NEC LT240K bulb cuts off regularly

Has anyone else seen this problem, and is there a solution?

After about 3 minutes of operation, my LT240K's bulb goes out. Both the power and status indicators are blinking together -- the power is orange and the status is red. The status indicator is a 6-cycle "Lamp Error." I think.

I turn off the power and let it cool for 5 or 10 minutes, then restart it. Sometimes it will continue for the length of a movie after that, other times it will cut out again after a couple of minutes, and it will do it several times.

The bulb meter says "49%," so I don't think it's the bulb. Or could it be?

The fan is running. I've checked all the vents -- there is no dust clogging. When I take out the lamp unit, there appears to be no dust accumulation.

This happens in standard or eco mode, and it happens whether it's on the ceiling or on the floor.

I like the projector and I've never had problems with it before -- got it in 2004. I don't want to replace the bulb if the projector is just toast.

A friend of mine suggested that it was an issue with a component in the power supply. I assume that that would be something that would need to be serviced and would probably cost almost as much as replacing the projector. Or could I be pleasantly surprised?

Any ideas?

Thanks,
David

Thanks. I'll give a new bulb a try. Certainly beats a new projector!

Got the new bulb, and no cut-outs! Much thanks for the advice. I was disappointed that the old (original) bulb only gave 51% of its advertised lifetime, but the new bulb is still way cheaper than a new projector.

Having had some experience with the ViewSonic PRO8200 1080p DLP, I can say that the NEC LT240K represents the tonal range in a much more satisfying manner, even if it supposedly has a lower contrast ratio. I'm happy to stick with the projector I've got.

Oh, dear. Wasn't aware that might be a possibility.

I paid $120. It was a U.S. seller, highly rated, and the delivery was excellent. (This after waiting a week for another seller who did not respond to emails or phone calls and who finally told me it was out of stock.) It wasn't advertised as OEM, so I suspect it was otherwise.

Would running it in Eco mode help reduce the possiblity of burning the optics?

Any links you could point me to about the problem?

Thanks,
David