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Infocus X1 - bulbs blowing under 1000 hours

post #1 of 30
11/6/06 at 8:05am
Thread Starter 
Is there any kind of known problem with the Infocus X1 and bulb-issues? The bulb that shipped from the factor in my unit blew at just over 600 hours, and last night my whole picture was flickering. Power-cycled the unit, expecting it not to turn back on, and sure enough, another bulb is blown, this one at about 800 hours. I clean the filters and that sort of thing - any guesses why my bulbs aren't even lasting 1000 hours? Any known-defective batches of bulbs there might be some kind of goodwill warranty covering them?

I'm just frustrated because I figured I would get a minimum of 2,000 hours on a bulb, given that Infocus claims 4,000 hours, but instead I haven't even gotten 2,000 hours on two bulbs combined.
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post #2 of 30
11/6/06 at 8:29am
PJ bulbs are like any bulbs, unpredictable depending on how frequent you turn the PJ off and on, how many hot starts (turning off and then on immediately again), how hot the PJ runs (depending on filter cleanliness and ambient room temperature), vibration of PJ mount, and most importantly, luck

This is why no matter what they claim, it's only warranted for 90D or 600h which ever comes first.
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post #3 of 30
11/6/06 at 8:56am
I had the same issue with my 4800, had it for about a year and a half... bulb blew last weekend with well under 1000 hours.
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post #4 of 30
11/6/06 at 9:02am
I was hoping mine would blow at 2000 hours to justify getting a new PJ. Yet at 2800 hours it is still going stong, so now I'm going to have to buy an upgraded PJ with no justification (other then it is MORE BETTER).
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post #5 of 30
11/6/06 at 9:07am
I'm at about 2900 hours on my X-1's first bulb. It wouldn't bother me if it blew any time now. A new bulb should be brighter. However I have every reason to believe that I will get to 4000 hours.

I'm expecting to move to an LCD illuminated DLP projector next, assuming that such devices are available two or three years from now when my second bulb goes.

Two bad bulbs in a row suggest inappropriate user practices.
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post #6 of 30
11/6/06 at 9:28am
Thread Starter 
Well, the unit exists most of it's life sitting on a table in my living room. I've taken it places a handful of times, but 99% of its use is in my living room on the table.

Hot starts are kept to a minimum - it's basically turned on, used, turned off, and not used till the next day.

I blow the dust out of the projector and filter to keep them clean.

I don't know what else I can do to treat it any better.

Also, in retrospect, I'm relatively certain this bulb has always been bad - I've seen a slight flickering to the image (think like a fluorescent light that's failing, but not that bad) for a long time - possibly since the bulb was new, but it was intermittent and I figured it was my imagination. Last night the flickering got really bad, and that was the end of the bulb.

Another thing that's annoying is I recommended the X1 and its siblings (4805, X2, etc) to friends, with ~5 buying it. Now I'm going to look like a fool to my friends when they have the same kind of bulb issues I've been having :-(
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post #7 of 30
11/6/06 at 11:29am
my bulb in my x1 has 280 hrs on it and flickers....my first bulb started flickering before it blew at 1700 hrs... I gave up and bought an HD70....BTW I never hot started mine usually fired up once in the evening for a few hrs and thats it I did learn my lesson with the first bulb and not keepin filter clean but I've done everything by the book with the second andit flickers anyway... go figure.
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post #8 of 30
11/6/06 at 12:07pm
Thread Starter 
I'm almost wondering if the flickering is related to the ballast and that is what is really bad/possibly causing bulbs to blow?
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post #9 of 30
11/6/06 at 2:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by erickotz View Post

I blow the dust out of the projector and filter to keep them clean.

There are instructions on the Infocus site on how to remove and clean the filters.

Using Compressed air in a PJ is not a good idea. Especially one w/o sealed optics as the X1 is.

You mention traveling a few times w/the X1. That may not be a problem but I would rather let it live in one spot (ceiling mounted - out of the way of bumps and such).

But then, you might just have had rotten luck. BTW do you switch off each time or leave it in 24/7 air filter mode?

Better luck next time.

BTW: my X1 is at 2600+ hours. Soon it'll be on eBay. I just replaced it with an Optoma HD70. Yippee!
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post #10 of 30
11/6/06 at 2:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by erickotz View Post

I'm almost wondering if the flickering is related to the ballast and that is what is really bad/possibly causing bulbs to blow?

Maybe. Do a search here to see if others have found this to be the problem.
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post #11 of 30
11/6/06 at 3:15pm
I'm on my second lamp. 1st one was replaced at over 3000 hours (still have as a back up). Current lamp closing in on 3000 hours. No problems with either.
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post #12 of 30
11/6/06 at 3:21pm
ballasts and power quality could vary from unit to unit....I never used compressed air on mine.
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post #13 of 30
11/29/06 at 3:36pm
My X1 stopped working earlier this week and the LED on my projector is blinking 3 times. When the projector is turned on it will work fine for about a minute but then the lamp goes off and red led starts to blink. The manual suggests changing the lamp but I can't understand why I should be changing the bulb when the projector actually runs for a minute. Has anyone out there has experienced this problem? I am trying to understand if lamp is really failed or there another source of the problem?.How can I tell if the lamp is actually dead?

Pl help.
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post #14 of 30
12/2/06 at 11:26am
Thread Starter 
Well, I had an interesting experience. First I called Infocus technical support. Ultimately spoke with someone in India named "Michael" who was F'ing useless. Pretty much a canned response of buy a new bulb, I wasted about an hour on the phone with him, several times asking for his supervisor and he basically wouldn't do it. All in all, a downright awful phone experience - at that point, I was ready to never buy another Infocus product again.

Called back, and spoke with customer service. Apparently they're located in the US, as I spoke to a very nice lady who took some info, and indicated a customer advocate would contact me back.

Next day I get the call back from a gentleman that also appeared to be located in the US. They tell me they can't do anything to replace this bulb, but had me try a couple things. He told me to take the bulb out, shake it for 5-7 seconds, and reinstall it. I thought he was just trying to humor me, but I was completely amazed when I reinstalled the bulb and it worked.

According to him, sometimes deposits build up causing problems, and the shaking re-located them.

He also mentioned that, as these are arc bulbs, sometimes when they are older, they've etched an arc in the glass from running in the same position, and from the sound of it, I think the poster above could be experiencing this. He recommended physically flipping the projector over, and running it in that manner for about 10 hours, which should resolve that issue and the projector can be run right side up again.

I had never heard of either of these things before, but the representative seemed to know what he was talking about, and given that it worked, I'm inclined to think so. Anyone else ever heard this?

Also, to Infocus, if anyone is listening: PLEASE GET RID OF YOUR INDIA CALL CENTER. They are useless and downright damaging to your reputation. Your US people are wonderful - but the Indian people, at least the one I spoke with, made me never want to buy your product again.
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post #15 of 30
12/2/06 at 2:09pm
Almost all companies use over seas phone support( er lack of support) now. Anyway my bulb lasted 4500 hrs before replacing and 2nd one is nearing 4000 again.

I did have flicker problem from time to time and on my own out of deperation flipped mine over and it did seem to have some impact on making it stop the flicker. Like you it worked and that was good enough for me.

But Im done with them I'll never buy another Infocus projector again period I don't care what they price it.
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post #16 of 30
12/2/06 at 2:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hdtv00 View Post

Anyway my bulb lasted 4500 hrs before replacing and 2nd one is nearing 4000 again.

But Im done with them I'll never buy another Infocus projector again period I don't care what they price it.

Scratching head, huh? I guess that makes sense.
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post #17 of 30
12/2/06 at 4:20pm
Thread Starter 
Well, I didn't mean to say that ALL overseas support is bad - there's no reason it has to be. However, it seems that companies usually don't bother to hire competent people overseas and/or train them, so they're useless, both from a customer service and technical aspect in this case.
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post #18 of 30
12/2/06 at 5:39pm
I believe some people ae comparing their current projestors bulb life vs X1 bulb life.
My X1 exploded at 250 hours and I knew their was a problem as it wasn't my first projector, so yes I am convinced that there is a problem with the X1 and it's derivitives bulb life!

John
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post #19 of 30
12/2/06 at 6:02pm
Thread Starter 
My original bulb blew at ~600 hours (I believe 623 to be exact) and the end of the bulb actually cracked - there's a little bit of glass hanging on the wire, then the rest of the bulb
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post #20 of 30
12/2/06 at 7:56pm
mine just stopped working today, with the LED blinking 3 times, which is what brought me to this thread.

My X1 is about 2 years old and this original lamp has less than 400 hours on it.

I expected this lamp to last ten times this long. Obviously I only use the projector a couple hours a week. I do run it with the fan on all the time, but I just cleaned it and there was some visible dust, but the mesh screens weren't totally dusty.

Is it worth it to buy a new lamp, or is a different projector better suited to my infrequent use?
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post #21 of 30
12/2/06 at 11:09pm
Thread Starter 
Have you guys tried shaking the bulb/rotating the projector per my instructions above?
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post #22 of 30
12/3/06 at 8:17am
mine hasn't left my ceiling since I put it up there two years ago. Now that the lamp is blown, I am testing it in the right side up position and cleaning the lamp should shake it sufficiently.

I hope the lamp really is bad, because if I buy a new one and it doesn't work because the projector is faulty, will I be able to return it (the lamp)?

Erickotz, did you buy your lamp here in the Rochester area? I'm not far from RIT.
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post #23 of 30
12/3/06 at 10:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by erickotz View Post

Well, I had an interesting experience. First I called Infocus technical support. Ultimately spoke with someone in India named "Michael" who was F'ing useless. Pretty much a canned response of buy a new bulb, I wasted about an hour on the phone with him, several times asking for his supervisor and he basically wouldn't do it. All in all, a downright awful phone experience - at that point, I was ready to never buy another Infocus product again.

Called back, and spoke with customer service. Apparently they're located in the US, as I spoke to a very nice lady who took some info, and indicated a customer advocate would contact me back.

Next day I get the call back from a gentleman that also appeared to be located in the US. They tell me they can't do anything to replace this bulb, but had me try a couple things. He told me to take the bulb out, shake it for 5-7 seconds, and reinstall it. I thought he was just trying to humor me, but I was completely amazed when I reinstalled the bulb and it worked.

According to him, sometimes deposits build up causing problems, and the shaking re-located them.

He also mentioned that, as these are arc bulbs, sometimes when they are older, they've etched an arc in the glass from running in the same position, and from the sound of it, I think the poster above could be experiencing this. He recommended physically flipping the projector over, and running it in that manner for about 10 hours, which should resolve that issue and the projector can be run right side up again.

I had never heard of either of these things before, but the representative seemed to know what he was talking about, and given that it worked, I'm inclined to think so. Anyone else ever heard this?

Also, to Infocus, if anyone is listening: PLEASE GET RID OF YOUR INDIA CALL CENTER. They are useless and downright damaging to your reputation. Your US people are wonderful - but the Indian people, at least the one I spoke with, made me never want to buy your product again.


Hi,

I took the bulb out and shook it for a few seconds and put it back again. It did not work for me. How hard I should be shaking the bulb. I have tried it a couple of times but did not work.

shriman
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post #24 of 30
12/3/06 at 10:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by gadgetjon View Post

mine just stopped working today, with the LED blinking 3 times, which is what brought me to this thread.

Hi,

Is LED blinking three times a sure indicator of bulb failure?

shriman
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post #25 of 30
12/3/06 at 3:27pm
Just for the heck of it, I'd like to state that back when I owned an X1 I went through two bulbs:
1. The first lasted 1200 hours.
2. The second was at 3000 hours when I retired the pj (passed it along to a relative.) According to the relative, it's now approaching 4000 hours with no problems.

My current projector is an 18 month old 4805. The first bulb was just recently replaced at close to 3000 hours. Mind you, it was still going strong; I just felt that at near 3000 hours it was time to replace it. When this bulb goes I'll probably be ready for an IN72 or IN76.

In any event: I just *love* all these inexpensive Infocus projectors. They've provided me with the best "bang-for-the-buck" that I've ever had from an entertainment device!!
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post #26 of 30
12/3/06 at 9:23pm
Our X1 bulb had 3600+ hours on it when I replaced it with an HD72. The X1 is still up on the wallmount as I haven't found the time to detach it and sell it on ebay.

The bulb had started looking awful though - getting dimmer, colors were weak, etc. I'm sure it only had a few hundred hours left in it, tops.
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post #27 of 30
12/3/06 at 9:37pm
Thread Starter 
The bulb was bought from Business Methods - they're off of Brighton-Henrietta Townline road - I think it's Metro Parkway. If you want the info/can't find it let me know and I'll look it up.
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post #28 of 30
12/4/06 at 7:27am
Thread Starter 
Shriman:

I wasn't overly gentle, but I didn't go insane either. Think perhaps how you would mix up salad dressing in a bottle.
The Infocus rep claimed it worked 50-60% of the time.
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post #29 of 30
1/5/07 at 8:14pm
I tried Business Methods and they didn't return my call, so I bought a lamp online from provantage. Turns out mine blew at 700 hours, not the 400 I suspected, but still much too early. I hope this new one lasts at least 2000.
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post #30 of 30
1/7/07 at 4:33pm
wow. i have had my x1 since they were first intro'd i havent used it all that much in the last year but i still love it. im sitting at 2950 hours. has been in the shop once for the buzz saw sound and well it was just about to go out of warntee.figured might as well have it cleaned up. i figured even if i got 2 years out of it it was well worth the price and i think i am going on 4 years now. now that the hd70 is on sale i just might get it and move this one into the bedroom. the bedroom has such a limited space that this just so makes sence. would i buy another nfocus? heck yea i would. and thier tech support was great.
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