Optoma HD 72 Bulb just went... I Think... - Page 11

While I'm not certain if ceiling mounting is contributing to the problem or not, I think your pj is "running on borrowed time." I'm guessing that you would rather have the pj ceiling mounted, but if you can get some more life out of it in its current placement, then you might want to order another bulb now so that you're not totally stuck without pj use when it finally happens.

I had my pj ceiling mounted, and when my 2nd bulb started acting up, I took it out of Bright mode and was able to get 50-75 hours more out of it. I ended up replacing the bulb before it totally cut out, so I might have been able to eek some more out of it if I had wanted to try. As a result, I've kept that old bulb as a "reserve" bulb to use in the future if I need something temporarily (e.g. while waiting for delivery of a new bulb).

Thx Dragon Reborn. I did order another replacement bulb.
I would still like to understand the mechanism that changes the bulb characteristics depending on orientation unless connection is better one way than another...

Possibly the air circulation (and thus cooling) of your bulb is better in that position??? I have no idea, just guessing.

Good luck with your new bulb. Hope we don't hear from you again about your replacement bulb (if you catch my drift).

Ok add me to the list with the problem... man I'm pissed right now.

First, I just bought a new lamp a month ago and second, my warranty is past since 2 weeks.

I bought the HD6800 at Costco.ca on Jan 25th 2007 and it been running fine since... I'm not using it alot (movie and XBOX 360 only, no TV) so my lamp only has 1090 hours in 2 years.

I'm gonna try my local Costco tomorrow maybe... or call Optoma for a repair.

I saw here something:
http://cnet.nytimes.com/computer-per...-31630064.html


Is this really working?


I also read a solution being reverse from the ceiling and put the PJ on a table that will fix it??!?!?!!? Impossible for me anyway to do, check my pics if you wants.


Or should I get a new PJ anyway? The Optoma HC815 has a 700$ rebate until tomorrow at Costco.ca
http://www.costco.ca/Browse/Product....A&Sp=C&topnav=

Maybe I can sell my HD6800 with the new lamp that may works for couples of months like I read it may work?

Gosh now I just rent Bangkok Dangerous until tomorrow and I CAN'T watch it... my gf is pissed

Angel, you should just try returning it to the store. I bought mine in November of 2006, which was before the Costco Concierge service was introduced, so the girl at my Costco said I should have just returned it to the store in the first place. Here's my previous posts:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...5#post14983855

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...6#post15347806

It's worth a shot! Although I had to take down my screen and pack everything up. If one store doesn't take it back, then try another. Good luck!

Finally I was able to run it yesterday night in "econo" mode (Brillant OFF) but right after the movie I put back Brillant ON and boom, black screen after couples of sec.

I removed the PJ and pack everything back in the OEM box and will try my Costco today for a refund and get the HC815 in rebate at Costco.ca

One thing is I don't have the screen anymore, I sold it... maybe they won't noticed this PJ was bundled with a screen and extras?

Ok I'll keep you up-to-date gang!

leave it off unless you use it

Thank you so much for the advise, Costco took it back!!!

First, I got there with the PJ only (no screen) but well packed and with a written description of the problem.

At the return desk, I started explaining the issue, it's not normal (a flaw) and I'm out of warranty. The girl said, well try at the company, for 2 weeks they should be able to help you and we will back you too... still after a 5min talk, nothing she can do for me but she said, let me talk to my manager and see in the system if there is a "credit" for this manufacturer.

After another 5 min, she said, well no problem we can take it back and refund you everything but we need the screen that cames with (by chance they did'nt ask about the ceiling mount and DVI cable)! By chance, I sold the screen to my brother-in-law that lives at 5min from the Costco and arrange something with him so I can take the screen back to Costco.

So basicly, they could takes my PJ+screen back and refund me everything (2100$) because they said Optoma has a credit for Costco and so they are 100% sure Optoma will takes it back and pay them, even after so long, so maybe Optoma knows somethings about the HD6800 we don't know!


And I just ordered the Optoma HC815 1080p at Costco.ca for 2699$ (700$ rebate) and a Premier universal celling mount at 89$ for a total 3100$ tx inc. - 2100$ refund so I got a 1080P PJ for a grand only


Paragraph removed by moderator. Please do not place items for sale in the forums.

That's great to hear! Dragon, how about you?

WOW!!!

Congrats on getting the refund, but you sure are brave for trying Optoma again!

As the saying goes, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

Hopefully your new Optoma won't be a lemon.

-------

As for my 4th bulb (3rd bulb was defective right out of the box), I'm just over 150 hours without any problems, econo mode. I have drastically reduced my PJ usage since I got my Kuro. Hopefully, bulb #4 will last long enough for LED PJs to become commonplace.

Yeah I know... I really hesitated befored to get it... But I was somehow "f***ed" because Costco store refunded me on my AmEx Credit Card becaure the bought was made with AmEx online and so I had a 2100$ balance on my credit card to spend... but where do they sell PJ, appart of Costco, and accept AmEx (or at least without any extra fee)!?!?

And the only one other 1080p at Costco is the InFocus X10 but it does'nt feature everything I need (DVI for my CPU, too dark too play video games, etc).

And I said to myself that Optoma should'nt bad at all PJ? They (still) have a good reputation from what I've heard and read... can't be all lemon like you said (I hope!)

thats hilarous you guys are talking about how its dissappointing that bulbs go at 500-1000 hours. mine just went and its 2 months old with 150 hours on the damn thing!!!

I too have the Optoma HD72, and I purchased it a little over 2 1/2 years ago. First, let me say that I absolutely loved this projector. Both me and my wife have enjoyed the heck out of it until one day....

Two months after my two year warranty was up, I got the same thing that many others in this thread have described. The projector would power on, I would have a picture for about a minute, and then the bulb would cut off but the projector would stay on. After screwing with it several times, I finally go on the message boards and started reading. I tried all the little tricks that others did trying to get it to work - nothing did. I have 1,200 hours on my lamp so needless to say I'm not convinced it's my lamp as I've heard that when they go, they go...it's obvious and they won't power back on. So, the only thing that makes sense (per what I've read) is that lamp driver is faulty.

So, I call up Optoma support and get routed to the non-warranty department and ask how much to have my HD72 fixed and what they think the problem may be. I'm told that it sounds like it's the lamp driver which was in line with what I had read, and that the estimated cost of the part + service was in the neighborhood of $350. I am told this on 12/03/2008. Now, in my head, I'm doing the math...there are other, NEWER, 720p projectors on the market now with newer technology with a NEW lamp and a NEW warranty for $800. So there's no way I'm plunking down $350 to have my 2 year old projector repaired for more than 1/3 the price of a new one. So I then ask how much for the part...I'm told that it will be roughly $150 shipped. To me, that's on the line of about what I'd be willing to sink in the projector - so I bite. I give them all my information, place the order and am told that it should arrive in about 7 business days. So I'm irritated, but excited nonetheless...

Two weeks go by and I hear/see nothing. I call, am told that they are out of stock and it's on back-order. Ok, when's a new shipment coming in? Blah blah blah...this goes on for over FOUR months. I'm not joking. I have a string of emails dating back to Dec 03, 2008 from where I placed the order and just want a part sent to me. Finally, in February 2009, I'm told that they should be getting a shipment (after I call them, mind you - I was never once contacted by them) in march sometime. At this point I'm more or less curious as to whether I will ever see the part or not. I mean, you can't buy the part anywhere else, and seemingly they don't want my money...it was literally one of the oddest situations I've ever experienced in customer service. I wasn't sending my projector in for "free" warranty work - I was actually trying to pay them to get a part.

Anyways, on with the story. So, literally 30+ attempts to check on the status of my order, and finally, around March 28th or 29th, 2009, I call up again just to humor myself, and I give the representative my order number and she tells me the part's shipped! Honestly, I don't believe her...I mean, it's been five months since I placed the order!!! ALMOST HALF A YEAR!!! Well, low and behold, the part arrived yesterday April 2nd and I almost had a heart attack.

All that being said, I get home from work and my wife decides to go in and open up the projector and start digging around in it to find the lamp driver. I join her and within 15 minutes we've taken it apart, replaced the lamp driver and put it all back together. Five minutes later, we have it plugged up, and it's working like new. So, in the end, the lamp driver was most definitely the problem - it had nothing to do with the lamp itself.

Now, I have several frustrations (as you've probably determined by the book I'm writing here)...

1. 5 months to ship me a part - UNREAL - and believe it or not, I never blew up on anyone...they were the only people who had the part, so being a a-hole would have gotten me nowhere

2. Why did I have to contact them every time? No feedback unless initiated by me

3. They were going to charge me $200 for what would have taken their technician less than 5 minutes because they are familiar with the innards of the projector - I'm convinced I could do it in 10 minutes blind-folded now

4. I was charged $25 to ground ship a part that weighs less than half a pound - what kind of crap is that?!

Optoma had THE WORST customer service I've ever experienced in my life. I'm not a person who complains about much, but I would really like to warn anyone out there who's planning on purchasing a projector...

DO NOT BUY OPTOMA

The worst part for me is, I really love the projector itself...when it works, it's a beautiful thing, and I have no doubt that optoma has produced even better projectors since the HD72. But, the customer service, or rather, the lack of customer service I received will have me looking towards Epson (due to their exceptional reputation for customer service), Panasonic, or Mitsubishi at this point. You can believe that the next time I make a purchase like this I will be reading reviews of the companies as well as the products they make.

I am fairly certain I made several posts to this thread in which I related my Optoma HD72 Bulb experiences. I even made a comment about the bulb hours listed by the lamp as being close to half of my actual usage hours. What happened to my posts??? I believe I posted back in 8/2008.

Anyway, here is my update. I bought my HD72 in Oct 2006 but wasn't able to install it until Oct 2007. By Aug 2008 (10 months later), the bulb stopped working (dies after a few seconds from startup). The lamp hours were listed at 545. I obtained a replacement lamp through lamp warranty. It was replaced in Sep 2008. It's been working fine so far...

I opted not to get an Optoma RMA for the HD72 during this first lamp problem. I hope the pj holds up, since the Optoma pj warranty expired in Oct 2008!

Current lamp hours is listed at 815. This time, I believe my estimate actual usage is close to that.

So, anyway, I have until Oct 2009 to get a lamp warranty replacement. Hope my current bulb holds up until then!

Figured I'd post a quick update since the latest bump reminded me of this thread.

Since the lamp driver replacement (which got us to about 1200 hours IIRC before lamp failure) we've put 1300 hours on the new bulb. No signs of trouble yet.

Bulb #2 just went out with 700hrs on it. The first went with 450. I am 3 months out of warranty and even though I sent it to them the first time they did not do anything to it and said it was just a bad bulb. Now the same thing. I wrote a long letter to customer service so let's see what they say. If they just blow me off I am seriously considering fileing a suit against them. I am really pissed off.

I am happy to report since buying the lamp driver (and installing it ourselves), the projector has worked without a hitch. I've never replaced the lamp up to this point (it's still the original) and it's running great with about 1500 hours on it. So that's about an additional 300 hours since we replaced the lamp driver. Again, I will reiterate that the Optoma service was by far the worst I've ever dealt with. That being said, I am happily enjoying my big screen experience at home again.

Will I ever buy Optoma again? I highly doubt it.

They make a fine projector (when it's working) but they seem to have a real problem backing up their products, even for a customer who's willing to pay, once it's left their warehouse for the initial sale.

Did you replace the driver yourself or did you have someone do it? If you did it how difficult was it and what was the cost? Ooops, I just saw your other post.....

Well, do you need to possess any solgering skills or special equipment to replace that bloody driver?
Mine went off after 3.5 years and 979 hours of use (((

Well I knew at some point i would be posting here, I had hoped not but it seems to be inevitable.... I bought an hd72 a little over a year ago for 400, refurbished, off of ebay from on online retailer. I had researched this matter and figured if it didnt work I could just send it back to the store, and if it did work maybe the lamp driver problem had already been fixed.

Well it worked up until 2 days ago...but i have 2600 hours on the lamp...so I face a dilemma, do i replace the bulb and hope that fixes the problem, do i order a lamp driver from optoma, or do i just buy a new projetor somewhere. Money is tight for me right now so I'm inclined to just try a new bulb since i'll be needing a new one soon anyways.

Has anyone figured out a solution to this problem? What do you recommend me do? It is indeed the 30 sec shutoff problem, the bulb isn't gone yet, and from another post I've read it seems it has to do with a voltage regulator not cutting off.

Well, I'm out of here guys. After 3 years with my Optoma HD72, I picked up the HD-20 (1080p) projector for $1000. Hopefully there will be no lamp driver issues in this one.

I don't hate Optoma, but if the HD20 turns out to have serious lamp life issues as well, this will definitely be my last Optoma product.

See you in the HD20 thread.

Well here we go... Came back from vacation, plugged the unit back in and it started shutting down after 1min.

1050 hours use bought from Costco.ca in Nov 2007.

Spent quite a bit of time reading this thread and decided to buy a new bulb.

Ordered one up today from Projectorbulbs.ca for $295can all in.

I spoke to the guy there and he said there was some big drops in Optoma bulb prices last week.

He mentioned one bulb the went fron about $250 to $60 (!)

Fingers crossed this buys me a couple of years......

You can replace just the bulb and not tha whole lamp and get it cheaper than that. I just bought one from this guy and it is perfect. Check it out and if you can cancel your other one I would....http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Optoma-HD72-...QQcmdZViewItem

Thanks for the ebay tip I am on my third bulb 898 hour none of mine have lasted past 900. I just got the bulb and installed it. I have never sent mine in for service it is now 2 1/2 years old. Does any body know about this driver to install? I read someone did it themselves.

I bought my HD72 in March of 2006, about a month after the product's initial release. Two weeks later in April, Optoma hot swapped me another HD72 due to the firmware reset bug. The replacement has been working fine since then...

Until last week when the lamp problem reared its ugly head for the first time. After reading the horror stories in this thread, I'm amazed my HD72 gave me almost four years and 2200+ real hours on the original lamp. Simply amazing.

I was planning on buying another bulb (not the whole assembly) from eBay and slap it in there to see if the problem clears, which it should for a while. But the more I think about it, I'm now leaning towards buying the new lamp driver and swapping it out myself. I'm an electrical engineer so a repair like this is not beyond my capabilities. Besides, the unit is long past the warranty so there's nothing to lose at this point.

The question now is to get a replacement bulb right away or see if the new lamp driver clears the problem with the original bulb. Again, leaning towards the latter and minimizing my costs for now. However, if the old lamp stresses the driver, I don't want to recreate the bad situation on new parts. Besides, the original lamp has dropped off so much in brightness that it should probably be replaced.

I'll keep you guys updated how this journey fares for me.

It was fun to see a reply to update in my inbox today. It's been awhile since I've thought about this thread. I was posting about 2 years ago when I was dealing with my hunk of crap HD72.

I just bought a new bulb for my Epson I bought back then. It has 2750 hours and was still working, just not as bright. Plus a wanted a working backup so when the new bulb (hopefully another 2 years or more down the road) goes I'll can pop it back in until I get a replacement delivered.

I have not had one minute of trouble with my Epson. Well, except when I forgot to clean the air filter for awhile and it shut off for over heating in the middle of a hot summer day..but that was my fault.

I will never by Optoma again, ever ever ever ever....

The HD72 was my first projector and I must agree with you, Gargoyle, that I will probably not buy Optoma products again. The projector worked well for a relatively long time and the picture quality was superb but there were many other annoyances with it that bother me to this day.

The original unit had the reset bug and was swapped out for a new unit with upgraded firmware. (Was fun having a double stack for a couple days!) However, some of the menu options still reset to their defaults, like vertical offset, when switching from input to input. According to the manual and Optoma's service department, that's not supposed to happen. Also, when using the letterbox mode for non-anamorphic DVDs, the aspect ratio would get messed up. It would stretch vertically but not horizontally. Again, not supposed to work that way. Cycling the modes fixed the problem. Finally, the keystoning noticeably drifted as the projector aged. After a year from purchase I had to tweak the geometry with another tweaking every subsequent year. The picture is "square" now but it's not as good as when new. At least the firmware upgrade fixed the inverted setting. Mine is ceiling hung and it was a pain pain pain to have to flip the picture every time the unit was turned on.

I'll probably buy the lamp driver and a new bulb to keep this one going for another year or two. It's only a 720p so there's an obvious upgrade need to keep up with Blu-ray.

Clarification: the incorrect letterbox mode stretching was happening from 4:3 mode, not 16:9 mode which will only stretch vertically to use with an anamorphic lens.

So a Mary at Optoma's technical support cheerfully took my order for a new lamp driver module (part number 75.83J01G002, price $99.00 + S&H). However, she could not tell me the lead time nor could she tell me if the part was in stock until the order has been processed (three to four days). WTF? I work for an electronics manufacturer/sales office/distributor and we quote lead time and stock levels everyday without an order pending. All I could get outta her was that "we usually have it in stock." We'll see. I'm going to call back next week to see what the status is as the order should be processed by then.

The replacement lamp (bulb only, not the whole assembly) is on its way already thanks to eBay and PayPal. Optoma would not sell me the bulb only, just the whole assembly for beaucoup bucks. She warned me that eBay has many "off brand" (third party) bulbs but what I ordered is an Osram just like what's in the projector now. Same part number and visual appearance.

Yes, in the end I decided to replace both parts in an effort to keep this projector running for a year or two longer. Who knows? By changing both at the same time, perhaps I can get another 3+ years and 2200+ hours on it.

Well this is a depressing thread... my first bulb turned off automatically after being on for a few minutes (as everyone else states) at 870 hours. I installed the second bulb and so far so good, however, it does seem like the bulb flickers once in awhile like someone took a picture.. This is my new bulb!?!

I'm wondering if I should order a new lamp driver. How hard are they to install? I have not seen that yet..

Thanks!

So I received the lamp driver after one calendar week of ordering it. Optoma did not notify me of shipping it out; only after I called looking for a status update did Mary indicate the module had already shipped and gave me the tracking number. She had said at the time of ordering that they usually have one in stock and I guess she wasn't lying. The Osram lamp from Pureland Supply showed up the same day. Total cost for the two pieces was $243.

It took me all of an hour to crack open the HD72 and replace both the lamp driver and the lamp itself. I was going slowly and taking pictures for an instruction guide so actual repair time was maybe a half an hour. Disassembly of the projector is not difficult and only requires removing the main board to access the lamp driver below. There are a few cable connections to the main board that must be respected, and there's two cables up to the top half of the housing for the controls. My unit was not all that dusty in the air tracts or on the color wheel itself and I blew out most of it with a can of compressed air.

I've now got 30 hours on the repairs and the projector works fantastic, like it was brand new. The lamp brightness comes up right away, no more waiting five minutes for the final illumination. Another benefit of the repairs was rehanging the unit and squaring up the throw again. Keystoning is still much more corrected than when new but at least it's square once more. I built a wooden projector mount (which moves around with the temperatures) so I took the opportunity to put in a few more deck screws to firm it up some more. Much more rigid than before.

I've written a PDF of the repair process but it's 4MB which is beyond AVSF's attachment size. Further, I don't have an FTP account or I'd throw it up there with a link for access. If people want these instructions, for now please send me a PM and I'll forward it to them upon request.