how can i maximize my bulb life for my projector?

Question

How could i maximize bulb life for my porjector. recently it went out. it went out prematurely. is their any cause for this. not well ventalation, i also a air vent right above it that blows out air. hot air this season. and could that make that much of a difference on how long it lasts. its always on economy. also, would having the projector turned on and off more often cause the lamp to go out

Answer 1

1. You should move your projector away from the vent, first thing. The dust and particles that come from the vent can do some real damage to your projector.

2. Be sure not to unplug your projector or shut it down completely before the fan has run for several minutes and turned itself off.

3. If your projector has a filter, (newer projectors may not have filters, but most older models do) be sure to clean it regularly.

Lamp life specifications can be a little deceiving. If your projector manufacturer says the lamp is supposed to last 4000 hours, its actually specifying a half life. Your lamp may last longer than that, but it should not fail completely before that time. But either way, your lamp will be less bright at 2000 hours than it was when you first purchased it. And it will be less bright at 4000 than it was at 2000. Manufacturer lamp warranties are typically only good for the first 90 days of ownership, (though some are now as long as a year), but extended lamp warranties can often be purchased for under $100 and may be worth the investment.

Someone mentioned that most projectors have fans that keep running once the projector has been shut down, that is true as long as you leave the projector plugged in. Newer projectors (those released in the last year or so) will include a battery that will run the fan even after it is unplugged, but if your projector is older than that, you won't have that feature.


General Projector Care tips
http://www.projectorpeople.com/resources/projector-care.asp

Lamp Life specific tips
http://www.projectorpeople.com/resources/projector-lamp_life.asp

Answer 2

Most projectors will automatically keep the fan on for a period of time after turn-off, and in addition they will not let you turn it back on immediately. This is to extend the life of the bulb. However, if you unplug your projector or otherwise turn of its power before the fan shuts off, you will severely limit the bulb life. Make sure that the projector vents are clear of dust and obstructions, and that there is a lot of air space around the projector. If the projector has bulb brightness settings, use the lowest level. Finally, if you are going to leave the projector unused for less than 1/2 hour, don't turn it off.

In spite of all this, some bulbs will burn out early, and there is nothing you can do about it. The estimated life is a statistical value, and may not apply to every bulb.

Answer 3

Yo John,
I'm giving you the straight up on this one dude--- This is one that will make a major difference !!
First of all---NEVER handle the bulb with your bare hands---even when removing it from its container to install it in the projector---use a clean, soft cloth to handle the bulb !! The very slightest touch of a projector bulb with your bare hands will leave a small trace of oils (natural body oils) on the bulb and it will NOT take more than a touch to do this--- then when the bulb heats up---(and they get extremely HOT)--- the oils go super nova on the bulbs glass and weakens it steadily until it fries it in FAR less time than it would normally burn out !!!

The other thing here is---- after you are done doing your projection usage----switch the BULB off BUT leave the Fan in operation for at least a quarter of the time that you've used the projector with the bulb ON--- this allows the super heated bulb to be cooled down by assistance and doesn't leave it to cool down within its casing at a much slower pace--- which is damaging

These two things right here should easily see you increase the service life of your projector bulbs by at least 30 % when compared to not using these measures--- and at the cost of these dogs-----DANG----you want to get as much out of them as you can !!!!

Much luck and I hope I've been some rock solid good for you !!!!

Answer 4

The BEST way is to minimize the on-off cycling of the projector. On every startup, the initial arc that occurs removes some of the material (tungsten?) that the electricity arcs across to make light (much more than what wears away during use). So, avoid using it short-term like you would a television.
Post-shutdown cooling is good, but the mfgrs. have pretty much got that covered (if not, bulbs would be exploding all over the place!).

Answer 5

the less run-time, the greater valuable. The bulbs don't have very long lives and are extremely costly. Your projector could have an vehicle-shutdown function, which would be enabled/disabled. If it does not, turn the projection off in between certainly makes use of - do no longer only bypass away it on for the sake of convenience.