An Epson ceiling-mounted projector of ours did the same thing a while
back. The bulb was allegedly at about 60 to 70 percent of its supposed
lifespan and it was providing nice clear images at half intensity or less
(with the brightness controls at max). Replacing the bulb worked.

The dimming of the earlier bulb wasn't really sudden in the usual sense,
but compared to the supposed lifetime, the three months or so we spent
gradually cranking up the brightness to achieve the same level and then
maxing out and watching the actual brightness fade away could be thought
of as "sudden-ish".

The earlier bulb was not an Epson brand bulb, but a "compatible" one, so
we figured that maybe quality control on the non-branded bulbs was not as
good as it could have been (though it did work fine for quite some time
before starting to fade away). Bulbs prior to that tended to be fine till
somewhere between 80 & 120 percent of the lifetime and then *poink*! dead.
--

George

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George J Perkins                  http://www.pa.msu.edu/people/perkins/
Biomedical Physical Sciences
567 Wilson Road, Room 1209B       Phone: 517-884-5467
East Lansing, MI 48824         FAX: 517-353-4500

From: Hoort, Brian [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2012 10:53
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MSUNAG] Projector Dim

We’ve got a Sharp ceiling-mount projector that suddenly is very dim, about half the lumens it was prior. Restoring defaults and messing with contrast/brightness settings does not help. The projector is about six years old. Is this likely just a bulb gone bad (it says it is at 60% of projected life) or a failing projector? I don’t want to spend $300 to find out. Have any of you experienced this?

Your advice is most appreciated.

Brian Hoort | 517-355-3776

ANR Technology Services, User Services

College of Agriculture and Natural Resources

Michigan State University

http://support.anr.msu.edu/

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