4800) to flash the X1 to ... and what the benefits are? I've always thought about doing that, but have not kept up with the discussion in the past half-year or so.

Thanks.

Am on my last month of warranty. Have RMAed it back to InFocus.
Have also bought a X2 from Amazon (it only has 1 yr warranty!)
in the mean time to replace the X1.

Am using component inputs strictly and I must say, the X2 higher lums is worth it..

Darn it, now I am getting the buzzing noise. It is intermittant right now. Interesting how it started after I got my HDTV cable box.... It does seem to be random though.... I am wondering if all the X1's will get this problem. I have owned mine for almost two years now. Warranty expires Memorial Day. Infocus has been calling me to renew the warranty for big bucks! Now I am in a quandary.
I have about 1,250 hours on the bulb.

I am guessing that the noise doesn't go away and only gets worse...?

Have people renewed their warranty because of this? $200 smackers for one year is outrageous and $300 smackers for two years is like pulling an arm and a leg!

Darn it, now I am getting the buzzing noise. It is intermittant right now. Interesting how it started after I got my HDTV cable box.... It does seem to be random though.... I am wondering if all the X1's will get this problem. I have owned mine for almost two years now. Warranty expires Memorial Day. Infocus has been calling me to renew the warranty for big bucks! Now I am in a quandary.
I have about 1,250 hours on the bulb.

I am guessing that the noise doesn't go away and only gets worse...?

Have people renewed their warranty because of this? $200 smackers for one year is outrageous and $300 smackers for two years is like pulling an arm and a leg!

if you haven't waded back thru this topic, start w/ post 83 or so, page 5, for my conclusions/opinions about the parts and service contract pricing.

the short answer is that the failing part is about $80 for the motor+wheel. For this repair, Infocus charges us $565 and replaces the whole optical engine, even though only the motor is bad; putting it another way, that $565 parts cost is about 7 times the cost of the actual failed part.

Part of this pricing is used to justify the high service contract price. and, (ta da!) the contract is so expensive because of the (inflated) cost of the parts ...

The net effect is that out-of-warranty color wheel failures are being handled as a cash-cow by infocus. It's doubly offensive that the inflated price is charged to fix a design defect.

I was an original strong supporter of the X1 as a groundbreaker, bringing HT to the unwashed masses (that's us). Having lived w/ it for over 2 years now, I still love the silly thing, but won't buy infocus again -- I can't support corporate behavior like this.

let us know how it turns out ...

Mark

Mine is coming back today from Infocus. It has 3 yrs of service warranty left on it. I've decided not to keep it, but I'm staying with the X-series...the next upgrade for me will be the X3 if the X2 lasts for 365 days.

Mine is coming back today from Infocus. It has 3 yrs of service warranty left on it. I've decided not to keep it, but I'm staying with the X-series...the next upgrade for me will be the X3 if the X2 lasts for 365 days.

what's the word? -- how's your X1 ?

I just talked with Infocus.. The tech rep said that once you hear the buzzing sound; he has heard that it sometimes goes away for as long as six months, but it always comes back. It means something like a bearing on the colorwheel is bad or a bearing on one of four fans in the projector. Now I have to climb up and get the serial# and get an RMA#....

Got it back! Unpacked! They didn't send it back with my original BOX! NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT. It has a 4.3 firmware upgrade and new bulb! Have not connected it to a source yet as I don't have any vga cables with me in the office, otherwise, it powers up fine with the default startup screen. Its VERY quiet now! no more buzzing noise! Do it! Get it fixed underwarranty! Painless! just don't send ur original box if u want to keep it!

Can't go wrong with that (even though ya lost the box). Like I said haven't heard the noise since the first time, had it on today for 4 hours still not a peep. Got a year of warantee left. Somebody mentioned that near the end of the warantee infocus offers a longer one for more cash, is that standard practise? If they offer me the extended warantee I'll probably bite, just to cover my a$$...who knows if it goes in for repairs in a few years under warantee and they can't fix it maybe they'll replace it with a 4805 or something :)

dreamcast18 - sounds like you've done well and perhaps infocus is cleaning up their service procedures. did you have any special contact w/ anyone at infocus or was it totally blind: follow the on-line RMA procedure, send it in, get it back ... ?

I'm interested in whether this problem is persistently mentioned here or dies out ... could have been a bad run of color wheel motors. If it's more persistent then I'll be interested in the response after peoples' warranties run out.

and here's my plug for infocus -- I didn't know how bad my lamp was until I tried the new bulb which came w/ my 2'nd repair/exchange [1'st one cabe back w/ a dead pixel] -- if you've got ~2K hours on the bulb and are starting to tweak to bring back the color, consider a new bulb.

Mark

I did the online RMA, BUT had to keep emailing them for a RMA response and tracking. I guess one have to keep hounding them to make sure u get ur RMA number and the tracking. I sent it UPS, and when it got to InFocus, i got 2 automated emails. I really like the new bulb, its ALOT brighter (I had 2.5K hours on it). InFocus did'nt clean out the dust on the housing tho. Overall, I'm happy!

I'm guessing they clean the colour wheel (or replace it?) that probably makes a big difference in brightness as well!

in one of my earlier posts I suggested that infocus could sell me on a yearly 'tuneup' -- clean the wheel, eval the brightness of the bulb ... that kind of thing.

my main point in emphasizing a new bulb is that I wasn't aware just how my picture had degraded ... happens so slowly.

Mark

I didn't open it to check, but my tot is they replaced it. Its very quiet, brighter, and better colors. I highly recommend sending ur unit in for fixing b4 the warranty expires.

My RMA experience so far...
I had a couple months left on the 2 yr warranty when the buzz started. I requested an RMA, received an automated response..then nothing. I emailed them and received my RMA the next day. They said some firewalls/spam blockers may block their responses. I sent her in and they received her today... I'll post the results.

How long did it take for them to repair it?

For me, they said they received mine on June 6th, and shipped it out on June 9th. I'm very happy with that. Supposed to receive it on Tuesday. Luckily for me, my upstairs DVD player is starting to crap out. Time to get a Zenith DVB318 for my X1! I'll report on the X1 when I get it back.

Jake, xtr41, how have your projector repairs turned out?

Mark

After 13 months of heavy use (3000+ hours on bulb), I also got the "buzz saw" noise. I emailed InFocus and they returned an RMA to me within a day or so.

I sent the X1 to the local service center and they waited for a replacement color wheel for about 3 weeks. When it didn't arrive, they replaced my PJ (new or refurb, I'm not sure). I also got a new bulb out of it!

I really believe this is a design defect. What I'd really like to know is: does this happen with other, more expensive, DLPs?

While I'm not sure about the newer pricer DLP's my Boxlight CD455m 9infocus lp340) has the exact same problem. Until the x1 owners started reporting the issueI wasnt sure what was causing it, but once they started reporting it, it was clear that is the colorwheel, with the same "powersaw" noise.

I just checked the RMA status and it seems they shipped mine out on the 10th. I may get her back before the weekend!! I will certainly post the repair impression ASAP. Its kinda like a family member has been missing....<sniff>

i did the rma thing online mon. recived a rsponce that for 99 bucks i can get a 1 year extended warntee and 149 for a 2 year extended. im thinking of going that route. but havent decided.. anyway i recived my rma # today. will ship it out tomarrow. question is when they shipped it back did they ship it with orig packing? I know you didnt get the box but the packing is what concerns me.

How did you get that pricing of $99 for 1 year extended warrantee and 2 years for $149?
That sounds like a good deal to me.... Who quoted you that price?

I got quoted $200/one year and $300 for two years. At that price, I said No Way!

Well, I received mine back quickly. As others reported, you do not get your original box back, so don't send your original box. The box that they sent it in was VERY well padded, so no worries about that. All seems fine with it. No new lamp for me. The buzzsaw sound is gone, but it does seem to me that the normal sound it is making is louder than it used to be before I was experiencing the buzzsaw sound. Probably just a normal variance.

All in all a good experience, handled quickly and well. I would also like to hear more about the warrantee offers people are getting. I got a free extended warrantee when I bought it, but I guess it only covers labor and not parts.

I had this problem about 6 months ago and it had gotten to the point where the buzz saw noise was nearly as loud as the movie. I sent mine in under warranty and got it back about 2 weeks later and all was good.

Now, 6 months into the new color wheel, the buzz saw is back again. Right now it only pops ups for a few seconds and goes away, but that is exactly how it started before.

I'm not looking forward to losing my projector for another 2 weeks, but I'm really discouraged that this may only prolong the problem for another 6 months or so again until the warranty runs out, then I'm screwed.

Maybe I'll sell my car and buy a 3-chip DLP with no color wheel :-(

I received my projector back today and couldn't be happier. Their packaging is bombproof..No worries there. It is like brand new and I believe the bulb is new also. The lamp hours are 0 and the bulb looks fresh to me. They flashed to the 4.3 software. The picture is great, no dead pixles etc... I had a 2 week turnaround. Nicely done Infocus. Now for that extended warranty.....

an interesting shift in the pricing for the extended warranty. [I so wanted to put 'warranty' in quotes there ... and just did.]
this is more reasonable pricing and covers the parts cost of the color wheel. can someone confirm that pricing ?

pen25, can you post the entirety of the email you got w/ that pricing (along w/ the email header ..) ?

thanks,

Mark

Just read this whole thread and I'm not hearing a buzzsaw. Had mu X1 for 1 year 9 months, not sure how many hours, but probably getting near 2000. Now this is a little off topic, but the problem I have is that I have one pixel in the middle of the screen that is always white and really annoying. I assume this is a 'dead' pixel. I sent in an email and got back an RMA #, but didn't send it in yet. I read something in a couple of the posts that seem to imply that a dead pixel is not necessarily something that would be fixed under warranty. I don't want to send it off to Infocus and then get it back saying it's not covered. Anyone had any experience with this?

How did you get that pricing of $99 for 1 year extended warrantee and 2 years for $149?
That sounds like a good deal to me.... Who quoted you that price?

I got quoted $200/one year and $300 for two years. At that price, I said No Way!
The inconsistencies in service are really starting to bug me. People are getting different price quotes for extended warranties, and now it sounds like more people are getting new bulbs. I'm feeling like I got a raw deal :(

I suppose this is a useless question, but I am curious if there is any way to lubricate the color wheel?

My X1 is just over two years old and I heard the whine about two weeks ago. It lasted a few minutes and then went away. Since then, nothing.

Last time I cleaned the screen on the light housing, I also vacummed the inside of the projector. Not sure if this helped. There is no way in hell I am going to pay over $500 to "fix" this projector, so I'm hoping it lasts much, much longer without problems.

I suppose this is a useless question, but I am curious if there is any way to lubricate the color wheel?
Before I sent mine in for repair I tried spraying some WD-40 in there. It had no effect. If my warranty had already expired I would've taken it apart to find the motor because it was making noise constantly.

Yours only did it once for a few minutes, just leave it alone. I can tell you that it can go for months without making the noise again. Maybe when it's time to buy a new lamp you can just sell it instead.

How did you get that pricing of $99 for 1 year extended warrantee and 2 years for $149?
That sounds like a good deal to me.... Who quoted you that price?

I got quoted $200/one year and $300 for two years. At that price, I said No Way!
it was an email i recived as confirmation of a request for rma.

Hello, Phillip.



Thank you for contacting InFocus Technical Support regarding the warranty repair of your projector model X1, serial # xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. You will receive your RMA number and shipping information within 48 hours.



Also, if you would be interested in extending your warranty, we have a special price going right now as an offer to people who phone or email into technical support.



Normally, the price to extend your warranty by one year is $199 and for two years it is $299. This tech support offer can get you an extra year of warranty for only $99 and two years for only $149.



This offer is only available now, and can be purchased by credit card only. Please let me know if you would be interested.



Please let us know if you have any questions at all.







Thank you,



[-----[ Dan ]---------------------------]


Technical Support
InFocus Corporation

p. 503.685.xxxx

f: 503.685.xxxx

techsupport@infocus.com


i cant get the header..

i just read it over again.. looks like if you call tech support they will offer yu the cheaper rate.

The inconsistencies in service are really starting to bug me. People are getting different price quotes for extended warranties, and now it sounds like more people are getting new bulbs. I'm feeling like I got a raw deal :(

I'd like to think that some of us making noise here might be causing some changes in the service policies ... no way to tell w/o some word from the inside but there has been improvement in response time, repair time, some repairs came w/ new bulbs, and the service contract pricing has dropped.

I do see how the inconsistancies can drive you nuts ... If they go w/ that lower contract pricing for non-rma customers then I think I'd even pop for that.

I've had the sense, before, that infocus bobs and weaves a bit -- remember the pricing split for the x1 versus the 4800 ... then the X1a came out ... it almost sounds like they're of several minds when they make marketing desicions, and don't quite know where they're going.

I'll know the changes are for real if/when they institutionalize / generalize some of these changes [like the service contract pricing] instead of treating it like a cross between winning the lottery and a Kmart blue light special ...

.. last thought on that -- I'll know they're for-real when the price for an out-of-warranty color wheel motor repair drops to about $100 - $150 instead of the $565 last quoted. This is their design problem -- excess heat is drying the lubricant out of the bearings, causing premature bearing failure - infocus will have gotten the message when they don't charge arm+leg+left-foot-toes to fix it.


-M.

I suppose this is a useless question, but I am curious if there is any way to lubricate the color wheel?

My X1 is just over two years old and I heard the whine about two weeks ago. It lasted a few minutes and then went away. Since then, nothing.

Last time I cleaned the screen on the light housing, I also vacummed the inside of the projector. Not sure if this helped. There is no way in hell I am going to pay over $500 to "fix" this projector, so I'm hoping it lasts much, much longer without problems.

I haven't had my X1 apart so this is a bit theoretical ... but it sounds like it's pretty easy to get to the color wheel assembly. the 1'st trick is to get some oil onto the shaft, preferably both ends ... in such a way that it won't migrate towards the wheel and wash over the wheel as it spins. maybe oil, let it soak towards the bearings and then wipe the excess ... again, I haven't seen one of these assemblies on its own.

the 2'nd trick is to pick a good oil which will remain stable and won't break down. I'd use Mobil 1 [i am not making this up] ... I have concerns about using a detergent oil, but Mobil 1 is (one of) the gold standards. Triflow could also be used -- a good oil w/ microparticles of teflon suspended in it. 2'nd thought, go w/ the Triflow; you won't have to buy a whole quart either.

As I said, this is theoretical ... there are some Out There who have had the motor+wheel assembly out -- is lubricating it possible ?

And, it's been suggested that heat is a problem -- dries out the lubricant. a small fan directed at the motor might help matters.

[ there's also the terror factor -- what can seem like an easy, straightforward dissassembly might induce terror if you haven't taken consumer electronics apart before. if terror sets in, don't do it; if you get part-way and don't have the right tools, get the tools rather than hack it to smithereens. assembly/disassembly has become a fine art -- most of the time there really is method to the order in which things come apart.. ]

thoughts?

Mark

there's also the terror factor -- what can seem like an easy, straightforward dissassembly might induce terror if you haven't taken consumer electronics apart before. if terror sets in, don't do it;
He should feel terror because he only heard the noise once, and then it quieted back down. Let someone with a really noisy one do it first. I would've tried, but my warranty was still good.

He should feel terror because he only heard the noise once, and then it quieted back down. Let someone with a really noisy one do it first. I would've tried, but my warranty was still good.

sadly it may be too late if you wait until it's really noisy -- then the bearings could have already been damaged.

I was mainly referring to the tension for someone not accustomed to disassembling electronics or computers.

Mark

Where can i purchase x1 replacement parts online, specifically the color wheel assembly unit, and/or more specifically the bearing unit?

much appreciated
DJB

Never seen parts online, better off getting a burnt bulb unit on e-bay and gutting that!

I shipped my x1 off a week and a half ago I think it was. anyway it was on a wed. recived an email a week later( i shipped it 2nd day) saying it was repaired. talk about quick. too bad i wasnt offered an upgrade haha.. anyway replaced light engine upgraded firmware.. hope they threw in a light as well. mine was sitting on something like 2500 hours. if not looks like ill be buying a lamp soon.

got my pj back 2 days ago. this is what i found. i opened the box great packing.. wrapped up nice and tight in plastic. removed the plastic and it had a smell of electronics. possibly outgassing of the plastic since it was sealed. anyway hooked it up fired it up and off i went.. played for about 20 min and bam out goes the light.. thought ok maybe it timed out or something. so i climbed up and found the red light flashing and the smell some more. so i unplugged it let it cool down. fired it up yesterday had it playing for about 15 min again and same thing.. apperently it is over heating. i also noticed it is allot louder then it did when i shipped it out. called infocus. told them what i noticed and they attempted to replace it with an x2. i was like i dont think so. a 4800 maybe but not an x2. so needless to say i have it packaged up and ready to ship back.. why oh why couldnt i have gotten lucky and them suggest they upgrade me to a 4805 =( haha

Hey guys I have a question. When I got my X1 back from Infocus, I noticed that my image is now shifted noticably to the left and slightly down. I know it's not my mount, because I have a fixed DIY mount that does not move. I have taken it down and put it back up a number of times without this happening before. Is this just a normal by-product of replacing whatever they replaced? Did anyone else notice this? Thanks.

That happened to a buddy of mine. The engine was probably installed a tad cockeyed by a drunk infocus employee :) at least that's what we figured. He was going to send it back but just moved his mount (100% adjustable) and it was fine. Probably missed some kind of shim on the engine mount or something like that.

My X1 is 2 months out of warranty. However I signed for 3 year extend labor only warranty like everyone who bought their projector during a certain period.
It made some whining noises before the original 2 yr warranty period was over. I thought it's not unusual since the projector makes regular high pitch noise.
Recently I noticed a white banding (two inches wide) in the screen. I called Infocus. They told me that it's the problem with optical engine and it would cost 500 plus to replace. They asked me to take the projector to the nearest authorized service center (Southern Business Communications). Authorized center told me that they would contact Infocus for warranty check up. They came up with the same prognosis but their parts estimate is $1000 plus $200 labor. I thought I had the warranty on labor. Now they are refusing to return me back the unit. I am waiting for response from the manager.

I suggest you call infocus customer service -- not the service center but someone in infocus corporate. sorry you're having this kind of problem -- when we buy we're usually not thinking down the road to if/when our pride/joy breaks.

I hope you can get your projector back and get it serviced. if not, remember it for next time, and, please keep posting here with your progress.

Mark

I am getting back the projector from the infocus authorized service center. According to the technician, infocus asked them to show any proof of extra 3 yr. warranty on labor that I received when I bought the projector. As far as I know the deal was that if I register my unit through their website, I would get the extra 3 year warranty on labor.

Do you guys know how I can prove 3 yr extended warranty on labor? Otherwise, I have to look for the print out that I received when I registered the unit two years ago.

Is your labor warranty even worth anything if the parts are $1000? How ridiculous that one part costs more than you paid for the thing or a whole new X2! I hate that crap.

The technician was refusing to return the unit because Infocus was reluctant to honour the 3 yr warranty on labor. Finally he gave up.
I heard them saying, "Infocus killed themselves." I didn't understand fully what they meant.

The technician was refusing to return the unit because Infocus was reluctant to honour the 3 yr warranty on labor. Finally he gave up.
I heard them saying, "Infocus killed themselves." I didn't understand fully what they meant.

you might read back a bit in this thread, post 83 or so -- here's the link:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5354561&&#post5354561

In the world of computers and peripherals there's the concept of 'giving away the razor' -- if you charge enough for the blades you can give the razor away; or the tape drive or printer ...

this is no different - just a veneer of an extended warranty which is rendered entirely useless when the unadvertised cost of the repair _parts_ is factored in. by infocus' rules it really is cheaper to buy new --

just don't buy new infocus.

Mark

Hearing all these color wheel issues is making me think i need to go ahead and get the 3 yr ext warrenty. Was trying to avoid that but sounds like it may be worth it

It's been a while since any postings here -- which brings up an interesting question: are there others out there w/ this problem ...?

or is this problem diminishing because of manufacturing/parts changes made @ infocus? i.e. was this a bad run of color wheel motors?

It's good news this thread is losing steam ... good odds for the rest of the X1/4800 owners out there who haven't encountered this problem.

anyone still buzzing ?

Mark

It has been at least a couple of hundred hours since my X-1 produced the buzz. I expected it to act up last weekend as I cleaned the color wheel. When I fired it up it buzzed for only a few seconds, not even long enough for the lamp to reach full brightness. I don't know for sure why the buzz, which was intermittent, has corrected itself. It seems that using it for longer periods during a viewing session has been beneficial.

wp

Mine inexplicably stopped buzzing as well. (knocking on serious wood over here).... Never did pop for the extended warranty...

If something happened to it; I would probably just end up buying a new XGA projector for around 1K/so....

To recap the original problem w/ X1 color wheel assemblies:

the original proble was a whine/buzz which started out being intermittent, and generally progressed to constant and became louder. This is felt to be a failure of bearings and / or lubricant in the color wheel motor. For a time it was a problem for about 10% - 15% of X1s out there.

and since postings to this thread have trailed off to a drip [not even a trickle] I can suggest a bad run of motors or some corrective change on infocus' part or their supplier. here's hoping that's the case.

[ for those w/ the light intermittent buzz, it could be that the noise goes away due to some lubricant migrating to the bearings. ]

for comments on the ecconomics of infocus' out-of-warranty price of $565 (U$) to fix this, go back to post 80 or so ...

I'm glad to see this problem drop off the radar but it's still useful as an indicator of how infocus treats its repar department: that $565 pays for a new/used/refurbished optical engine ... while the failing part's cost is about $80 and less work to only replace the motor.

We don't often think about repair service when we're buying new but infocus' pricing is worth remembering -- I can't recommend a vendor which charges (about) the wholesale replacement cost of a PJ for a fairly minor repair. remember that when you buy again.

Mark

Mine does the buzz every few months for a couple of minutes, and then it goes away. Not too worried about it at this point.

Mine use to do this also, though hasn't in quite sometime. Its only 1 month of warrenty left, i doubt they would fix anything unless they can see/hear it happen

I think though such instances are just a bit of a wobble in the wheel which comes good perhaps?

I've just had my X1 repaired for the color wheel buzz. Like most people, it seems, mine was acting up intermittently, but my warranty is up in September, and decided it was worth a shot.

Despite a bit of difficulty with getting an RMA in the first place (apparently the web system ate my submission, even after I got a confirmation #) the live phone support people were very cordial and professional. It took less than a week between when I shipped it out and when it was returned to me, nicely packaged. I did notice that they had me send mine to a UPS depot, rather than any of the local service reps. A friend of mine said that UPS has some kind of large-scale repair operation, so it might be that InFocus is just having 3rd-party techs do the parts swap, which would lead me to wonder if this is indeed a really widespread problem.

Anyhow, when I unwrapped the plastic from my projector (and I did get mine sent back, not swapped) I noticed it smelled like dust and hot equipment, even though I gave it a thorough cleaning before sending it out. No new lamp (and mine's over 3000 hours now) but the colors look much better. :)

I think my only "disappointments" about the whole process, as a kind of techie person, was the generic status updates (either "Received" or "In Repair") and the lack of explanation about what they fixed. I'd kind of like documentation in case the problem comes back again.

As an aside, I was verbally offered the "cheaper" extended warranty. Does anyone know if this is for labor only, or does it include parts? I'm assuming the former, but if anyone knows for sure, I'd appreciate an answer.

-Maddy

Well, my 2 year old X1 is now out of warranty and despite having it repaired for this exact same issue less than a year ago the buzz saw problem has returned and is worse than it was the first time around. I emailed tech support to see if there would be any chance of having it fixed since it is obviously a known defect with this model. No chance. No extended warranty. $565 to get it repaired. Thats actually more expensive than I've seen them sold for online nowadays.

Looks like I've got to buy a new projector, it is completly unusable the way it is, it probably wont be long before it freezes up completly. The X3 looks nice, but now I'm too scared to buy another Infocus if the thing is only going to last a year!

Any suggestions? I'm thinking about getting that HP VP6320, but I havent seen too much about it yet.

Well, my 2 year old X1 is now out of warranty and despite having it repaired for this exact same issue less than a year ago the buzz saw problem has returned and is worse than it was the first time around. I emailed tech support to see if there would be any chance of having it fixed since it is obviously a known defect with this model. No chance. No extended warranty. $565 to get it repaired. Thats actually more expensive than I've seen them sold for online nowadays.

Looks like I've got to buy a new projector, it is completly unusable the way it is, it probably wont be long before it freezes up completly. The X3 looks nice, but now I'm too scared to buy another Infocus if the thing is only going to last a year!

Any suggestions? I'm thinking about getting that HP VP6320, but I havent seen too much about it yet.

Sorry to hear this -- but why, oh why would you consider any infocus projector after they fail to take care of you ... ? This isn't your problem, it's theirs.

you might take a look at:
http://www.projectorcentral.com/home-theater-projectors.htm

and see if any strike your fancy ...

the NEC ht1100 really caught my eye and there's been a recent price reduction. see:
http://www.projectorcentral.com/nec_ht1100_update.htm

I'm treating my X1 as a 'first-PJ' -- to enjoy and get my feet wet with but it won't be my last. now I know how I use it I'll go a little higher-end ...

Mark

My x1 recently started making the buzzing noise and on the extreme right side of the image projected there is a burnt looking line that goes up and down (it is only in 16x9 resolution) the bulb has some burnt looking marks on the housing. Is the line from the bulb being used (about 2500 hours 15 months old) Should I bother sending it in or is it the bulb the noise has only happened a few times and goes away in a few minutes

I got the grinding noise on my X! after about a year and had the optical engine replaced under warranty. Now a couple of years later and it has happened again. Like a lot of other suckers, I had the 3 year warranty extension that was worthless.
As a last resort I lubricated the color wheel bearing with some Caig instrument oiler. It didn't seem to do any good so I went to plan B. I mounted the projector in my garage and knocked a hole in the wall. No noise at all now.

x1 through wall (http://gallery.avsforum.com/showphoto.php/photo/17376/size/big)

Of course, about a week after I oiled it the color wheel noise stopped. not sure if that did it or not, but I don't have to worry if the noise comes back now.

x1 through wall (http://gallery.avsforum.com/showphoto.php/photo/17376/size/big)


Cool Riffmeister. That is EXACTLY what I have planned in my new house for my 4805. Rather than ceiling mounting the projector up against the wall (or wall mounting) I had planned on a cutout into the attic area. I'm moving in December and have this on my list as project number 1. Hopefully mine will turn out as nice looking as yours. I may make the cutout a little larger though to make sure there is enough air flow around the projector.

Looks good.

bah, my x1 started making the noise last week, 3 months out of warranty. i'll probably try to oil the bearings before they get too bad. but not before badgering infocus about some sort of discount for the repairs. i'm clearly not spending $560 to fix a pj i can buy new for $700, as if i'll buy another infocus product.

this obviously is a design flaw by infocus, so how about a class action lawsuit? ipod nano owners did it because of a few scratches, abit motherboard owners get their capacitors fixed for free, so why not us.

Cool Riffmeister. That is EXACTLY what I have planned in my new house for my 4805. Rather than ceiling mounting the projector up against the wall (or wall mounting) I had planned on a cutout into the attic area. I'm moving in December and have this on my list as project number 1. Hopefully mine will turn out as nice looking as yours. I may make the cutout a little larger though to make sure there is enough air flow around the projector.

Looks good.

Thanks. I just used a 5 dollar oak picture frame and an 8 by 10 piece of glass from Edmund Optics. The projector had been mounted on the ceiling about a foot and a half from the wall and I had to zoom the picture all the way down to fit the screen after I moved the projector back (about 15 feet and had to fit a 92" diagonal screen.)

I used a fairly large piece of glass to get a little more airspace in front of the projector. It also helped when peering from underneath it to adjust the position of the projector.

Oh, I didn't even notice the glass. That would cut down on the noise, but with the front-venting projector, I wouldn't think that be a good idea. I had plans on making it like a cutout/recessed shelf area, open from the front.

Maybe you have it open in the back for airflow. Mine would be open to the boiling hot attic if I did it that way so I definitely need it to be closed off in the back.

Hey guys, pretty sure you've heard this already but just in case... My X1 was getting progressively worse and now makes the sound non-stop, and it's always somewhere between "obvious" and "jetliner". I have a few months left on my warranty so I submitted an RMA via email yesterday. I got a reply back today with two options:

1. Wait 30 days and they'll repair my X1
2. Pay an additional $99 and they'll exchange it for a refurbished SP-4805.

I accepted the refurb replacement and am awaiting a reply. I sure hope this is a good sign and I'll keep you posted.

I have a similar experience. I sent my X1 in for a stuck white pixel right smack in the center of the screen. Anyway they said it needs a new engine which is backordered and not expected for several weeks. They offered me a X1A warranty exchange unit as a replacement. Not familiar with the X1A, so not sure if I want to do that. I guess I have some research to do.

Anyone familiar with the X1A. Wonder if I should push them for $99 4805 deal that they offered RRH.

I have a similar experience. I sent my X1 in for a stuck white pixel right smack in the center of the screen. Anyway they said it needs a new engine which is backordered and not expected for several weeks. They offered me a X1A warranty exchange unit as a replacement. Not familiar with the X1A, so not sure if I want to do that. I guess I have some research to do.

Anyone familiar with the X1A. Wonder if I should push them for $99 4805 deal that they offered RRH.

If this is warranty you are lucky. They normally will not cover a single stuck pixel on an entry level projector.

If this is warranty you are lucky. They normally will not cover a single stuck pixel on an entry level projector.

Well I had some concerns about that but Infocus technical support responded with the following info.

The warranty will cover any stuck or bad pixels that have placed the
unit outside of specification. The easiest way to view this is that 1
dark pixel in the entire screen will not be covered but 2 or more dark
pixels or one bright pixel will be covered.

The single stuck pixel that I had was bright.

I've finished reading this thread and found it a bit interesting. My SP4805 had a color wheel problem and I knew I'd have to get it serviced soon, but then my DVI port decided to go south on me and the computer no longer recognized the PJ so I sent it off. I hate to own something I can't work on, especially since this is such a simple repair for me.

What I would say is that I am a service technician and I'm authorized to repair several brands, RCA for one and they have an InFocus branded DLP in their lineup. I tried to explain to the InFocus tech what I wanted and why, gave them my credentials hoping to get more information from them. It didn't help.

Here's what I wanted to know.

1 - Like RCA, the policy is to replace light engines under warranty, out of warranty the thing can be repaired in whatever manner the customer/servicer deems appropriate. Is this the same manner they can take care of it?
2 - Can I buy the color wheel?
3 - Where.

Here's where they said that no I could not buy the color wheel, or any parts for that matter.

Now for those that want to lube the bearing, forget it. The color wheel bearing is not like you think, it's basically an oillite bearing and if you don't know what that is I'll boil it down. It's a bronze bearing that has oil as part of it's makeup so that it is self lubing for a period of time. This type of bearing is common, many car stereo's used them. Kenwood was big on them in their tape decks and when they went bad as they all will, you had to replace a deck. It was not worth the price to do so. I experimented with lubrication, while it did work for a time in the end it made the problem much worse in the end. The reason is that there is not much clearance and what happens is the oil eventually mixes with dust and grit and turns into a sticky mess which will stop the bearing from turning at it's correct speed.

So the truth of the matter is that once the bearing starts going bad there is no fix beyond replacing it. For what it's worth I have replaced them on DLP's in the past and I suspect I will do so again once it's out of warranty.

I would also say that for those that believe that the color wheel should be provided I agree with them, but understand this. That colorwheel is only available if InFocus asked for them to be made available, and then I'm certain they only ordered X amount of them. Once out, I suspect it's going to be a NLA part. The colorwheel is simple to replace and I really don't understand why the manufacturers don't make them available. I know RCA says I HAVE to replace a light engine under warranty, I do NOT have a choice if I want to get reimbursed for my work. It's easy, just replace it and run a quick alignment and you're done. In actuallity I've never had to change the settings, but the service data says to align them after replacement so I do.

PS, for those that think InFocus made bad colorwheels I'd say think again. At our service schools we talk about problems and all the big names have colorwheels go bad, and from what I can tell light engines are how they want it fixed. Again, I don't know why that is so, but it is.

While I can't prove this beyond stating what I've seen firsthand on the ones I've fixed, this is what causes the damage IMO. Dust. Every single one I've replaced has had a fair amount of dust on it, I think like the car tape decks that the dust embeds itself into the bearing and damages it. That's why the car stereo's had so many problems with their oillite bearings. Dust.

I could be wrong, but that's my thoughts on why they go bad. I know my PJ was dusty in there as well and I suspect that's what caused my problem to act up. I hear rumors in my circles of sealed units having fewer problems for what that's worth.

I have some "smudges" on my picture, would this be dirt or dust on the color wheel? My x1 is loud enough as it is, I really don't want to get into it and make it louder if this sin't the problem.

cummings66 makes an interesting observation and i would be interested in knowing what the ratio is(with X-1/X-2/X-3/4805 owners) with the buzz saw effect is compared to ceiling mount versus table mount, dust etc settles down not up.......

cummings66 makes some excellent points. for me the result of hearing this and others' experineces w/ infocus is to consider infocus as a 2-headed animal -- one head makes good / great products; the other -- the service end, has practices which, for me, make it impossible to live with.

I bought my X1 on the basis of great looks; and when she starts to fail, it'll be all over between us.

as recounted here in The Thread That Will Not Die I sent my X1 off for a buzzing bearing, only to receive a 'repaired' X1 w/ 1 dead pixel (my orig unit had none). when I screamed about it here, someone @ infocus was _somehow_ able to arrange for a refurbed X1 w/ a new bulb, at no cost to me.

This has bought me time, but no respect for infocus. The next time this thing fails I'll be buying a different brand, and after asking some detailed questions about _their_ service policies.

Mark

I have some "smudges" on my picture, would this be dirt or dust on the color wheel? My x1 is loud enough as it is, I really don't want to get into it and make it louder if this sin't the problem.

Do a search on "Dust Blob" (or Blobs) and "X1". Do not blast the DMD chip area with compressed air. It may magnify the problem.

Good luck

cummings66 makes an interesting observation and i would be interested in knowing what the ratio is(with X-1/X-2/X-3/4805 owners) with the buzz saw effect is compared to ceiling mount versus table mount, dust etc settles down not up.......

Given the amount of fan-driven airflow thru the X1, dust settling down or up might not matter. What matters more will likely be the overall cleanliness of the environment.

And 'cleanliness' covers smoke, dust and dirt particles in the air ... not necessarily the dust/dirt which accumulates on furniture.

I'm tempted to take my X1 down and dust it out every so often.

Mark

Just an update - For sqealing color wheels.

Infocus is offering the SP4805 now to those who complain about a whining color wheel bearing on the X1 (light engines are out of stock). Sent mine in for another issue, but the color wheen was a side complaint (after 4k-5k hours). The upgrade was $99, plus $99 for a 1 year ext warranty.

Hooked it up last night - wow, what a difference! Have to say I really do love Infocus customer service!

-Frank

frankyzee: With 4k - 5k hours was your X1 still under warranty? When did you buy yours?

Thanks.

Yes - they come with a 2 year warranty and was on my second bulb.

Of course, with the convenient "Lamp hours erasure" feature, they really don't know how many hours it had, but I do =)

I had bought it ~ April 04 - in any case the new 4805 is a large improvement.

-Frank

Just got my 4805 "upgrade". Infocus received my X1 on 10/31 so 3 weeks to get the new machine. Would have been faster if I pushed on an earlier phone call. They did forget the accessories package so make sure you mention it and mention it again. They are sending one out today.

Is it me or is there more screendoor with the 4805 and HDTV than the X1? Being without a pj for a month, watching a friend's Z2, and then setting up the 4805 I seem to be more aware of the pixels than before.

I can't say it's an improvement yet - still deciding between inter/prog and the right settings - it just seems so much darker than the X1.

time will tell, but overall the IF Tech support and treatment has been top notch

glad to hear you're being taken care of ...

Not sure why I am writing this. My X1 also came up with the infamous color wheel buzz full time. I had 2 months left on the warranty and 3950 hours on the bulb. Sent it in and hoped for a quick repair. On the 15th working day, I contacted IF and suggested they make me a reasonable offer on an upgrade to a 4805 (this all happened before any talk of an upgrade appeared in this thread). Since my bulb was very old (to say the least), I offered IF the price of a new bulb for a 4805 upgrade. They emailed back and offered me the 4805 upgrade for $329. It was the best deal I had heard of, plus I was going to be out that much anyway on my X1 so I enthusiastically took it. Not 3 days later the first message came out on this thread about the $99 upgrade. Needless to say, I emailed IF and inquired about the disparity of the two deals. They claimed ignorance of the other deal.

So, part of me is still very happy to be upgrading to what I am convinced is a markedly better PJ for no net cash out of my pocket given the age of my previous bulb. However, part of me feels like I got screwed! Whatever. FYI.

Well, after being offered the X1A exchange for my X1 which was waiting for a backordered light engine, I asked about the 4805 upgrade for 99$. First I was told that they couldn't offer me the 4805. Then after I emailed back a second time, they responded with the 4805 deal. I replied that I would accept that offer, didn't hear back from them for a day, then got an email saying that the 4805 exchange units were no longer available. They said that someone posted the offer online and the supply of exchange units had been exhausted. Also it may take longer then the repair for the exchange unit to become available.

Oh, they also indicated that the bulb in the exchange units was a used bulb and the warranty was carried over from the remaining warranty on the original X1.

So I need to decide whether to just wait for my repair, take an X1A, or wait even longer for a 4805 which could have more hours on the bulb than my X1. I think I had around 2000 hours or so.

Whatever you do; Don't take an X1A; it is a stripped unit with no faroudja..... They should give you money to take the X1A over the original X1....

I finally called them after this string of emails. They offered the remanufactured 4805 deal for 99, but don't have any in stock right now, they'll ship one when they get one in. Should be quicker than waiting for my X1 and even if it wasn't I think it is a good swap.

They also offered $300 off a new 4805, which brings the price down to 699$ which was tempting, but I think I'll take the 99 deal. Your original warranty is transferred to the 4805, but since my warranty is now expired they give a 90 day warranty. They offered a 1 year extended for 99, and I'm trying to decide whether to get that or not.

I was concerned about the used bulb in the remanufactured model. Didn't want to trade my 2000 hour bulb for someone's 3500 hour bulb. They said the bulb is not new, but it's not the one that was in the unit when it came in to the shop for repair. They said the remanufactured models have test bulbs with less than 100 hours on them.

Just received my reman 4805 Wed. The good news is the bulb counter was at zero. I hope it is a less-than-100 hour bulb as they told bullfrog it would be.

By the way, in case you were wondering why they don't have any more 4805s to supply as X1 exchanges, IF is offering reman 4805s thru the-store-that-must-not-be-named (paper attacher) tomorrow for $599. So, to summarize: IF can't deliver a reasonable warranty repair time because their parts source is unreliable. So, they make a multitude of exchange
offers, seemingly totally dependent on how hard the customer pushed on the phone. Finally, after they made a bunch of these offers, they shipped their existing inventory of reman 4805s to (S&*^l#s) thus prolonging the wait of the broken X1 customers who didn't quickly accept one of their offers. Does the word chaos come to mind?

I did suggest a two-headed monster.

Please, people -- we're not wedded to infucus. When we decide to upgrade do we really want to reward IF for this kind of double-secret-blue-light-special-on-acid treatment ? I really am not attracted by this kind of 'special'.

'Chaos' does indeed come to mind. When I vote w/ my visa card, it will be to buy new, and a different brand, rather than this death by $99 / $399 / ...$? chunks. my brand loyalty can't be bought that cheaply.

-M.

My infocus X1 has often had the occationaly buzz. If you graph the volume over time for a buzz it goes up instantly, and then gradually goes back down. Almost like a piece of metal broke off in the bearing and then gets wore away as it spins. or a very small misalignment that then gets worn away. My infocus is outside of the 2 year. I purchased it in September 2003. I have cleaned the color wheel and replaced the bulb once. I am going to attempt a "fix" of the bearing with fully synthetic oil. I was wondering if anyone knows an easy (or correct) way to take the X1 apart completely. I can't figure out how to get the covers off the thing, just the bulb out. And of course, I'll report back with my experience. Thanks much.

Also, I am certain the temperature of the bearing affects the noise. When I first turn it on now, (it's getting cold in Rochester) it is very very loud. After it warms up, it gets more tolerable. Common sense would say it's due to metal expansion contraction. Those tolerances are probably very tight.

here is a flow chart showing the order to take the projector apart. i also tore mine down and used synthetic chain lube from my mountian bike on the color wheel bearings. it was un-usable before because of the whine, but now it whines for a minute or two at start-up and then is quiet. it's been good for the last month or so, and hopefully it will make it past christmas.
i plan on voting with my visa for a z4 or ae900 by the superbowl.

this flowchart is fantastic! _many_ thanks!

as for a suggestion for oils, if you can find it, try Triflow (I think that's how it's spelled) -- it contains microparticles of teflon. [and I can't find my bottle, dammit ... have to look some more.] I used this oil when servicing computer printers. good oil.

given that dust will likely be an issue for FPs, my next PJ will either have a sealed light path or be more servicable. I'd be happy with a manufacturer which would provide on-going (affordable) 'tune-up' -type service, rather than simply pushing us into their newer models as a 'solution'.

thanks again for that flowchart!

Mark

I'd like to thank everyone on this thread for helping me out - I've recently been victimized by the buzzsaw noise and if it wasn't for this thread I'd have probably just bought a new PJ.

I contacted Infocus and referred to this thread. They immediately made me the following offer:
1) remanufactured LS110 at no cost
2) remanufactured 4805 for $99
3) $300 off any new infocus projector.

They are also willing to advance ship against my credit card.

My question is which is the best option? I'm leaning towards 1 or 2 but I don't know the differences in the two PJs. The bulb will likely be new but def have no more than 10% life gone. Is the bulb the same as the x1 in either? (My current bulb has 1200 hours on it. Would it then make sense to get the PJ that uses the same bulb in order to squeeze a little life out of it?)

Thanks in advance for any advice - I'm admittedly naive on the subject.

For future reference to any victims, here's my correspondence.



Technical Support Thread:

-------------------------------

Hello ,



The lamps in our refurbished models have been used for less than 10% of their rated lamp life though most of the lamps are new. Normally refurbished units carry a 90 day warranty but since we will be treating the transaction as an exchange, it would carry the remainder of original units warranty or 90 days whichever is longer.



An advanced replacement is possible. We will charge a credit card for the full price of the replacement unit and issue a credit to the same credit card upon receipt of the defective projector.



Thank you,



Tim

InFocus/Ask-Technical Support




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From:
Sent: Monday, December 12, 2005 12:14 PM
To: Technical Support
Subject: Re: RMA Request - #20066-5002721



What is bulb state on refurb projectors (0 hours?) and warranty status on those machines?

Also I'd like to do an advance ship with my credit card so that I have limited downtime. I know others have done this with you. Is that option available?

Thanks,



-----Original Message-----
From: Technical Support <>
To: seadog>
Sent: Mon Dec 12 15:01:48 2005
Subject: RE: RMA Request - #20066-5002721

Hello ,



We do indeed have the option that you are asking for available due to a backorder on the optical engines that is causing a 30-day turnaround time this repair.



In any case, you have the following options available to you:



1) Replace the X1 with an LS-110-RE at no cost.

2) Replace the X1 with an SP-4805-RE for $99.

3) Upgrade to any new projector using a $300 trade-in credit for the X1.

*-RE indicates a refurbished model



Please let me know which option will work best for you.



Thank you,



Tim

InFocus/Ask-Technical Support

I'd get the 4805. I upgraded my x1 to a 4805 during the black friday sale and love it.

The ls110 has MUCH lower contrast then the 4805 as it uses the older dlp chip; the 4805 uses darkchip 2.

The ls110 is a dual mode chip meaning its native resolution is 848x600. This allows it to display true 16:9 as well as full 4:3 where as the 4805 is 854x480.

If 4:3 content is UBER important to you then get the ls110. But it s not an upgrade by any stretch of the imagination. The x1 and that model are damn near identical but the ls110 has a 4 speed color wheel; other then that similar contrast, lumens etc.

I would get the 4805 over both the x1 and the ls110.
Just my 2 cents.

copying thread:
"X1 Color Wheel Replacement Rumours"
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=617777

original post followed by my response in the next reply:
After really enjoying my X1 for just over 2 years now, my color wheel has started the buzz-saw sound and refuses to let up. My local authorized repair depot tells me that for a mere $1086, I must have not just the color wheel but the whole optic engine replaced. (0/1)

A call to Infocus resulted in an offer of $100 for my old projector. (0/2)

Three strikes and I am out right?

Anyway, it seems that a newer 4805 can have just the color wheel replaced for a mere $102. (0/3)

I am hoping that the catcher has dropped the ball (Rumour has it that Infocus will be offering just the color wheel as a fix for these X1 machines).

Has anyone heard anything more substantial than just a rumour?

I can make a couple contradictory guesses why the X1 repair might be so much more expensive -- infocus is a huge company and once established their service procedures may be set is stone. the repair process for the X1 may involve refurbishment out-of-house: fix a little or fix a lot, all for a fixed fee ... markup that cost and we arrive at the $565 -- I hadn't heard about it jumping to $1086 ... perhaps your repair depot is piling on additional charges because they can, or because they _can't_ get repair parts. these days one $cdn isn't that far different from 1$us. have you contacted the US repair facility or is that unavailable to you ?

another reason for the repair price difference may be that after the X1 infocus changed its service policies on this problem but only for newer products, whether for convenience, whether it might be tacitly admitting a mistake in their current pricing policies.

Out of all of this I'm struck by infocus X1 customers who suffer the X1 buzz who now weigh the option of giving additonal money to infocus as a 'solution' ... I'm really stunned that people will chuck out their buzzing X1s, which they've spent about $1K on, and spend an add'l $300 - $400 for the 4805 'upgrade' ...

do you folks not get that the wheel motors in the 4805s are coming from the same factory, and are roughly of the same quality and cost, as those in the X1 ? that's about a $1400 4805 which may well suffer the same color wheel design problems as the X1.

I haven't seen any responsible behavior on the part of infocus which suggests they 'get' it -- I would expect this type problem to continue -- why reward infocus by staying with them ?

[ they do seem to take care of loud complainers. in my case I got a refurb'd X1 but only after receiving an X1 back for the wheel buzz repair -- w/ a dead pizel when my original X1 had none and then I complained here. it's _really_ not about taking care of loudmouths. it's about taking good care of everyone. ]

If infocus is going to charge $102 for an X1 wheel replacement that would be good news, but the only rumour I heard was to expect that the wheel motor would be end-of-lifed -- no longer available. I can't see infocus paying UNAXIS, the wheel motor manufacturer, to ramp up to make a run of X1 motor+wheel assemblies ... not unless somebody has put something in the water up there at infocus corporate.

again, please repost this to the X1 buzzzzzzz thread,

thanks,

Mark

let me add a bit to my comments about similarities between the X1 and 4805 wheels ... while I don't have hard engineering specs in hand, it's a good bet that infocus, for this type / price-point product, is buying wheel motors of similar quality. Unless something has changed @ infocus I expect them to perform similarly in terms of developing the buzzzz.

it comes down to corporate culture and how they drive trade-offs -- what they value -- and what they're willing to spend their money on, to produce a product to sell at a given price.

[ a dumb example -- company XYZ may value appearance and so put a lot of money into the case, and engineering must struggle with the remaining budget to create the rest of the PJ. not surprisingly their $2K PJ won't work as well as another's w/ the plainer/cheaper case or remote -- if the decision was that the guts of the PJ was the priority. happens every day. anyone remember B&O? ... very cool looking audio gear which was outperformed by many plainer looking brands ... ]

So I guess I can understand why spending $300 - $400 might be preferable to throwing out your X1 and starting over but that is a false choice:

The buzz in the X1 is a result of a design problem and we are being asked to pay our way out. We shouldn't need to spend a dime to fix this one.

Doesn't the 4805 have a different color wheel like a six segment and a 4x color speed necessitating a different color wheel? I am guessing though that the same type of bearings hold the color wheel together..... You would think that it would be easy to "change" out color wheels between the projectors assuming the color wheel is the same size.....

the problem seems to be the bearings sealed inside the motor.

my comments above reflect an expectation that the quality of one model's wheel motor will be that of a similarly priced model from the same manufacturer.

and I'd expect the motor + wheel to be unique to the X1 -- mount holes / screw sizes, electrical connectors, shaft lenghts, spin RPM. the kind of interchangability which would do us some good would have to be designed-in, not only in the physical design of the part, but also the firmware that senses motor speed ... I've only come across 1 example of that kind of serendipity -- in the use of larger fuel injectors, new design air flow sensor in a 1'st generation turbo mitsu eclipse -- the engine computer saw no problems: everything came together very cleverly for some free and unadvertised horsepower.

I doubt the X1 firmware would tolerate anything but a 4-segment wheel w/ 1 white segment per revolution ...

at this point I remain surprised at how many people hit this infocus design problem and turn around and give them more business. I don't get that part.

Mark

just to throw in my $.02. I'm not as technically savvy as you all but I decided $99 for a RE 4805 w a new bulb (my dying x1 had 1300 hours on the 2nd bulb) was a no brainer. They overnighted it w an advance on my credit card. watching it now - so far so good.

I cant' argue with that $99 for a 4805 if your X1 was 1300 hours into its 2'nd bulb ....

my comments were directed more at those who were just out of warranty being offered the price of $399 to upgrade from an X1 to a 4805. that seemed like a less-than-stellar deal.

Mark

I see it's been a while since this thread was updated. Here's something new to offer:

I bought a remanufactured InFocus SP4800 off a 3rd-party site in May of 2005. The unit worked flawlessly until about a month ago, at which time it started buzzing. It came and went once, then came back last week and hasn't stopped. So I contact InFocus technical support asking for help. I knew my warranty was long gone, so I was prepared for the worst.

And that's what I got. They say the color wheel is most likely bad, and will cost $259 plus shipping to repair. This is quite a bit less than what previous posters have quoted, but still far too much, seeing as I paid $500 for the unit in the first place.

I realize I'm SoL without a warranty, but I'm still peeved that something so critical cold fail within less than a year of operation. After I found this thread, I now know I'm not the only one that's been bitten by this.

InFocus is currently offering a $300 rebate on the SP5000, which knocks it to $999, brand new, with a free 76" screen. And I can trade up my SP4800 for another $150 rebate. I wrote back saying that this is the only way I'll go for another InFocus projector: $849 for a brand new SP5000, with a 3-year parts and labor warranty included free of charge. We'll see what the sales department says about the warranty. They'll probably balk, but then we can start negotiating. I'll keep everyone posted on how this works out.

So does anyone have any experience with the SP5000? Same faulty color wheel? I hope not... Reviews that I have read are very positive, but they don't account for InFocus' poor quality assurance.

Will

I'm not [so. really. not.] rushing to infocus' defense, but what do you think 'remanufactured' means in terms of the color wheel motor?

there's nothing they or anyone else can do to/for/with/at it ... clean and dust out the inside of the projector, maybe stick a low-hour bulb in it and voila! remanufactured! there's nothing in the wheel motor to service.

you paid $500 -- and not even to infocus -- which is 1/3rd the price of a new 4800 ... and got a year of use out of it. The ecconomics of these beasts is such that it makes teevee a bit more expensive -- spend $2K on a projector that lasts 4 years and that's $500 a year. spend $400 on a wal-mart teevee and over that same 4 years that's 100 bucks a year.

my bitch is that the wheel, bulb and fans are the parts which can be expected to fail. it'd be nice if infocus didn't try to use their high parts prices to push us into a new projector. if we repair our old X1/4800s, they win. If we upgrade/buy new they win.

unless we don't buy infocus that is.

being offered the above choice doesn't give me any sort of brand loyalty to infucus. the point which has gotten lost is that a lot of these wheel motors shouldn't have failed as soon as they did. I'd buy failures after 3 - 5 years, but not so soon.

Mark