Epson projector owners

Ricardo

Just wondering how long do your lamps last. I have had terrible luck with my Power Lite Home Cinema 8100. I don't think I've had a lamp make it to 1,000 hours.

I had three replaced under warranty, but the last two have been on my dime.
Any others having this problem? And owners of other brands, how long do your lamps last?

Thinking on going 3D, but don't want this problem again.

polkfarmboy

check your outlets, never had a problem with the 4 I owned, get a jvc

PSOVLSK

Not sure about the hours, but I've had my Epson for over two years with no issues...so far.

Ricardo

What Epson model do you have?

And how much daily use does it get? I use mine a lot, so I watch 1000 hours in a year. I know some people leave the projector for weekends/movies and they use other TV for daily use.

Thanks!

nguyendot

He has an 8100. I've barely scratched the surface with mine. I'm thinking of putting it on a TrippLite LC1200.

Theheadsn

I have a 5020, and I know the lamp is rated for at least 3000 hours. What settings are you running the projector on? Not sure if the 8100 has the same modes and the 5020, but is there an eco mode? Keeps the life of the bulb

Ricardo

I have a custom setting I copied from some hometheater site. Picture is ways better than any of the stock modes. I guess I do have it on the brighter side...but 800-1,000 hours vs. the expected 4,000?

kuntasensei

I'm on my 4th bulb on my 8500UB... and all of them have lasted more than the 3,000 hour mark. I think the "spare" I have right now was taken out at around 2,900 just because it was obviously dimming, and the only bulb I've had blow completely was over 3,100 hours at the time (so honestly, kinda' my fault for not changing it sooner). All of those have been the stock bulbs though. My current bulb is a relamped Osram bulb from Pureland Supply, but I'm up over 700 with no significant dimming whatsoever, so it seems to be doing fine.

Note: I run in Eco mode with high-altitude mode turned on so the fan runs at a slightly higher speed, in a 72 degree room, and I run it on a large APC UPS in case of power outages so that the bulb can properly cool if I have to shutdown.

kuntasensei

Ricardo wrote: »

I have a custom setting I copied from some hometheater site. Picture is ways better than any of the stock modes. I guess I do have it on the brighter side...but 800-1,000 hours vs. the expected 4,000?

Your picture settings shouldn't affect lamp life. Even at the peak brightness, you're basically just driving the LCD panels harder, not altering the lamp voltage (though doing that CAN increase overall heat output). What you have to look out for is proper cooling and usage practices. For instance, common sense things like don't turn the projector back on for at least 20 minutes after shutting it down. Sounds crazy, but if you have to be gone for like 30 minutes, it's better to leave the thing running than shut it down and power back up later. Another thing to consider is whether the way you have it mounted allows it to vibrate much from the audio in your room, though that shouldn't be an issue unless you actually see deep bass vibrating the picture on-screen.

If you can tolerate the higher fan speed, I highly recommend running in high-altitude mode. Just make sure you clean the filter out every 2-300 hours, and if it starts to turn gray, replace it.

Ricardo

Thanks guys. It looks that either I am doing something wrong or there is something wrong with my projector. I just switched to ECO and high altitude.

Will see how it goes with this one.