Fellow Sanyo Z1 Owners: Best place to buy replacement lamps? (1 Viewer)

[Jeff_S]

Unfortunately, the lamp in my Z1 died this morning. :frowning: I think I had about 800 hours on it, all in econo mode. I thought it didn't look as bright lately but it's I guess it's hard to tell if it's gradual reduction in brightness.

So where do you buy your replacement lamps from (and how much did you pay)? I just ordered a replacement lamp from projectorsforsale.com for $319. I'll let you know how that goes.

How many hours do you have on your current lamp? For those that don't know, to find out how many hours are on your current lamp, hold down the Up arrow on the projector (holding down the Up arrow on the remote does not work) for 30 seconds and it will list how many hours you have on your lamp in either econo or full mode.

Since Sanyo doesn't give an estimate on the life of their lamps (unlike other manufacturers), maybe we can gather some informal data from the end-users (us) and establish a life expectancy range.

What am I going to do while I wait for the replacement lamp???? There is no torture like making an FP owner go back to watching a small tube TV.

 

[mark alan]

There are several threads on the avs forum regarding Z1 bulb life. Here is one.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=323100

You are not the only one to have a bulb die with a relatively low life on it. With a half-life of 3,000 hours (based upon manufacturers literature in Europe and Australia), there should be very few failures at less than 1,000 hours. It makes me think that there is either some bad bulbs out there, or the Z1 design is not providing sufficient cooling.

I have about 700 hours on my Z1 bulb, no problems thus far (fingers crossed).

 

[Jeff_S]

Thanks for the info. I will check it out!

 

[Jeff_S]

I just checked out the results of the AVS Forum poll. Not too encouraging. :frowning:

I'm wondering if my bulb died prematurely because the Z1 wasn't getting enough air flow due to clogged air filters. When I was looking at it this morning (after the lamp died), the air filter was covered in a pretty thick layer of fine dust (I completely forgot about the user-cleanable air filter and thus never cleaned it!). In the future, I will be more diligent about cleaning it regularly.

On the subject of replacement lamps for the Z1, here are some of the prices from the various sites I found today:

$302 - iavi.com
$305 - harbingeronline.com
$309 - projectorxpress.com
$319 - projectorsforsale.com
$325 - projectors-now.com
$329 - bhphoto.com
$349 - focusedtechnology.com
$350 - projectorcenter.com
$450 - projectorpeople.com

As I said in my first post, I already ordered my replacement bulb from projectorsforsale.com (before I found some of the cheaper prices above). It will hopefully arrive tomorrow and I'll be able to watch X2 in all its glory!

For future reference, does anyone have any positive/negative feedback on any of the companies listed (or know of any good ones not listed)? I was kind of shocked by the projectorpeople.com price-- a 50% difference seems a little extreme especially since projectorpeople.com has reasonably good prices on their projectors (I bought my Z1 there and am happy with their service). I would love to shop for lamps there but $100-150 extra per lamp is too much for me.

 

[Jeff_S]

I received my replacement lamp today just 24 hours after ordering it (ah, the power of next day air!). After installing it, cleaning the air filter, and re-positioning the projector, I anxiously fired it up. I was immediately impressed by how much brighter it was (this is in econo mode). It seems even brighter than when I first bought it! Hopefully, this one will last longer than the original one.

All in all, I'm satisfied with projectorsforsale.com. Their website seems a little outdated and mundane (no online tracking numbers, etc.) but they delivered on-time and their price was reasonable.

 

[mark alan]

Glad you're back up and running.

I think I will go clean my filter.

 

[Eric Samonte]

Ahh...I have a question...there is only one filter to clean right? The one that u can pull out?

 

[Jeff_S]

Yes, there is only one user-cleanable air filter. There are other vents in the case (basically, every side of the case except the top) that could possibly be cleaned but they are only accessible by opening the Z1's outer shell (which might void the warranty). Perhaps, vacuuming the vents from the outside would keep them sufficiently free of debris.

Here's a website describing how to clean a Sanyo PLV-60HT:

http://www.petermoeykens.com/archives/000013.html

It's not directly applicable as it is a different model but it can give you an idea of what you might be in for if you decide to crack open the case.