Epson Powerlite 51c
Hi Shorin,
I have an epson powerlite 51c and I was wondering if you can post the specific process you used to bypass the ballast on your powerlite . I have two bulbs that have only lasted for about 100 hours each. They still power on, but the lamp circuit shuts them down after 10 secs or so. I want to bypass the ballast to see if they still have some life in them. Any insight you can offer would be appreciated. Thanks a lot.
Hi Shorin,
I have an epson powerlite 51c and I was wondering if you can post the specific process you used to bypass the ballast on your powerlite . I have two bulbs that have only lasted for about 100 hours each. They still power on, but the lamp circuit shuts them down after 10 secs or so. I want to bypass the ballast to see if they still have some life in them. Any insight you can offer would be appreciated. Thanks a lot.
process
I have an epson powerlite 5350(?) and this is what I did (hopefully its somewhat the same).
Can't remember the exact process but here's somewhat of how it went:
1. Find the ballast board.
2. Find a small-gauge wire 3-pin ribbon coming out of the mainboard to the ballast board (it may be near a jumper that has alot of other wires coming out of it)
3. Ground (it's either pin 1 or pin 3 - can't remember) with a resistor in between a 42 Ohm resistor should do. Actually the way I found that out was I was testing grounding each pin with an amp meter (on my multimeter) until i got it working. THe Amp meter must have put a load on it. ANyways I got my resistor off of an old power supply. There are applications out there that can tell you what the color bars mean.
I would try any resistor until you find one that works. Start large. One at least the width of your middle finger (i mean like a half inch long).
Anywho put the resistor in-line with it and ground it TO THE CASE.
4. Confirm it working by powering it on and looking through the lens with the bulb removed and bulb cover off.
a. If it has a safety switch (disables power when bulb cover off), you'll need to jam a screwdriver in the hole to get it to power on. You should find this under the bulb cover, and if you look at the bulb cover you'll figure out fast why it has a long thing sticking out of it.
5. Once you have it working, go inside and unplug the ballast power (this is totally optional, and some say that not keeping high enough a load on a PS is not good...). THe ballast power plug was near the front of the projector for me, and it's a really big plug with a black and white wire coming out of it. It plugs into the ballast board ( i think).
And now you're done! Find a good way to alternately light the projector. Bonus points if you can get something so bright you can see it in the daytime! With mine it can only be used in the dark. I used an offroad (smaller) automotive bulb. Powering it via a molex connector to a 350W power supply at 12 volts. Used the original bulb unit as reflector (drilled the bulb out of it), and slid the bulb in the back. Used the original bulb carriage. Had some trouble fitting it in the projector because of connectors sticking out. I simply hacked away at the interior until it fit. The interior was made of this fiberglass-like stuff that was probably heat-resistant.
i HOPE THIS HELPS!
ps: I'm not sure what you mean about getting more life out of the bulbs but with this setup your are bypassing the bulb start check on the projector.
I have an epson powerlite 5350(?) and this is what I did (hopefully its somewhat the same).
Can't remember the exact process but here's somewhat of how it went:
1. Find the ballast board.
2. Find a small-gauge wire 3-pin ribbon coming out of the mainboard to the ballast board (it may be near a jumper that has alot of other wires coming out of it)
3. Ground (it's either pin 1 or pin 3 - can't remember) with a resistor in between a 42 Ohm resistor should do. Actually the way I found that out was I was testing grounding each pin with an amp meter (on my multimeter) until i got it working. THe Amp meter must have put a load on it. ANyways I got my resistor off of an old power supply. There are applications out there that can tell you what the color bars mean.
I would try any resistor until you find one that works. Start large. One at least the width of your middle finger (i mean like a half inch long).
Anywho put the resistor in-line with it and ground it TO THE CASE.
4. Confirm it working by powering it on and looking through the lens with the bulb removed and bulb cover off.
a. If it has a safety switch (disables power when bulb cover off), you'll need to jam a screwdriver in the hole to get it to power on. You should find this under the bulb cover, and if you look at the bulb cover you'll figure out fast why it has a long thing sticking out of it.
5. Once you have it working, go inside and unplug the ballast power (this is totally optional, and some say that not keeping high enough a load on a PS is not good...). THe ballast power plug was near the front of the projector for me, and it's a really big plug with a black and white wire coming out of it. It plugs into the ballast board ( i think).
And now you're done! Find a good way to alternately light the projector. Bonus points if you can get something so bright you can see it in the daytime! With mine it can only be used in the dark. I used an offroad (smaller) automotive bulb. Powering it via a molex connector to a 350W power supply at 12 volts. Used the original bulb unit as reflector (drilled the bulb out of it), and slid the bulb in the back. Used the original bulb carriage. Had some trouble fitting it in the projector because of connectors sticking out. I simply hacked away at the interior until it fit. The interior was made of this fiberglass-like stuff that was probably heat-resistant.
i HOPE THIS HELPS!
ps: I'm not sure what you mean about getting more life out of the bulbs but with this setup your are bypassing the bulb start check on the projector.
Powerlite 51c
Oh shoot, i see that your projector is kinda different from mine. I hope the instructions still apply somewhat. The process of grounding that signal should still work... just look for the 3-pin ribbon going to the ballast.
If it doesn't make sense (like the ballast is on the same board as the mainboard) then keep asking on this forum. People may be able to help you out.
Oh shoot, i see that your projector is kinda different from mine. I hope the instructions still apply somewhat. The process of grounding that signal should still work... just look for the 3-pin ribbon going to the ballast.
If it doesn't make sense (like the ballast is on the same board as the mainboard) then keep asking on this forum. People may be able to help you out.
Powerlite 51c
Thanks a lot! I give that a try.
What i mean is about the bulbs is that they still work, but only turn on during power on for a few secs, before the lamp detect circuit kicks in and cuts it out. I have two bulbs, both which started to do the same thing shortly after I carried the projector to another location (it seems like it doesn't like to be carried around). both bulbs seem like they should work fine, aren't broken or burnt out and only have a few hundred hours on them. The projector just seems to not like them now for some reason. I figure if i can bypass this circuit, I can either try and make these bulb work longer, or find another means of lighting the thing.
way back, I tried playing around with a bunch of things, including the three wire connector going from the main board to the ballast. Came accross your post and it gave me new hope for the thing. My projector does have a main PSU board unit (where the power cord plugs in), which is connected to another ballast board, connected to the lamp. I hope it's somewhat similar to yours.
Anyway, thanks again for your description. I'll let you know how it goes.
Thanks a lot! I give that a try.
What i mean is about the bulbs is that they still work, but only turn on during power on for a few secs, before the lamp detect circuit kicks in and cuts it out. I have two bulbs, both which started to do the same thing shortly after I carried the projector to another location (it seems like it doesn't like to be carried around). both bulbs seem like they should work fine, aren't broken or burnt out and only have a few hundred hours on them. The projector just seems to not like them now for some reason. I figure if i can bypass this circuit, I can either try and make these bulb work longer, or find another means of lighting the thing.
way back, I tried playing around with a bunch of things, including the three wire connector going from the main board to the ballast. Came accross your post and it gave me new hope for the thing. My projector does have a main PSU board unit (where the power cord plugs in), which is connected to another ballast board, connected to the lamp. I hope it's somewhat similar to yours.
Anyway, thanks again for your description. I'll let you know how it goes.
Powerlite 51c
Question about your procedure:
did you leave the 3 wire connector from the main board to the ballast plugged in when you grounded the pin with a 47 Ohm resistor? Or did you disconnect it from one end, then ground the pin? In order to use my existing bulbs, I need to keep the ballast active to start up the bulb. i'm thinking since the bulb has so little hours on it and seems completely intact that it's something on the detect circuit that is too sensitive and shutting it down pre-maturely.
Question about your procedure:
did you leave the 3 wire connector from the main board to the ballast plugged in when you grounded the pin with a 47 Ohm resistor? Or did you disconnect it from one end, then ground the pin? In order to use my existing bulbs, I need to keep the ballast active to start up the bulb. i'm thinking since the bulb has so little hours on it and seems completely intact that it's something on the detect circuit that is too sensitive and shutting it down pre-maturely.
Sounds like you have a more complicated problem.
No I disconnected the 3-pin ribbon from the ballast.
That 3 pin ribbon is basically the control for the ballast I guess. I don't recall the ballast trying to start the bulb when I unplugged it.
So the bulb starts, and then a while later it shuts it off? Maybe you can fix this by lowering the voltage (tuners on the ballast)... because it thinks something's wrong enough to shut off the bulb.
There is also a possibility of using the ballast from another projector (get a cheap one that just requires a bulb.. but if you're going to do that... then why not just use it...). I hear that you can adjust some tuners on the ballast board that will change the voltage or something like that. Never tried that and I'm not sure if that is the case... but you should keep asking around here. Start your own topic about fixing this.
You know, my projector sometimes does try to turn off on me, thinking there's no bulb. I'm not sure why. It is still useable because the video doesn't turn off, just the speakers and the control panel (I have a seperate audio system anyways).
No I disconnected the 3-pin ribbon from the ballast.
That 3 pin ribbon is basically the control for the ballast I guess. I don't recall the ballast trying to start the bulb when I unplugged it.
So the bulb starts, and then a while later it shuts it off? Maybe you can fix this by lowering the voltage (tuners on the ballast)... because it thinks something's wrong enough to shut off the bulb.
There is also a possibility of using the ballast from another projector (get a cheap one that just requires a bulb.. but if you're going to do that... then why not just use it...). I hear that you can adjust some tuners on the ballast board that will change the voltage or something like that. Never tried that and I'm not sure if that is the case... but you should keep asking around here. Start your own topic about fixing this.
You know, my projector sometimes does try to turn off on me, thinking there's no bulb. I'm not sure why. It is still useable because the video doesn't turn off, just the speakers and the control panel (I have a seperate audio system anyways).
Ooh, also, it could be a heating issue. There's a temperature shutoff switch in the bulb compartment on mine. If THAT was too sensitive, it would kill the power instantly when there was too much heat.
What's the behavior when the projector shuts off? Does it die completely or just blink the "lamp" light and kick the fan into high speed?
What's the behavior when the projector shuts off? Does it die completely or just blink the "lamp" light and kick the fan into high speed?
epson 51c
It doesn't shut off completely, just shuts off the lamp, flashes the Red LED, and turns the fans to high speed. Could be related to temp. That's something I never thought of. However, the problem did go away when I used a brand new bulb. Do bullbs get hotter when they get older?
Thanks for your input.
It doesn't shut off completely, just shuts off the lamp, flashes the Red LED, and turns the fans to high speed. Could be related to temp. That's something I never thought of. However, the problem did go away when I used a brand new bulb. Do bullbs get hotter when they get older?
Thanks for your input.
Re: epson 51c
Eh, I dunno... but that may be a correct observation. I would try bypassing the temp shutoff thingy and seeing if it cares.
---
So you went and bought a new bulb huh? No use in screwing around with it now is there? Enjoy your superior brightness. You would have likely not gotten decent brightness with your own bulb job (unless it was a bulb meant for a projector).
kampai
dantastic_dan said:
Eh, I dunno... but that may be a correct observation. I would try bypassing the temp shutoff thingy and seeing if it cares.
---
So you went and bought a new bulb huh? No use in screwing around with it now is there? Enjoy your superior brightness. You would have likely not gotten decent brightness with your own bulb job (unless it was a bulb meant for a projector).
kampai
51c
No, didn't buy a new bulb. too cheap for that, but the prospect becomes more appealing the more time i waste fiddling with this thing.
It's still my existing new bulb i was using until it started doing the "shut down, blink red led after 10 sec" routine it's been doing lately.
i'll keep at er. maybe i'll stumble upon something.
thanks.
No, didn't buy a new bulb. too cheap for that, but the prospect becomes more appealing the more time i waste fiddling with this thing.
It's still my existing new bulb i was using until it started doing the "shut down, blink red led after 10 sec" routine it's been doing lately.
i'll keep at er. maybe i'll stumble upon something.
thanks.
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.