Optoma HD66 - First 3D home theatre/gaming projector - Page 44

Just as a warning, my projector with less than 500 hours on the bulb has a whole starfield of dead white pixels and a similar amount of dead black pixels. From my research, I'm far from the exception with this projector.



This was taken a few days ago...I have roughly twice as many bad pixels now

Hi all

Yes the "light black" bar you see is becasue of the native 16:10 and is bothersome to say the least. Has anyone come up with a solution to eliminate this? I thought i read soemwhere of someone using overscan or something but i'm not sure

I set mine to 16:9 and I moved the projector back to fill the screen, no black bars. On a Side note, has anyone tried out the mono price 3D converter? Much cheaper then optomas unit. I'm itching to try out 3D, only seen it on a 50 inch Samsung plasma, wasn't impressed but I heard 3D on a 100 inch screen is amazing with this projector.

Hi all, long time reader first time poster
I got a hd66 off Amazon two months after optoma's deal with Nvidia for 3d vision support, my first disappointment only v1 firmware so no 3d vision for me. If I was to ship it back to the U.S Optoma would only ship it back to a US address even if I supplied shipping. Here in Australia when I got the projector an Australian hd66 was $1899au or one from Amazon $750au delivered to my door.

When the projector was around 14 months old I found my first dead pixel, well I couldn't miss it as it was smack bang in the middle of the screen. Over the last month or so it has got to be unwatchable with over 70 dead pixels - black and white.
After reading here & other site's that it was most likely the DMD chip & seems to be a problem with other brands as well. I had to have a look into replacing the chip myself as it would need shipping back to the U.S. After stripping it down I found that the thermal paste was dry & as hard as a rock which is not good for a paste. This might be the problem as the DMD chip has a large heat sink on the back of it and it may take a year to dry out. The paste came off in two pieces without leaving any residue on the chip or heat sink.

Has anyone else found this when replacing the DMD chip? What price did you get your DMD chip for (my best price so far $135au EBay).

I am having a problem with a black spot in the corner of my projector I can not figure out what it might be. It looks like it might be the lamp but I changed it and I am still having this problem. I have had this projector for a year and six months so I can not qualify under warranty. Can this be the chip as well? Let me know thanks.

@whythis - I have seen that issue before on the HD66. Obviously, without opening it up I can't be 100% certain, but your picture looks EXACTLY like what happened less than 3 months ago to 2 customers of mine that bought the HD66. In a nutshell - it's a dust particle either on, or near the back of the projection lens. This isn't as much of a problem as you might think, as the 66 is pretty easy and straight forward to open up and clean out.

If you don't want to actually rip it open, you can try this - yank the bulb assembly out and then in every crack, crevice, vent, grill, seam and split you can find - go nuts with some canned air and the little red pipe that comes taped to the can. Stick that sucker in as far as you can, and in as many different directions as you can, and spay like there's no tomorrow. WAIT A GOOD 10 MINUTES BEFORE REPLACING THE BULB - then turn it on, and see if you solved the problem.


***IF YOU DON'T WAIT THE 10 MIN BEFORE TURNING THE PROJECTOR ON IT WILL DEFINITELY, ABSOLUTELY, WITH OUT A DOUBT, EXPLODE OR CATCH ON FIRE - GUARANTEED!***

But, as long as you wait the 10 min, the fumes will dissipate and you have nothing to worry about. Don't be scared, but don't be stupid either. Anyway, after your done blowing it out - if nothing changed, then your simply gunna have to open it. It's easy to do - just pay attention to what your doing and you won't have a problem. When you get the top off, you'll see there's a black paperboard like material covering/shrouding the color wheel, as well as the lens. Just move it out of the way and go nuts with the air again. There's a 99.99% chance you won't see anything, but that's only because the dust causing the spot is practically microscopic. It might even be a fleck of the black material itself, I've seen that happen too. When you think you've given it the best airing out you can - WAIT THE 10 MIN AGAIN FOR THE SAME REASON AS BEFORE - then button the whole thing up, and give it a whirl. I'm pretty confident you'll find your spot has vanished.

Hope that helps.

Heat can obviously damage the chip, but it's not ALWAYS permanent. Since you had no trouble opening the pj anyway, you may want to just put some new thermal compound on and see if maybe you get some pixels back. It's a long shot granted, but hey, why not give it a shot, what have you got to loose? You might get lucky and save your self 135au.

I bought HD66 from amazon. I was looking for entry level cheap projector. I started reading this thread and am a bit worried. Are many users affected by dead pixels etc issues? Should I send this back and get something else? This fits my budget and needs really well, but don't want to go through the hassle again. I expect to use the projector 30-40 hours /month

I just picked up the projector. And now after ready about the "dead pixel" issue I am wondering if I should replace the thermal paste on the DMD chip sink?

Hi guys
I got a new dlp chip & installed with Arctic Silver thermal paste (same as a CPU installation) it has been running now for a couple months with no problems & in fact the colours & the the black look a lot better with this new chip. I think if your projector is working I would just be on the lookout for a new chip as a backup and not pull apart the new projector. My projector is one of the first HD 66 as it also doesn't work with Nvidia 3d. also the new projectors may have a better chip and thermal paste in them.
Hope that helps

Curious about the model number for the DMD chip. I have this problem with my 1.5 yr old (barely used - 70hrs or less) HD66 that just started showing the white pixels today. I only have 3 white stuck pixels. Curious if the "thermal paste" you mention could be my problem. If I understand correctly, this paste dries over time such that it does not make good contact with the thermal sink and thus the overheating causes the DMD chip to begin to fail (in the form of "stuck" pixels showing up as white dots)? Can I just buy some of this paste on Amazon and reapply to prevent further chip failure? What is the model number of the chip you purchased and where did you purchase it? I've looked on the web and see some DMD chips that may fit the description (1272-6038B)?? for $135. Does this sound about right? Any luck talking to Optoma about the problem? Curious about the steps to replace this chip and/or add the paste - I'm fairly handy, but would appreciate some insights/tips/tricks to opening the unit and making the repair. (any diagrams or photos would be helpful)

Thanks!

Teh DMD chip in my HD66 failed after about 2000 hours. The stock chip has a grey silicon pad to connect it to the heat sink. My understanding, based on opinions I've read, is that these thermal pads do not conduct as well as thermal paste. I also read that the contact doesn't need to cover the whole chip - the cooling properties spread with the cemented paste. I hope I did my research right. My first chip replacement resulted in a pretty rapid failure of the replacement chip because I omitted a heat sink contact material, so I can assure you its needed. I just performed my 2nd replacement last night (new, $75 off ebay) and used silver paste. The paste is probably is not used in factory assembly because the pins sit around the space where the heatsink contacts the chip - misapplying the paste could lead to it touching pins. However, I didn't find it hard to apply.

The thermal pads could be bought off ebay, but I can't find them at Microcenter or RS.

A tip for when you make the repair:
If you happen to get any vertical white lines or horizontal black bars after installation, take it apart again, blow the contacts clean with a compressed air can and make sure the DMD chip-holding card is firmly attached to the motherboard. I thought I'd screwed the pooch, but a quick reassembly with this attention to detail put everything back in working order. I've open up that space 4X now. I'm getting quick and not ALL of the screws are needed - the thing is a little over built.

While you're at it, clean your color wheel off with some alcohol on a q-tip. Obviously, spend some time cleaning out all the accumulated dust too, mostly in the fan.

I do need to find a way to remove two dust blobs halos I see when the screen goes black (inside the lens I guess) and a small amount of light bleed into the lower right corner (also only noticeable with a black screen). These complaints are minor, but it would be nice to know how to deal with so maybe it'll perform like new again.

Overall, I'm never buying a first run of a projector again - even a minor update like the HD66 over the HD65. I've learned that lesson!

Yes, there is light bleed at the top and bottom, which will look like black bars. There's also a smaller black bar ring around the whole 1280x720 frame. I would go for a 1080 chip just to eliminate the extra black bars you'll constantly see.

Hi, thanks for your post. I have hd66 and just got the monoprice 3d creator in the mail. I am waiting for the dlp glasses I ordered to show up. My question is no matter what I have tried the 3d selection on the hd66 remains greyed out. Does the matter? Will the dlp glasses still sync? Any suggestions on set up? Thanks! Can't wait to try the dlp glasses.

Welcome owners HD66, please tell me, what is the DMD chip to look for our projector? 1272-6038B, 1280-6038B, or are in any analogues?
Dear snilsen13, do not tell you what a DMD chip you Bought for $ 75 on ebay? I want!
Thank you!
Answer, disassembled the projector, who may come in handy chip 1280-6038B
Edited by gazul - 10/29/12 at 2:49pm

Thanks for the part number. I've not seen it for less than $119. Any help appreciated as mine went from two spots to four spots and is multiplying every day!
Also, has anyone tried the thermal paste and their 'old' chip to see if a new chip is absolutely needed? It might be that with better contact and heat discipation, the chip will work?

The sub $100 prices I saw are from AliBaba or similar sites. If you are comfortable buying china direct, they are ok, but if not then stick with ebay.

I changed the thermal paste on mine and then went through a gaming marathon for about 50-100 hours. I didn't get any more spots. I had been acquiring spots at the rate of one per session of playing. It didn't get better, but it didn't get worse either. I sold the projector a day or so ago, though, so I can't update the count anymore. I used artic silver 5 as I had it laying around the house. Arctic Silver 5 gets better over time, but even right off the bat it is better than most thermal pastes. It is my favorite for computers/graphics. I keep some on hand, and that is why I used it.

Suggestions for use:

Arctic Cooling MX-2 - $4 shipped on ebay.. Non conductive and no burn in needed. Good stuff.

Arctic Cooling MX-4 - $7 shipped. Right up there with AS5.

Arctic Silver 5 - $7 shipped. The paste all other pastes are compared to.

Arctic Ceramique 2 - $4 shipped. Its ok, and will be fine for the job.

You can buy .99 cent stuff on ebay, but if you are going to replace a $120 chip, you might want to consider using something you know will work. These will be good for years(7 or 8 generally), cheap stuff might go bad in a few.(2) There are others, but honestly, $4 for good, and $7 for awesome.

If you want to see how to change the DMD chip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJpGvrz3yR4

This is a very similar projector with the only differences being that the there is a screw that removes the front of the projector and maybe a screw or two missing. When you get to removing the lense/dmd aseembly it will be very hard to pull off. It is kind of pressure fitted to one screw hole and there is a wad of tape under it to keep it steady. It just needs to be wiggled and pulled.

Tools:

Long skinny magnetic phillips screwdriver.

Small needle nose pliers.

Regular phillips screwdriver.

Small flat screwdriver or knife for opening/closing the ribbon connectors.

Couldn't find the thermal paste locally, but a computer repair guy gave me a small sofpak of "Stars" heatsink compound. He said it worked for P4 (?) CPU chips. I'm thinking of using it for this chip and then when I get a new chip, I'd get the AS5. OK, you think? Wish I had shut the projector down, as it only had a couple white spots, now the left side has quite a few (no black ones). I did partially open the projector and got to the 'motherboard' yesterday, so I think I'm good with changing it. Thanks for the video. I had seen it yesterday. This projector is basically the same procedure, as you mentioned.

Question: You do REPLACE the "thermal pad" using the paste instead, right? Also, if I put a new chip in later, will I be able to pull the old 'cheapo' paste away to put the Artic 5 paste on?

Again, thanks!! As the guy who calls into "Mr Obvious" would say, "You're a life-saver". :-)
Edited by Charlie46227 - 11/28/12 at 2:09pm

It is better than what you have on there now. The issue is that is probably will dry out in a year or two. Not really an issue for your at this point, I'd wager. I've used this myself and it works well enough. If I HAD to use it, I would and not worry about it. CPU's don't usually burn out when the thermal paste dies though:) When you pull the heat sink off of the DMD chip in the projector, go ahead and use anything flat to scrape the thermal pad off of the DMD chip, it is brittle and will come right off. Then wipe the chip down with alcohol if you want to make sure you remove all the old thermal pad. (use lint free cloth if you wipe off the glass front part)

The stars thermal paste is really runny.(they might have different kinds) I would suggest putting a drop or two on a piece of paper to practice how runny it is. You are looking for a grain of rice sized squirt on the chip. You can use a credit card/gift card ect to spread it out over the chip or heatsink before you put it back together if you want.

I'm always amazed and impressed by AVS members, but it strikes me as so absurd that owners are actually having to buy and install their own parts to $600+ projectors that are just under or over a year old.

You'd think Optoma would come out, offer to take them back and give a "sorry for the trouble" card with them. Would cost very little in the grand scheme of things.

Absurd. Thank goodness for AVS. I was thinking about buying one of these.

Oh, I've had mine for several years now. On my second lamp (over 3000 hrs for sure). While I do think it was 'cheap' of them to use bad heat sink thermal 'tape', and do agree it should not happen, Optoma is not the only one who has had this problem. My understanding is that it is no longer an issue.

Thing is, at the time I bought mine, it was the best value around and I still love the image it projects. So I opt to go cheap and fix it. Can't get a 72" TV for $600 ! And that's the thing. In my case, knowing the lamps last maybe 3000 hrs and were expensive, I figured if I got 3 or more years out of it, I would be better off than paying $1500 (at the time) for a TV half it's size. If I junked it today (after three years use) and bought a $900 plasma or whatever, I would be out the same amount of money and would have had the use of a 72" 'TV' for over three years. And that $900 TV that I could buy today is probably better than the $1500 one I would have bought 3 years ago, yes? The clincher is that 3 years ago, I liked the image of the Optoma projector ($600) better than the $1500 (smaller) TV anyway, so I'm actually ahead even if I were to 'junk' it.

I had mine for 3 years. Granted, it only 900 hours on it when I sold it last week. I bet you hate computers:) You have to get new parts or a new one every couple years even if it doesn't go bad. lol. It is still one of the better deals in projectors and the picture was awesome.

I fixed the thermal paste and sold mine on craigslist for $150 even with the bad pixels. I bought a 65" Toshiba for $600 or I would of ended up buying another projector. I saw a HD65 for $450 brand new in the box on craigslist.

Well, I changed the thermal tape to Heatgrease10 (rated about average online and MUCH more 'paste-like' in texture than Stars' other products). Ran half an hour, shut down, re-started and saw three new spots (I marked the old ones). Total of about 100 now. So.... took apart again (only 15 minutes this time :-) and will try with Arctic Silver-5 tomorrow. If it still creates new spots, I have a decision to make. Questions to think about: Is the problem somewhere else? Is the chip just too far gone to keep from progressively getting worse? Is it worth a gamble to purchase a new chip and test that?

Suggestions for those wanting to open theirs up: the video above gives a good idea of what to expect under the hood. Here are my thoughts on some changes in doing it for the HD 66:

1) magnetized tips on phillips head screwdriver will save you a lot of aggravation. Recommended. To open the hood, there are four screws. Two on the bottom (deep in two holes in back) Two on the back. You then can squeeze in on the sides to get those somewhat loose. On the back, there is one 'monster' 'clip' that I had to press in fairly hard to unlatch and several minor ones on either side (those pop off easily).
2) as you unscrew things, place them in their own piles, then tape them to your work area with clear box tape, marking where they come from ( 'outer screws', 'metal lid' etc.) That way, you don't even have to think about what screws go where when you re-assemble.
3) When you pop the hood, it is MUCH easier to disconnect and reconnect the first ribbon connector by doing so from the lid (leave the one connected to the motherboard on if possible. If it falls off, it's better to disconnect the top, then reconnect the other end.
4) Unplug the easy connectors to the motherboard first. The big end one underneath and also the small one on the other end can be taken off much easier after you unscrew the board and pull it up. Before that, do take two screws off from the metal bar in the back, so it can be lifted out of the way before lifting and angling the board out. Remember that the connection to the DMD chip means some force there to lift up.
5) There are four screws holding the lens portion. Easy to spot them, but you'll need a smaller head screwdriver for that.
6) As mentioned, the lens portion has a lot of 'sticky' to keep it in place. More force than you would expect is needed to get it out. Before trying, I suggest 'unclipping' the right front edge of the plastic housing so that you can bend it outward when getting the whole assembly out. That will allow you enough room get the lens through the hole in the case and then to remove the assembly. BE CAREFUL as the color wheel is very close on the other side! Thank goodness they have a pretty nice metal guard to protect it!

Not sure this is exactly right (going off memory) or whether it works for others, but it should help.

From what I've read on Amazon and other places, the problem has happened to some people a little over a year after buying (or sooner!).

And although you're right that computers in general need replaced often (although many can have the same one for many many years), that's usually because technology is moving so fast and an upgrade is needed. The problem with the HD66 sounds like it's because of faulty design. Big difference.

To really know how absurd this situation is, you'd really need to know how many of these units develop bad pixels. It's always the unhappy that speak up the most, but this sounds like an all too common problem. I'd like to think the recent versions don't have the problem, but it doesn't seem that way. Maybe I should call Optoma and see what they say. :-)

Anyway, I'm glad you're happy with your projector and have figured out how to fix it. Take care.

Initially used Heatgrease 10 as it was a bit thicker than their other Stars stuff, but still not very good. Tested and got more dots. Not sure if I had enough on to make good contact or if it just was not very good, but after getting some Artic Silver 5 and making sure I had it on properly (good contact with the heatsink), I re-tested and see no more additional dots after 15 minutes of viewing. I then turning it off and back on and it appears to have halted the 'virus'. :-) If I see additional, I will post. Otherwise, it looks like my $85 for a new chip (ordered but not arrived yet) will bring it back to full life. :-)

You probably want to put a drop on it and use a credit card to get a thin layer over the entire chip. You don't want to put too much, or it will squeeze out from the sides of the chip/heatsink. When you pulled it apart to take the heatgrease 10 off, did you notice if you had complete coverage? Honestly, even toothpaste would work temporarily. It is likely it was already failing or that the thermal paste wasn't completely covering the chip.

The ideal situation is a rice sized dot of thermal paste. The contact area on the DMD is smaller than your average cpu. It takes very little.

Thanks. Waiting on the chip from China. Contacted them and it is on the way. They are shipping a newer version and changed the number to 1280 6138B. I asked if it would work properly using my 3 yr old Optoma HD66,and was assured with a flat "yes". I am debating now on whether using the old could possibly damage the DMD board (rather than the chip). I don't think it would, but I hesitate to run it till I replace the chip.

It won't hurt the projector to use it with the bad chip. Some people use it until the projector is completely unusable before scrapping it or getting a new chip. The chip itself is already broken, so as long as you replaced the thermal paste you can use it without worry. I doubt it would be a problem even without the paste.