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My SP 4805 just died. :-(

post #1 of 38
10/4/07 at 5:59pm
Thread Starter 
I need some cheering up, guys.

I was sitting in my favorite chair waiting for Smallville to start and suddenly my screen went dark and I heard the sound of plastic bits being ground up inside my 4805. I removed the lamp to inspect it and the lamp is fine, but my color wheel is gone, busted into shards and rattling around inside.

It's no longer under warrantly, either.

Now i'm without a PJ for the next 5 months at least until I save up to buy another one. Dammit! Have no idea why I started this thread but i'm depressed and pissed right now.
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post #2 of 38
10/4/07 at 6:33pm

Re: My SP 4805 just died. :-(

My condolences John.
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post #3 of 38
10/4/07 at 6:44pm

Re: My SP 4805 just died. :-(

that would blow a nasty sack of sweaty crap stained donkey balls..
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post #4 of 38
10/4/07 at 6:50pm
Thread Starter 

Re: My SP 4805 just died. :-(

Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott98
that would blow a nasty sack of sweaty crap stained donkey balls..

And that would be a pretty accurate description.

Thanks, Cameron.

Looks like that Optoma HD70 has my name written all over it, but it'll be awhile. Man it hurts knowing that i'm without a PJ, i've been without a lamp before but this is the first time i've ever lost a PJ to such a catastrophy.
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post #5 of 38
10/4/07 at 9:14pm

Re: My SP 4805 just died. :-(

A co-worker's DLP HDTV set also suffered a busted color wheel after just 3 years of use. No one ever tells you that these high rpm spinning color wheels will ever fail, but they do, and should be factored into the purchase decision (as well as an extended warranty purchase). My condolences.
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post #6 of 38
10/4/07 at 10:08pm
Thread Starter 

Re: My SP 4805 just died. :-(

Thanks, Patrick, yeah, it's one of those things where you think it won't happen to you but the reality is it can and does.

I've had a few hours now to think about it and the way I see it this will just push me into my next upgrade. I had planned on getting into either Blu Ray or HD DVD come tax time and I was recently looking around the net for my next projector because the 4805 had developed a dark spot due to damage to the DLP mirrors, that's when I saw the Optoma HD70.

It happened, can't change that so I have two choices, either sit and cry in my cereal over this or look at it as the catalyst for an upgrade which I was planning to do soon anyway. One thing remains...what to do with the carcass of my 4805? I can't bring myself to trash it.
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post #7 of 38
10/5/07 at 11:06am

Re: My SP 4805 just died. :-(

I'm sorry to hear this, John. Hopefully, you have another television to tide you over until you are ready to buy another pj. I have the Mitsubishi HD1000U, and I'm very happy with it. The Optoma is supposed to be just as good, and I'm sure that there will be even more quality pj's on the market when you get ready to pull the trigger.
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post #8 of 38
10/5/07 at 11:20am

Re: My SP 4805 just died. :-(

Boy, I can relate!!

My 4805 has been the best display device I've ever owned, period!! (The combination of contrast level, pixel fill, and color balance just all seem to come together perfectly on this thing. Well-mastered standard definition DVDs look crisp and sharp; and HD sources -- viewed in native mode -- look even better!)

I was all set to upgrade in July of this year, but after looking over the current crop of projectors I decided to just stay with the 4805 for another year.

The color wheel does "chatter" occasionally, though! Geez, I never knew these things could actually break into pieces!!
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post #9 of 38
10/5/07 at 11:47am
Thread Starter 

Re: My SP 4805 just died. :-(

Quote:
Originally Posted by Joseph Bolus
The color wheel does "chatter" occasionally, though! Geez, I never knew these things could actually break into pieces!!

And the sound it made was just aweful, it sounded like I threw a bunch of playing cards into a wood chipper.

I think that if you've never had a lamp blow on you than your color wheel might be healthier than mine was, the black spot I had on the screen I thought was due to a couple of damaged mirrors on my DLP chip because of what I was told by the tech guy I spoke to at Infocus but after what happened i'm thinking the spot was due to damage to the color wheel when my last lamp blew and that led to my failure.

But Patrick brought up a good point when he pointed out that these color wheels spin as such high rates of speed that they can and do break up. At any rate, these lamps are rated for 3,000 hrs and take my advice, after 3,000 hrs no matter if it's still burning strong get it out of there and replace it.

I took the housing apart and scooped up the pieces of the wheel and this thing is frangile, I don't know if it's fragile because of the wear and tear or if it's like that brand new but it came apart into 3 pieces, clean breaks too as if someone cut it up with a pair of scissors.

As for what i'm using now to get by I wish I could say that I had another large screen display but as it stands i'm using a 25" color tv that was in the bedroom.

The life of a HT lover is oh so hard sometimes.
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post #10 of 38
10/5/07 at 12:07pm

Re: My SP 4805 just died. :-(

Quote:
But Patrick brought up a good point when he pointed out that these color wheels spin as such high rates of speed that they can and do break up. At any rate, these lamps are rated for 3,000 hrs and take my advice, after 3,000 hrs no matter if it's still burning strong get it out of there and replace it.

That's very good advice. I've never left a bulb in a projector past its rated life span; and I only had one bulb that ever blew on me. (It had just passed 1250 hours of its rated 4000 hour life on my old X1. The replacement bulb is still going at my brother's house.)

I'm on my second bulb on my 4805 right now. The first bulb was still going strong at 2500 hours; and I have it in my closet to use in case of an emergency.

Good luck! If I were you I'd purchase one of the new high-contrast LCD projectors like the Panasonic PT-AX200U. (Doesn't need a color wheel; and -- in real life -- this 720p native resolution pj should look about as good, or slightly better, than the 480p native resolution SP-4805.) I know that if my 4805 were to die today, this is the projector that I would jump on.
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post #11 of 38
10/7/07 at 7:33pm
Thread Starter 

Re: My SP 4805 just died. :-(

Joseph, you sold me on the AX200U. All I really needed to read in that review was that it doesn't have any screendoor effect! That plus they said the 720p image looks very close to a 1080p image when using HD DVD and Blu Ray.

It's a little more than I was expecting to pay and the replacment lamps cost an arm and a leg but what the hell ya know.
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post #12 of 38
10/8/07 at 4:46am

Re: My SP 4805 just died. :-(

Pm'd. I need a bulb for my sp4805 (it died saturday), so maybe we could work out a deal.
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post #13 of 38
10/8/07 at 6:07am
Thread Starter 

Re: My SP 4805 just died. :-(

You guys want to see a pathetic site?

"Autopsy" pics of my 4805 ...









And finally the cause of my failure...


The fragments of the color wheel were like I said in three major pieces when I extracted them and they were brittle. I tried an experiment to see just how easily it could be broken and so I took a small rubber tipped ball peen hammer and very lightly tapped the pieces and they immediately shattered into many more pieces, I even got a "color wheel splinter" a tiny piece stuck in my finger lol.

But if you'll notice the color wheel broke apart perfectly segmented, where one color ended and the other started is where it broke cleanly.

I pray that none of you will ever have to take pictures like these of your projectors.
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post #14 of 38
10/8/07 at 6:53am

Re: My SP 4805 just died. :-(

Whew!! That's some *ugly* looking stuff there!

I guess, in retrospect, it makes sense that the color wheel would be relatively fragile since the components have to be transparent enough to allow 90% (or more) of the light from the bulb through.

I think I read somewhere that the motor that spins the color wheel is rated by Infocus as having a life span of 100,000 hours. (Considering the amount of racket that the color wheel motor makes in my 4805 at about 4500 hours total, I find this a dubious claim; but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.) But one has to wonder after seeing these pictures what the rated life of the color wheel itself is supposed to be!

By the way, please let us know what you think of that AX200U. A lot of us "old 4805ers" have been eying that projector!
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post #15 of 38
10/8/07 at 11:22am
Thread Starter 

Re: My SP 4805 just died. :-(

It's funny you mention the color wheel whine, Joseph, the 4805 despite two years of use (got it refurbished from Infocus so I actually don't know how old it really was when I got it) never really developed that problem where as I went through two X1's and they both suffered from a really LOUD color wheel whine, I mean i'm talkin' buzz saw loud.

Also of note my wheel showed very little to no scoring on it, with the exception of that tiny black spot (looks like it was burnt to my eyes) it had very little dirt on it and didn't show signs of rubbing or friction scratches or marks. This more than anything makes me think what happened was due to that last bulb blowing because healthy color wheels don't just fly apart without help such as prior damage and weakening.

As for the AX200U, you guys will probably have to tell me how it is since you'll probably have it before me, it'll take me awhile to save for it so I probably won't be able to afford it until Feb or March because of the fast approaching holidays. Damn holidays.
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post #16 of 38
10/8/07 at 1:33pm

Re: My SP 4805 just died. :-(

Quote:
Originally Posted by Joseph Bolus
[By the way, please let us know what you think of that AX200U. A lot of us "old 4805ers" have been eying that projector!

How come? Going from DLP to LCD...why not a Mitsu 1000 or 1500, or an Optoma HD70 or 72?
Or for the price of the 200 the Marantzvp-4001?
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post #17 of 38
10/8/07 at 3:36pm

Re: My SP 4805 just died. :-(

Quote:
Originally Posted by E-A-G-L-E-S
How come? Going from DLP to LCD...why not a Mitsu 1000 or 1500, or an Optoma HD70 or 72?
Or for the price of the 200 the Marantzvp-4001?

Basically, now that relatively inexpensive high-contrast, low SDE, LCD projectors are available, why put up with the nuisance of a color wheel? It's just one less moving part to have to worry about!

I would really like to see DLP go the way of replacing the color wheel and the lamp with three red-green-blue high powered LED's -- as we're now seeing with many popular DLP-based RPTV configurations. I suppose the lumens still have to come up a little in order to make this viable, but it sure would be sweet to have a FPTV system configured around a 20,000 hour life LED light source as opposed to a 3000 hour bulb!
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post #18 of 38
10/8/07 at 5:56pm

Re: My SP 4805 just died. :-(

Quote:
it'll take me awhile to save for it so I probably won't be able to afford it until Feb or March because of the fast approaching holidays. Damn holidays.
Maybe if your a good boy, you will get one for for Christmas.
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post #19 of 38
10/8/07 at 6:18pm
Thread Starter 

Re: My SP 4805 just died. :-(

Quote:
Originally Posted by drobbins
Maybe if your a good boy, you will get one for for Christmas.

That'd be very nice but not likely lol.

In fact all I got from my father after it happened was a big ol' "I told ya so" because he advised me against getting into front projection in the first place.
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post #20 of 38
10/12/07 at 5:49pm

Re: My SP 4805 just died. :-(

Has anyone seen a dark brown line along the left edge of the projected image? This just showed up one day and I don't know what is the problem. Any ideas would help?


Thanks.....
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post #21 of 38
12/18/07 at 7:29pm

Re: My SP 4805 just died. :-(

my extended warranty has paid for itself...not to mention the lamp replacement
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post #22 of 38
12/18/07 at 7:33pm

Re: My SP 4805 just died. :-(

Quote:
Originally Posted by Haywood
Has anyone seen a dark brown line along the left edge of the projected image? This just showed up one day and I don't know what is the problem. Any ideas would help?


Thanks.....

It's called, "image banding"

you have a bad light tube. The adhesive is separating from the surface from the heat.
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post #23 of 38
12/19/07 at 2:33am
Thread Starter 

Re: My SP 4805 just died. :-(

Quote:
Originally Posted by Haywood
Has anyone seen a dark brown line along the left edge of the projected image? This just showed up one day and I don't know what is the problem. Any ideas would help?


Thanks.....

Sounds very much like the dark spots I was seeing on my image.

BTW, guys, I settled on a decision regarding my next display, after the first of the year i'm putting my efforts into getting the Sony Bravia 60A3000. I've read a few reviews and saw one in action and I fell in love with it.

It's not FP and it certaintly isn't 103" however it is a 60" and that's nothing to sneeze at, either, especially with the size of my living room.
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post #24 of 38
1/12/08 at 8:25am

Re: My SP 4805 just died. :-(

If you are still looking for a KDS-60A3000, I noticed that onecall has it for $1699 plus free shipping. Check the Deals section.

-Keith
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post #25 of 38
1/12/08 at 1:52pm

Re: My SP 4805 just died. :-(

If you are feeling handy, you might try this place:

Appliance parts, electronics parts & more from PartStore.com

You might be able to repair it.

Good luck

Edited To Add: I just searched the site and they don't have that part. A google search revealed no one seems to be able to get the part number. I am guessing your projector is over 2 years old..yes?
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post #26 of 38
1/18/08 at 1:22pm

Re: My SP 4805 just died. :-(

My Colorwheel has recently become extremely noisy when I first fire up my projector. It settles down within five minutes or less .. but is the end near??
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post #27 of 38
1/18/08 at 1:30pm

Re: My SP 4805 just died. :-(

Greg

Mine has been doing that for the last two years. It doesn't happen all of the time. It used to scare me, I was ready to have to replace it but two years and 2000+ hours the damn thing still isn't dead.

I may never get a new one as total and complete death is the only way the wife will let me upgrade.

btw, that is the PJ's death, not mine.
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post #28 of 38
1/18/08 at 4:34pm

Re: My SP 4805 just died. :-(

Your death and she gets to upgrade

Sorry, I couldn't resist. My 4805 is still doing pretty good.
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post #29 of 38
1/19/08 at 6:33pm

Re: My SP 4805 just died. :-(

Quote:
Originally Posted by Doug_H
Mine has been doing that for the last two years. It doesn't happen all of the time. It used to scare me, I was ready to have to replace it but two years and 2000+ hours the damn thing still isn't dead.

Thanks Doug. That is very good to hear, as I was hoping to upgrade my projector this year but finances may say otherwise. So the longer my 4805 can hold together, the better!
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post #30 of 38
1/19/08 at 7:31pm

Re: My SP 4805 just died. :-(

Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Berger
Your death and she gets to upgrade

Sorry, I couldn't resist. My 4805 is still doing pretty good.

Some day she is going to get curious and start reading this forum. I hope I can fit 8 speakers in the dog house
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