I just bought this projector of ebay, I was looking for a very cheap projector, didnt even care if it didnt work just needed something to get me started and something to work with. I found replacement bulbs for £130, this extra cost is out of the question so I have a few questions concerning DIY bulb replacements.
Ive gathered that I can either run a Bulb from the internal power supply or an external ballast, the original lamp in this projector is 150W MH, what effect would fitting a 250W MH lamp have on the projector brightness/picture quality other than needing additional cooling, and of course the bulb would be run from an external ballast
What kind of bulbs should I be looking for, projector bulbs are always compact square affairs with a small area to radiate light, all the MH bulbs I found are long tubes the type used to light a large area e.g. car park, room.
Should I be looking for a certain type of metal halide bulb or will these tube lamps be suitable? Im thinking that increasing the wattage of the bulb to 250 will in some way make up for any light leakage that may occur. Last question I have is what colour temperature should I be looking for? does the colour temp make a big difference to the picture?
thanks in advance
Modgod
Ive gathered that I can either run a Bulb from the internal power supply or an external ballast, the original lamp in this projector is 150W MH, what effect would fitting a 250W MH lamp have on the projector brightness/picture quality other than needing additional cooling, and of course the bulb would be run from an external ballast
What kind of bulbs should I be looking for, projector bulbs are always compact square affairs with a small area to radiate light, all the MH bulbs I found are long tubes the type used to light a large area e.g. car park, room.
Should I be looking for a certain type of metal halide bulb or will these tube lamps be suitable? Im thinking that increasing the wattage of the bulb to 250 will in some way make up for any light leakage that may occur. Last question I have is what colour temperature should I be looking for? does the colour temp make a big difference to the picture?
thanks in advance
Modgod
Color temp refers to the variation between yellow-red and blue-green of the light. Measured in K (kelvin). Lower K is "cooler" (towards blue-green) and is better for visual stuff like this. See Wikipedia.
Also, a big tube bulb won't fit.... you know that.
The only way I've tried to relamp was with Automotive bulbs, but I'm finding them a bit dim. I am going to try an FXL overhead projector bulb at some point and look for improvement.
The electronics in that may in fact start a MH (metal halide) projector bulb NOT meant for your projector (i.e. a cheaper-to-buy bulb). I hear that there may be a tuning pot that lowers the wattage to the rating of your bulb. You ought to consult with other users if you want to go that way. I may try it myself...
Also, a big tube bulb won't fit.... you know that.
The only way I've tried to relamp was with Automotive bulbs, but I'm finding them a bit dim. I am going to try an FXL overhead projector bulb at some point and look for improvement.
The electronics in that may in fact start a MH (metal halide) projector bulb NOT meant for your projector (i.e. a cheaper-to-buy bulb). I hear that there may be a tuning pot that lowers the wattage to the rating of your bulb. You ought to consult with other users if you want to go that way. I may try it myself...
What does FXL refer to, the make or type of bulb? I looked up a few FXL lamps, all seem to be 410W and 82V/86V, only problem is none of the websites I checked specified a Lumen output or the colour temp.
When you say automotive bulbs you mean car headlights? any idea the lumen output on them? I saw a set at my local auto store to fit your car with improved headlights, set came with bulbs and balast/s. I remember them being halogen bulbs and claiming to give light close to daylight.
Im going to search further and try to get specs on the FXL bulbs and means to power them.
btw any idea what kinda Volts power the Ballast on the EMP-7000 kicks out?
thanks
When you say automotive bulbs you mean car headlights? any idea the lumen output on them? I saw a set at my local auto store to fit your car with improved headlights, set came with bulbs and balast/s. I remember them being halogen bulbs and claiming to give light close to daylight.
Im going to search further and try to get specs on the FXL bulbs and means to power them.
btw any idea what kinda Volts power the Ballast on the EMP-7000 kicks out?
thanks
I found a car headlamp upgrade kit that looks like a good replacement lighing system, Theyre Xenon bulbs, found a cheap kit for £55 with one bulb here
although the wattage on these bulbs are low I read on a different website that the 6000k xenon bulbs have around 4k lumen output, I dont know if this generalisation has basis but so far all the headlamp Xenon bulbs I've seen are similar wattages, maybe car headlamps have an allowed maximum Lumen output?
would this lamp work ok with a projector, only thing I haven't seen being mentioned is arc length and seeing as theyre made to light a large area ahead of the car they may be unsuitable for a projector, Im guessing these xenon lamps still work on the same principal as MH and HPS lamps and that they do have a measurable arc length.
btw has anyone tried refitting a Projector with the PSU/Ballast of an OHP so as to run cheaper OHP bulbs?
although the wattage on these bulbs are low I read on a different website that the 6000k xenon bulbs have around 4k lumen output, I dont know if this generalisation has basis but so far all the headlamp Xenon bulbs I've seen are similar wattages, maybe car headlamps have an allowed maximum Lumen output?
would this lamp work ok with a projector, only thing I haven't seen being mentioned is arc length and seeing as theyre made to light a large area ahead of the car they may be unsuitable for a projector, Im guessing these xenon lamps still work on the same principal as MH and HPS lamps and that they do have a measurable arc length.
btw has anyone tried refitting a Projector with the PSU/Ballast of an OHP so as to run cheaper OHP bulbs?
I have seen FXL bulbs in action - they're more towards the yellow side, but I figured they may be bright enough. Not sure about that, since the LCD panel tends to take alot of the light out.... I would rather hear other's experience.
About powering them, I don't think they use a ballast, but I could be wrong. They work on these at my seasonal job, but I never found out for myself. I'll have to call them and ask about the electronics. I'm pretty sure the circuit is simple.
I would not know exactly. Starting volts for stuff like that is in the thousands of volts. After that it could be around 67V to run it... not sure though, that's just what I heard.
Looks interesting. Lower wattage tends to mean lower light output for most things. For MH-related bulbs I think the relation is different (after all, those florescent "energy saver" bulbs consume lower watts but give equivalent light, right?)
I found a "xenon" bulb of my own (I think it was fake though - it wasn't a gas bulb, it was a filament), and the light output was about 1048 lumen for 1 filament. Both on could be 2,000 or something. It doesn't look terribly bright to me, though.
I found several threads following people who have tried Xenon bulbs in DIY projectors, but none where they replaced a retail projectors lamp with one.
They look promising, one guy was running 3 inside his DIY LCD projector, he claimed that the screen quality was amost identical to when using a 400W MH Bulb. He got the lux measurement up to 60 which is quite low athough considering this is a DY projector that uses multiple lenses and mirrors light loss could be high compared to a retail projector.
I just bought a Plus U5 132 DLP projector, very happy because I realised I will have better chance of good light output with DLP. As less light will be absorbed seeing as theres no LCD. You got any experience with this projector? I just won the auction this morning (£25 w000t) so I haven't had time to look up any DIY guides for it, if you know of any please do say.
Im not sure if Im completley correct, I read so much information last night I'm still sorting through it but as far as I know there are 2 types of xenon bulb, some are actual HID and are very similar to MH bulbs with the difference being the xenon gas used. Other xenon bulbs are filament types, the xenon gas in them just allows the filament to produce better light.
Try ebay for xenon kits, they call them car conversion kits or headlight conversion kits, lots of sellers on ebay. Just got an email from a seller in hong kong, said he could sell me a single ballast and bulb kit rather than the sets of 2. Still waiting on price shouldnt be much more than £20-25.
hope this helps 🙂
btw is this forum dead or something? if not why is it so quiet?
They look promising, one guy was running 3 inside his DIY LCD projector, he claimed that the screen quality was amost identical to when using a 400W MH Bulb. He got the lux measurement up to 60 which is quite low athough considering this is a DY projector that uses multiple lenses and mirrors light loss could be high compared to a retail projector.
I just bought a Plus U5 132 DLP projector, very happy because I realised I will have better chance of good light output with DLP. As less light will be absorbed seeing as theres no LCD. You got any experience with this projector? I just won the auction this morning (£25 w000t) so I haven't had time to look up any DIY guides for it, if you know of any please do say.
Im not sure if Im completley correct, I read so much information last night I'm still sorting through it but as far as I know there are 2 types of xenon bulb, some are actual HID and are very similar to MH bulbs with the difference being the xenon gas used. Other xenon bulbs are filament types, the xenon gas in them just allows the filament to produce better light.
Try ebay for xenon kits, they call them car conversion kits or headlight conversion kits, lots of sellers on ebay. Just got an email from a seller in hong kong, said he could sell me a single ballast and bulb kit rather than the sets of 2. Still waiting on price shouldnt be much more than £20-25.
hope this helps 🙂
btw is this forum dead or something? if not why is it so quiet?
Xenon Headlight Bulb Sizes
I'm wondering if the size of the bulb would make a difference to how well it performs in the projector, There are such a wide range of sizes/shapes of xenon headlights, from what I've seen theres not that much difference between them all but I'm sure there are some I haven't seen yet. I'm considering the fact that different headlights would have different arc lengths, is this possible?
anyone know the Lumen output of the Bulb in the "Nobo 90" found 2 contradictory posts one saying it was 2000 and the other 8000, does anyone know for sure. Im not certain but I believe the bulb code is A1/223 or EHJ/7748 another thread stated it came listed as both.
thanks ppl
I'm wondering if the size of the bulb would make a difference to how well it performs in the projector, There are such a wide range of sizes/shapes of xenon headlights, from what I've seen theres not that much difference between them all but I'm sure there are some I haven't seen yet. I'm considering the fact that different headlights would have different arc lengths, is this possible?
anyone know the Lumen output of the Bulb in the "Nobo 90" found 2 contradictory posts one saying it was 2000 and the other 8000, does anyone know for sure. Im not certain but I believe the bulb code is A1/223 or EHJ/7748 another thread stated it came listed as both.
thanks ppl
No, but the concept should be the same with the light electronics (ballast and bulb).
It's because i talk too much. I should rather be quiet when i am only guessing. I'm good at guessing, though.
I doubt it; it's just a matter of whether you can fit it in there with a reflector. I think the presence of a reflector is crucial.
The filament/arc/light origin point are all about the same size. Just make sure the bulb is centered when pointing it at the um.. light input thing. THe place where it points normally.
Thanks for the info on the HID Xenon bulbs by the way.
I think i may try putting more than one bulb in there. I guess I can pull it off if I can make the reflector and mount.
The reflector and mount tend to be the trickiest. I like it to fit in the original bulb compartment, and I don't want to melt the plastic on the bulb carriage. For this reason, I mount the bulb against the reflector (heat sink) and hold the reflector with clips made out of clothes hangar wire. What's annoying is cutting holes and crap in the reflector...
Ive never actually seen a projector insides close up, so I cant exactly picture the position/size of the lamp compartment, but how would you fit 2 bulbs, surely the compartment is like a tunnel made for the size of the lamp Caddy where would you position the second bulb to make it actually supply the projector with functional light?
I found a bulb replacement for my projector for $85 I'm so happy thats like £46 down from £200-300. I got it from a member over at lumenlab forums he supplies the bulb only, you need to fit it in to your current reflector/caddy by using car exhaust putty. It Isn't that hard and for the saving in money I will probably be going this route 🙂
Linkage to the thread, just post your projector model or lamp code if you know it and he'll tell you what bulb you need. The bulbs ship from Japan so they take 1-3 weeks delivery but theres quite a few people that have already ordered from him and they seem happy with their purchases so when I get the money together (student budget here ) I'll be ordering a bulb, replacement for my projector is 200w BSM-AC.
whatt?? Car exhaust putty??? Wait would that really be a good heat resistant stuff? I would use it to the hold the bulb [plastic socket] to the reflector.
I read that it "dries hard". That would be kinda bad for a replaceable bulb concept. I would probably have to cut it away every time i needed to get that bulb out... but using something like this would be tons better than building another dumb harness that's a pain to work with.
As for how to put multiple bulbs in, I have these 2 smaller than headlight bulbs that are really meant for those offroad lamps. (you could probably use headlight bulbs if you removed the plastic socket and got just the glass part) I have a soup ladle as a reflector. I would mount the bulbs in such a way that they point roughly towards the focus of the parabola (that's where all the light would pass through if you shone a light on the curved surface, it's in mid-air above the deepest part of the parabola (ladle in this case).
So the bulbs wouldn't be paralell. It would be one mounted in each side of the reflector, rather than at the back.
...That makes sense to me. I wonder if it works out as i think...
ok that sounds good, did you post over at lumenlabs about the cheap bulbs? I just saw the same user name the guy uses for lumenlab over here hes called YWH so you might be able to PM him about it here.
Instead of the EMP-7000 I'm getting a Plus U5 132, its got decent specs, so if this DIY replaced bulb works I'll have me a £70 2000 ANSI Lumen,2000:1 contrast retail projector 🙂 pretty sweet 😎
PJ should be here by Wednesday so Ill try to get a cam and post pics.
The Car exhaust putty is also called Car Exhaust cement is very heat resistant,, I read a thread where someone was using a 2 part Cement that was heat resistant to 2500C or was it Kelvin dunno 😛.
I Made a quick search on ebay and theres tubes of it going for £5, I might just go to my local auto store for it though a bit quicker lol.
keep me posted
Instead of the EMP-7000 I'm getting a Plus U5 132, its got decent specs, so if this DIY replaced bulb works I'll have me a £70 2000 ANSI Lumen,2000:1 contrast retail projector 🙂 pretty sweet 😎
PJ should be here by Wednesday so Ill try to get a cam and post pics.
The Car exhaust putty is also called Car Exhaust cement is very heat resistant,, I read a thread where someone was using a 2 part Cement that was heat resistant to 2500C or was it Kelvin dunno 😛.
I Made a quick search on ebay and theres tubes of it going for £5, I might just go to my local auto store for it though a bit quicker lol.
keep me posted
Worried
Just been talking to the seller of the Plus U5 132 Projector, got more details of the projectors problems. He says that the lamp used to come on but hes switched the projector on and off so many times the lamp no longer comes on with the projector, I read about an automatic permanent standby mode the Plus U5 132 goes in to if you use 100 lamp hours over the maximum life so this may have been it kicking in.
The worrying thing I found out was even when the projector was working and the lamp came on with it, there was no visual output, the seller said he tried connecting a PC and the projector just gave a white screen.
I'm hoping its something simple, perhaps a problem with the internal optics, I'm just praying its not something more serious/electronic e.g. failed PCB's leading to loss of audio/video encoding, lol I'm just a little apprehensive about getting this second hand.
Anyone else had experience with repairing parts of a projector other than optics/Lamp?
How complicated are they?
thanks
Just been talking to the seller of the Plus U5 132 Projector, got more details of the projectors problems. He says that the lamp used to come on but hes switched the projector on and off so many times the lamp no longer comes on with the projector, I read about an automatic permanent standby mode the Plus U5 132 goes in to if you use 100 lamp hours over the maximum life so this may have been it kicking in.
The worrying thing I found out was even when the projector was working and the lamp came on with it, there was no visual output, the seller said he tried connecting a PC and the projector just gave a white screen.
I'm hoping its something simple, perhaps a problem with the internal optics, I'm just praying its not something more serious/electronic e.g. failed PCB's leading to loss of audio/video encoding, lol I'm just a little apprehensive about getting this second hand.
Anyone else had experience with repairing parts of a projector other than optics/Lamp?
How complicated are they?
thanks
I found a worrying review on projectorcentral about the Plus U5 132 -
Personal Experience
I bought my U5-132 last week. Good image quality, good contrast, good colours (after a short tunning). My work is involving presentations and digital video production. I am very satisfied of the projected image when it comes to show photos, and professional digital videos.
Problems
As for the problems encountered... There are some amazing things.
1. Video input - not functioning (I discovered this malfunction the very next day after I bought the device).
2. Problems with the lens system. If I obtain a clear and focused right upper and lower corner image, then the left upper and lower corner part of the picture is pretty blurry and the vice versa.
3. The dealer from which I bought the unit brought me another brand new U5-132. This one presented more accentuated problems in what concerns the lens system. The whole upper third of the image was in focus and, in the same time, the lower third was out of focus.
After 2 working days of waiting for an answer, the dealer just told me that the guys from his Technical department informed him that the "no full focus" lens problem is characteristic for the whole line of U5 132 products (so, they stated that this malfunction and lack of quality is a standard implemented by Plus-Vision corporation!!!). I wrote today to the headquarter of Plus Co. in Japan. I am wayting for an answer.
Does anyone know the homepage of "Plus" I cant seem to find it anywhere, have they just dissappeared along with all aftermarket support for they're products
Anyone know of similar problems with other plus projectors and how to solve them?
Personal Experience
I bought my U5-132 last week. Good image quality, good contrast, good colours (after a short tunning). My work is involving presentations and digital video production. I am very satisfied of the projected image when it comes to show photos, and professional digital videos.
Problems
As for the problems encountered... There are some amazing things.
1. Video input - not functioning (I discovered this malfunction the very next day after I bought the device).
2. Problems with the lens system. If I obtain a clear and focused right upper and lower corner image, then the left upper and lower corner part of the picture is pretty blurry and the vice versa.
3. The dealer from which I bought the unit brought me another brand new U5-132. This one presented more accentuated problems in what concerns the lens system. The whole upper third of the image was in focus and, in the same time, the lower third was out of focus.
After 2 working days of waiting for an answer, the dealer just told me that the guys from his Technical department informed him that the "no full focus" lens problem is characteristic for the whole line of U5 132 products (so, they stated that this malfunction and lack of quality is a standard implemented by Plus-Vision corporation!!!). I wrote today to the headquarter of Plus Co. in Japan. I am wayting for an answer.
Does anyone know the homepage of "Plus" I cant seem to find it anywhere, have they just dissappeared along with all aftermarket support for they're products
Anyone know of similar problems with other plus projectors and how to solve them?
you may be overlooking one major problem and that is getting the projector to fire up when it hasnt got a working ( original type ) lamp in it
a lot of retail projectors have curcuitary in them to sense that a working bulb is in via the power they draw or some have optical light sensors
in the latter case you will be fine but if its got power sensor curcuits then your going to need to find a way to trick the pj into thinking its still got an original lamp in
a lot of retail projectors have curcuitary in them to sense that a working bulb is in via the power they draw or some have optical light sensors
in the latter case you will be fine but if its got power sensor curcuits then your going to need to find a way to trick the pj into thinking its still got an original lamp in
thing is im thinking if the current power system has the functionality to power the bulb even if it is an alternative replacement, as long as the power is being drawn the power sensing circuits will be satisfied.
Also the right wires to short have been found for quite a few models so it shouldn't be that hard. Im always up for a challenge 🙂
How do optical light sensors work, sureley a light sensor cant tell what type of bulb there is just that there is one there?
thanks for the reply 🙂
Also the right wires to short have been found for quite a few models so it shouldn't be that hard. Im always up for a challenge 🙂
How do optical light sensors work, sureley a light sensor cant tell what type of bulb there is just that there is one there?
thanks for the reply 🙂
How do optical light sensors work, sureley a light sensor cant tell what type of bulb there is just that there is one there?
they work by sensing a certain degree of light so it knows that the buld is striking
they work by sensing a certain degree of light so it knows that the buld is striking
optical light sensors....
Mine I'm pretty sure doesn't have one. I was testing the LCD with a very dim light source (i.e. the ambient light from the lamp in my room).
I may be repeating myself on this but, the way projectors tend to sense bulb striking is via the ballast. The ballast circuit sends some sort of signal back to the mainboard to tell it that the bulb is on. For mine, all I had to do was ground one of the wires coming from the mainboard (that normally went to the ballast) and put a resistor on it too. Apparently mine is looking for a LACK of a return signal on one of the lines.... or a signal under a certain threshold for amps. I remember reading 336 microamps or something with my meter. The meter itself was effectively putting a load on it but that reading was apparently below (or above) what it wanted to get to detect a bulb. When I just plain grounded the wire it didn't work. I had to put the resistor on it.
So anyways, in summary, typically the projector doesn't sense a bulb by detecting the light. It senses a *successful bulb strike* instead. The ballast circuitry tells the mainboard that the bulb was started successfully.
my setup with the resistor and all has actually been flaky lately. Sometimes it doesn't detect the bulb and goes into error state. Sometimes it turns the screen on (which is good enough) and then shortly thereafter says there's no bulb (the controls die, but the screen remains on - so still usable). Sometimes it just works like it should. I'm not sure why this is .... I didn't actually solder the grounding wire to the case - I used electrical tape....
Anyways good luck and I hope your projector has good quality.
Oh also, maybe I'm not getting eye strain from this setup after all... my eyes seem to be fine lately.
Mine I'm pretty sure doesn't have one. I was testing the LCD with a very dim light source (i.e. the ambient light from the lamp in my room).
I may be repeating myself on this but, the way projectors tend to sense bulb striking is via the ballast. The ballast circuit sends some sort of signal back to the mainboard to tell it that the bulb is on. For mine, all I had to do was ground one of the wires coming from the mainboard (that normally went to the ballast) and put a resistor on it too. Apparently mine is looking for a LACK of a return signal on one of the lines.... or a signal under a certain threshold for amps. I remember reading 336 microamps or something with my meter. The meter itself was effectively putting a load on it but that reading was apparently below (or above) what it wanted to get to detect a bulb. When I just plain grounded the wire it didn't work. I had to put the resistor on it.
So anyways, in summary, typically the projector doesn't sense a bulb by detecting the light. It senses a *successful bulb strike* instead. The ballast circuitry tells the mainboard that the bulb was started successfully.
my setup with the resistor and all has actually been flaky lately. Sometimes it doesn't detect the bulb and goes into error state. Sometimes it turns the screen on (which is good enough) and then shortly thereafter says there's no bulb (the controls die, but the screen remains on - so still usable). Sometimes it just works like it should. I'm not sure why this is .... I didn't actually solder the grounding wire to the case - I used electrical tape....
Anyways good luck and I hope your projector has good quality.
Oh also, maybe I'm not getting eye strain from this setup after all... my eyes seem to be fine lately.
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