Epson 8500UB 200,000:1 CR - Page 113

No. 3 just showed up. The case and lens look immaculate. Actually the unit appears new. I'll be testing it this evening.

I contacted Epson this am regarding my above burned out lamp post. I still have a year on my 2 year warranty. Epson had me reseat the lamp and when the red light started flashing again they quickly stated they would send me a free new bulb overnight. All I have to do is return the bad one when I receive the return info they will mail me separately. They even admitted the lamp problem and suggested I consider a third year extended warranty. If it costs considerably less than a bulb (haven't checked price yet) I will probably seriously consider extending.

If it wasn't for the great service I would probably never consider a finicky Epson again in spite of the excellent picture. With the great service I have received in the last year Epson will remain high on my list when I upgrade. I find the features and picture quality worth the hassle as long as they stand behind their product so well. If you want a reliable workhorse look elsewhere. I have had 4 projectors and I don't know how many lamps in the past 7 years. My record lamp life so far is 1400 hours on my old Epson 1080ub and 1400 hours on a Sanyo Z4. Worst was 700 hours on a Sanyo Z2.

I'm on a break at work and don't have time to go through the forum to see if this issue has already been posted, if it has I apologize.

I too had my original bulb start to really dim after 1200 hours and Epson being Epson, they sent me a new bulb. After I installed the new bulb I now notice two bright spots near the center of my screen that wasn't there before. They kinda' look like two flash lights shining on my screen, only noticiable in really dark scenes.

Is this a common issue after changing bulbs? has anyone else experienced this? Is this what they call light leakage? I would like to see what I can do first before I call Epson again; I hate to abuse their excellent customer service.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

I just requested a new unit for the following three reasons:
1) My lens shift is "drifting", the lens drifts downward over time to the point that the vertical lens shift needs adjusted every week now;
2) I still have firmware v100 with the red line issue; &
3) My fan has become rather noisy recently.
Otherwise, the projector has been solid. Ok convergence, great PQ, no dust blobs and no lighting anomalies. Was this a mistake, should I have just delt with the old firmware and the "drifting" lens shift rather than taken a chance on another unit?

^Your definitely taking a chance when getting another unit...
I was better off with my first unit. Red Wavy lines that could be fixed on a restart!
I feel cheated and without recourse! All I can see now when watching are 2 blue horizontal lines.
Infuriating!!

Btw here's an example of how my screen looks now.
http://www.projectorreviews.com/imag...lack_large.jpg

Like the one on the left!

Yes, taking a chance.

My third pj has a dust blob (in the same location as the second), but way less noticeable than the second. The blob is red, while the previous was blue-ish white. The rods in my eye picked up the white blob much more easily than the red, being that there are less cones. Everything else looks great, so for now I'm not going to play roulette again with Epson's shoddy quality control.

Sounds like it's time for your fourth pj.

You have recourse. Some have gone through 7 projectors. Epson will send you another one. Apparently you just have to keep trying and they will keep sending without complaint. Eventually you will get one that works but it takes a lot of time and effort.

What would I say is wrong with it...ahhh I don't like the black lines being blue?

Well, something's definitely not right. The cr is not up to spec. Is the DI working? Is the HDMI level set correctly? Sorry if you've explained previously. I don't keep up on this thread religiously.

I've checked and double checked all settings.
Just bad luck!

Since this thread is a massive 3000+ posts and will take me a week to read , can someone please tell me if there are one or two recommended ceiling mounts for this 8500ub projector please? I'll be picking one up in a few days and would like to get it ordered. THANKS !!!

I'm using , B-Tech BT881 Universal Projector Mount, inexpensive, and works fine.

Ditto! Is anyone else having this issue? I'm on PJ#2 (first one had the red line issue after 200 hours). I just hit 900 hours on this unit, and my fan sounds like it is dying. It actually sounds like the fan blades are rubbing on something. If I put it into "high altitude mode", the fan speeds up and the noise goes away.

I took the projector apart today just for giggles. There are several blowers inside, but the culprit appears to be the exhuast fan located towards the front of the unit by the grille. It is a Nidec Ultra Flo U92T12MMB7-53. I thought I might just replace it myself, but I'm not having much luck finding a suitable replacement. It seems Epson opted to use a 3-wire low pass/high fail locked rotor alarm signal (rather than a tach signal), which are hard to find. If anyone has any leads, I am all ears. FWIW, here are the rest of the specs: 92X92X25mm, 12VDC, .10A, sleeve bearing, 7-blade impeller (Best guess is its a 34CFM, 19.5 DB, 2050RPM unit).

I suppose I will call Epson and try to get another projector soon...

The replacement I have seems to be more sharp than the previous unit in the more distant field of views!

My third is not as sharp as the second, but the dust blob ruined the whole experience, sharper or not. It's harder to get it dialed in, but I'm now leaving the dust cap off to rectify the problem.

Edit: ^ could this be a 'focus drift' issue? I notice it out of focus slightly from time to time. I thought Epson fixed this issue. I really don't want a fourth pj. Trading one issue for another it seems.

I've been reading that the focus drift can be caused by temperature changes in the unit. My HT is in the basement and is rather cold when I first fire everything up. I have an infrared heater that raises the temp from around 10 degrees Celsius to 20 after a short time. I'm thinking this might be the cause.

I focus mine after it's been up running for a while...and leave it at that!
But I must say, barring the "blue" black lines, this is prolly the best unit I've had.
I guess I'll suck it up and put it behind me.
Maybe next year the price of JVC's will be down to something near $2000

Hello:

I hope some of you are looking at this thread. Have a 9500 purchased back in march love it. Used mostly for movies with 368 hrs on it . Now I have been watching some tv and pay per view films. The issue I have is some stuttering or judder of the picture when watching these from my motorola comcast box. HDMI using sub to pj. I have tried many settings I think I am overlooking something . I use through from my onkyo 5008 sub out to my PJ Resolution auto and set to video or auto. Not trying to upscale I tried fi off and no 4.4. Thx mode. Adjusted to Joerods color and contrast settings. Any subbestions to stop the tv judder would appreciat it. BD from my pio elite 09fd fine. Thanks.

My 2nd PJ is slightly sharper, has approximately the same convergence (slightly off, not bad at all), and the lens shift works correctly- this projector was much easier to align and, thus far, has stayed aligned. Also, thanks to the newer firmware, I shouldn't have to worry about anymore wavy red lines. However, the fan in my new unit is even louder than before. Putting it in ECO solves the problem, however I do prefer the extra brightness afforded by normal mode.
I guess I'll just try to learn to live with it... if I can't, I'll spin the roulette wheel again in a few months.

That so sums it up!

anyone?

Yup, I have to re-focus everytime I fire up the projector and keep an eye on it while it's on. The focus area, with the zoom all the way out, is rather small on the ring, so a slight movement puts it out. Spinning the roulette wheel might end up giving me a worse problem, so I'm going to try to live with it. For my next PJ I'll be looking to a different company.

After 850 hours my bulb is shot. Picture was incredibly dim and had to set it to vivid mode to make it watchable. Called Epson last night but had to call again just now to reach second level support. They are sending a new bulb no questions asked! It turns out the bulbs are now warranted for the projector's warranty period, not just for one year!

That's odd. My 8500 focus is solid. However, when I get to the neighborhood movie theater and their focus is poor, I just yell "FOCUS" until they fix it. You might try that.
gil

lol, good one Gil.

I've not posted on here before, but I've been reading this thread a bit...I got a new lamp for the 8500 a few days ago - must say I'm impressed with the fact they'd overnight a bulb!

That said - I have gotten the blanking and video drop outs often enough it gets annoying. I have firmware 102. Is there any confirmed way to fix this or what to avoid? I'm sending HDMI through an Onkyo TX-SR806 set to Through. Thanks for any help!

Just an update: I recieved my replacement PJ today. It must be a refurb. It has a higher serial number than my current 8500, but did not come with a remote, power cable, or even a standard epson box (just a plain white box). On the plus side it has a new bulb, newer firmware (1.10), the fan is quiet, convergence is as good or better than my other projector, the focus is comparable, and the auto-iris is fairly quiet. So far I cant complain.

I got my replacement bulb today...made in China. Didn't some other people report their new ones were made elsewhere?