CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[ecrabb]

OK, so I've been looking for a beater digital to use for neighborhood movie nights in the park, but everything is always too much money... I don't want to wrap up $250 or $300 in a projector I take outside for movies a handful of times a year.

But, this afternoon, I ran across a guy on craigslist locally selling a Sanyo PLV-Z3 3LCD projector for $20. This is a 720p machine from about 5 years ago, so not worth much. Supposedly, it includes the original bulb (with high hours on it), and the bulb that's in it supposedly has half it's life left. The catch is that it suffers from what he calls the "blue blob issue". If it's had two bulbs through it, then I'm guessing 3,000-4,000 hours on it, and therefore I assume the issue is either a torched panel or polarizer.

I thought about picking it up for $20... Even if I can't fix it, I thought it might be worth $20 just to tear into to learn about.

Thoughts? It's probably the panel itself, as opposed to just the polarizer, isn't it?

What do you think, Mac?

Thanks,
SC

[Curt Palme]

The blue LCD is leaking, it's absorbed too much heat over time. You'd need to change the LCD panels which aren't worth repairing.

[Curt Palme]

The blue LCD is leaking, it's absorbed too much heat over time. You'd need to change the LCD panels which aren't worth repairing.

[macgyver655]

Ok, I did your homework for you.

First off, I have the service manual for it if you choose to get it.
Second, the replacement lamps are a little high for that model, 175.00 being about the lowest I could find from a reputable supplier. I don't like Ebay for lamps but even on there they are not cheap.

Third, and this is the big one. That model has an inner and outer polarizer besides the panel itself. More then likely a polarizer but you must check to be sure. Inner blue polarizer is $95.00 to $101.00. Outer blue is $130.00 to $137.00.

Possibly outer.

Complete LCD assy.: $1005.95

[macgyver655]

So did you buy that damn thing or not?

[ecrabb]

Crap, thanks guys... No, not yet, Mac. Ended up working about 10 hours Saturday and 6 yesterday... Didn't even leave the house all weekend until Sunday afternoon for lunch. Weekend SUCKED... I basically didn't have one. Stupid work...

I'm hoping to pick it up after work... Waiting to hear back from the guy, actually. I think it's worth the $20 just to tear one apart and learn about it even if I can't fix it. I definitely won't be buying a new bulb for it... Maybe I can find one cheap with a dead lamp to rob the LCD assembly.

Thanks, Mac!!!!

SC

[macgyver655]

Yeah, for 20 bucks I figured it would be a fun project for you. I have some thoughts on cheap alternatives for replacement parts depending on what you find.

[ecrabb]

Awesome! Thanks, Mac! We'll see if the guy comes through.

SC

[macgyver655]

This should answer many of questions. Sorry I can't post the entire document. Has a lot of great info. But questions are welcome.

Quote:

Reasons for degradation of the parts
Ultraviolet and deep blue light from the lamp

High-pressure mercury vapor lamps produce visible light with peaks in the red, green, and blue-violet ranges. However, they also produce large amounts of high-energy ultraviolet (UV) light, which gets filtered into the blue light path along with the blue-violet part of the spectrum. While some UV light likely is filtered out by the outer lamp bulb and UV filter(s) in the blue light path, a significant amount apparently remains unfiltered, as more effective UV filters remove too much of the visible blue-violet light. The polarizers and LCD panels are subject to degradation during prolonged exposure to UV and deep blue-violet visible light, at least in part due to the presence of organic dyes. Thus, the orange-colored input polarizer and the blue LCD panel tend to be the first to exhibit degradation. The blue output polarizer may also be subject to this damage, but to a far lesser degree.

[macgyver655]

more

[macgyver655]

more

[akajester]

I have 2 lcd projectors that appear to have suffered the same consequences. I thought about posting them on Ebay for parts. I took one apart just for fun. I hate to scrap this stuff if someone can use it.

dale

[Tom.W]

LCD degradation theory.

www.plus-america.com/pdf/DLP_Picture_Reliability.pdf

LCD rear projection problems.

http://sites.google.com/site/sonylcdrptvproblems/optical-block-defects

Looks like I will be sticking with my CRT projectors for a long time....................................................

[ecrabb]

Thanks, Mac! I picked the projector up. Probably won't have time to tear into it until this weekend. Only thing that worries me is the guy said he'd had it apart once already... So, even if it was fixable before, who knows what he did to it when he was inside it. There aren't any fat-fingered screws on the case or anything, so at least he knows how to run a screwdriver. We'll see... I'm considering it a science experiment and don't intend to put much of any money into it.

SC

[macgyver655]

[AnalogRocks]

[AnalogRocks]

[macgyver655]

[AnalogRocks]

[AnalogRocks]

[ecrabb]

You bastards are wearing off on me... I picked up a dead digital projector two nights ago and I'm picking up a dead 1080p Panny plasma tomorrow after work. God help me.

SC

[AnalogRocks]

scritch scritch scitch, we're eating into your brain

[AnalogRocks]

scritch scritch scitch, we're eating into your brain

[macgyver655]