Projector Not Working - Help! (1 Viewer)

[BenBerentson]

New to the forum and I'm not sure if ths is the right place to post this messgae, but here goes. I need some help or advice with my Toshiba TDP-MT5 projector...when I try to turn it on, the fan seems to go on in a halfhearted way and nothing happens -- the projection lamp doesn't go on -- it just seems not to want to spool up. I doubt it is the lamp because i replaced that this year and when the lamp is broken, a warning light flashes. Here, all lights go on as normal. I'd do just about anything to keep from having to send the thing back to Toshiba only to then be told where else to send it. I feel like the fan is broken in some way, but the manual says a warning light would come on in that instance and it's not happening.

THanks,

Ben

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Ben,

as someone who is currently without his projector (for 2 and a half weeks now) because of a bad color wheel, I can relate. It definatly sounds abnormal to me for your lamp not to strike. Are the fans the only thing you hear running? The color wheel in the projector should be heard running too.

As I did with my Infocus, I would call Toshiba and ask to talk to one of their technical associates and tell them what's going on and take it from their.

It's a bitch, but if you must send it in for service they'll tell you precisly where to ship it and about how long it will take to return to you.

Just asking, but did you connect the lamps interface wire correctly when you installed the lamp? Inside my InFocus X-1, their's a white wire that plugs into the projector, yours should have something similar.

 

[BenBerentson]

THanks for the reply. Yeah, the unit has been working fine for months. What does the color wheel sound like? It just seems like the fan is running -- I can feel the air coming out of the front vent -- but the fan doesn't seem to want to really power up -- it's like it'd idling. Could it be a broken fan perhaps? I guess there is no way around sending it back. I'm a little surprised because the unit has suffered no trauma -- it's on a ceiling mount and just sits there.

Any ideas as to what the problem might be? The Toshiba guys never seem to be very helpful -- they asked my if the lens cap was on, blah blah.

Ben

 

[BenBerentson]

Oh, as far as your final question -- I don't recall exactly how I installed the lamp, but I followed the directions in the manual to the letter. No way I'm being cavalier with something that expensive.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

I'm not sure what the color wheel sounds like in your Toshiba, but as for me when I turn on the PJ the fist things I hear start are the fans, followed a second or two later by the color wheel (like a quiet electronic whirring sound) followed immidiately by the lamp strike.

I think it's a pretty safe bet that you've done pretty much everything within your power to solve the problem, it sounds to me like it needs to be serviced. That's just my opinion though, others here may have an explanation for you on the problem.

 

[BenBerentson]

That's what I pretty much figured -- you hope against hope, but with high-end electronics these days, all you can do pretty much is press the power button a few times and unplug it and try again.

Yeah, sounds like it's not getting to the color wheel stage. I suppose the unit realizes what's going on and keeps itself from injuring itself, huh?

 

[BenBerentson]

What does the color wheel do, just for my own edification?

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

The color wheel is responsible for producing the color. It's located right in front of the lamp optic, you can see it when you look into the lamp cavity when it's removed from the projector. When on, it spins which is what produces the noise. The light from the lamp passes through it, then into a complex array of mirrors and optics before being sent out through the lens.

Projector's used to have only a three color wheel to produce the image (some still do) while other good PJ have a six color wheel to produce pretty much any color under the sun in your picture. The color wheel, combined with the complex optics is what gives front projection it's beautiful image rich with color.

The above is a very simplified version of it, but basically that's what it does.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

As a sidenote, I find it ironic that were discussing the color wheel because that's what's wrong with mine. My color wheel was getting extremely noisy, so noisy in fact that I had to switch off the PJ because it was getting on my nerves.

As a result, they have to replace the entire optic engine which from what I understand would have cost me around 600 bucks or so. Thank goodness for warrenties!

 

[Leo Kerr]

Based on the symptoms described, it sounds like Ben has either (a) a bad power supply, or (b) a bad control/main logic board.

I'm not sure which would be worse; I suspect that the power supply is the cheaper, easier replacement. Either way, however, I suspect this is a trip to the North Pole where the Grinch keeps his little laboratory to fix lights...

Out of curiousity,
1. how many hours did you get on your first lamp?
2. was your second lamp showing any... delay in getting started before the projector failed? Like multiple strike attempts?

I'm sure that there was a #3, but I can't think of what it might have been..

Leo Kerr

 

[BenBerentson]

I'm not sure how many hours exactly I got out of my first lamp, but it blew (right when OUtKast was performing at the Grammys)...and I most certainly did not get the 2000 or so hours of it that I am supposed to.

As for my current lamp, everything seemed to be in working order -- it seemed to strike right away.

Any ideas how much this might set me back?

 

[Leo Kerr]

No, not really, but there was a possibility that if, for example, it was your power supply, it might have contributed to premature lamp-failure. If said lamp-failure was sufficiently premature, then you might have been able to get a partial / pro-rated refund "warrantee" on the new lamp. (Some of the lamps / manufacturers do this.)

Now in your case, this might be something as simple as a voltage-regulater gone bad in the main powersupply; something that would be $0.50 in parts, and an hour or so of labor in a component level shop. I doubt that there are many of those left (although somebody like Professional Products in the Washington DC area, for example, might.) In your case, it's probably a standardized minimum service charge (say, $150) plus the cost of a new power supply (say, $350.) Unless it is the main board, in which case it might be, say, $500.

Now, be aware: all of the numbers in the above paragraph are completely made up out of thin air. (Actually, ozone rich air, I just printed a whole bunch of the Christmas card bases to be hand colored... 50 pages from a cheap laser printer really stinks!)

However, I do wish you good fortune in your... process. I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd be interested to know what actually went wrong...

Leo Kerr

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Ben, yes, please let us know what you find out so that we can file it away for future application if necessary. Hopefully we won't need it though.

This is actually not a bad idea, perhaps someone could create one comprehensive thread that compiles nothing but malfunctions with projectors.

 

[BenBerentson]

There's a reputable place in NYC called Advisory TV and Radio by where i work that's been around for a while. Was thinking about taking it down there. However, I imagine they will probably opt for the path of least resistance.

 

[BenBerentson]

Oh, another question -- my power card is tied to the ceiling mount and stapled to the ceiling (snaking down to the ground) -- I REALLY don't want to take this down...any suggestions? Buy a second cord? It seems like a pretty standard looking thing.

 

[Leo Kerr]

If it has the IEC-C13 connector at the projector end, then yes, it's a very standard thing. This is the sort of thing that has a standard 'Edison' plug (NEMA 5-15P) at one end for a standard wall-socket, and that funny female connector that plugs into computers, projectors, and about a million other thinks. You may not need to provide your own; they should be able to find one, too.

You may also have a spare floating around your house somewhere; a lot of computers, monitors, printers, and the like come with them.

Leo Kerr