Just a quick question.

If I order a replacement lamp for my Panasonic AE-900U now, but don't need to use it for a couple years, will the bulb degrade while sitting on the shelf?

My projector is about a year old now, and I'm only at about 500 hours into the bulb's lamp life, but I want to be prepared to replace it when it goes.

I live in Canada, and it seems difficult to find decent prices on bulbs from dealers in the US that ship internationally. The official Panasonic dealer here wants a whopping $599.99! I've found it as cheap as $325.00 in the US, though.

projector comes with a bulb you run the lamp about 1000 hours or close to the breaking point. a second lamp is purchased than should be placed in projector as soon as you get it. why , because of the lamps warranty.

my 2 lamp cycle goes like this accept for one thing. I get my lamp rebuilt by jopprugroup (http://http://www.jopprugroup.com/) they give a 90 day warranty. If the lamp goes out before that they will rebuild it for free. your original lamp becomes the relief lamp while the other lamp is in transit.

Larryep hit it on the head. Warranty is typically 60 days FROM PURCHASE. Not when installed. Should you not need it for 2 years and it is DOA when you do put it in, you are SOL.

I would use your current lamp until you hit 750 or so then take it out and put in a new one. Then you use the new until it blows, then put in your spare lamp (which you took out about the 750 hour mark). Use that one until you get another new lamp. In other words your factory lamp becomes your full time spare lamp. That way you are never without... :)

And you might not even need the bulb, ever.

I have a spare LT-150 lamp that I bought many years ago, when there was a temporary shortage of them.

It has been nice to know it was there, but the money could have been better spent.

Doug

I'm amazed anyone around here can avoid upgrading long enough to go through an entire bulb :)

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Steve

I'm amazed anyone around here can avoid upgrading long enough to go through an entire bulb :)

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Steve

Just use it 14 hours/day!

I'm amazed anyone around here can avoid upgrading long enough to go through an entire bulb :)

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Steve

I know where you are coming from. Wonder what the numbers are?

I will use the current lamp till about 1000hrs and then replace it by a new lamp.

I'll keep the replaced lamp as a spare in case the new lamp fails unexpectedly.

After this I go along with the normal lamp replacement life cycle.

No warranty issues at all.

I have 1650 hrs on my Panny AE900U (almost all low lamp mode with fan on high). 500hrs seems early to think about replacement, but that also depends on how light controlled your room is, and on how bright you need the projector to be.

It seems early but it's a free lunch.

In my case it's justabout $50 in value to have the luxury of having a spare available in case a new lamp fails within warranty or a lamp fails before it's expected life.

You can always decide to use the spare at the end of the projectors life cycle anyway.

I'm amazed anyone around here can avoid upgrading long enough to go through an entire bulb :)


Funny, I guess it's a personality thing. Once my basement is finally ready, which projector I get is a big deal because I'm sure I'll have it until it croaks. Hopefully, that's at least 10-15 years. I only buy new PCs when my old one can't run any of the new software anymore, or too many components are dying, and my 12 year old car has 200,000+ miles on it. I just don't get upgraditis much, but when I do buy something, I buy new and get the best I can find for the money.

I'm amazed anyone around here can avoid upgrading long enough to go through an entire bulb :)

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Steve


Getting ready to put in my 4th (5th?) bulb. We use the projector (Hitachi SX-5600 LCOS) 3-4 hrs a day, every day (this is our TV set) and average about 1,600 on each. Current bulb is at about 1,700 hrs even though the projector message notes to change them at 1,300.

BTW, the 1st bulb exploded at about 1,440 hr. Luckily, all of the shards were contained in the lamp housing and did no damage to the projector. This can and (and sometimes does) happen if a bulb is pushed too long.

So does a bulb become more fragile after it has 500 hrs or so on it?

If that isn't a big deal, it sounds like the real question is to install the replacement bulb immediately to be sure there isn't an infant mortality issue, and sandbag the original. Do they have to be stored in a particular way? I'd assume not in a drawer or cabinet you'll be opening and closing.

thoughts?

Eric

i leave mine in the shipping box with the packing material. used the same box now about 4 times.

Because of the reduced cost of shipping when buying several lamps rather than just one, I'm considering buying three or four lamps at the same time for our RS1. But, as people have pointed out, the lamp warranty period begins on the purchase date rather than the date the lamp is put in service, so this has put a bit of a damper on this idea.

How many AVS folks have actually put a brand new lamp in a projector and had it fail immediately, or, for that matter, had a lamp fail after a very short period of use and obtained a new lamp through warranty?

Does a lamp have a shelf life?

Thanks.

I'm amazed anyone around here can avoid upgrading long enough to go through an entire bulb :)

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Steve



I completely agree. I was playing around with an old projector of mine and took a look at the lamp life. It turns out that I only used the projector for 200 hours before upgrading to a new one.

...and that was the projector that came with a free lamp replacement too. :o

I think whether one uses a projector for HDTV has a lot to do with the number of hours that gets put on a lamp. Since we started HDTV service a few months ago, the time we have spent in the HT has gone up dramatically compared to the time before that when we used our NEC CRT projector for HTPC-source movies only.

We purchased our RS1 in mid-October and we already have about 100 hours on the lamp. Because we have recently installed a 120" HP screen, and big-screen, HD sports have re-kindiled some of my youthful interest in it, if anything, our rate of usage will likely go up.

After we get some type of HD disk player, again, our time in the HT will likely increase even more, so this is why we're considering purchasing three or four lamps at one time from a Japanese supplier. That way, shipping cost per unit is rather dramatically reduced.

I have owned two projectors, both lamps have hit their 2000 Hr mark before I sold the projectors with working lamps. I use the projector almost daily, 325 to 345 days a year, turn it on once, turn it off when I am done for the night, and never cut the power to the projector before the fan goes out.

Why would lamps have shelf life... anything practical anyway... glass does not leak gas, correct? Warranty is another story like the second post pointed out.

What you should try and do is use the new lamp as soon as you get it...that way you at least know it worked during the warranty period.

so I assume it is a good idea go buy a spare bulb and install it while the projector is still under warranty?

speaking of bulbs, I just can't understand why a projector bulb costs $400 to $500. Is the manufacturer(Panasonic, in this case) just trying to milk the consumer for more money? (like how printer manufacturers over-price their own ink cartridges?) :)

Most bulbs cost between $200 and $600... unless you get into Sony Ruby range... you should scour the internet and buy from an authorized dealer. I have seen bulbs for my projector advertised from $330 to $649, the MSRP on manufacturers website is $449. Start there to get an idea of the price.

As far as why these cost this much, I am not sure. I thought with the advent of DLP/LCD RPTV, the volumes would increase and the price would drop... but that has not happened in the last several years... the green back being at an all time low against other currencies probably isn't helping.

A couple questions, does anyone know how extreme though slow changes in temperature affect the lamps?
also anyone know where I can get the best price on a lamp for a Optoma H77 ?

What you should try and do is use the new lamp as soon as you get it...that way you at least know it worked during the warranty period.
Thanks Jason. I don't know why I didn't think of that. (Beginning of Alzheimer's, maybe?)

So, while the lamps are still under warrranty, test all of them in the projector for maybe 20 hours each. If there are indeed any DOA's or "early retirees" among the new lamps, they can be returned for a replacemnt.

Onward and upward.