My Screenplay 5000 recently broke; the bulb exploded and replacing it with a brand new one did nothing for me. I called Infocus Tech support and they immediately said it was a busted ballast, which I thought was a little suspicious. The repair would cost me $420, on top of the $320 for the bulb I bought from BH Photo. I opted for playing with the user servicable parts inside ;)

I bought a broken LP540 on Ebay and took both projectors apart. The SP5000 and the LP540 are identical inside and out, except for the lcd display on top of the 540, the inputs, and the main video board. Other than that, the parts (optics, construction, lamp, power supply, etc) are identical. I'm guessing this also goes for the LP640, which uses the same bulb.

I am not a projector tech, but I do know my way around circuits so I'm going to attempt to identify some of the major parts of the SP5000 here:
1. Main logic board - headers for IR, fans, LCDs, lamp control, power (from power supply), keyboard (buttons on top case), and all inputs are on this.
2. Main power supply - powers the logic board and the lamp control unit.
3. Lamp power/control unit - Has connection to logic board called lamp control; connects directly to lamp and power supply.
4. Lamp - Infocus LAMP-017


There are many things I tried, so I'm going to start listing them here.

1. Switch lp540 lamp power/control unit into the 5000 - projector turned on but lamp does not strike
2. Switch lp540 power supply into the 5000 - projector did not turn on - LP540 PS is busted.

There was a burnt capacitor on my SP5000 power supply; It was the SMC cap that is directly in line with the header connecting the lamp power supply/control. I replaced this cap with the same one from the LP540 PS.

3. Put repaired SP5000 power supply in with original lamp power/control - projector turns on but lamp does not strike.
4. Switch lamp power/control in the SP5000 with the one from the LP540 with the repaired main power supply - projector turns on but does not strike.

As an additional test, I put the repaired power supply in the LP530 with both lamp power/control units - in both cases, the lp540 did not power on.

All of the above tests were done using two different bulbs; one in unknown apparently intact condition (from the lp540) and the brand new one I got frm BH Photo.

Does anyone have any experience repairing this sort of thing? I'm out of ideas and can't afford to buy a new projector. Thanks!

Well I wont be able to help you out much but I too have a SP5000 and the lamps are way too expensive its almost cheaper to just buy a refurbished projector than to pay for a new lamp directly from infocus.
I am having other issues with my SP5000 regarding HDCP.
I am wondering did you go over the 2000 hour limit on the lamp? - like resetting the lamp usage and not actually replacing the lamp?
Doesn't the pj have a 1 year warranty from InFocus? is this not covered or are you out of warranty?

My bulb exploded at 2450 hours. It is one month past the two year warranty.

Have a look at this link, they got a X1 service manual only but it includes a trouble shooting guide and has nice color pics of the unit. It might help. Make sure you download both of the .rar files. It's a .pdf document.

Put in INFOCUS at their search field....

Good Luck!
(dot)eserviceinfo(dot)com

Just realized that Infocus PJ cases have security switch that is only engaged when the case is closed. Locate this switch aaaand tape it or something, watch for dangerous voltages though!

You are at your own risk!

Good luck!