Cooling and the Panasonic PT-AE3000

[Ron Walker]

The Panasonic PT-AE3000 has an interesting high speed fan setting for use at higher altitudes. I'm guessing that when the air gets thinner, more must be pushed through the projector to keep it from overheating.

Since heat is the biggest threat to projector life, I was wondering if it would be a good idea to run the fan at this setting all the time?

Any thoughts?

[j3yq]

How long do you usaully run the Pj for? I have been reading that its better to run it for longer periods of time.

[ryoohki]

There's 3 Temp sensor inside the AE3000 all witch control the Fan Speed just like a computer. The Sensor can't take account the altitude, that's why it have a Altitude mode. It think it 3000 feet from sea level and more...

I've never used Altitude mode on any of my projectors..

[Ron Walker]

Originally Posted by ryoohki

There's 3 Temp sensor inside the AE3000 all witch control the Fan Speed just like a computer. The Sensor can't take account the altitude, that's why it have a Altitude mode. It think it 3000 feet from sea level and more...

I've never used Altitude mode on any of my projectors..

I've never had a separate position for high altitude before. Most manufacturers have low speed fans so as not to make much noise, which is understandable. Since my projector is in a separate projection room this is a mute point for me. Cooling is a subjective thing as one can over-cool a bulb. However, I've never run into any commercial projector that could over-cool. My thought is that to keep noise down the fans are set at the minimum amount of cooling possible and this setting is so critical that a change in altitude requires more cooling just to keep the operation safe. My thought is that this higher setting of the fan at lower altitude would promote longer bulb life in the long run. Personally I don't think it would hurt unless anyone has information to the contrary.

One should never turn an arc bulb on and off a lot as that will shorten the life of the lamp. My feeling is if you will only be away an hour or less, then leave the bulb running. Also, if you strike the arc, run it for a minimum 15 minutes. This is what I've found for Xenon arcs and I'm fairly sure if applies to Mercury ones as well.

[ryoohki]

Originally Posted by Ron Walker

I've never had a separate position for high altitude before. Most manufacturers have low speed fans so as not to make much noise, which is understandable. Since my projector is in a separate projection room this is a mute point for me. Cooling is a subjective thing as one can over-cool a bulb. However, I've never run into any commercial projector that could over-cool. My thought is that to keep noise down the fans are set at the minimum amount of cooling possible and this setting is so critical that a change in altitude requires more cooling just to keep the operation safe. My thought is that this higher setting of the fan at lower altitude would promote longer bulb life in the long run. Personally I don't think it would hurt unless anyone has information to the contrary.

One should never turn an arc bulb on and off a lot as that will shorten the life of the lamp. My feeling is if you will only be away an hour or less, then leave the bulb running. Also, if you strike the arc, run it for a minimum 15 minutes. This is what I've found for Xenon arcs and I'm fairly sure if applies to Mercury ones as well.

If you have the control over sound of the hardware. Test it. I know that High Altitude mode kick the fans to their highest speed possible.

[Ron Walker]

Yeah, I'm doing that. I have set the projector for high altitude so the fan runs faster.

I'm also very surprised as to the brilliance of the low light (more hours) setting. I thought that with the size of picture I'm using the low light bulb saver position would appear dim. It looks very good at this setting. Perhaps run it at the low setting for the first 1000 to 1500 hours and then bump it up for the last of its life as it dims. I wonder how running the arc at a lower current will affect running at a higher current later in it life? I don't think there should be a problem but who knows.