Green Splotch

[Exaneo]

Just got my refurbished Pan Ax100u in today... set it up for the first time and there was a green splotch in the bottom right corner (when the projector is sitting right side up). It's a little unnerving, and being how i've been waiting SO long to finally get my first HD projector, and might have to send it in or something, i'm wondering if there is maybe something i can do?

I've heard of diagnositcs you can run to fix stuck pixels and stuff...

The green splotch is very faint and not very big... maybe 4 or 5 inches across on a 80" image. And it gets more noticeable the darker the screen gets. IE when i make the screen black, it shows up the best.

Any thoughts/remedies? I'm about to cry

[Scuba Diver]

Wow, thats a bummer. I don't claim to know much about projector repairs. But I know a bunch about the sinking feeling you get in your gut when you spend a bunch money on something electronic and it does something like that. Sorry... I am sure there is someone wiser then I that might have a good answer for you.

I will search around and see if I can find anything. It sounds like the kind of thing that happens to a boob tube when a unshielded speaker is to close to the TV. Is that the kind of green splotch you see?

[wbassett]

I had a very similar green splotch problem with my Sharp LCD projector. They ended up replacing the optic block and it's been perfect since.

Definitely take care of it quickly and while it's under warranty.

[Exaneo]

Sigh... i bought this thing off eBay from "Proview Digital" i believe... who do i call about getting it fixed?

Them or Panasonic? I've never had to deal with something like this before.

[Josuah]

It might be as simple as a dust blob, which you can blow out with compressed air if you can find it along the light path. If it was pixels, it wouldn't really look like a splotch, more like a square. But you can always try and get it replaced, although they might just try and blow it out for you or ask you to try that first (maybe, since it requires opening the enclosure).

[Exaneo]

Very good idea... any idea if taking the cover off voids the warranty?

[Josuah]

I would guess it wouldn't void the warranty, since you need to open it to replace the bulb as part of normal operation anyway. They don't usually come with stickers that you have to break to open it. Now if you took apart the entire light engine...not sure. But I don't think the dust would be in there.

[tonyvdb]

This is defiantly a dust blob, just blow some air in a can into the area around the LCD panels and that will get rid of it.

[<^..^>Smokey Joe]

It may well be a dust blob, you also say "Refurbished", what was refurbished?, anywhooo I would still contact the company you purchased the projector from first for the very reason opening the box may indeed void the warranty or further claims if needed.

By contacting the company you cover yourself, log the date and time and any person you speak too or email. You will probably find they will advise service at a resgistered service agent(A bit of telephone book work might find a local brand specific service agent that you could suggest).

Use the warranty to your advantage whilst you still have it, thats what it is for anyway.

[Exaneo]

Good advice. That's probably what i'll do. It's just a pain to wait for the projector for so very long and then have to send it right back out and be without it for another week or two... sigh..

i may just take a can of air to it before. I definitely won't open it up besides the lamp cover..

[wbassett]

<^..^>Smokey Joe wrote:

It may well be a dust blob, you also say "Refurbished", what was refurbished?, anywhooo I would still contact the company you purchased the projector from first for the very reason opening the box may indeed void the warranty or further claims if needed.

By contacting the company you cover yourself, log the date and time and any person you speak too or email. You will probably find they will advise service at a resgistered service agent(A bit of telephone book work might find a local brand specific service agent that you could suggest).

Use the warranty to your advantage whilst you still have it, thats what it is for anyway.

I agree 100% with Smokey, exhaust your resources before trying to repair it yourself. If it is indeed a factory refurbished unit, I have some experience that may put you at ease.

My Sharp was a factory refurbished unit and originally was $3000. Of course I didn't pick it up for that price, I paid $600 including tax and shipping. It had a green 'blob', that's exactly how I described it. It was in the lower corner just in the letter box area. All in all it wasn't that big but since I just bought the projector I kind of expected a factory refurbished unit to be like new.

I called the place I bought it from and yes, they had me call Sharp, but confirmed it was under a refurbish warranty (one year) and said to call Sharp to get it looked at. Sharp had me take it to a local shop. The shop said the cost of repair was beyond what they were authorized to do. I start feeling like I was had, but another call to Sharp and they gave me an RMA number to send it to them. Then ended up replacing the optic block and $1500 worth of parts and sent it back to me. It now works flawlessly. Turn around time was surprising fast too, they had it a couple of weeks and it was back up on my ceiling.

So don't do anything that may void your warranty and do make sure to call the place you bought it from and the company that makes it. Worse case if you don't have a refurbish warranty, they usually can look up the unit serial number and confirm if it is a warranty item.