optoma HD70 color wheel shattered

Yep, that's Optoma for you!

The color wheel is inside the 'light engine', which is usually replaced as an FRU. I don't know whether you can replace just the color wheel, but its sync is built in so you don't have to worry about that. Just install the new in the same registration as the old.

Ah! I didn't know about the sync issue but I do know you can replace just the color wheel, so it sounds like you should be set.

what do you mean "thats optoma"?....most of the colorwheel failures I read about and one I experienced was infocus related....not bashing but come on its not common to optomas

He's the anti-optoma guy around here.

he probably owns a mitsubishi unit manufactured by optomas parent company coretronics....lol

hey relax...and grow a sense of humor...I've only owned three projectors myself one being an infocus other two optomas...and have a friend who has owned two, an infocus and then he upgraded to the same optoma I had.....almost two and a half years later and both the optomas are going strong with no issues.....however both of the infocuses died....his color wheel failed and mine sounded like a buzzsaw until the bulb ballast or balb cooling fan died and prevented it from working at all.....he sent his in for repair and it worked for almost 6 months before it failed again. Now I'm sure one of the main reasons I see sooo many failed colorwheel and collapsed light tunnel threads on infocus products is there are soooo many older infocus products out there being used compared to optomas... where this is honestly the first time I've personally come across anybody mentioning having a colorwheel fail on an optoma.....and since my last two projectors are optomas thats usually the threads I try stick to reading not that I'm here that often reading so...
So as you can see not everyone has the same personal experiences to be so biased against one brand....especially one that manufactures so many other brands?

If its the correct color wheel, the light sensor (part of the old color wheel assembly you have) will read a black strip on the side of the motor, this is how the projector tracks the color wheel position, so no need to calibrate it for that.
And yeah, i wouldn't really say its part of the light assembly either, more so a part that sort of slides into the path.

Nice mouth...

Prove your claim or hit the road. And take your filthy inuendo with you.

Hello all, this is my first post here. Great forum!

I, too, am looking for the replacement color wheel for Optoma HD70.

My color wheel failed after about 2000 hrs (2.5 years), just as I was starting to shop for a replacement lamp. Looks like the lamp will have to wait, as I have to make sure it is fixable first... Two of the color wheel's glass segments broke into tiny pieces. I managed to open the projector and remove the color wheel fairly easily. I have some photos for future reference if anybody is interested.

Any suggestions? Is it worth it? I need to fix the wheel AND then buy a new lamp, and I hope I can have them for around 100 and 250 USD respectively...

Last time I checked, an HD70 color wheel is about $170.

Is TrueVivid on or off? I'd turn it off if it is on.

Who the hell did that? If its been replaced with the color wheel below (from cine4home with an article of the hd72i), then the color wheel segments are different sizes:


In particular the white segment is a different size. From my experience, this leads to the mainboard driving the color wheel wrong, and where it feels the white segment should be, it displays the next color filter occupying the same space. This leads to a bit of banding, as it is showing a color, instead of white, where there should be highlights.
Only way to fix this issue would be to replace the color wheel with one that has correct segment sizes, or do a firmware hack that updates the projector with firmware designed to drive a color wheel (and dmd) with those segment sizes.
This is assuming the color wheel for the hd72 is the same as the hd72i shown above... i don't know what difference the "i" makes between them. This is also assuming my memory serves me correct on the size of the white segment in the hd70, though sadly i cannot finds any pictures online to verify it.

Right? That's one heck of a service center. I take it they didn't turn it on and test it before returning it to you?

Hello,

I had the same problem as this movie last night but in continu
youtube.com/watch?v=Uz3z129CDzk
The HD70 is out of warranty since 3 months and is already going to Optoma 2 times during the guarantee once in November 2008 for a problem of random green flash.
Do you think is the color wheel problem?
Where I can find a color whell for the HD70 on the web ?
Does it require to sync it ?

Sorry for my poor english but i'm French...

^^

Thanks a lot for your help

The colorwheel probelm would be where the glass breaks up, you'll probably just see a black and white image. On your video It looked like posturization or could even be just a bad connection. You could try a full factory reset in the service menu. I don't have it handy maybe someone could chime in and give you the service menu.
good luck

Actually that's only if the color wheel is completely gone. If the color wheel is still functional, but the timing of the color wheel is being lost periodically you may see whats in that video. Two of the most likely reasons for the timing being lost are:
1.) Bearings going bad, so every once in a while a "hiccup" occurs in its spinning, which can cause it lose timing periodically.
2.) The black strip that a color wheel uses for judging the color wheels position cannot be read reliably. This may happen if there is dust on the sensor or perhaps even partially on the black strip itself.

Reviving this thread for a similar issue...

I think my color wheel is going out on my HD70. The symptoms:
1) The projector turns on fine and the image is sharp and vivid.
2) After about 20 minutes, the projector image flashes with different colors. The image is still visible, but the colors are wrong.
3) A few seconds later, the projector gives a brief whine... then it shuts down and the warning indicator shines a solid orange.
4) The projector is unresponsive to the remote. I have to unplug and replug, then it will start up again, although it takes about 5 minutes of start-up attempts before it will display an image. Then back to step 1.

Any idea if this is a color wheel problem or a lamp issue? Or maybe something else? The lamp has about 1200 hours on it. I bought the projector used about a year ago, and a new lamp or color wheel would cost more than the projector did... so I'm not sure if I would try to fix it unless I was sure of what the problem is.

Any takers?

Also, is there an online guide to taking the HD70 apart?
Any info would be appreciated...
--
bill buck

Areaglew contact Sheridan from this thread. He services pj's and is very reasonable in his prices. He already listed the price for DIY pm him for installation. I retrofitted my davis colorwheel with grommets. I had a nec 240 that shattered and saw how flimsy that wheel was compared to the davis and decided then that I did not want to risk damaging the new wheel. Sheridan installed wheel for a reasonable price and I am very pleased with the work.

Anyone know where I can get one of the HD70 color wheels?

P.S. - I know about PM'ing Sheridan, but my post count is too low.

Post a few more times until you can PM him...

I PM'd him for you...

We just moved and found our color wheel has broken for our Optoma HD70 as well. I need to buy a new color wheel and have it installed, unless we can do it ourselves? Maybe I need Sheridan's help too, are you there? Or do any of you know where I can buy one? Thanks so much! Elisa

with all the "ME TOO" Optima color wheel falures that have popped up on this thread alone.....

Looks Like the Optima case of the faulty colorwheel has been built...

anything else you need for proof of design flaw Mr Recon

Wow! 5 whole people in this thread alone! And how many HD70's were sold?

In any case stating color wheel failures are more common to Optoma than any other brand, and backing it up with "if anyone would know, I would know", is nonsense. Is it possible that Optoma's color wheels have a higher failure rate than other manufacturers? Sure. However it's equally likely that Optoma happens to be a more popular brand for the sub $3k home theater enthusiasts that post on AVS Forum.

do you know anything about statistics dude...............

this is a mere sample of the few users of avsforum of the few that wanted to search the threads....


maybe a 20% of all optima users on AVS,,,,,,
and you got five hits...... seems like a graphable trend to me.....

toyota would have had a recall by now

nice try