I was waiting to find the perfect 17" LCD... 16.7 million colors, component input, handles 720p,
easy to strip... but I couldn't find it... I've been reading more and more about the transcoders...
So when I saw this LCD TV on sale as a refurb, I grabbed it... I was tired of waiting...

I'm planning on following the same path set by Jayman, foe, JMRguy, Aeon, comp_atkins,
Arrik, pun15her, SIMUL8R and Samuraijack. There are many more of course, but I posted
the most read out of my bookmarks...

Woodworking stuff
Circular Saw Rip Cutting Jig cuz I don't have a table saw

-->begin stripping<--
Westinghouse Model: LTV-17v1 SL
I haven't fired it up yet... Don't know how it behaves.
specs are on the deals list...
forgot to mention the res... 1280... kinda important.

the monitor


This is not the order I did it.
Hence the pictures don't really match.
The pictures will show you how things are connected,
and the steps below are based off of what I learned.
It's pretty long...

Remove 4 chassis screws on back of housing


Remove 1 screw over input cover; Slide input cover down and off


Remove base housing (snaps off); Remove 6 screws under base housing; Remove base; Remove 5th chassis screw that is now visible


Remove 3 screws in TV tuner/input box; Slide input box out (horiz) towards the side

Start popping back housing snaps/tabs; Wiggle back housing off


I removed the button controls ribbon, but you can leave it on


unscrew and lift


glue and ribbons should not be used together


glue patch

Remove more screws for circuit grill; Bend it all up, then remember to remove the DB15 nuts


Remove circuit grill; Remove more screws for circuits


There are 2 connections for the power supply


Pull power supply up and out towards side


Step back, big picture... unit is upside down.. top is closest

Push in tabs with fingers; start on the side, it's easier


more tabs


move vid card off the top, lift grey housing and flip it over


break a tab


break another tab

lay down FFCs


remove next grey housing


start on backlight


remove backlight


shiny

fuzzy


corner


LCD is 11 1/16 inches x 13 23/32 inches
Looks like antiglare on one side only
Haven't started the removal yet.

Just blew some money at menards...

• saw horses (4)
• 1/4" tee nuts (lots)
• 1/4" zinc nuts (lots)
• threaded rods (7) @ 36"
• 16x24 steel frame square
• goggles
• dust mask rated for mdf
• frame clamps (4)
• 12" combo square
• wood glue
• 12" bar clamps (4)
• 3/4" screws
• 1 1/4" screws
• 2" screws

then at lowes

• 3/4"x3/4" "outside corner" 8' L-wood trim (4)
• miter box with saw, built in clamps...

yep...

I think I have everything but the wood...
menards had 1/2" and 3/4" MDF but doesn't cut, and lowes only had 3/4" MDF but does cut...

I've been too scared to start the AG...

He He. Dont do it unless you feel the need.You will go WOW,with or without AG removal.
Enjoy the moment,AG removal is an enhansment.If you are unhappy with your results,or get bored,then strip the AG!!
That is a very nice list of bits and pieces,it sounds like you are getting prepared for a great PJ.
Enjoy yourself.
Cheers P

I thought about cutting down an MDF tree and starting with a solid hunk of wood to try and get your results, but I thought better of it... I know it still wouldn't look as good...

There, I have given tribute to the almighty pun15her... please smile down on me projector gods!

hehe...




(seriously though... pun15her... you freakin rule)

alright... I'm going to skip the AG for now...

on to the box then... is there a reason why nobody is building a
frame out of 2x2s with a 1/4" panels? friend said 1/4" waferboard would do the trick...
I'm going to glue plexiglass panels to the outside... so the finish isn't a concern.

I tried ordering the fresnels from diypc.org, cuz of the clearance sale...
but there delivery selection page is busted...

I have the parts sitting in my cart since yesterday but can't order them...
Have tried multiple browsers, multiple locations, and sent them an email...

anybody else having issues?

I'm a bloody idiot... I put in a messed up address, so UPS and USPS were freakin...
eh... fixed now...

ordered from DIYpc
390mm 220 and 330 fresnels
12"x16" FS Mirror (wasn't sure how big it should be yet, but it was on sale)

from LL
standard lens
pro reflector


all that's left is the ballast, bulb, pre-condenser lense, and some wood...

I'm hoping that since it is a clearance sale... and since they said they are only selling stuff
that they have.... then I will get it the DIY stuff soon... versus the 2-3 months some people
have been waiting... that just occured to me.


forgot about cooling stuff... need to find some nice fans...
still haven't figured out component layout yet... as I want to hold everything in my hands
before I really start anything... Thought about making an LCD tray... but it's protected and
don't want to touch it...

I'm putting together an SCART adapter for my xbox so I can plug it into the DB15...
I'm trying to find some time to hook up my dvd player as well... although I can only get 480p.
which should be fine...


ramblings...

pre-condenser? which pre-condenser? I've got a thread where I'm trying to keep track of who's doing what with pre-condensers....
http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/index.php?s...c=12466&hl=
let us know when you jump into the precondenser stuff! is that just a monitor or is it a tv?

OH I know about your thread... You are one of the top 5-10 people I track on the forums.
I'm imagining a lightbox like SJ, Sim, and Pun's having a bastard child together...
(without the jacob's ladder tail of course)

Trying to stick to the S400DD with an eballast using the pro reflector...
I haven't drawn anything up yet though... I just brought home 20 yards of 24" sketch paper.
Gonna start doing some 1:1 stuff... not too sure about anything yet.

I just received an email from DIY saying my fresnels and FS mirror are about 2 weeks out...
Haven't heard anything from LL regarding my pro reflector and triplet though...

I think I've decided to go with 1/2" birch plywood... I can get cheap 2x4's at Menard's...
love that store...

The entire box is going to be mounted on the wall at half-height.. so no keystoning...
I'm thinking a 3 hinge design... top will flip up against the wall... as will the bottom but flipping down..
and the front side will flip out horizontally towards the screen...

This way I can eliminate the biggest problem with the threaded rod design... rubber seals should
solve any light leaks... the light box/pre-condenser should deal with most of the heat..

The ability to transport 4x8 foot sheets of wood would be nice...
paying for 2x4 foot sheets of wood makes me feel dirty, used, and abused...

yeah, if menards would cut them for you I would never buy anywhere else, I've actually thought about buying a cheap used cordless circular saw and cutting them in the parking lot so I can fit them in the car....

that's a good call... setup a stand and offer spiked lemonade and wood cuts.

I'm kinda at a roadblock...
I don't have a big picture yet, so I'm not doing anything until the rest of the parts arrive...
I'm working from the inside-out... So I'm not gonna start building a case yet.

--

I'm still waiting on fresnels, fs mirror, pro reflector, stan lens,... and something else i think
DIYpc and LL.

--

I've yet to decide which bulb/ballast... let alone buy one...
I was thinking the S400DD, but the T15 pulse strike at 65k looks pretty sweet...
If I'm not mistaken, you want to do an eballast if possible, coil/core is the cheaper slower option.

--

I've also been thinking about cooling... trying to find a good resource for fans...
Ran across this DIY temp shutoff sensor, but I'm not gonna have a pc power supply... so I'm concerned about voltages

--

Just read somewhere that turning on and off the bulb reduces the life... which made me wonder
if I can cool it good enough while being uber-quiet... to just run it constantly... it will be replacing
the television in the living room...

the idea was to replace the television, which would help limit watching it all the time, since there
would be a 2-3 minute warm up time on the bulb...

I just wired an attic thermostat into the circuit. Its cheap, designed for 110, and adjustable from 70-120 degrees...something like that anyway. Once you take it out of the box, its really small.

SJ

the price of electricity to power a 400w MH bulb continuously is going to cost a hell of a lot more than replacing a $30-40 bulb. Say the bulb is rated at 20,000 hours @ 10hr/start. Say you start it for 3-4 hour perday and that cuts the life by 33% leaving you just over 13,200 hours of bulb life (just a random percent). That translates into 1.5 years of use for the bulb. Say leaving the bulb on all the time will give you 18,000 hours life or 2 years. So do you think a 400w bulb eating electricity for 20 hours a day for 2 years bulb life while not being used is going to cost you less than the $30-40 for a replacement after 1.5 years?

edit: I messed up the math

That was the thing... they look really big from the box.. I've never actually seen one...
Thanks SamuraiJack



thanks for bringing me back to reality... it was an idea anyway
I have a hard time thinking about it like that, because I pay a cheap flat rate for my utilities...

the lure of a coi and core vs. the eballast... it's soo tempting.

didn't see this question.... it's a TV !
I was so excited that the tv stripped easily.. it's a weird 5:4 westinghouse that nobody else is using...
It was on sale as a refurb...

I still haven't fired it up... for all i know it might not work..
need to get around to doing that i guess...

well... i have the day off today so i got my coffee and went to the den to do some web reading... stepped into some beer on the floor... noticed the towel my stripped lcd was wrapped in, is now gone... and there are 2 giant scratches on the lcd... on the side with no anti-glare of course... looks like my roommate came home from the roots show and did some damage...

just fired it up and it still works... i was supposed to get the remaining parts this week.
:angry:

Here is another alternative to the attic thermo. It's on this page.Link
it's a bimetal thermo that can be ordered normaly open or normaly closed. If you order the normaly open then the fans will turn on and off on there own they are about 5$ at digikey. Sorry about the roomy fopa and the huge picture.

thanks for the link...i'll have to check this out when i get to the cooling phase.

here's the switch out of the box, its the small gray switch with the white knob on it. hope this helps

thanks comp_atkins...
your plog was the first i printed off to take home and re-read over and over...


lcd:
it's only money right? and he is a good friend so i'll get the money at some point...
it will probably just take 6 months or so to get it back...

time to order another lcd... i'm hoping to find the exact model again... that way i can
keep building with the scratched one and then just swap it out when the new one gets in.

I couldn't find one of these at menards... I was all over the place lookin and asking... I haven't checked Lowes or Home Depot yet... anybody know?

Was going to get hi temp paint as well... menards had spray cans at 4 bucks each... didn't get any cuz i figured i could get some in bulk off of ebay or something... but no luck it seems... how many cans should i get?

I've had my lense and reflector for awhile... just received the LL65k and vue ballast today.
Should get the new LCD on Monday... and my DIYPC fresnels and mirror shipped on the 2nd.. !

Ordered a attic thermostat from ventingdirect which should be here today as well...

I think I have everything except fans and aluminum for the light gate...

From what I've been gathering, a precondensor won't really help me.
I think I'm going to do a lightgate with aperature and upgrade to the precondensor later if necessary.

Almost ready to start building

I'm enjoying the show. Nice plog brainlock.
I especially liked the thumbnails of your strip.

Keep at it man!

just wait til you see this mspaint job that took me 15 minutes so far for my light gate...

you're gonna slap yourself !

hehe.. this took longer than it should've

red = fan
blue = outer alum casing
green = inner shield and reflector mount
grey = lightbulb and reflector

this is a horizontal fold... so cool underneath is drawn in and expelled up top by fan.
the angled pieces keep light leaks out... hopefully not causing too much turbulence...

edit: pic removed... bad link

this is a rough draft... it's not to scale, there is no aperature or reflector adjustment yet.

Ouch! (That was me slapping myself.)

Keep your openings of sufficient size and you shouldn't have too much trouble keeping things cool enough. Note that the bulbs like to run hot so don't overdo it. You can reduce the fan speed in a variety of ways and they become much quieter then as well.

don't say i didn't warn ya...
i'll try and keep my leetness to a more comfortable level...

here's a quick sketch of how i plan to put the whole thing together.
This will be mounted on the wall above the couch... half of it will be a shelf

i'll probably end up building two boxes and mounting them right next to each other.

i want to clad it in plexiglass, and use a router on the corners to curve them up...
and paint the underside a nice subaru blue i think... along the lines of arrik's projector.

red = lightbox
grey horizontal lines = threaded rod
purple = unsplit fresnels
yellow = FS mirror at 45 degrees
black circle = LL stand lens
green = LCD

edit: pic removed bad link

Home Depot had the attic thermostat. That was the first thing that I couldn't find at Menards that Home Depot/Lowes had.

figures... oh well... i spent 16 bucks on it to have it shipped to me...
that's worth it to stay out of rush hour traffic and gas money to get to the other side of town


menards has no online shop... except some bad PDFs of their flyers.
home depot and lowes are almost as bad...

is it that hard to have a hardware store post inventory online so i know where to go?

I'm trying to think of a way to keep the lightgate sealed tight enough so I don't have to worry about heat on the inside... I'm placing the ballast on the 'shelf' maybe with active cooling...it'll be hidden of course.

If the lightgate is sealed tight, then only the radiated heat from the aluminum and pass through heat of the Lexan (which I remembered I still need to get.... at Home Depot :angry: ) will make it through right?

I am going to have to add another fan inbetween the lightgate and first fresnel aren't I?
Has anyone melted their Lexan?

i miss puni5her

Probably. The IR will get through. The Lexan will block the UV. You need a "hot mirror" to block IR.
Oh yeah. Some have. It melts at a relatively low temperature. For effective sealing near the lamp you need a hi-temp window.

LCD, nutone attic thermo, and the DIYpc fresnels, FS mirror came in this morning!

I went to harbour freight and picked up some more stuff...

• dual head 150w halogen work light... for the tempered glass 14 bucks...
  figured i'd get a light and a piece of glass...
• the cheapo 5 dollar riveter (non-threading) with 150 diff sized rivets
• 10 dollar non contact IR thermometer
• jigsaw (20bucks - chicago brand) it'll probably fall apart before I even use it
• some blades
• 15 piece hole saw set for 4 dollars....

pretty sweet....
tested the lcd and it's working great...

just ordered 2 scythe 12v fans from newegg... need to get a transformer...

i can't use any excuses now... all the parts are here...

I'm starting the frames... learning how to make miter cuts.

I still haven't decided how I'm going to keep the LCD and fresnels in the L-wood trim.
I've seen people use epoxy, but I'm wondering if there is a certain type?

Question #1:
This also brings up another question I've been wondering about. If the fresnels expand
with heat, how do you keep them centered?

Question #2:
In my testing of the LCD, I set it up as widescreen on my dvd player...
It displayed the widescreen correctly, but it wasn't centered... The letterbox was
towards the top of the screen... the letterbox "bars" weren't equal, the bottom was
bigger and the top was smaller... Is this normal?

Haven't finished playing with the monitor, gonna try a whole bunch of sources tonight.

I wouldn't use expoxy unless its flexible to allow for expansion. hopefully the fresnels will expand relatively uniformally so the optical center will not shift. this assumes the fresnels are supported evenly and not resting on the bottom of a frame. Also, I don't know for sure, but I imagine they don't expand much at all, not enough to make a noticeable difference in picture. miter cuts are easy.. if you don't have a miter saw, do this. measure the width of the L trim.. say its .5 inches. measure and mark off .5 inches along the length of the trim. draw a line from this mark to the corner on the opposing side. now you have a 45* angle and you can cut it carefully with a hand saw

Looks like you have a good start, too bad about your LCD, you cant be too careful with them. I have seen a few people here have mishaps with their panels when left on their own. ask Durachko! I have read someones cat stepped on one too.
about the fresnel L-frame, instead of epoxy can you get strips of wood 1/2" square and use these to hold the fresnels in by using screws from the sides to hold them to the insides of the frame. this would make the fresnels "float" and you wont have to worry about them expanding with the heat as they will be able to do so.

I do have a miter saw. I even rigged it up with a laser guide...
but I guess a plastic box is gonna be sloppy no matter what you do...


Yeah.. they do rest on the bottom of the frame...
I think I'm going to double-insulate my lightgate and just try to keep
the fresnels from expanding as much as I can...


I think that is exactly what I'm going to do. I'm finding out that the L-wood is very fragile, but is a beast once glued.


Thanks everyone.

You know I STILL haven't tested that dang LCD. Looking good brainlock.

Edit: I did burn that dang table that dropped my LCD!!! :angry:

First time reading through this plog it looks like you got lucky with that 17" lcd tv the only problem you could have had would have been an ffc issue and it loos like there isn't one. These westinghouse lcd's all seem to be built the same way. As Pun suggested don't do the ag right away enjoy your PJ the other thing about ag removal is that I wouldn't advise it if you have had your pj running for a few months. The extra heat would more than likely make the ag removal pretty hard after awhile.

Good luck with your build I'm very interested in seeing the resolutions that this westinghouse has especaily for games.

DM