For those of you out there with LCD projectors that are getting along in age and are starting to show color uniformity issues… this thread might help you out! I totally psyched about my results.

Some background...
I’ve owned my Panasonic L300U (same as AE300) for about 2.5 years now and use it a fair bit. On a recent check I was at 2536 hours of my first bulb. This projector (knock on wood) should last until 5000 hours. Over the years I’ve developed a few dust blobs and have opened my projector once to clean them out with partial success.

Well, within the last year or so I started to develop a bad color uniformity problem seemingly overnight. It wasn’t as bad as the picture shows below, I think that is partly a trick of the camera to saturate the pink tint more than it really is. However, it was bad and did get worse over time. Of course, me being an AVSer, I noticed it right off and it really kept me from enjoying the movies on occasion (bright, uniform scenes in particularly… snow, sky, etc…). No one else really noticed or at least they didn’t care enough to comment.

Here is a picture from before the surgery… the projector is just showing an all medium grey image. Again, I purposely shot it so the pink would show up, it’s not that bad in real life... but it does suck:
http://img486.imageshack.us/img486/8875/pink8ea.jpg
So, what is the problem… It must be those dreaded blue polarizers right? I’ve read the TI white paper, I know LCD sucks and has a short lifetime :D I assumed I was screwed and just lived with it for the last year or so… just waiting for the day I could afford a nice LCOS or 3-chip DLP (I’m bothered by rainbows). Then I cam across this thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=559557 Post #10 in particular was intriguing to me as they said they cleaned off the polarlizer and the pinkish tint went away! Hmmm… I called the Panasonic repair shop to see what I was up against. If they cleaned it out for me, it would be a minimum $100 labor, plus $30 return shipping, plus shipping it to them (maybe $25?). If the polarizer was bad, I would have to pay to replace it (another $100). So I was looking at minimum $155, max…who knows. I decided to give it a try doing a deep clean myself, if I screwed things up I could always send it in anyway…

So I took it down from the ceiling mount and opened it according to these instructions (in the quote box): http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htforum/showthread.php?postid=2248651#post2248651 I didn't take the whole thing apart but I did undo the ribbon cables coming from the LCD imagers, as well as taking off the PCB board on top of the optical block. After a thorough de-dusting, I went in for the polarizers. First the blue…
http://img474.imageshack.us/img474/8792/100dollars0su.jpg
My first thought was, THIS COSTS $100!!!! It’s just a little piece of plastic. Anyway, I checked it in the light…
http://img474.imageshack.us/img474/9397/blueok6bz.jpg
It seemed ok… hmmm… Oh well, I dusted it off anyway. On to the green polarizer…
http://img490.imageshack.us/img490/9066/dingding0wb.jpg
DING, DING, DING!!!! Clearly this was the problem. There was actual dust built up right on the polarizer! I always figured the dust would be on the LCDs.
http://img490.imageshack.us/img490/1489/dustpattern9rt.jpg
It’s clearly in the same pattern as the red tint on the screen too. Well I dusted it off thoroughly. The red checked out ok…. Same as the blue. So I finished blowing the dust out and put it all back together. When I remounted it and turned it on this is what I saw. I included a before and after so you can get the full effect!

BEFORE...
http://img486.imageshack.us/img486/8875/pink8ea.jpg
AFTER...
http://img490.imageshack.us/img490/2999/nopink9xn.jpg

YEAH! The moral of my story is if you have an LCD projector, and you have crappy color uniformity… it might indeed be the dreaded blue polarizer… or it might just be some dust! Open it up, blow it out, good as new. If you don't have an Lx00u, you should still be able to find a service manual online or buy one from ebay. Enjoy.
-Matt

P.S. I take no responsibility for anyone breaking their projector trying to dust off their polarizers... proceed at your own risk :D

what did you use to remove the dust? just regular canned air?

Yes, compressed air... I think it's just CO2. Becareful to tilt the projector to the can, not the can to the projector or you'll end up with frozen liquid shootting out which could damage the polaraizers or LCD panels.
-Matt

Sweet. I went through the same procedure. My pink 'haze' was a little more spotty as the dust came in larger clumps! And I have the most dust on green, too. I was so sure it was either a polarizer or panel I didn't take any picture. Thanks for posting your pictures.

The blue polarizer does look to be showing early sign of some fading, or is it just my monitor? Another theory of mine is that dust helps trap heat so cleaning the polarizers and panels and prolong their life.

The blue polarizer does look to be showing early sign of some fading, or is it just my monitor?
Good catch... I didn't think it showed up in the pictures, but you are right. There is a faint burn in the blue polarizer. The only reason I didn't worry more is that there seemed to be a similar discoloration in both the green and red polarizers as well. They are all very, very faint though. I'm sure it's not good for longitevity but as long as they are are going at the same time :D

Anyway, I hope they last another year or so when I'll be moving next and can upgrade. For now, I'm really pleased with the results! Glad to hear similar successes.
-Matt

My pink 'haze' was a little more spotty as the dust came in larger clumps!
Interesting... Did it look like a dust blob on the LCD... only pink? I had dust blobs in the past but they usually showed up on black or dark backgrounds and showed up as green or blue blurry circles. I never considered the pink tint to be dust because it was so wide spread and relatively uniform. I guess I read so much about how crappy the blue polarizers were in LCDs that assumed the worse. I even swore off buying LCD projectors for any future upgrades but I may have to revise my story...

What was it that Epson was going to do in their new generation of D5 LCDs... I remember reading about an inorganic layer. Was that on the polarizer or the LCD itself?
-Matt

Nice job! :)

regards,

Li On

Wow! thats good to know, but is there a way to clean them from smoke haze?

Well I just did this on my 300. The only thing I found was that you have to undo all the connections on the board except the white ribbon. I removed all polarizers(one at a time) and they were all quite dusty. I used compressed air but also had to wipe them off with a cloth as the compressed air would not remove all the dust. I didn't have a problem with color uniformity but thought a good cleaning was in order. Put everything back together and fired her up...looks ok, ie. didn't screw anything up. Total job time about 1/2 hour.

The hardest part was getting over the fact that I know next to nothing about electronics and the thougth of pulling apart my favorite toy was a little unnerving.

Good Job Matt!!

Can you catagorically say that your PQ and colours have not been adversely affected by the removal and re-insertion of your polorizers? If you can say with certainty that there where no adverse affects, then I think we can put the myth to rest that the polorizers are very position sensitive down to the micrometre. I was sure I read somewhere here that someone else who removed their polorizers screwed up their colours and had to make many fine adjustments to the polorizer position/orientation before he got his colours back perfect.

One less thing to worry about so, and I think I'll add this step to my PJ cleaning regimen. Another benefit off the removal of the polorizers is that it gives great access to the back of the actual LCD panels. Don't think there is anything we can do to improve access to the 3 faces of the prism block and the front side of the LCD panels unfortunately.

Coming up on 5000hours on my second bulb soon (4450hrs atm) so I think thats when I'll do my next cleaning session when I put the new bulb in.

Did a forum search under my username but can't find my cleaning guide from a year or two ago. That only documented taking the mainboard off and dusting the panels though and I didn't even document all the steps with pictures either. This time I'll do a full step by step guide, fully documented with pics involving taking the mainboard off, taking the polorizers out, removing the entire optical assembly, cleaning all three fans and clearing the dust bunnies out of the air ducting, and de-dusting of the polorizer, LCD panel and Prism block surfaces.....oh and how to put it all back together!! :D

I promise it'll be easy to follow and will take much of the stress out of the project for other people. Like Matt said, if you can change a graphics card in a PC you can do this.

Heres the first draft:

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/8384/img34811316ng.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

:D :D Only joking

Anyway should have it done in a few weeks and hope it will be an asset to the AE300 community


Oh... and I'll post a pic of the worlds first 10000hr AE300!

Good Job Matt!!

Can you catagorically say that your PQ and colours have not been adversely affected by the removal and re-insertion of your polorizers? If you can say with certainty that there where no adverse affects, then I think we can put the myth to rest that the polorizers are very position sensitive down to the micrometre. I was sure I read somewhere here that someone else who removed their polorizers screwed up their colours and had to make many fine adjustments to the polorizer position/orientation before he got his colours back perfect.


Well I took out my polarizers and blew them off with compressed air and just reinstalled then with alignment by eye - noted how the screw that fixes them was sitting on top of the slot before, and re-did it afterwards. No critical alignment performed. PJ still worked just as before with no negative effect on picture quality.

Just for any of you who have a colour tinge top and bottom... blue along bottom edge and yelowish on top edge... I had this and had Panasonic here have a look at it. They had to "re-seat the PBS array". This completely fixed the problem. The PBS array is the "polarising beam splitter" and I understand it is the large lens thing that sits closest to the lamp. The light passes through this first. The tech said he had seen a few with this problem and the PBS seems to move out of alignment for some reason - maybe heat -. Any way it was fixed without needing parts.

Also regarding the failure of the blue polariser. If you look at where it sits it out to the side, it seems that the airflow in the PJ somewhat bypasses it, and hence perhaps it gets hotter - although it is the furthest polariser from the lamp.

Thanks for the tips everyone, knowing that dust on the polarisers can cause the colour uniformity (which I have had as well) is good news and makes me think I'll keep this PJ for a while yet.

This time I'll do a full step by step guide, fully documented with pics involving taking the mainboard off, taking the polorizers out, removing the entire optical assembly, cleaning all three fans and clearing the dust bunnies out of the air ducting, and de-dusting of the polorizer, LCD panel and Prism block surfaces.....oh and how to put it all back together!! :D

I promise it'll be easy to follow and will take much of the stress out of the project for other people. Like Matt said, if you can change a graphics card in a PC you can do this.
Hey, I can do PC graphics cards. I've even done wireless NICs! Looking forward to your post calibos.... errr... Mr. 5000 hour man.

Matt - awesome information too. Glad you got the pink haze fixed and the L300 is looking great again. I'm the one that sent in my Panny for the 1 year cleaning... I'm at 2 yrs 4 months now, no major issues, but I'm going to wait for calibos' guide. That along with all the other great info that was posted and I'm going to try this myself. If I muck it up, I too will have the fallback of sending it in.

I'll do my next cleaning(and document it with photo's) when I have some spare time or when I put the new bulb in. Whichever comes first. I'm at 4600hrs atm so it'll be about a month at the latest.

Hi All... I had posted on another thread but this is obviously the more apprpiate one so I'll repeat it here: My L300U is on it's second lamp... Lamps #1 & #2 have both exceeded 5000 hours. I already have a third lamp ready to go in but have not installed it yet. Am I tempting the devil by continuing to run the old lamp? Anyway, I have dark discoloration on blue screens that shows up as a yellow discoloration on light scenes. It is dead-center of the image. I guess this probably indicates actual burning of the blue polarizer that cleaning would not remedy? i.e. It would need replacing...? Also, I went to Panasonic's parts order page and it showed "no parts listed" for my input of PT-L300U nor was it able to find the part # for the blue polarizer. Have they stopped supporting the 300 or am I screwing it up somehow? I ordered my Lamps through the site but you never know what kind of Brain Drain I may suffer at any given moment! Great Info on disassembly and cleaning... etc. Thanks all! I wonder what would be the effect of running without a polarizer or the chance of getting filter material to replace the actual plastic filter in the existing frame?

try ptl300u, without the dash. part num is:TENC0145 POLARIZING PLATE/IN (B) 93.00

I have no idea how their pricing compares but this place sells 481 parts for the L300u... you could probably build one yourself if you wanted. This will at least give you all the part numbers but it maybe difficult to decipher what everything is...

Good Luck
-Matt


L300u page on PartStore (http://www.partstore.com/ModelDetail.aspx?PageState=1&MfgID=91&ModelID=412153)

Thanks Mike, I pulled it up straight away to-nite... Thought I'd tried that... duh...
Hi Matt, I noticed that on the PartStore site there is the TENC0145 part and also another part listed as Plate / IN (B) with a part# of TEFC0145 @ a cost of $53.15 I wonder if this is the filter itself without the metal frame that holds it? I haven't been that deep in my PJ yet to have actually seen the polarizer! Anyone think this is a possibility? I will give them a call and check that out... I will report back here if there is any joy to be found there!
Thanks Again to all...

Great post. My AE100 is showing these signs so I may take the plunge and break, i mean fix it myself. if it breaks then that new projector i want will be a little closer anyway :D

GutterPoet-
My advice to you would basically depend on A) how much money you are willing to spend, and B) how confident you are in doing some basic dissassembly/reassembly.

The way I see it, you've got 10,000+ hours on that thing... it better be opened soon to clean it out. I'm sure it really needs it by now based on mine at only 2500 hours and others I've heard/read about, some even in the thread above.

Additionally, as mentioned, your main problem is probably a burnt polarizer, which from memory, will cost you $100 or so. However, remember, I thought mine was the polarizer as well and it turned out to be only dust. Granted your pj has 4 times the hours and heat on that polarizer. And if you look at my picture the post at the top... there is a faint discolorization in the blue polarlizer so I'm sure mine will eventually get worse/noticable as well. Basically, you never know until you open it up. And I wouldn't bother ordering a new part until you know you need it. I wouldn't worry just yet about the exact model number... we'll help you find it if it comes down to that. :D

Recommendations:
1) Easy but more costly - Ship it to Panny, tell them it needs a deep cleaning and a new polarizer. It will cost you $20 to ship it to them, they'll charge $100 minimum to open it/clean it, they'll charge you $100 for the part (if it's needed) and then another $30 to return ship it. You'll have a nice, clean projecter with no hassel to you for about $250.

2) Do what I did - Open it, poke around, see what you see. Maybe it's just dust. Clean it up (take pictures as you go for us folk) and put it back together. Either you'll have fixed it and your done or... you realize you need a new polarlizer and you can do it yourself for $100 or go back to rec 1. The whole process was well under an hour for me and only set me back 1.5 cans of compressed air. If it was the polarlizer, you clearly made it this far so you should have no problem re-opening your projector after your replacement part arrives and swapping out the bad one. So this option will likely save you $150 if you DIY.

So what is your time value of money? If you are risk averse, $150 might not seem like much to know the job is being done by professionals who are responsible for returning your projector in working order. Heck, it's cheaper than a bulb! Or you might balk at that cost for a simple cleaning and plastic replacement piece and decide to do it yourself. That is what you need to decide, however, I completely understand that it's not for everyone. I was pretty nervous the first time... now, though, I would do it again in a heart beat if it needed it.

I hope that rambling helped.
-Matt

I remember taking my first projector apart a few times to clean out dust. When I got my Panny PTL75u (LCD business projector used for HT) and then my Z2 I put a pre filter over the air intakes. The filter is an Electrostatic Hammock filter (True Blue Company LaPorte Indiana www.trueblue.com). It looks like white cloth and is supposed to remove dust, pollen, pet dander, bacteria and smoke. 1 year on the 75u and 2 years on the Z2 and not a spec of dust on either and none of the problems reported here. Never had to clean the Z2 because of dust on the panels. I smoke, but it looks like the smoke accumulated on the pre-filter as there was zero discolouration of the Z2's filter. It looks like new and I have never replaced it. However, I only have 1,000 hours on the Z2.

Thanks Again Matt, I will take your detailed and sage advice and dig up the camera so I can take pictures too! That trueblue filter sounds like the thing for me... another smoker...

I also experienced a pink uniformity color issue on the bottom right corner and proceeded to open up the panny and blew out the whole projector plus the polarizers which were quite dusty only 600 hrs on the panny. NOTE: did not remove the polarizers only blew them out with compressed air from radio sXXXX velocity compressed air. and after putting it back together and testing with march of the penguins, all pink tinge uniformity issues have been removed with a simple 5 dollar can of compressed air... THANK YOU mpjohnst YOU ROCK !!! :) :cool:

Another satisfied customer! :D

Honestly, I've recieved soooooo much valuable information on this forum over the years that I'm just glad I could give a little back. Enjoy your new dust free 300u.
-Matt

BUMP!! Any chance we can see the initial pics??

Hmmm... my computer at work must be down. That is where they are hosted. I'll try to check into it tomorrow. Maybe I'll move them to Imageshack.
Sorry.
-Matt

I have opened up my 300U several times and use a large pipe cleaner to help dislodge the dust without removing the circuit board. Perhaps I will do that next time I clean the projector. For some time I have noticed a faint line of discolorization on the top of the red screen when in service mode. This is only noticeable on bright scenes and then only slightly. I have wondered if this was caused by a line of dust or some form of misalignment. I now have 1150 hours on the original bulb. I average about three hours per on cycle.

Great information on this post.

Images have now been rehosted on Imageshack...
-Matt

I have opened up my 300U several times and use a large pipe cleaner to help dislodge the dust without removing the circuit board. Perhaps I will do that next time I clean the projector. For some time I have noticed a faint line of discolorization on the top of the red screen when in service mode. This is only noticeable on bright scenes and then only slightly. I have wondered if this was caused by a line of dust or some form of misalignment. I now have 1150 hours on the original bulb. I average about three hours per on cycle.

Great information on this post.
From what I have read, if there is a clear line across the top or bottom, it might be your PBS array (see gazzagazza's posts above). Then again, what do I know... all I did was blow out some dust :D

If it is the PBS array, it seems like something you could do yourself if you are adventurous. It might be worth contacting calibos via PM. He posted a pic above with his unit totally dissassembled. If he has done another deep clean since posting, he might be able to offer you some detailed instructions...
-Matt

mpjohnst:

When I say line, it is not a sharply defined one but rather fuzzy on the edges. At least it is not getting any worse. When I first noticed it, I went to high fan and perhaps that is why it has not degraded any more. No problem with the blue or green screens when in service mode.

Sweet. Thats my problem. Looking forward to solving that little issue. Been frustrating me for a while. Now where are the polarizers located? I don't want to start yanking things out...

Sweet. Thats my problem. Looking forward to solving that little issue. Been frustrating me for a while. Now where are the polarizers located? I don't want to start yanking things out...
Well... that's the leap of faith each of us had to take :D I wasn't necessarily comfortable opening up my projector either but, now that I've done it once, I'd do it again without hesitation. Just be careful, take your time and follow the directions I linked to in my first post. Or... if you aren't comfortable, send it in for a $150 cleaning!

Best of luck, and let us know how it goes!
-Matt

Actually, I'm reposting the directions for removing the PCB board and polarizers from my first post just in case the link dies on us...
-Matt

I replaced the blue polarizer yesterday. It took almost 15 minutes! Its actually very, very easy... just follow the service manual instructions for removal of the top cover (turn the projector over and un-screw the 6 screws that are recessed and have the little arrows pointing to them molded into the plastic and also the 2 screws next to the 'feet' in the front... that's 8 total). Turn the unit right side back up and remove the to cover. Next remove the terminal cover (that's the plastic plate on the back... remove the 5 screws on the back to do this). Then the hardest part is to disconnect the 3 wide ribbons coming out of the square hole in the A-P.C. board... the trick is to pull-out the 2 black tabs on either side of the connector and then you can easily slide the ribbon out... do this for each of the 3 ribbons. Then disconnect the 2 four-pin connectors (they kinda look like audio connectors)... forget about all those connectors on the front of the board, you can just leave them hooked up. Now remove the 4 screws from the A-P.C. board (there are 5 but you don't really need to remove the one rear right corner one unless you just want to) and now just flip the board over toward the front to get it out of your way. At this point you can see the polarizers... the blue one is on the left side (viewed from behind) mine had a blue dot near it to signify which one was the blue polarizer. Scratch a line on either side of the screwed holder and then remove the hold-down screw (you WILL need a jeweler's Phillip's screw driver to loosen it... I had to also use a pair of pliers to grip the screw driver to 'crack' the screw loose, it was on there pretty tight). Okay now just lift out the old one and slide in the new one... line up the scratched marks by 'eye-balling' and tighten down the screw. Reassemble everything in the reverse order and you're back in business. It actually takes longer for me to type this out than it took for me to do the work. And don't worry about dust, you'll find more than you'd imagine inside your projector... just try not to stir it up too much... if you can, one of those keyboard vacs would be ideal... too bad I don't own one! Anyway there are no calibrations necessary.

You should be aware that when you purchase the polarizer, Panasonic will charge state tax as well as shipping... total to me was ~$110 but that was with 2-day UPS delivery. I can't believe how much brighter my picture got. I thought I was going to have to buy a bulb real soon but it was just the polarizer causing the dingy darkness. In fact at this point I'm sure I'll easily get 5000+hours from this bulb. If you decide to do this procedure, Good Luck, you really shouldn't have any problems...

mpjohnst:

When I say line, it is not a sharply defined one but rather fuzzy on the edges. At least it is not getting any worse. When I first noticed it, I went to high fan and perhaps that is why it has not degraded any more. No problem with the blue or green screens when in service mode.
Well, I'm obviously not sure if it's the PSB array or not, but your problem does sound similar to other posts I've read about. I did a quick search and came across this thread from an AE700 owner (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=628224) who seems to be having the exact same problem. His last post was in August but it sounded like he was going to send it in for fixing. It might be worth PM'ing billymac to see what the problem was. The Panny repair shop should have listed the cause as well as what they did to fix it. Sorry I can't be of more help.
-Matt

Oh I have no problem diving in. I just want to know where the polarizers are. I take the top off so much I don't even put all the screws back in. I just need to know where I am yanking. I followed a few links but it led to an archived post whose pictures were no longer working. If you could post some pictures on where they are I would be THRILLED.

I'm seeing a blue cast around the the top and right edges of the screen (ceiling mounted) on my AE700. Has under 2000hrs. It's most noticeable on totally black screens where the top and right edges have a blueish tint.

Does this sound like a problem with the blue polarizer or just a simple projector clean as mentioned in this thread?

Oh I have no problem diving in. I just want to know where the polarizers are. I take the top off so much I don't even put all the screws back in. I just need to know where I am yanking. I followed a few links but it led to an archived post whose pictures were no longer working. If you could post some pictures on where they are I would be THRILLED.
Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the polarizers themselves and where they are located. However, If you look at my original pictures of me holding the polarizors (especially of the one with my thumb and forefinger visible) that might help. I'm holding the top part, and if taking it in or out, this is where you would grab. The polarizing film, gets inserted parallel to the LCD (so downward into the projector). The part you can't see between my fingers, is where the black plastic frame makes an 'L' and has a screw hole. This is how it is attached to the projector.

It's really not as difficult as all this... when you remove the cover, unplug the LCD ribbon cables and then take off the PCB board, you'll figure things out pretty quick. Just follow the directions I quoted on the 24th and you'll be fine. I printed them out when I did it. Best of luck. And let us know how it goes!
-Matt

I'm seeing a blue cast around the the top and right edges of the screen (ceiling mounted) on my AE700. Has under 2000hrs. It's most noticeable on totally black screens where the top and right edges have a blueish tint.

Does this sound like a problem with the blue polarizer or just a simple projector clean as mentioned in this thread?
Tukkis-
Great work by the way in the 2.35 section! I hope to one day have a scope setup myself...

As for your problem, it's funny how I've become the expert when all I did was open my projector to clean out some dust! :D Seriously though, I wasn't experiencing the problem you describe. I can't say it sounds like dust but you never know... However, it does sound strangely similar to Thomas Willard's problem (and gazzagazza's) below... Did you look at the thread I linked to in my response? billymac seems to have sent it in for repair so you might be able to diagnose your problem with a quick PM. Once you know what your dealing with, you can take the appropriate action. Sorry I can't be of more help.
-Matt

I've been noticing a greenish tint to my screen when no video is being displayed (black screen) on my AE100. It' fairly uniform across the screen. I've got about 1800 hours on my original bulb and haven't done much to it other than cleaning the filter. I think I'm going to take it off of the ceiling tonight and give it a good cleansing.

Thanks for the bit of encouragement, mpjohnst. Hopefully a good cleaning will get rid of or reduce the problem.

Nice, this will come in handy when it's time on my 300.

Well, I had the chance to get the AE100 off of the ceiling and get to the polarizer plates. Man, it was simple!! I was able to take all three polarizer plates out, hit them with some compressed air, get them put back in and the projector together and on the ceiling in about 20 minutes. The dusting of the plates really helped with my greenish tint. I'm planning on doing a more thorough cleaning later on, but this quick and easy task really made things a lot better.

Glad to see so many people still using the 300u. Ive been tempted by the 1500 prices on the 900u, but really want to hold out for a 1080 rez version. I have less than 200 hrs on my 300u anyway, so that's a pretty high dollars/hr movie watching cost lol!

Well, I had the chance to get the AE100 off of the ceiling and get to the polarizer plates. Man, it was simple!! I was able to take all three polarizer plates out, hit them with some compressed air, get them put back in and the projector together and on the ceiling in about 20 minutes. The dusting of the plates really helped with my greenish tint. I'm planning on doing a more thorough cleaning later on, but this quick and easy task really made things a lot better.

I wish more people realize how easy this is. IMO if you can open up your PC to add or change a part, you can do this.

I can open up my PC to add memory etc etc but opening my Panasonic AE700 and removing circuit boards is not so easy....... mainly because they are attached to ribbon cable thingies ( forget the name so excuse my ignorance ) and i don't fancy pulling this out in case i break something and i even have the service manual and still don't fancy doing it.

The panels do need a clean though as i can clearly see some dust blobs on red and green ( more noticeable on red )

The other thing is ....... don't the plates or panels need to be aligned correctly and don't u need equipment for that ? would it be glass plates which i need to clean or panels ? i'm confused and this is despite having the service manual.

No, you don't take the panels out. You can take the polarizers out but they don't require precise alignment. To me anyway, disconnecting the ribbons is easier than taking out memory cards. You just push the tiny latches and the ribbons slide out easily. (Use a tiny screwdriver or toothpick if you have large fingers.) The 'plugs' need more force but again a tiny screwdriver will work.

You do need to be well organized to make sure you reconnect all ribbons.

Well with everyone saying how easy it is I gave it a shot on my Panny 300. The truth is it is pretty easy to take the ribbons out and pop out the plugs. More than a little nerveracking, but not too difficult. I think one of the polarizers is actually deteriorating because my problem does not appear to be dust like others have indicated. However, I unscrewed two screws thinking it was for the polarizer and it was for a lens/mirror/SOMETHING I WASN'T SUPPOSED TO TOUCH. I didn't pull the lens out or anything but just putting the screws back in knocked something off kilter and I clearly messed something up pretty badly. Going to try to fix it tonight. Anyone know what that is (looks like possibly 3 large mirrors or lenses) or how to get it back in position?

Hi Coolhand, Those are mirrors. I've just recieved my replacement blue polarizer and have not installed it yet but I had previously gone into my pj to check out the original (which was indeed burnt/discolored right in the middle of lens) and the first thing I did was to mistakenly remove the mirror on the blue side instead of the polarizer. Although it is very delicately mounted, I carefully cleaned it, dropped it back in place and re-installed the screws with no adverse effect on the PJ whatsoever. If you look down into the space in which the mirror rests (with mirror removed) there is a small metal clip at the bottom against which the back of the mirror rests. You should be able to lower the mirror back into place without much problem. Maybe some needle-nose pliers to handle the part with would help. I didn't use anything but my big fat fingers which was indeed difficult but with care turned out to be no problem. Why do you say something is messed up? What's going on with PJ? The clips on the plastic frame which actually holds the mirror are so tiny that they seem to have a very tenuous grip on the mirror itself. Check out this area and the how the mirror is resting in the slot. It should rest with it's back against the metal clip at the bottom if I recall correctly. Good Luck and Let us know how you get along!

I have been taking it apart and putting it together for a few days now and am finally pleased (enough to stop tinkering anyways-don't like playing with fire TOO long). I feel like one of those guys that can take apart a gun and put it back together in 40 seconds. It really is pretty easy once you can get over the fear of it all.

TUKKIS-READ!!!
I never actually removed the mirror. I just unscrewed it. When I realized I wasn't looking at what I was trying to fix, I just put the screws back in. Unfortunately, this was enough to move the mirror out of position. I wish I would have taken some pics but I think that this is what happened to Tukkis. If the mirrors aren't lined up exactly part of the projected image doesn't receive the color from that LCD. I had a pinkish tint to the top 9" or so on the screen (with a slight downward slope). It was highly noticable. I also had a slight bit on the far right. I still don't have a sharp edge on the side but the top, which was bad enough MY MOM said something, was fixed by readjusting the mirror to go exactly in the middle of the area it is housed in at the proper depth.

Great work GutterPoet and coolhand... We'll be able to keep these little puppies running until 1080p projectors are <$2,000 with all the information in this thread! :D
-Matt

I'm hoping the polarizer is my issue. I have a panny 300U and I noticed a yellowish blob in the center of the screen and also one on the left hand side starting at the top and proceeding down to about the middle of the screen. This would be visible on a whilte background. I have about 4500 hours on my unit. I just changed the bulb and that is when I really started to notice it and it seemed, although I cant be sure, that it got rapidly worse, in an accelerated fashion in about the last month.

I took it in for service on Monday, $150 to cover diagnostics and cleaning. We'll see and I'll report back. I wish I had seen this thread a day earlier. Funny how I decided to do research on the forum AFTER taking it in. Well, I suppose it needed a good cleaning anyway although I've been good about keeping the filter clean

Hi, I figured that I would bump this thread rather than start a new one.
My Sanyo Z1 has shown this yellow discoloration in the center of the image. I have inspected all the polarizers as well as the LCD panels. I did not see any degradation in either of them. I then cleaned them all with compressed air but there was no improvement. I was wondering if there is somewhere else I should try to clean, or maybe I need a new bulb? (I am kind of reluctant to buy a bulb if it will not fix the problem, I would rather put that towards a new projector)

Thanks
Greg

Hi Greg,
Thought I'd share my surprises at all the 'micro dust' I found in my z1. I live in a very clean aprtment, no pets, carpet or smokers. (Also no air pollution in Bangkok, well maybe some! :rolleyes: ) Under 1000 hours on my sanyo PLV-z1, but some discoloration on a white image...

Here is where I found the most 'micro dust'; on the various lenses in the light path. There are 5 of them. Polarizers also had it, but only noticable after removing them!
(Polarizers are between the LCD panels and the prism block in the center. Removing one screw and clip let's you slide the glass up and out. Do NOT use pliers!)
I ended up cleaning every surface with a soft lense cloth, even the small glass dividers in the light path.

Looks like it won't let me insert my pictures. :(

Good luck!

Here are the lenses in the light path...if it works... :confused:
http://www.geocities.com/joesthai/IMAGES/thumbs/z1-path-072a.jpg

This is the super fine 'micro dust' that was causing the problem of a large tinted area on the screen... :eek:

http://www.geocities.com/joesthai/IMAGES/thumbs/z1-lense-064a.jpg

It was on the polarizers, too.

http://www.geocities.com/joesthai/IMAGES/thumbs/z1-pol-050a.jpg

BTW, this is where the blue polarizer is. You don't have to pull out the optical block to remove it though! :p

http://www.geocities.com/joesthai/IMAGES/thumbs/z1-prism-041.jpg

Hope the pics are helpful to you!

Thanks joesthia

I will try cleaning all of the lenses and try a lens cloth instead of canned air.

Well I finnally found the time to take down my AE200 and try to perform this cleaning. My blue polarizer is severly burnt, but I went a head and blew off all of the polarizers and the entire area with compressed air. I put it all back together and now my projector will only power on for a bout 7 senconds and then turns off. I can see if projecting a picture and then it sounds like a fan goes to kick in and it powers off. I have to unplug and plug it back in to get it to respond and then it does the same thing. I did not have much time to play with it, but does anyone have any suggestions?

I'm just guessing here but the fact that it powers up at all leads me to believe there is some internal system check that is telling the unit to power down. Did you take out the bulb at all? If so you might want to reseat it and try again. If not, it sounds like it might be one of the connections on either the board or the LCDs were not reconnected properly. Have you tried to reverse the process, unplugging all the internal cables/ribbons/etc... and reassembling?

Sorry I can't be of more help but I didn't experience anything like that. But again, the way it's acting, it doesn't sound like something is permanently screwed up... Best of luck getting it working again and be sure to let us know how it goes.
-Matt

I am betting on missed connectors (because it happened to me too). Disconnect the board again, count the connectors and note where they go. Make sure EVERYTHING is reconnected.

Thanks for the encouragment. I hope I will have more time to play with it tommorow. I didn't mess with the bulb at all, but I will recheck all of the connections and see if I can get it to power up properly. The hard part is I only have power for it up on the ceiling were it is mounted and I hate to remount the whole thing just to see if it is working. Does any one know were I can buy an extra power cord for this unit?

Thanks for the encouragment. I hope I will have more time to play with it tommorow. I didn't mess with the bulb at all, but I will recheck all of the connections and see if I can get it to power up properly. The hard part is I only have power for it up on the ceiling were it is mounted and I hate to remount the whole thing just to see if it is working. Does any one know were I can buy an extra power cord for this unit?
I'm not sure if this is the correct cable but it looks right: Ebay 3-prong Panny Cable for Toughbook
http://cgi.*********/PANASONIC-TOUGHBOOK-3-PRONG-POWER-CORD-4-AC-ADAPTER_W0QQitemZ6893209092QQihZ013QQcategoryZ51151QQtcZphot oQQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
You have to put in the ebay dot com manually in place of the *******

If you don't trust you'll get the right cable from that ebay seller, you can always get the official part for a few bucks more. It is part number K2CG3FR00001 (http://www.partstore.com/sl/lamps-batteries-remotes/indexc800.html)

I found it by look at the PDF of the AE200/300 manual found here (http://www.projektoren-datenbank.com/pdf/bedienungsanleitungen/panasonicptae200-300-an-usa.pdf) . Best of luck!
-Matt

John thanks for the link. It reminded me that we use the panasonic toughbook at our office and I just found a whole box of these power cords laying in the back room. It looks like the correct one so I think I will "borrow" one.

John thanks for the link. It reminded me that we use the panasonic toughbook at our office and I just found a whole box of these power cords laying in the back room. It looks like the correct one so I think I will "borrow" one.
No problem... but my name isn't John :p
-Matt

Sorry Matt, my bad.

I found the problem. It was the ribbon cable that connects the SD card reader to the main board. It was not properly seated. All is well now. The dusting did remove most of the purple from my picture but the yellow sploches remain. My blue polarizer is ver burnt. I am 1/2 way through my second bulb with this unit after about 3 years. I know it is a common problem, but what causes the polarizor to burn? Is it just to much heat or the ceiling mount trapping the hot air??

How many total hours do you have? My almost three years old 200's polarizers are still mint. I only have 2000 total hours - second bulb with about 400 hours. You won't be able to sell it for anything - might as well cough up the $100 or so for a new polarizer - if you're not ready to trash the pj yet.

Hi everyone,

I have a problem with my TX100 that I hope you guys can help me with?

I recently changed my first bulb after it was approching 3000hrs and the process is relatively straight forward.

Ever since I've had the TX100 since November 2004, I've started noticing a slight yellow tint around the edges of the screen but I never really considered it to be a problem because it never really got in the way of movies. However, yesterday something odd happen (after clocking up 191hrs on the new bulb) and it happened literally in seconds - suddenly a very noticable blue tint appeared around the edges of the screen. This is noticable on everything from movies to xbox 360 and it is really annoying.

I think a picture will best discribe the problem:

I know for a fact that it isn't dust blobs because I opened up the TX100 many times to clean them out and it looks to be a problem with either one of the polarizers or LCD panels?

Thanks

Just some guesses here...

Based on comments from others, it sounds like something might have gone out of alignment. I would guess either the PSB array (mentioned above in Post #12 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6085219&&#post6085219)) or possibly one of your polarizers. That said, it could really be any part of your lens assembly. Have you taken out any parts and reseated them other than the lamp? I.E. When you say you've opened the projector to clean out the dust, did you have to take any parts off to get to the panels? I'm not familiar with the inner workings of the Hitachi.

BTW, what is the warranty on your unit? If it is out of warranty, by how much is it? I ask because my AMEX card extends warranties by a year. Many other CC's do to. If it's still covered, just call them up and they'll either fix it, replace it or refund you your purchase price! :eek: It worked great for me on DVD player but I don't know what the maximum they would cover...

Best of luck and let us know what how you progress.
-Matt

Just some guesses here...

Based on comments from others, it sounds like something might have gone out of alignment. I would guess either the PSB array (mentioned above in Post #12 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6085219&&#post6085219)) or possibly one of your polarizers. That said, it could really be any part of your lens assembly. Have you taken out any parts and reseated them other than the lamp? I.E. When you say you've opened the projector to clean out the dust, did you have to take any parts off to get to the panels? I'm not familiar with the inner workings of the Hitachi.

BTW, what is the warranty on your unit? If it is out of warranty, by how much is it? I ask because my AMEX card extends warranties by a year. Many other CC's do to. If it's still covered, just call them up and they'll either fix it, replace it or refund you your purchase price! :eek: It worked great for me on DVD player but I don't know what the maximum they would cover...

Best of luck and let us know what how you progress.
-Matt

Thanks for the reply.

Just to clarify, when I said I opened up the TX100 to get rid of the dust blobs I did have to take apart quite a number pieces including the motherboard in order to detach the optical block and get to the polarizers (the colour filters?).

I have carefully checked each LCD panel individually and they look 100% perfect and not burnt, dis-coloured or faulty in any way. The colour filters don't appear to be burnt or dis/coloured so I'm not sure what the problem is.

I haven't examined the PSB array so that could be it. I will take the TX100 apart again (I'm starting to lose count now lol) in a couple of hours to see if I can make any progress.

Btw, does anyone know of any places that sell Hitachi parts because here in the UK I can't seem to find anywhere and I can't seem to get my hands on the service manual if there is one.

How many total hours do you have? My almost three years old 200's polarizers are still mint. I only have 2000 total hours - second bulb with about 400 hours. You won't be able to sell it for anything - might as well cough up the $100 or so for a new polarizer - if you're not ready to trash the pj yet.

I have almost 2000 hours on my second bulb for a total of about 6000 hours. I started to notice the yellow ting about 2/3 of the way through the first bulb.

This is helpful--thanks!

This is a very helpful thread.

My Hitachi CP-X275 XGA pj has 4400 hours, and is still fine on its first lamp which is rated at 2000 hours, so I'm quite impressed. It's always in 'whisper' (reduced power) mode, operates in 62-68 degrees F, and powers up around eight times a day.

Pinkish dust blobs were getting too noticable, so I tackled the cleaning job. I took out several lenses, polarizers and dichroic mirrors, and cleaned them with dishwashing soap, and dried them with kleenex. The ones that could not be taken out, I fogged with my breath and wiped with Q-tips.

Mistakes to Avoid:

1. Do not remove the LCD panels. They are very tempting to remove because the back side of them and some color filters could be more easily cleaned. They are easy to remove by unscrewing four screws per panel. However, they are difficult to realign. I removed the red one and then the projected red pixels were offset. I had to place the X-prism near a blight light, and by looking in the main lens I was able to align the panel with the other ones by trial and error. The back side of the panels and the small color filters can be cleaned by inserting a Q-tip between them.

2. Put all the optical parts back in the same orientation. Obviously. But who would have suspected that one of the dichroic mirrors (shown with the red arrow on the first photo below) seems to be manufactured with a left-to right color gradient from purple to red? I put it back upside down by mistake, then a projected white screen had a slight pinkish left to greenish right gradient. Quite a job to troubleshoot this simple problem!

Heat-damaged parts found:

1. The large plastic collimator lens is crazed (network of fine cracks on the surface). This doesn't have any noticable effect. This is the part on the left in the second photo below.

2. The polarizing converter has stains between the glass segments. This part is supposed to convert random light into S-polarization or P-polarization, in order to use the light more efficiently. It was getting too dark so I removed it. The image became slightly brighter with no other noticable effect. It was quite a surprise to find out that this sophisticated part is not needed. This is the part on the right in the second photo below.

All was fine after this service. Hope this helps some Hitachi pj owners.

Chris-
I see this is your first post... I'm not sure if your a "long time listener, first time caller" or are genuinely new but, welcome to AVS! Thanks for your contribution, it should definitely help some people out.
-Matt

Has anyone found a site which sells the little LCD polarizers? I have a couple burnt polarizers I'm looking to replace, and haven't come up with much.

Try the Panasonic Parts Store (http://www.pasc.panasonic.com/epartr/PartslistChoice.asp?). On the right side, search on "pt-ae300", check the "Part Number" radio button and click the "List Parts..." button.

I show the polarizers as...

TENC0145 POLARIZING PLATE/IN (B) $93.00
TENC0146 POLARIZING PLATE/IN (R) $93.00
TENC0147 POLARIZING PLATE/IN (G) $93.00

You can also buy them from the Parts Store (http://www.partstore.com/Default.aspx). Hope that helps.
-Matt

Try the Panasonic Parts Store (http://www.pasc.panasonic.com/epartr/PartslistChoice.asp?). On the right side, search on "pt-ae300", check the "Part Number" radio button and click the "List Parts..." button.

I show the polarizers as...

TENC0145 POLARIZING PLATE/IN (B) $93.00
TENC0146 POLARIZING PLATE/IN (R) $93.00
TENC0147 POLARIZING PLATE/IN (G) $93.00

You can also buy them from the Parts Store (http://www.partstore.com/Default.aspx). Hope that helps.
-Matt
Thanks for the links :)

Hi all, this has been a great thread, thanks for all the tips and tricks. I have a first gen Sanyo PLV-Z1 that recently has had a yellowish blob about 1.5' in diameter show up in the center of the picture. I had figured it was one of the polarizers that had gone bad. I sourced a service manual and following this post and the manual pulled everything apart for a good cleaning. I checked everything out and found micro dust on most of the mirrors/lenses and used a mf cloth to clean them off. They came out good as new. What I can't seem to figure out is there are no signs of burn on any of the polarizers or LCD panels. I put it all back together and fired it up. It seemed to help out a bit but it's definitely still there. What else could be causing this??? Is there something else I need to clean or check? I even pulled out the LCD assembly entirely and held it up to the light and checked all the panels individually. They all still look great. I have about 1000 hours (maybe a bit more) on my original bulb. It's been running in econ mode since day one and still seems to be putting out decent light. I'm at a loss, any ideas??? TIA

Don

Don-
I am no expert but it sure sounds like dust. Is the blob out of focus, with very soft edges? I wonder if the color can give some clue as to where in the optical path it is? Most dust blobs and dust film that I've encountered have been clearly red, green or blue tinted. Sure enough I blew out the polarizers and LCD panels and it fixed it. A yellow blob makes me think it is somewhere either before or after the optical block. I searched AVS for "yellow blob" and then searched again within some of the big LCD threads for "yellow". Here are a few posts I came across:

Infocus Screenplay 5000 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7614476&highlight=yellow#post7614476) - Yellow blobs here were fixed by blowing compressed air into the front vents year the lens assembly... not the optical block.
Panasonic AE700 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5955795&highlight=yellow#post5955795) - Interesting... this makes me think a yellow blob could be due to a problem in the blue optical path. It makes sense, my red tinge was actually caused by dust on the green polarlizer.
Hitachi PJ-TX200 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8479152&highlight=yellow#post8479152) - This one is slightly different as it mentions a yellow band which was fixed by reseating the ribbon cable on the lcd.
Hitachi PJ-TX200 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=607853&highlight=tx+100+dust) - This is a thread for cleaning dust blobs in the Hitachi... there is nothing specific about yellow blobs but there is lots of good discussion on cleaning techniques.

These are just a few. Luckily, it sounds like it is still dust of some sort. Reading through the other threads made me realize the other times yellowing can be a problem is on a burnt blue polarizer. If you said you checked yours and it still fine, then I would think it is dust.

Good luck and maybe someone else can offer more detailed advice.
-Matt

Matt, many thanks for the insight and the links, that's great!! I'll check those out and see if there is something else to look at. If it is dust, i'm at a loss as to where it could be hiding. I'm going to pull the LCD assembly again and clean it one more time. The blob doesn't have fuzzy edges it's just a faint yellow haze. It does look more like what everyone describes as from a burn, but again my polarizers look fine. I'll keep you posted on what I find.

Don

Has anyone had experience doing this fix on an Sony VPL-HS51?

I had a yellow blob on my 300U that was a bad blue polarizer, it was burned from heat, although I was good at cleaning filter. The oblong burn mark on the polarizer matched the shape I saw on my screen, what I thought was merely a dust blob.

Hello Everyone. I own Sanyo PLV-Z1. Recently I noticed that I get Blue haze on the left side of the screen and the top. It’s noticeable only on brighter white scenes. Could this be a blue polarizer going bad on me? Thanks in advance.

I have a copy of the PT-AE100 service manual (thanks to another AVS member). Physically the AE100, AE200, & AE300 (L300U) are identical assemblies (the electronics and panels are different). If you think it might be usefull, send me a PM with your e-mail address and I can forward it to you (allow 24 hours, since I may not be on-line more than once a day).

Hello Everyone. I own Sanyo PLV-Z1. Recently I noticed that I get Blue haze on the left side of the screen and the top. It’s noticeable only on brighter white scenes. Could this be a blue polarizer going bad on me? Thanks in advance.A blue haze is not due to the blue polarizer (that would be the compliment = pink). It could be your blue panel going bad (or the red & green polarizers). You should check the Z1 threads (some will only be found in the AVS archives).

Thanks for you reply. I just took apart the whole light path box; it took me less then 1\2 hour. Everything is very clean and looks how it should (except the blue polarizer burn, which is quiet extensive). Is there an easy way to test if the LCD panel is at fault before I spend $100 on new polarizer that won’t help me much?

Thanks for you reply. I just took apart the whole light path box; it took me less then 1\2 hour. Everything is very clean and looks how it should (except the blue polarizer burn, which is quiet extensive). Is there an easy way to test if the LCD panel is at fault before I spend $100 on new polarizer that won’t help me much?

I had an issue similar to yours but my Z1 had a green blob in the middle fo the screen about 2' in diameter. I too thought is was a burnt panel but I pulled everything apart and cleaned it out. I didn't think it was that dirty but it really was. I cleaned all the lenses, polarizers and blew it all out with a can of compressed air. I put it back together and it solved my problem. If you have physical evidence of a burn that that definitely is aiding in the problem. I'd recommend pulling out the rest of the polarizors (including the ones on the optical assembly) and make sure that is not the only one with an issue. If they all look clean you should be back up and running for $100 :) Let us know how you make out.

In the past I used to just open up my L300U and blow compressed air throughout. Did that twice, both times the picture improved, lessening the discoloration, but both times the discoloration came back nice and pinkish. On my third cleaning, I took out the polarizers and wiped them down clean. Completely removed any pink tint, sometimes one just have to do a more thorough cleaning that the compressed can of air cannot clear. Thanks Matt for the tips here.

Just found this thread and thought I would contribute. ;) I posted this in another thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10373866&&#post10373866) , but it applies here.

Sorry, I'm about a year late on this one, LOL.

My 300 started showing a yellow area in the lower right-hand corner of the screen. It eventually spread to the whole screen (yea, was too lazy to replace the blue polarizer for awhile). Only reason I'm bringing it up now is because I found the pics I took last year when I replaced the polarizer. ;)

This pic has the new polarizer on the left and the old one on the right (if you can't tell ;)). Note the discoloration of the old one. It covered the WHOLE screen, so you can see by the darkened area where the light shines through the polarizer.
http://idisk.mac.com/baron.ken-Public/IMG_1877a.JPG

This one (blurred badly, my apologies) shows that I really needed to blow out the dust more often. Note the band of dust along the right-hand side. ;)
http://idisk.mac.com/baron.ken-Public/IMG_1889a.JPG

Hope you found this interesting.

I want to do the replacement on my Mitsubishi Xl2 myself but I cannot find a part store except one from Panasonic...are these plates basically all the same? :(

I'm not sure where you can get Mits parts. This site (http://www.partstore.com/) carries parts from many manufacturers but Mitsubishi doesn't seem to be on the list... Sorry.
-Matt

Mine has a dark spot on the picture, predominatly on a blue screen. The spot was totally black. I took it apart and found that the blue polariser has a burnt spot on it. I wish mine was as simple as just being dust :( Now my only problem is trying to find a source to purchase these polarisers. I'm not up for paying the manufactures outrageous prices for these. :mad: Hopefully I'll be able to find a used unit to scrap out for parts. :)

Wow! thats good to know, but is there a way to clean them from smoke haze?
Don't smoke?

Reedl

I bought this unit used and only after about 50 hours of usage, this appeared.

Would it be possible to clean the lenses on a LCD rear projection HDTV Hitachi 42V715 as "easily" as the sanyo PLV-z1 projector (basically the same technology right)? I have a lot of yellowing of the screen which if I read these posts correctly are likely dust build up. Any tips you can give I'd appreciate. I have a lot of experience fixing computers and printers but haven't delved into projectors and TVs....yet.

BTW thanks for the awesome pictures Joe. If I think I can handle cleaning the insides of the TV I'll post some pics of it too.

Bump for this as I think I'll do this soon.

hey.. im currently going through the cleaning process for my ptae 700..these little panels look so delicate i dont want to touch them. and i dont have that plastic extraction tool thing posted before. is there a trick to doing it or do i need that tool

These polarizer issues, does it applies to DLP and LCOS pj? Or is it specific to LCD based pj?

a quick question to those who've tried cleaning their 300. I am still reluctant to take my professionally installed PJ from the ceiling mount and open it up (calling the pros would cost too much) but I do have those reddish (dust?) blobs. Can I just shoot air into the PJ without moving it? Where do I aim?!?

Also, this may sound stupid but bear with me please, is "contact cleaner" equivalent to compressed air? Is it safe to use this?

I'm not sure what "contact cleaner" you are referring to but it doesn't sound remotely close to the compressed air cans. Also, you cannot attempt to clean w/o taking it down and apart. Shooting compressed air is a quick way but often may not clear out any "blobs". The only true way is to dismantle the unit and take out the polarizers and wipe them down. I used lens cleaning cloth and solution. Even with the polarizers in hand and just blowing them with compressed air may not remove the dusts blobs.

a quick question to those who've tried cleaning their 300. I am still reluctant to take my professionally installed PJ from the ceiling mount and open it up (calling the pros would cost too much) but I do have those reddish (dust?) blobs. Can I just shoot air into the PJ without moving it? Where do I aim?!?

Also, this may sound stupid but bear with me please, is "contact cleaner" equivalent to compressed air? Is it safe to use this?

I changed my mind about loving my Hitachi 42V715 after finding out that it wasn't dust but a burned out blue polarizer after only having the thing about 3 years. I disassembled it and pulled out the polarizer (held in the light engine with a little bracket) and the glass/plastic had a nice dark brown burn spot on it. I have searched and searched for somewhere to buy this little piece of glass/plastic and no luck. The only fix apparently is to replace the entire light engine ($1000 approximate). If anyone has another possibility please let me know.

Boy am I glad I found this thread, Here's my problem:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d180/porschedrifter/Picture142.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d180/porschedrifter/Picture136.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d180/porschedrifter/Picture135.jpg

Now something funny I found when I took the top cover off and blew out near the polarizers with compressed air, when I turned her back on the shape had changed in the top right corner. Hopefully this is my problem what what do you guys suspect?

Eiki lc-xga980ue

You're saying it was in a different spot before? Sounds like a dust blob that moved around.

Now something funny I found when I took the top cover off and blew out near the polarizers with compressed air, when I turned her back on the shape had changed in the top right corner. Hopefully this is my problem what what do you guys suspect?Please clarify--you had a dust blob and after blowing it out you have this new shadowing? I can't tell from the images you posted whether it's distortion or WHAT it is. I hope it is not a physical distortion caused when you blew concentrated compressed air in there? :confused:

No No, I've had the blue hue since I got the projector a few days ago, however the noticeable shape in the top right corner changed shape after I vacuumed and blew some compressed air. Without taking anything apart I could see dust on the polarizer, noticed that compressed air did not remove it all so I'm getting ready to remove it and clean it myself with a qtip.

Originally I thought it was the blue/green dichronic mirror needing to be replaced but then I found this article and I have some more things to try before doing some surgery.

If it's a bad polarizer or dichronic mirror i'm fine with replacing it myself, The picture you see should be a black image, instead I get a blue hue. The digi cam amplified the blue it doesnt look that bad movies are watchable but at least you can really see the problem.

Well, I took apart my PJ today managed to get the odd shape to go away by adjusting the polarizer. Noticed that the lcd's are very dusty and need to disassemble the cube to get at them but I need a longer hex key. Tomorrow I'm going to give it another go and vacuum and loosen the dust with a qtip.

So the blue is still there but its a nice even color now with no shapes, Also the polarizers look brand new, no fades and no burns. Was happy to see that.

Well, I took apart my PJ today managed to get the odd shape to go away by adjusting the polarizer.Can you speculate on what caused it? It looked to me like maybe vacuuming (or blowing compressed air) had twisted the filter, causing distortion. But I'd be surprised if the filter's mounting was that delicate. Do you think that by turning the adjustment screw you might actually have relieved a twist/distortion in the filter?

Can you speculate on what caused it? It looked to me like maybe vacuuming (or blowing compressed air) had twisted the filter, causing distortion. But I'd be surprised if the filter's mounting was that delicate. Do you think that by turning the adjustment screw you might actually have relieved a twist/distortion in the filter?

It could also be that there is a defect in the upper corner of the polarizer and by adjusting it the defect was moved out of the image display area. Look at the pictures here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=10629022&postcount=87) and you can see that the entire polarizer isn't used.

Also, would a blue polarizer cause a blue hue? Did you check your other polarizers for any discrepancies?

It could also be that there is a defect in the upper corner of the polarizer and by adjusting it the defect was moved out of the image display area. Look at the pictures...Boy, it'd hafta be wildly out-of-whack to find a twisted/distorted edge wouldn't it. Hopefully porschedrifter can clarify...

Boy, it'd hafta be wildly out-of-whack to find a twisted/distorted edge wouldn't it. Hopefully porschedrifter can clarify...
I didn't necessarily mean an edge, just the upper corner of the area where the picture shows through the polarizer. Was just a possiblility (though dubious) :p

Well actually everything was pretty secure by hex screws, compressed air and the vacuum sure isnt strong enough to move them. I had this problem since I recieved it from ebay about a week ago. However after moving the outer blue polarizer and the distortion going away, i've concluded that it was just catching the edge of where the polarized coating ends on the glass. I think it was just out of alignment. The blue hue is another problem obviously but hey i'm half way to fixing it now that the distortion is gone.

The polarizers looked brand new as I said before, no fading and no burning or discoloration. I am awaiting a longer hex key set I ordered that will allow me to reach the hex screws to get the whole cube/lcd assembly out to do some more dusting and investigating.

For now I will go take a deeper look at the mirrors and dichronic mirrors inside until I can get to the lcd's

*Update*

After taking the whole thing apart I managed to get the colors to look a lot better and even, Still havent tracked down the blue hue problem, even tried adjusting the condenser lenses..
all the mirrors, lens and dichroic mirrors looked even with no burns or fades.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d180/porschedrifter/Picture008.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d180/porschedrifter/Picture007.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d180/porschedrifter/Picture006.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d180/porschedrifter/Picture003.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d180/porschedrifter/Picture001.jpg

Hello guys,

I am glad to have found this thread, perhaps you could help!

I have an older Toshiba TLP560 projector, but unfortunately one of the polarizing filters inside has burned out. Please tell me how I could have a replacement of such a filter.
I attach to this email 2 pictures with the inside of my projector and the three filters it has. The damaged filter was connected to the ribbon that had a red dot on it. I am not sure this means it is the filter for the red light, but I guess it is so.
I have had a look at the Spare Parts website, but did not actually find a polarizer for my model... perhaps I did not know what to search for exactly...
The only indication you guys gave was the thing for Panasonic, TENC0146 POLARIZING PLATE/IN (R). Could I locate the similar red polarizer for my Toshiba, or do you think I should try and buy the Panasonic one, hoping I can make it fit into the frame of my Toshiba projector?

Thank you very much for your help!

MY 3 POLARIZING FILTERS
http://www.speedyshare.com/data/158452186/13023936/86029654/my%20filters-.JPG

THE LOCATION OF THE BURNT ONE
http://www.speedyshare.com/data/158452186/13023937/24501368/location%20of%20the%20burned-out%20filter-.JPGr.JPG

Okay, so from what I've read so far, I'm getting that the big yellow splotches is from a burnt blue polarizer, and that I have to get a replacement, correct?

Here's my problemo...
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/3063/image000dt1.jpg

Assistance greatly appreciated. :D

EDIT: Oh yeah, and my projector is an InFocus LP770

Hi all

After reading all the postings in this thread I decided to take apart my Hitachi CP-RS55 which has a yellow patch about mid screen that has been slowly growing to occupy about half the area of the screen in total at present.
As suspected it is the blue panel that has the damage.
On a mission to buy a replacement I searched the internet to find a supplier and found a possible three, on asking prices I was shocked to be quoted around £850 plus delivery plus VAT for the complete 3 panel unit, single panels are not available at all.
At this price I can buy 2 new projectors and get change for a pint.

Sooo, my suggestion to others is to go out and buy a new projector and a pint or two.

Best regards to all and thanks for the chat.

would anyone be able to point me at the blue polarizer (parts number) for a panasonic pt-ax200u. I was on the website for them the other day I think it was partstore but cannot find the page again. Also, the site listed 3 polarizers but not which one was which. any help would be appreciated and if I am successful in purchasing and replacing it I'll post up a how to... I would also like to try to fix this on a pt-ax100u which my father has with a burnt blue polarizer as well. Any help would be super!!

nineset,
Their's two part numbers one USA the other European. You must call customer service for which is which. I think both are the same these are the numbers TKGP5326 or TKGP5329 for the outer and inner is TEEC0046. I have the service manual if you need more info just email me.

http://www.pasc.panasonic.com/epartr/PartsListChoice.asp?validate=1

Enter your model # in Search by model window... Be sure to click the Search button! (<Enter> does not work. Each part description had a final letter for the color.

Thanks so much. I will check this out this evening!

would anyone be able to point me at the blue polarizer (parts number) for a panasonic pt-ax200u. I was on the website for them the other day I think it was partstore but cannot find the page again. Also, the site listed 3 polarizers but not which one was which. any help would be appreciated and if I am successful in purchasing and replacing it I'll post up a how to... I would also like to try to fix this on a pt-ax100u which my father has with a burnt blue polarizer as well. Any help would be super!!

Man... did you ever get the blue polarizer fixed? I'm so sick of looking at my screen with a big round yellow tint in the center I'm about to toss the whole thing out. Does someone have a step by step to change out the blue polarizer? Is it worth the time and money?

Any response would be great.

Thanks
Joe

Is this what I need?

TEEC0046 POLARIZING PLATE/IN (B) $107.10
TKGP5326 POLARIZING PLATE/OUT (B) $93.72
TKGP5329 POLARIZING PLATE/OUT (B) $87.88

:mad::(:mad:

TXJoe:
I'm going through replacing my blue polarizer on my PT-AX100U because I have the same problem (large yellow oval in the middle of the screen). You probably just need the IN plate it seems to be the only burned one I saw when I took mine apart today. It's not very hard to replace, you just need to take out the case screws and then unplug a bunch of wires to get the main board out of the way to get to the polarizers. This is the best price I saw for the polarizer so far: http://www.partstore.com/Part/Matsushita/Panasonic/TEEC0046/New.aspx

If you PM me your email address I can get you the service manual which I just broke down and paid $11.50 for today to be sure I was getting the right part lol.

Hi....can you send me the service manual,please/I have same problem I don;t know what part number to order.....My email adress is sugusa1@yahoo.com Thanks.

Can we rob the polarizers from another LCD projector? THere are some LCD projectors on e-bay pretty cheap like $25-$30.

If these LCD projectors all have 3 LCDs wouldnt 1 used projector have 3 good salvagable polarizers we could rob?

I havnt taken a projector down this far yet but im planning to with a panny i just got used localy.

I think mine is just dirty but i wonder about the ones that look burnt if we could use used parts rather then kick out $100. for a little section of glass just cause its original parts?