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Fooling the projector

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Author: artemffPublished: Dec 27, 2008License: Public Domain

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Page 1 of 13Fooling the projector

20-Oct-12http://www.instructables.com/id/Fooling-the-projector/?ALLSTEPS

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I will try to give you a general idea how to fool the projector that was designed to squeeze some extra $$out of your pocket. I will illustrate it with the pictures taken while I was fixing a certain projector but thismodel is rare and the idea I want to share with you is general. Sorry, it's not a real 'instructable'. I can'tname the exact steps for your particular projector but the ideology will remain the same for any case.

Disclaimer - you are going to work with the device that has several dangerous components:circuit board with live terminals, high-voltage power supply unit, pressurized lamp that can blow up if nothandled properly. Think twice and take corresponding precautionary measures to avoid injuries anddeath :)

P.S. As you can see from the comments in some cases the old lamp may blow up.I never faced with that myself and the bulb in my friend's projection TV is morethan 10,000 hours old but this "statistics" is not enough so "forewarned is forearmed".The safest (and most expensive) way to avoid this problem is ... to buy a new lamp but thisdefies the purpose of this very instructable. The compromise is to study the constructionaround the lamp and if it looks weak then one can install a metal mesh screen.The design is up to you - it should have fine openings and at the same time it shouldnot hinder the cooling.

Show All 8 Images



http://www.instructables.com/id/Fooling-the-projector/

Step 1 General ideas

Let's assume that you own a projector that says that its lamp is to be replaced.There can be two reasons for lamp replacement:1) The lamp really doesn't work because the electrodes are damaged or there was a leak andthe gas inside the lamp has mixed with air or the lamp has blown. These are the real reasonsand of course one has to put some light source instead of the one that got damaged.Instructables.com is full of various recipes for that. Surely, one can buy the original lamp for$250-300 but it seems to be a bit overpriced comparing with a projector's cost :)If you decide to follow one of the instructions from this site briefly read what is writtenon the page "Bypassing the control module - 1" below. This will help you to use any light sourcewhile the projector will keep thinking that a new lamp was installed.

2) The lamp is NOT damaged. It's the projector that thinks it needs to be replaced.Moreover, it tries to convince you. If you remove the lamp and re-install it, it won't start. "How does itknow that the lamp is old? May be it's really worn out?", you think and go to the store. Read the followingpages to find out the truth :)




Step 2 Bypassing the control module - 1

In both cases described above the projector won't start since it somehow knows thatwe try to fool it either by inserting a "wrong" lamp or by re-installing the old one.How it can be? I can imagine two scenarios.

a) The hi-voltage module tries to ignite thelamp, measures the current, compares with a certain value and produces logical "1" or logical "0"on one of its outputs. The main board recognizes the signal and doesn't start. In this case one has toidentify the signal wire that leaves the hi-voltage module and goes to the main circuit board. ATTENTION:the high-voltage wires are dangerous. You can easily tell them from the signal ones by the insulation type- it's thick and "different" (see the pictures: the white hi-voltage wires are definitely thicker than black andred power wires). This very projector doesn't have a signal wire that goes from the lamp power supplyunit but some others do.If you can identify this wire, try to figure out the logical voltages in your projector. Use avoltmeter to test the voltages at some logical IC (find the one on the main board not on the hi-voltageboard), search the Web for IC by its type and read about the voltages. Usually it is 0/+5V but doublecheck that. Once the wire is identified one has to put the corresponding voltage to this wire to make theprojector think that everything works as designed. Check the voltage on this wire with the voltmeter. If it is




grounded, cut the wire and put +5V (assuming this is the logical "1" in your system).If it is at "+5V", cut it and ground it.

Step 3 Bypassing the control module - 2

b) Imagine that the high-voltage power supply unit is not that sophisticated and it can't tell a working lampfrom a non-working one. It always produces high voltage and goes through the same ignitioncycle once the Power ON button is depressed. Imagine also that the lamp is still operable but you can'tuse the projector since 2000hrs have passed. You want to re-set the lamp counter but one has tosee something on the screen in order to do that (there's a corresponding menu item). It looks like avicious circle.The trick is that some manufacturers add a small (0.1A in the current case) fuse on the lamp housing(marked by red arrows on the pictures).




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antioch says:Awesome!You might want to add "Beamer" as tagword. This is what a rojector of this kind is called in parts ofCentral and Eastern Europe.

artemff (author) says:good idea, thanks.Actually, I made so-called "Volksbeamer" quite a while ago, using a dia-projector and a tiny TVmatrix :)

Trying to get a fix! says:Thanks for the post, very informative. I wonder if you could help me out with my conversion as I'm abit new to all of this?

I have a Sahara AV 2100 projector with a blown bulb.

I have taken apart the projector and removed the high power board entirely, but am struggling to findthe octocoupler or feed to tell the projector that the bulb is OK?

Here are some pictures to give you a clue as to what's going on where, I would really appreciate yourhelp.

Thanks

When the 2000hrs period has passed the projector sends a short pulse to this fuse and fries it.Now your lamp is "dead" though it's still operable.You can easily tell if it is your case by measuring the resistance of this fuse. In the case shown on thepicture it sits near the lamp on the lamp's housing. One can hide it anywhere but it must be mountedon the part that is replaced along with the lamp.If it's blown then the recovery is easy. Find a similar fuse and solder it in the blown fuse's place.I didn't have anything handy at the moment I discovered it so I used a piece of thin wire. It's not a realfuse in a sense that it doesn't protect any circuit. It only protects you from saving your money :)

Step 4 Final touches

Mount everything back, double check the wiring, and try your refurbished projector.

Good luck!




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Apr 4, 2012. 3:12 AMartemff (author) says:Hi,if I understand the photos correctly then I would suspect that the signal connector is the one with 3pins (with OK letters near to it, I'm speaking about the lower). BTW, where do two thicker wires goand what is written near their connector? Most probably, it's the power wires for this board. What




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happens if you start the projector with the power board removed? Does it show any signs of life (likea blinking LED)?

Trying to get a fix! says:Hi,

Thanks for the quick response!

Yes, that was my guess, unfortunately the pictures have been reduced in size on here, but theother end of that three pin lead connects to the main board and says 'Ballast'.

I have tried the unit with the high power board removed and it still 'works' as before, ie, it starts up,obviously checks for the bulb and then shuts back down.

The two thicker wires on the top RHS in the first photo are from the high power board to the bulbitself, but I had already disconnected the socket from the bottom RHS of the picture (above theblue sleeve).

So, in theory, if I test the voltage of the three pin 'ballast' wire when the unit starts, I should noticea drop in voltage once it shuts down again?

Thanks

artemff (author) says:I actually meant a white connector with two wires that can be seen in the left corner of the boardin the lowest panel. As for the "ballast", I'm not sure since the ballast wires should be thicker.

In general, the hi-voltage board must have two power wires, two high-voltage wires which go tothe lamp, and XX signal wires which go to the control board. There should be no direct couplingof power to logic (or high-voltage to power or high-voltage to logic). We are looking for the"logic" wires. Can you identify where are three thin pins connected to on the main board? Isuspect, one is the ground, another one is +5V, and the third one is "our" signal wire.

Trying to get a fix! says:Well, after a little playing around following your advice, I've managed to convince the projectorthat it doesn't need a bulb anymore!

Thanks so much for the help and advice!!

All I need to do now is sort out a new light source!

artemff (author) says:Congratulations !Now you can write your own instructable :)

ikaros45 says:This is an AWESOME work guys. Really appreciate it.

I would have one more questions. I'm trying to replace the bulb of my beamer (toshiba TDP S20), andwas thinking of a high power LED (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yx0G-4xfMRc&feature=related)

It seems this projector checks whether there is bulb or not with a high voltage signal. So, let'ssuppose I can fool the control system, but what about the high voltage? isnt it going to fry the poorled? is there any way to get rid of that?

Thanks a lot in advance.

artemff (author) says:First of all, one has to forget about using the high voltage power supplyto power the LED. There are special high-current, low voltage power supply units, check the specsof your LED and google "powering the powerful LED"---If possible, remove the high-voltage circuit board or at leastcut the power to it. The last thing you want in your projectoris the arc between the unplugged hi-voltage connectors.---I doubt that the beamer checks the high-voltage directly without voltage divider.In this case you may fool the system by simulating the correct (low) voltageon the input of the control board.Can you post the pictures of the bulb board somewhere and provide a link?---In any case, I would split the tasks:

1) First, try to make the projector running without the high-voltage




http://www.youtube.com/watch

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module (use a flashlight in a dark room to check if the system works).

2) When this part of the work is done, make the LED working, align it properly,and so on.

artemff (author) says:actually, the voltage dividers are unsafe - the correct way of interfacing thehigh voltage with low voltage circuits is the optocoupling. In any case, the control board shouldreceive the low voltage signal and your task is to identify the corresponding wire, cut it and put acorrect voltage on it that will make the control board thinking that the bulb is there and it's workingproperly.

ikaros45 says:Thanks very much for the quick answer.

Yeah, I understood I have to shortcut certain pins of the optocoupling (which i'm not really surewhat they do, but let's skip that point =)

This is the pic from the high voltage board:

http://diy-community.de/attachment.php?attachmentid=72211&d=1202499034

Taken from a german thread on a DIY forum:

http://diy-community.de/showthread.php?14580-Toshiba-TDP-S20-Xenon-Mod

And I understand that I have to shortcut the pins 2 and 3 from the white port. I did but when Iswitch the beamer on, nothing happens and a small LED control for "Lamp" blinks. Exactly asbefore shortcutting.

So far, the goal is just to make it work... I don't care too much if I have to put an externarpowersource for the LED.

Thanks!

artemff (author) says:let me check - did you remove the connector and shortcut the pins or youjust make a shortcut on a cable that is still attached to the board?

My understanding is that one has to unsolder the connector and shortcutthe pins (or just put a piece of wire to the other side of the connector andmake a shortcut there). If you have exactly the same model like postedon the German board this trick should work (and make sure that the lamplid safety switch is activated).

ikaros45 says:AWESOME!!! IT WORKS!! :D

Thank you a lot!!

Now I'm just curious about how to get rid of the high power part. Do you think it's a good ideajust to remove the small transformer? without it, everything stays at low voltage.

By the way, do you think a 50W LED is a good option?

Once again, thanks a lot!

artemff (author) says:you may remove the transformer or simply remove the board as a whole. It will give youmore space (to mount the power supply unit for the LED).----Average efficiency of modern LEDs is ~50 lumen / watt so with 50W LEDyou'll get something like 2500 lumen light source that is of the sameorder of luminosity as an average projector. It's not guaranteed, though, thatyou'll efficiently collect all this emitted light and throw it to the LED chipbut on the other hand, making the screen 1.5 times smaller increases thebrightness by more than two times. Watching the movie at daytime andat night also makes a big difference. Check the specs of this LED and ifit produces more than 2000 lm then you are on a safe side.---BTW, with 50W LED I would seriously think about the cooling.Usually, these LEDs are mounted on the fan-cooled radiator.




http://diy-community.de/attachment.php

http://diy-community.de/showthread.php

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ikaros45 says:Hi again,

You mean removing the whole board... i.e.:

http://diy-community.de/attachment.php?attachmentid=72211&d=1202499034

I'll try later if it works without it but uhm, if I had to bet, I'd say it won't. But it could begood to get extra space yeah.

Do you think it's possible to get power directly from some point of the projector? or I justbetter go to an external power supply.

I thought that... normally these projectors are using 130-160W, so I wouldn't have toinstall any extra cooling. 50<<<<150W... I'll anyway be really careful on this point.

Thanks again!

artemff (author) says:1) I don't know why the projector should bother about the mising high voltage powersupply unit once you have shortcut the signal wires.

2) I doubt you'll find the point where you can get necessary voltage and currentfrom. Moreover, it's a good idea to have a variable power for LED so I wouldbuy something specifically designed for this purpose (~3.5V, at least 15A,check the specs of your LED).

ikaros45 says:Hi again,

You were right. Works like a charm without the powerboard.

Yeah, the easiest way is to use an external power supply. There are some LED kitsthat come with a LED power driver that allows you control the light by PWM, like this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110757769115&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT#ht_3542wt_1110

The problem with this kit is that the driver only works till 10W (what a non-sense tosell it together with a 50W ), so I'm looking for other combinations... preferably directlyfrom AC. There are cheap powersources but without power control. Any idea for this?

Btw, these high power leds work around 15v or 30v, depending on type.

And... I've seen that some people use this kind of lense together with the LED... Iguess is to make a zoom effect and concentrate the light.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/50W-4-90Deg-Optical-Glass-Projector-Lamp-Led-Lens-/190586037664?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c5fd025a0

I'll upload some pics when everything's working

Thanks!

artemff (author) says:first of all, congratulations :) The first part is finished.---Regarding the LED driver - it's really strange to sell a 10W PSU for 50W LED.May be there's a mistake in the description? I'd ask them before making a purchase,anyway.---Regarding the lens - most probably, it's a collimator lens. You put a point lightsource in its focus and get a "parallel" beam. The only thing to watch is the focallength since you are limited in space by the walls of the projector.

ikaros45 says:Hello again,

I tried either by conecting the two pins by putting a wire between the pins 2 and 3 in theconnector, or just by removing the isolation of the cables and just putting them together "outof the board".... with no results.

Under a electrical point of view, both things are exactly the same.

This lid safety you are talking about, is a safety system to check that the department of thebulb is closed? I was checking it with the lid open, so maybe this is the reason.




http://diy-community.de/attachment.php

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll

http://www.ebay.com/itm/50W-4-90Deg-Optical-Glass-Projector-Lamp-Led-Lens-

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I'll check and tell you later.

Thanks again!!

invisiblelight386 says:I am curious as to what model projector this is. It looks very similar to the that i have now. when ifound the projector it did not come with a bulb and i am trying to use an alternative source but i think ineed to bypass the circuit in order for it to work.

artemff (author) says:the model is kind of rare: ASK Impression A6+The bulb costs about $350 so the desire to use an alternativelight source is understandable :)Most probably you'll have to remove the hi-voltage block completelyand use something like halogen bulb or powerful LED.As I wrote, the key thing is to make the projector thinking that thelight source exists and operates.You may open the projector, identify the hi-voltage module andsee what wires connect it to the main board (and, possibly, topower supply unit). Knowing this will help to make the next step.

invisiblelight386 says:i have a Sharp pg-d100u. I'm most likely going to use a high power LED for the light source. Ithink I'm going to probe around the thing this week end to find the circuit for the light sensor andsee were it goes from there.

thanks

tyler9613 says:Not to be a buzzkill, but, just as a warning:

WHEN PROJECTOR BULBS BURN OUT, THEY ARE PRONE TO EXPLODING, SENDINGGLASS SHARDS ALL OVER THE PLACE.

This is why projectors have the built in counter in them. Apparentally, yours may have a sensor, butalmost all projectors I've seen have a lamp counter in them. The projector manufacturers put this inplace for a reason, to protect its users.

Just sayin.

Bad Maxx says:I have a neighbor who repairs TVs I've talked to him about these bulbs. Explosions are anextremely rare exception, not the rule with these. That said I have seen brand new ones "blown up"as well when owners did something (not sure what as they of course say they did nothing). Myrepair friend has not figured out what they are doing either. That said, my neighbor also hacks as hecalls it, projector TVs for friends and family his brother's original bulb has now been reset for the 3rdtime, a savings of around $750On another note he said many units do not have a counter or a circuit to limit the hours but ratherjust eventually wear out on their own.

artemff (author) says:I guess, some of them blow up because people don't handle them properly. They open theprojector when they want to check the lamp, touch the bulb without special gloves, and leave theskin oil marks on the bulb that leads to uneven heating and cracking of the glass. Some peoplealso turn the projector off using the main switch while they were supposed to pass it through thecooling phase. This also lead to bulb overheating and possible damage. ---- And, you are right,some bulbs simply degrade with time.

Bad Maxx says:That would make sense, I know my first experience with a halogen bulb went like this: Removedbulb from package with bare fingers (no warnings or instructions were included to tell meotherwise) placed in my brand new torché style lamp, enjoyed my new lamp while reading, usedlamp approximately 1 week, while relaxing with a good book I heard a faint pop noise and theroom went dark. Replaced "popped" bulb, about two days later popped the new bulb.... Calledmy father and asked him what he knew about halogen bulbs, first thing out of his mouth was "donot touch the glass with bare fingers"! Of course this was in the 80's when these bulbs were notas common as today.

jimmy dean says:




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My friend is in the av department at our school, and he tried installing an old bulb in a projector. Itended up blowing up in the middle of class and sending glass shards around the room. Luckily, itdidn't get in anyone's eye or anything, but I don't recommend messing with these things.

artemff (author) says:OK, sorry about your friend. I've heard about that, too but with a less scary scenario. However,even a brand new lamp can blow out if one touches it with naked fingers while installing it (theskin oils will lead to irregularities in the heat transfer that increases the risk of the lamp failure).

Another thing to check is the construction around the lamp: in my projector everything is solid andeven if something happens the parts will remain inside.Other projectors might have a different build, so - think twice, weight all "pro" and "contra" andthen act but it's typical for many instructables :)

1000000VOLTS says:excuse me if i have put this on before couldnt find it on the site,anyway can you use a flourecent tubestarter to strike the ark,then a normal halogen bulb connected to a separate supply or just tappedinside the projector.

artemff (author) says:Let me check my understanding. Do you want to use some otherhigh-voltage bulb?Then it's getting tricky since you have to solve twotasks: 1) fooling the projector and 2) using an (unknown) lamp with a(unknown/third party/self made) power supply.

The second part might be trickier that the first one.

BTW, recently I found that there are extra bright and powerful LEDs available forreasonable price. For example, Allelectronics had one for $5. It's a single point light source and it'seasy to work with.

1000000VOLTS says:thanks for your reply i was going to fool the projector by putting the flourecent tube starter theones that constantly click when they are old. in replace of the broken bulb, because they strike anarc doing a similar job to the original bulb and then use a halogen bulb or leds doent matterwhatever is brightest on there own power supply , i just need to fool the projector would the starterthing do this.

artemff (author) says:Now I understand what you want but I wouldn't go this way.The unit will measure the voltage drop and the current at and after thearc and if the parameters will be off specs it will generate "FALSE" signal.Why don't you want to find out which wire is a signal one and what is thelevel of the "TRUE" signal? Then you'll make it in an elegant (and safe) way.There shouldn't be too many wires coming to/from the ignition/power supply module.

1000000VOLTS says:ok i will try it your way seems a bit complicated to me electrics is my thing not electronics ,i willlet you know how i get on cheers

amp2009 says:hi im also looking into replacing the current bulb for a led. i found a 100w led that claims 7000lumens. im hoping this will be bright enough as my projector is nec vt560 and in the specs it says itsonly 1300 lumens. thought about using a focusing lens with a reflector to use the most of the light. iwas also thinking a heatsink and aditional fan on the bulb housing. what do you guys think? thisinstructible is awsome if i can get the projector to think that the bulbs working ok then ill be so sohappy.

artemff (author) says:I would suggest splitting the task to two: first, make the projectorworking without lamp (and better yet without the lamp ignition module since this will eliminate thehigh voltage in your unit). You can use any light sourcein the dark room to check if you succeeded (use a small throw distance).

After that you can play with the LED source - I think the heat production will be comparable to thatof the bulb so you'll just need a good heatsink. The fanis already there. But may be you're right and you'll need extra airflow.




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Please, write a brief comment here if you manage to get a reasonably bright picture.

1000000VOLTS says:and when youve taken out the ignition circuit you could make a nice tesla coil out of it lol

1000000VOLTS says:ive only got 200 hours left and like the rest of you dont want to spend a fortune on bulbs,i have twophillips lc1312 or somthing like that one with bulb other without the one without has a green screencos the ribbons have broke ,not by me so i dont mind playing with it,i understand the risks of highvoltages .lol.if the thing can be fooled into thinking there was a bulb in there any bright bulb woulddo ,i think the Hg bulbs run on about 20kv and need an arc to set em off correct me if im wrong..sameas the flourecent tube starters.so before i kill it does anyone have any objections to thataproach.cheers.i was thinking of putting the starter on a direct short across the two bulb wires ..

abadfart says:nice i have an old epson elp-3300 for a tv this might work seeing as how it is from the 90s

fred41 says:hi It seems that I have the same projector as you infocus lp720... when my lamp shutted down, Itrowed it and replaced it with a "deported" other lamp, hotter, but cheaper. all work fine but, i can'tpass the "blue presentation screen", I already bypass the control module 2. So my question is : did Ionly have to cut the black wire you show on "step 2", and plug it to ground , the metal case forexample, and wich side ? from the board, or the other side? sorry for my english, hope you couldhelp. And why did'nt you produce this how to, two month ago, i would'nt have trow my lamp... sosad...

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