Should I replace my PJ lamp?

[AcuDefTechGuy]

After 7 years of service, I am still on the original lamp. I have reset the lamp timer twice over that period, so that lamp now has about 6000 hours on it! I'm sure it's far dimmer than when new, but I'm not sure if I should change it, or drive 'er till she dies...

That's pretty good lamp life for sure.

I would get a new lamp for the next 6 years, but just make sure it's a genuine OEM replacement.

 

[GO-NAD!]

That's pretty good lamp life for sure.

I would get a new lamp for the next 6 years, but just make sure it's a genuine OEM replacement.

I still have the replacement lamp that I received when I bought the PJ.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I still have the replacement lamp that I received when I bought the PJ.

Oh, in that case, don’t buy a new lamp.

 

[GO-NAD!]

I just reset the timer again - over 7800 hours now.

 

[GO-NAD!]

I just reset the timer again - over 10,500 hours...

 

[BMXTRIX]

So, you are driving it about 1,000 hours a year it looks like. About 3 hours a day. It is really amazing that you've gotten that many hours out of it and are still happy with the image quality that it is delivering, but great that you are getting it.

What projector do you have which is getting all these hours and still running strong on the original lamp?

 

[GO-NAD!]

So, you are driving it about 1,000 hours a year it looks like. About 3 hours a day. It is really amazing that you've gotten that many hours out of it and are still happy with the image quality that it is delivering, but great that you are getting it.

What projector do you have which is getting all these hours and still running strong on the original lamp?

Panasonic PTAE4000. The image is still good, but I'm sure degraded from new. It'll be hard to say how much until/unless I replace the lamp.

Since it's over 10 years old, I'm wondering if some other part of it might break, rendering it FUBAR, having never used the spare lamp that I have.

 

[GO-NAD!]

Hey @BMXTRIX, after 11,907 hours on the original lamp, I finally decided to replace it with the spare I had on hand. While there is a significant improvement in brightness, I wouldn't call it a night and day difference. I'm keeping the original lamp as my spare.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Hey @BMXTRIX, after 11,907 hours on the original lamp, I finally decided to replace it with the spare I had on hand. While there is a significant improvement in brightness, I wouldn't call it a night and day difference. I'm keeping the original lamp as my spare.

That's just awesome! I've heard stories which are all over the place on lamps, and I think one of the big reasons we are seeing newer lamp-based models that are fairly large is that they are optimizing cooling paths really well. That combined with newer lamp designs allows them to actually last, and look pretty good for thousands of hours more than the lamps of 15 or 20 years ago. I mean, it's not like lamps are really super different (not including LED/laser) all these years later. I'm not sure what they are doing, but it is magic to see 5,000+ hours being routing on so many models.

Nearly 12,000 hours... Magic.

 

[GO-NAD!]

That's just awesome! I've heard stories which are all over the place on lamps, and I think one of the big reasons we are seeing newer lamp-based models that are fairly large is that they are optimizing cooling paths really well. That combined with newer lamp designs allows them to actually last, and look pretty good for thousands of hours more than the lamps of 15 or 20 years ago. I mean, it's not like lamps are really super different (not including LED/laser) all these years later. I'm not sure what they are doing, but it is magic to see 5,000+ hours being routing on so many models.

Nearly 12,000 hours... Magic.

It's anyone's guess how much time I could get out of that lamp. But, I figured I may as well get the best picture I can from that PJ. It would be a shame to stick with the original lamp for x - number more years, only for the PJ to die of "old age" and be stuck with a spare lamp that would be of no use.