[GWCR]

Mine pretty much went away on it's own so I never looked into opening it or anything.

I did some "super high tech" troubleshooting a couple weeks ago and wiggled the HDMI cable a bit. Haven't seen the yellow line since (knocks on every available wood surface), so my diagnosis is a loose connection. Hopefully I can get another year or so out of this PJ, and wait until the 4K prices are a bit more in line with the budget...

 

[GWCR]

So today I was getting annoyed of the "replace lamp" that kept showing up on my screen and I know I didn't need to replace it since I had replaced it like less than 2 years ago. Instead I finally figured out how to reset the time, as I never did that before.

While in the menus I noticed I had my projector in Eco mode so I put it in Normal mode instead.

I have had it on for like almost 2 hours and I was smelling a funny smell in my basement. It was almost like the smell of hot glue or something. After a while I was like okay it smells like something is burning or something.

I then put my nose up to the projector in the front where the air is blowing out, and that is where the smell is coming from.

I did notice too that the air coming out felt pretty dang hot and it was blowing out hard.

I put it back in Eco mode now and it doesn't seem to be blowing the fan as hard now, but I still have that strange smell coming out.

Has anyone experienced this before with a weird odor coming from the projector? I've had this since late 2012 and never once noticed this smell down there. I do think I have had it in Eco mode since I have had it too so does it just get hotter in Nomral mode and make strange smells lol?

I have run mine in Eco mode since day 1 and never had any smell. Thanks for convincing me to keep it in Eco mode forever lol !

 

[m. zillch]

Sometimes there's a spot of glue inside which needs to be "burned off" from the higher heat of normal mode. Once it burns off (away) after a few hours of use I'd think the smell should be gone for good.

 

[purbeast]

Is the only difference in normal and eco mode that normal is slightly brighter? It was tough for me to really tell a difference between the two.

 

[m. zillch]

Normal: brighter [important for daylight use in non-bat cave dark rooms or for large projected images], shorter bulb (lamp) life, louder fan noise.

ECO: dimmer light output adequate only in light-tight rooms and not too large screens, slightly blacker blacks, lower fan speed and hence lower fan noise. saves electricity (not in a huge way though),

 

[purbeast]

Mine pretty much went away on it's own so I never looked into opening it or anything.

So I spoke too soon on the yellow line...

Starting this past weekend it's back and this time I don't really see it going in/out like I had before.

I also could have sworn that the yellow line was in a different spot one of the times I saw it. Like it was on the left side of the screen instead of the right.

I tried wiggling/unplugging the HDMI cable at the projector and my receiver and still there. I even changed inputs on my projector and it's still there.

So now back to square one lol.

 

[deano86]

Being that it is a Yellow line, the culprit is most likely a poor connection or defect on the blue panel... I would download the service manual and maybe see about carefully taking off the cover/s and see if it is possible to easily reseat a connector ?

 

[purbeast]

Being that it is a Yellow line, the culprit is most likely a poor connection or defect on the blue panel... I would download the service manual and maybe see about carefully taking off the cover/s and see if it is possible to easily reseat a connector ?

Yeah I recall someone saying it could be a ribbon connector.

I am going to look into opening it up and seeing what I can figure out.

Thanks.

 

[purbeast]

Can someone confirm/deny that these are the 3 LCD ribbon cables that reseating could fix the vertical yellow line issue? I don't want to mess with reseating these if they are the wrong one and they look super delicate. I'm going to be trying to do this while it's mounted to the ceiling too.

 

[m. zillch]

Can someone confirm/deny that these are the 3 LCD ribbon cables that reseating could fix the vertical yellow line issue? I don't want to mess with reseating these if they are the wrong one and they look super delicate. I'm going to be trying to do this while it's mounted to the ceiling too.

Probably.

DANGER: Tinkering inside the pj in a non-cleanroom [technical term for a special air filtered room scientists use to prevent dust from settling on internal optics] is risky. DO NOT POWER UP THE PJ WHILE IT IS OPENED UP because the air filtration system is defeated while open so you might suck in a dust glob and dirty the optics.

 

[RickyG512]

PT-AE8000U still relevant in 2021?

Hi all, I bought this projector 7/8 years ago and is still going super strong and haven't had a single issue with it. At the time it was winning all the rewards and reviews 2013 and seemed to be the best 1080p projector and also seemed to be way ahead of its time, especially with blacks and sharpness. Which is why I guess it was still winning reviews for a few years after. Still don't understand why Panasonic didn't come out with a new model as I'm sure they had a strong foot in the market because of this model and they would of sold loads if they made a PT-AE9000U

Anyway I've been researching the PJ market again after 8 years of enjoying the PT-AE8000U and I'm not truly convinced there's much out there, and I really can't complain with the PT-AE8000U picture quality, I was blown away when I had this first hooked this up 7/8 years ago, do you think I'll be re-blown again today with a 2021 projector? If I was to get a used Epson from a few years ago, will it actually be much better and worth the headache of selling and buying? Such as the Epson 5040 or 6040 projector?

Contrast levels on 2021 spec sheets don't seem much higher than the PT-AE8000U spec sheet from 2013 either. Surprised there hasn't been much improvement in technology in 8 years, correct me if I'm wrong but there doesn't seem to be a major jump unless I go JVC NX5 or NX7? These would be out of budget.

I think it's my desire to upgrade things every few years that's getting in the way. Even buying previous model JVC's (the ones before the 2018 line up NX5/NX7/NX9, unsure of their model numbers atm), would they be worth it? Someone told me a good 1080p is better than a fake 4k? Other issue is I've noticed on used sales of the PT-AE8000U is that they seem to be going for peanuts, like 5x cheaper than new. If only Panasonic make the 9000 model I wouldn't need to ask all the above questions. Why Panasonic why did you stop !!!!!!

 

[purbeast]

Probably.

DANGER: Tinkering inside the pj in a non-cleanroom [technical term for a special air filtered room scientists use to prevent dust from settling on internal optics] is risky. DO NOT POWER UP THE PJ WHILE IT IS OPENED UP because the air filtration system is defeated while open so you might suck in a dust glob and dirty the optics.

I actually had mine turned on while I was unscrewing the top and it turned off. I think there is a ground plate on the cover that when not touching causes it to shut off, which happened as the top cover was starting to sag a bit since I have mine mounted upside down on the ceiling. So you physically can't turn the projector on while it's opened up.

And mine isn't even "opened up" all the way or anything, it's just the top cover taken off, but it's back on now and it's on.

Just removing the top cover exposes that area.

Does anyone know if turning the projector on with one of those ribbon cables removed, if they are the RGB LCD ribbon cables, will still actually work, and it will just not have the color of the cable removed?

Just curious because then I could at least verify the blue one is the one that is causing this yellow vertical line, if I can figure out which ribbon is blue, and power it on with it disconnected, with the cover back on of course.

 

[m. zillch]

PT-AE8000U still relevant in 2021?

I have yet to see hard, objective evidence that there is some specific detail it some specific movie where faux 4K out resolves 1080p. What I have seen however is good objective evidence that faux 4K is inferior on 1080p material which is by far the prevalent format in my life.

 

[deano86]

I actually had mine turned on while I was unscrewing the top and it turned off. I think there is a ground plate on the cover that when not touching causes it to shut off, which happened as the top cover was starting to sag a bit since I have mine mounted upside down on the ceiling. So you physically can't turn the projector on while it's opened up.

And mine isn't even "opened up" all the way or anything, it's just the top cover taken off, but it's back on now and it's on.

Just removing the top cover exposes that area.

Does anyone know if turning the projector on with one of those ribbon cables removed, if they are the RGB LCD ribbon cables, will still actually work, and it will just not have the color of the cable removed?

Just curious because then I could at least verify the blue one is the one that is causing this yellow vertical line, if I can figure out which ribbon is blue, and power it on with it disconnected, with the cover back on of course.

For Gosh Sake, man... at least download the actual "Service" manual so you have some idea of what you are messing with first...and not to mention you will have actual proper disassembly instructions.

 

[purbeast]

For Gosh Sake, man... at least download the actual "Service" manual so you have some idea of what you are messing with first...and not to mention you will have actual proper disassembly instructions.

Umm, I was looking at the service manual. It was linked a couple pages back.

Removal Of Top Cover; Removal Of A-P.c.board - Panasonic PT-AE8000U Service Manual [Page 34] | ManualsLib

www.manualslib.com

 

[deano86]

Well, my mistake..... when you stated that you had it powered on while you starting taking off the cover and it automatically shut off, I assumed you were flying by the seat of your pants a bit with this venture....

 

[purbeast]

Well, my mistake..... when you stated that you had it powered on while you starting taking off the cover and it automatically shut off, I assumed you were flying by the seat of your pants a bit with this venture....

No.

But unscrewing a plastic cover didn't seem like it would have any effect on it.

I've taken apart and put together a lot of various electronics and am comfortable doing so and I just did not think that would matter at all.

 

[purbeast]

So I just reseated those 3 ribbon cables. I took them completely out and just reseated them.

I'm still seeing that one damn yellow vertical line.

Anyone have any other suggestions on what the problem could be if it's something I could fix on my own?

 

[m. zillch]

If it were me, and I'll warn you that a can of compressed air held at the wrong angle can spray liquid instead of air, I'd blow out any possible dust out of the ribbon cable slots and clean each ribbon cable end with isopropyl alcohol to be sure there are no dirt or oil issues. Proceed at your own risk because I'm not an expert repair technician or anything and all sorts of other things could go wrong.

Just saying what I'd do.

 

[deano86]

So I just reseated those 3 ribbon cables. I took them completely out and just reseated them.

I'm still seeing that one damn yellow vertical line.

Anyone have any other suggestions on what the problem could be if it's something I could fix on my own?

Well, that is unfortunate... that is exactly what I would have done. I would consider calling these guys at Royal Projector Repair

Panasonic Projector Repair - Projector Repair Service

Panasonic Projector Repair Center provides repair services and cleaning/maintenance services for all multimedia Panasonic projectors.

royalprojectorrepair.com

and explain your symptom and see what they say... They are offering free estimates on repairs through the end of January and I have heard good things about the work that they do. Of course there is the hassle of shipping it to them and such and being without a projector for a bit, but for me if I would be able to fix the 8000 for around or less than $500, it would be more than worth it... for me anyway.