[Dan JM]

I just spoke to someone at Projector People who told me that the 2000hr bulb on the PLV60 really lasts longer than 2000hrs, and that it is a half life bulb which becomes half as bright, but still usable at 2000hrs. Is he out of his tree, or do I need to go do some more research?

 

[Huey]

Technically he's correct as this is how the industry rate bulb life. However, bulb tend to blow at their half life and thus manufacturer recommends replacing it at the bulb's half life. Failing to do so may void your warranty if the exploded bulb cause damage to your optical assembly, LCD/DLP panel, etc. not to mention glass fragments (even with the screen protecting the bulb chamber).

 

[FFO101]

I think he's out of his tree. I'll let you in on a little secret. If you can get into the service mode, I think you depress the up arrow on top of the projector for 20 seconds, you'll see the lamp hours used. This number is based on 3 digits. When the timer rolls over 999, the lamp indicator light will come on telling you to change the lamp. Ask your salesman what you should do when the lamp indicator light comes on. Buy a new one and change it or reset the lamp timer and go for another 999 hours.

 

[Mark Hunter]

Hi Dan,


Well, there needs to be some way to decide when to pull the bulb.


"Explosion" is hopefully not the criteria. Somewhere before that would be good.


The manufacturers pretty much all use the same criteria - When the bulb is 1/2 as bright as it was when new, it is time to change. Could you run longer? Sure can. Not normally a problem, except for the brightness loss.


How much longer? There is no way to know. You do take your chances if you don't do as the manufacturer suggests, though.

 

[Dan JM]

Thank you all, the information was very helpful, as always. I guess replacing the bulb when the manufacturer suggests is a good idea. Thanks again!

 

[AJ Abrams]

Well as a represenative from that company.....The major mistake was saying that the PLV-60HT has a 2000 hour lamp. I can give you many experiences of lamps lasting up to twice their spec life. He/she was technically correct about the half life and I have never heard of them "blowing" near their half life. As a matter of fact there doesn't seem to be any ryme or reason behind when these lamps do blow. Seeing that lamps blow all the time and I've never heard of a warranty being voided because of leaving a lamp in too long I tend to be highly skeptical of the claims above. I think the that QC on the lamps is one of the biggest problems in the industry.

 

[hhelmut]

therefore in in Germany and in Switzerland (also in the most EU-countries )some suppliers will give a lamp warranty,


Optoma will give 90 days, same with Hitachi or InFocus, Christie will give 1500 hours or 90 days (what come at first) at the low enden models.


hb

 

[MrWigggles]

The other issue with lamp life is how often you fire it up.


Manufacturers typically underate their bulb life in expectation that the projector will be turned on and off at a "normal" rate. If all you do is turn the bulb on and off all day, you will not reach the expected life span of the bulb. Whereas if you do long viewing sessions of many hours or more, you should get good performance out of the bulb and extended service.


The other factor is enviroment. Many of the manufacturers expect their presentation projectors to be tossled a lot more than a fixed HT setting. This can lower bulb life spans significantly. Heat and humidity also play a role but not as much.


-Mr. Wigggles