Do any projectors have a built in Fan Battery or Capacitor?

Do any consumer projectors have a built in fan Battery or Capacitor?

I recently had a power outage that Popped the bulb on my Optoma. $330 for a new one is a MAJOR ouch.

I am going to buy an APC battery backup for it to keep this from happening.. But I am curious if any projectors have an onboard reserve power supply to power the cool down fan in the event of a power outage to prevent bulb loss?

A Capacitor or backup battery would probably cost a minute amount of money to integrate and would save a bulb blow-out on power loss.

Sounds like a good idea, but I am not sure if any of them have this. I would guess if the specs gave a battery size, then there may be a chance there is a design similar to what you said. Just a guess, though.

Bulbs* aren't supposed to need the fan to cool down. It's only there to facilitate quick restarting. The debate was that bulbs actually last longer if they cool down "naturally."

If the bulb popped (as in physically shattered) I'd have to suspect that it was the restarting (heat/cool/heat/cool) that did it, not lack of cooling.

Several manufacturers don't even use cooling fans on shutdown because they aren't needed and/or they don't want you restarting the unit that quickly.

(*Well, maybe those Xenon ones do.)

Also, you probably already know this but if it was me, I would not touch the bulb with my bare hands. I would use a cloth glove when putting it in.

My Bulb didnt "pop", as in Shatter, i guess I should Clarify.. It will power on for about 30-60 Seconds. If I try to run any video source on it, it goes out and the bulb light comes on.

I don't know of any with a self protection circuit. The electricity blinked (1 or 2 seconds of outage) the other day while I was running my Panny AE900 and the when the power came back on the fan started a cooldown cycle on its own. When it was done, I repowered the projector.

TheBluePill said:

My Bulb didnt "pop", as in Shatter, i guess I should Clarify.. It will power on for about 30-60 Seconds. If I try to run any video source on it, it goes out and the bulb light comes on.

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Weird... does the bulb actually come on (i.e. makes light)? That sounds more like either it's not coming on (and after 30-60 seconds the unit gives up trying) or if you get light THEN it turns off, something is physically damaged. Optomas are not the most reliable things around. How many hours were on the bulb?

Could also be that the bulb itself was just faulty and it coincidentally decided to choose this time to fail. You then get to choose the roulette option of getting a new bulb and watching the new one also fail (thus making the projector itself being bad) or having a new bulb and hoping it doesn't fail in less than 500 hours also (which isn't unheard of).

I would say your problem was not due to loss of power, however a strong electrical surge right before or after may have fried your bulb, or possibly the electronics such as power supply in your projector itself.

wildfire99 said:

Weird... does the bulb actually come on (i.e. makes light)? That sounds more like either it's not coming on (and after 30-60 seconds the unit gives up trying) or if you get light THEN it turns off, something is physically damaged. Optomas are not the most reliable things around. How many hours were on the bulb?

Could also be that the bulb itself was just faulty and it coincidentally decided to choose this time to fail. You then get to choose the roulette option of getting a new bulb and watching the new one also fail (thus making the projector itself being bad) or having a new bulb and hoping it doesn't fail in less than 500 hours also (which isn't unheard of).

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It will come on and make light. I can go in the menus and change settings and the like. But, As soon as I try to use any source connected to it, it powers off with a lamp warning light. Bulb had 400 hours on it.

Optoma Tech support troubleshooting told me it was a bad bulb..

To be honest, I have had nothing but bad experiences with Optoma support.. I would never buy another Optoma again. But.. I have this projector and I dont want to spend $1k on a new one when I just bought this one 9 months ago.

TheBluePill said:

Optoma Tech support troubleshooting told me it was a bad bulb..

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Sounds like BS to me then. If you can get into the menus the bulb is fine. My thought is a blown capacitor or some other physical board damage from the power outage (or preceding surge). The bulb light (in my experience) can flash for any number of fatal reasons, from cooling to lack of ignition to some problem with the color wheel or even power supply. None of which are bulb-related.

At 9 months, you should still be in warranty. It's Optoma's problem, make them RMA it. Bulb warranties are usually only 6 months, but if the bulb lights up and you can get around the PJ menus then it's fine. The only potential issue is if it shuts off around the same time always, which suggests overheating, but there's no reason for the bulb structure itself to have been damaged by a simple power outage.