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Noisy Color Wheel

post #1 of 7
9/18/11 at 7:28pm
Thread Starter 
Does anyone have any problems with their color wheel?

I have a Mitsubishi HC 1100 720p projector, bought it around 6 yrs ago when the HD 1000's and HD 1500's were in their prime. Have had no problems with it, except for the occasional dust blob which I have easily corrected by going in the unit wth a can of compressed air...presto, problem solved.

The issue over the past year or so has been a noisy color wheel. Sounds like a high-pitched whine or humming that cycles hi/low.

I have read that the color wheel is most likely the cause due to it being one of only three moving parts in the unit (other than the fans). After going into the unit once again, it appeared that the internal bearings on the color wheel hub was responsible, probably due to wear.

Question....has anyone ever replaced their color wheel? If so, could you let me know where you found it. In my case, I would need a color wheel from any of the projectors mentioned above (even though the HD 1000 has a clear segment which the HC 1100 doesn't).

Would appreciate any advice. Thanks.
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post #2 of 7
9/18/11 at 7:58pm
That's going to be tough...and expensive. My parts supplier does not list the HC1100. They do list the HD1000 and the HC1500, the color wheel is the same for those models and are about $375 each.

The problem is, I have no way of knowing or determining if it will work in your projector and these parts are not returnable. So given the uncertainty and the cost, I would say live with it until it fails and replace the projector.
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post #3 of 7
9/18/11 at 8:34pm
Thread Starter 
What!!? 375? Geez, that's crazy.

Since I posted this, I tried working on it some more. Put a drop or two of WD40 in the main color wheel hub hoping to get rid of the humming........has now stopped turning altogether. In fact, the projector won't power up at all without a functioning color wheel.

Thank you for the suggestion, but I need to keep this a while longer. Can't spend more on a new projector because the wife will kill me. Already in the doghouse for telling her I'm saving up for a Harley.

Thanks again and yes, the color wheel from a hd1000 or hd1500
or hd1600 would even work.
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post #4 of 7
9/18/11 at 9:03pm
Those bearings are not designed to be lubricated. Doing so runs the risk of slinging the oil inside the projector.

And yes, without the color wheel turning, or fans for that matter, the projector will not function.
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post #5 of 7
9/19/11 at 6:16pm
6 years, that's pretty impressive. I think I would be happy to get 3 years out of a projector problem free.

Over the 6 years how many times did you have to replace the bulb?
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post #6 of 7
9/25/11 at 8:38am
Thread Starter 
Got the lamp warning message at the 5 yr mark, probably at around 2500 hours. Decided to keep it running until it died at exactly 6 yrs after purchase. Bought the replacement lamp at VisualApex for about $160, works great.

Sheridan1952, did some more research on color wheel prices, $375 is actually sounding good about now. Can't seem to find it anywhere.

Problem is that the HD1000 and HD1500 will not work in the HC1100. I assumed that its just a simple replacement but apparantly the circuit board is designed to time the rotation and speed to the DMD. In all likelihood, the colors and/or picture itself will be off.
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post #7 of 7
9/25/11 at 11:55am
That's going to be tough. As I said, my parts supplier doesn't even list that model. I'll make some inquiries this week and see if I can come up with anything.
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