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Trouble in paradise: refurbished VW85 is "rebooting" itself

post #1 of 11
4/4/11 at 10:07am
Thread Starter 
The projector had been on for about 4 hours when suddenly there was a "click" sound and a very brief flash followed by no image; the lamp was off completely. The projector just sat there with the standby light blinking. I powered it off and back-on and it was fine.

I thought perhaps it was a fluke or a dip in power (no UPS for the projector) but 10 minutes later, the same click and lamp turning off, but this time it came back on its own within a few seconds: it did go through the "starting..." warm-up as if it had been power-cycled. I let it run for another 30 minutes and it did not repeat the behavior.

I've put about 80 hours of use on this projector and have never encountered this before. I see no hits for similar behavior from this or other Sony units.

Any idea what this might be?
Should I send it in now, or wait until it happens again?
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post #2 of 11
4/4/11 at 10:34am
I have had the same issue with mine. It happened about 10 hrs. after getting it and thought it may be a thermal issue and turned the fan up to high in the fan setup.
It was fine for about 50 hours and did it again last night. I am still not sure what triggered it.
It actually seems to be resetting itself. Without touching it when it goes off it cycles back on with the starting words on the screen. I have found also when it has recyled back on it looses sync with my DirectTV box and have to turn The DirectTV box off and on to get the picture again.
I do have to say it is a great projector though and loving the image, especially the BluRay movies are very filmlike.
I am on the fence also whether to address now or later having bought an extended warrenty.
I wonder if it's a firmware issue?
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post #3 of 11
4/4/11 at 3:43pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan Winslow View Post

I have had the same issue with mine. ... thought it may be a thermal issue and turned the fan up to high in the fan setup.

Heh... I did the same thing. Guess I can cross that off my list as a fix

Quote:


It actually seems to be resetting itself. Without touching it when it goes off it cycles back on with the starting words on the screen. I have found also when it has recyled back on it losses sync with my DirectTV box and have to turn The DirectTV box off and on to get the picture again.

I dont run any sources directly to it, but it does cause my receiver to drop the HDMI handshake (audio from the source cuts out for a bit).

If I knew it would only be once or twice every 50 hours or so, I'd probably ignore it, but as it stands I think I'll be sending it in under warranty Bummer - it'll be hard to live w/o the theater, as the VW85 up until now has been a truly addictive new toy.
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post #4 of 11
4/8/11 at 2:32pm
Did you two have the projectors that came in the generic box or the new sealed box?
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post #5 of 11
4/8/11 at 3:57pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by scottatl View Post

Did you two have the projectors that came in the generic box or the new sealed box?

Mine was in the retail VW85 box with "B-Stock" stickers all over it. Honestly, it seemed as though it had never been opened, but I suppose I couldn't say for sure.

Mine has not reset itself again since the night it reset twice... no idea if I'm going to bother sending it in for repair or not.
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post #6 of 11
5/12/11 at 5:02pm
Thread Starter 
Anyone else seeing the problem or have any of you who already encountered this found a fix?

It has happened two more times for me - each after around 4.5 hours of being on.

it still doesn't bug me enough to make a warranty claim (I hate the thought of sending the projector in) but it's annoying enough that I'd try a work-around or non-warranty-voiding fix.
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post #7 of 11
5/12/11 at 9:45pm
I am glad you guys heeded my advice about purchasing an extended warranty when purchasing a Sony B stock. B stocks from Sony only come with a 90 day warranty and projector repairs are always expensive.
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post #8 of 11
5/13/11 at 2:17pm
Is it perhaps line voltage driven? Perhaps the power supply is finicky?
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post #9 of 11
5/13/11 at 9:15pm
The power supply automaticall adjusts to various line voltages as they differ here and oversees and it is fairly well regulated and buffered. The problem probably is an intermittent failure mode whose frequency of failure increases wuth time.
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post #10 of 11
5/14/11 at 8:51am
The VW85 I have has not rebooted in about a month now but had done it 4 or 5 times around the time the thread was started.
It has been connected to a very large UPS battery backup since the day I got it.
I did buy the 5 yr. extended Sony warranty when purchased. With adding the $249 for the 5 year warranty it was still an incredible bargain.
It displays a beautiful image.
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post #11 of 11
5/14/11 at 11:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan Winslow View Post

The VW85 I have has not rebooted in about a month now but had done it 4 or 5 times around the time the thread was started.
It has been connected to a very large UPS battery backup since the day I got it.
I did buy the 5 yr. extended Sony warranty when purchased. With adding the $249 for the 5 year warranty it was still an incredible bargain.
It displays a beautiful image.

Sony Canada quoted me for $329 for a 2 year extended warranty for the same projector? WTF!
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