Epson projector lamp blown with less than 900 hours!!

[Kiz84]

Hey all. Just wanted to vent/ask for advice on my projector.
It's an Epson TW-3500 from a few years back. I have been very reserved with my use of the old girl and only put about 900 hrs on her in three years. Now well out of warranty, the lamp made a little pop and filled the guts with little specks of glass the other night.

For a start, I'm pretty disappointed in the short life of the lamp.
But more to the point, I don't wanna shell out $500 for a new one if the unit itself has gone to hell because of the broken glass inside.

Has anyone here had a similar experience or have any advice as to what to do. At this point, I am thinking a nice new 50" lcd might be the answer, but I will miss the impact of a 120" screen. Besides, I don't really feel I have gotten my money's worth out of the Epson yet...

Any advice is much appreciated

 

[ericzim]

Chances are the lamp burst inside the assembly. ELPLP49 / V13H010L49 assembly, try Amazon. I think $119.00? and up if this is the same type. Shouldn't be to difficult to clean up.

 

[petehall347]

its maybe turning it on and off a lot that shortened its life .or power surge . i don't have a clue about its life expectancy but i guess they just leave a few on too see how long they last .
lcd seems the way to go these days . a word of advice going from personal experience .lcd screens are set way too high in brightness at the factory setting if left at factory they will only last till just out of warranty .maybe a bit longer but not much .the internal fuse/fuses are running on the limit . my advice is to lower the brightness until its good for you . this will drop the power usage down to around a third of factory setting .

 

[Kiz84]

Chances are the lamp burst inside the assembly. ELPLP49 / V13H010L49 assembly, try Amazon. I think $119.00? and up if this is the same type. Shouldn't be to difficult to clean up.

Thanks for that. I have taken the assembly out and it doesn't look like it'd be too hard just to replace a lamp, so might give it a go.

There were little flecks of glass around where the housing sat, so my only worry would be that they could cause problems internally. I used the dustbuster to clean out what I could, but don't wanna risk damaging my good vacuum on it. It specifically says in the warranty booklet not to clean up broken glass with it!! It would be cheaper to buy a new tv than to replace the vacuum, so that's kinda a no brainer.

 

[ericzim]

Thanks for that. I have taken the assembly out and it doesn't look like it'd be too hard just to replace a lamp, so might give it a go.

There were little flecks of glass around where the housing sat, so my only worry would be that they could cause problems internally. I used the dustbuster to clean out what I could, but don't wanna risk damaging my good vacuum on it. It specifically says in the warranty booklet not to clean up broken glass with it!! It would be cheaper to buy a new tv than to replace the vacuum, so that's kinda a no brainer.

I use a shop vac from Sears. It can suck the petina off a silver face Yamaha amp when the filter is fresh.:yes:
And it looks like you replace the entire assembly not just the lamp on your projector. Amazon sells the whole assembly.

 

[Kiz84]

I use a shop vac from Sears. It can suck the petina off a silver face Yamaha amp when the filter is fresh.:yes:
And it looks like you replace the entire assembly not just the lamp on your projector. Amazon sells the whole assembly.

Sorry, when I saw the price, I assumed it was a lamp only. Lamp and housing for that price is damn good. The fact that is specifies 'Epson lamp' in the title, do you think it is OE. Aftermarket ones generally say 'lamp for Epson'

**Edit**

Reading down, it most certainly is OE. This is the best I have seen them, ericzim, you have made me a happy camper today!!

 

[sKiZo]

Glass as a rule is not a conductor, so I wouldn't much worry about shorting anything out. Seems to me the only moving parts would be the focus wheel and cooling fan, so if those are moving good, you should be gold.

One of the biggest killers used to be cigarette smoke, but our pc society has pretty much ruled that out. Main thing is to be VERY careful you don't touch the bulb ... the slightest bit of contamination concentrates the heat, which could explain the early failure. Best bet is straight from the packaging to the socket and close it up. You'll also want to make sure the bulb has a chance to cool down completely before jiggling it around much or transporting if it's cold out. Both can stress the glass ...

 

[Kiz84]

Glass as a rule is not a conductor, so I wouldn't much worry about shorting anything out. Seems to me the only moving parts would be the focus wheel and cooling fan, so if those are moving good, you should be gold.

Yeah, well it was still running after the globe went. Of course I had to turn it off at the power supply, but as you said, no moving parts were damaged.

One of the biggest killers used to be cigarette smoke, but our pc society has pretty much ruled that out. Main thing is to be VERY careful you don't touch the bulb ... the slightest bit of contamination concentrates the heat, which could explain the early failure. Best bet is straight from the packaging to the socket and close it up. You'll also want to make sure the bulb has a chance to cool down completely before jiggling it around much or transporting if it's cold out. Both can stress the glass ...

Projector sits where it is on a stable stand, I have moved house twice since buying it, but I kept the original box and packaging and it has always traveled with me in the car in those cases. As for the smoke, we do fire up a shisha pipe from time to time and in the house I am in now, the kitchen is open plan into the lounge area where the projector is. Not much I can do about that though, maybe it's just not the right thing for someone who can't have a dedicated H/T room

Anyway, I'll try one more globe before I fold and just get a big LCD...

 

[Kiz84]

Sorry, when I saw the price, I assumed it was a lamp only. Lamp and housing for that price is damn good. The fact that is specifies 'Epson lamp' in the title, do you think it is OE. Aftermarket ones generally say 'lamp for Epson'

**Edit**

Reading down, it most certainly is OE. This is the best I have seen them, ericzim, you have made me a happy camper today!!

Fkers won't ship to Australia. Back to the drawing board

 

[ericzim]

Any friends here in the states that could ship it to you?

 

[sKiZo]

Anyway, I'll try one more globe before I fold and just get a big LCD...

Lucky me, when my big projector tv went south, Sony was nice enough to provide a replacement LCD for next to nothing, delivered right to my door. Bigger screen even.

Of course, a big a$$ class action lawsuit might have had something to do with their generosity ...

Luck with it ...

 

[js1138]

Any friends here in the states that could ship it to you?

I was going to suggest that some AK member could forward it. There's a bit of risk on the part of the buyer and the forwarder, but it might be worth it.

 

[jfelter]

Pureland Supply in PA has the ELPLP49 Epson lamps in stock with genuine Osram bulb inside.