Hello everyone! I've been trolling around the forums for a few months, reading all the wonderful PLOGs and in general being totally amazed by the work done. I've eventually began work on my own projector (had to wait till summer for college classes to wane off a bit)

BEHOLD: "Project Cyclops"

The projector will be a 15" LCD TV with a 400W bulb.

Parts:
LCD: Hisense 15" LCD TV (FFC issue, but fixed)
Bulb: Ushio 400W
Ballast: Icecap 400W MH 220V (hence the reason for a transformer)
Triplet: Stripped out of a Dukane OHP
Fresnel: LumenLab 220/330

Stay tuned for more details!

I have thought about the design for awhile; the projector has to be a bit different than the "dog coffin" style. I narrowed it down to obelisk (below), lighthouse, or Sauron's Tower (the eye being a round reflection mirror). The last one is definitely cooler, but is out of my skill range, so I'm going for the obelisk.

Here's what the guts look like. This is when the projector is not operating (hence the mirror is blocked by the side). I know I'm missing details such as the cooling system...I'm not sure where to put it yet...

Comments are welcome! I will probably need all the help I need to get this done...

When the projector is in operation, the top will basically pop up. The mirror and the triplet is connected to the top (not sure how yet..). Thus, focusing will be based on how high or low the top moves. I hope to make this motorized =)

I like the design, love to see people thinking outside the box, this would look great hanging down from a room with a tall ceiling

It would look awesome if I flipped the entire design over and mounted it on the ceiling =)

But....I live in an apartment, and I don't think they'll allow me to drill holes through the ceiling...it'll have to stay upright for now =)

Wow. I just had this strange vision of someone dressing up like
Osiris and watching a big screen projection of the Mummy.

Weird. Sorry.

Optic Tray:

Here's the optic tray design.

I'll have to trim the Lexan a little...

Please tell me if there's anything potentially wrong with it...thanks!

Update:
Updated LCD tray design....it's now more detailed so that I can actually construct it. Thanks Polkadotninja and tameone for suggesting one less Lexan to use....I eventually decided to leave it in because I'm going to use it to guide airflow. Each Lexan will be offset to a side so air will be forced to pass through the optics. Hopefully the AG layer and the TAC that I've been forced to strip off the LCD will compensate for the darkness a bit..

In order for that cooling setup to happen, the fresnel and the LCD will be held on two edges only. Is that enough support, or do I need more?

First of all, I love your design idea! The operating vs. not-operating configuration is cool and, of course, your illustrations are well done.

For your optics tray, you might consider removing the top layer of lexan. You'd think it wouldn't hurt to protect your other optics, but you might end up with the urge to squeeze more brightness out of your system. I say this because the only aspect of my test setup I do not like is the relatively low brightness resulting from low transmission through the LCD panel, so getting rid of an extra layer of anything on the way helps.

no need for the second sheet of lexan

Haha an obelisk - nice design. An obelisk had occured to me too, but I was thinking of one that's more obelisk-ish, like http://www.centralpark.com/pages/attractions/obelisk.jpg or something.

That obelisk would have been a cool design too, especially if you taper the bottom off =)

I've continued refining my projector model (Google SketchUp kicks ass!)

As the model becomes more and more realistic, I see more problems arising from the design....

I've recently added thickness to the projector walls, and reality decides to come back and kick my a$$. As a result of using a square pyramid design and the fact that the panels are not 2D, the edges become increasingly complex, with weird angles popping up as a result. While it's possible to fix some, creating a sealtight enclosure would require some very precise woodworking. I don't think I have such tools . As a result, the corner edge needs to be filled somehow, and the top has to be fixed too...or the setup has to be redesigned.

Suggestions as to how to overcome this problem are welcome!
Pic 1: corner at base
Pic 2: tip of pyramid

I know some circular saws have the ability to angle the blade... if you calculate the angle where the panels connect, it could be a piece of cake...notice... I said could, not should.

You should be able to make those angled cuts with a jigsaw. Just do the math and figure out what the angles are then set your jigsaw and make sure the angled adjustment on it is really secure so it doesn't move - then cut (while praying) that it doesn't go off course and ruin your wood even thought you're also using a straight edge.

See, it's simple.

Get some foamcore and make a mockup box with the required angles and see if it'll work.

First, I love your design.



No, you kick ass. I have been downloading all sorts of apps to find one for designing my PJ.
Thank you, Thank you.

This should be the default app for diagrams uploaded to this group. Beats Windows paint.
BTW have you been able to change the dimensions from inches to millimeters?

Another Member asked me to design something similar, for the Pro lens. bringing it to a point will be a challenge. you could however flatten out the point and make this the mirror. when in use flip the mirror up to 45 degrees and have the lens move up and down for focus. when you are done viewing flip the mirror back down for a dust cover, you wont need to make the complex angles for it to come to a point this way. the trapazoid (pyrimid) sides can lay on each other then take a trim router and flush bit to smooth it all out. then go over the ends with a round over bit. btw, you wont need the top layer of lexan, just one piece between the bulb and rear fresnel. good luck with this build.

Thanks all for the helpful tips and suggestions!

TESCORP, you're right...that design would be easier to to make, and would look like a mayan temple/sacrifical platform Thanks for the idea of routing to smooth out the edges! That way, I don't have to do complex calculations to make it completely flush!

PLJack, glad you found Google SketchUp! From what I looked through the menus, you can set your default measurements to millimeters. However, I don't think you can change that setting once you started the project. For people who haven't tried Sketchup, it's an awesome FREE 3D modeling program that's very easy to use!

Construction: LCD tray

I've completed the LCD tray. It didn't turn out to be as bad as I thought it would....considering I'm a sparky and all that...horray!

Now...a few questions I'd really appreciate if anyone can help answer.....

1. Any suggestions as to how I should hold the frame together? It's 5/8 thick MDF. I heard that gorilla glue bubbles...and I can't really use screws because it's too thin. What should I try? nails?

2. I have the standard 220/330mm fresnels. How accurate are those ratings? It seems like I get a brighter image if I move the optics sled ~150mm to the source...
More generally, how should I calibrate the distances between the light, optics tray, and triplet?

Here's a side view =) The LCD panel hasn't been inserted yet, because I dunno how to hold the box together

Whats up Sparky I'm a Sparky to,nice work on cutting that MDF but you my have to cut your pieces over using a more better material , MDF is very brittle when it comes to using screws and keep in mind this portain of your PJ will be exspose to a very high temperture of heat so glue will loose its adhesive property somewhere down the line but you can still try some wood screws or even dry-wall screw just pri-drill your holes.
For question #2 It would be good if you had some way to adjust your frensals it will asure you get the maximum light from your source and the best focus image that you can get but if can be certain that your lens are perfectly alighned and are perfectly spaced apart you will be fine my including myself have made our first PJ without being able to adjust our frensals thats why we all decided to build PJ #2.

RR

Thanks for the suggestion! Does anyone know whether it's safe to mount the LCD optics using MDF? Will it break? The optics sled will be mounted flat. Light will shine from the bottom.

Interesting design. Before you get too far into it, take a look at what you are going to have to do to make the top raise up. I can forsee possible problems with the support for this being in the light cone.



Many have used mdf, just make sure there is enough room in the grooves to allow the fresnels and lcd expand a couple of mm. You might want to place the rear (collimating) fresnel on the heatshield for support. Personally, I'd go for a glass heatshield in a vertical design and place the fresnel directly on it. I think this would minimise any 'hot-side' sag.

I'd also modify your cooling path a bit. The intake you show is pulling air from the lamp side which would be quite hot. I'd break the cooling into 2 sections. In the cooling path you have shown, I would block off the lower intake and blow air in from outside the PJ on the left. Exhaust could be to the right or up into the top of the PJ. Cool the lamp area separately. I'd do this with fans pushing in cold air at the bottom, vent holes at the top so that natural convection can aid in the cooling.

Thanks ozstang65! You've given me quite a bit to think about.

I really like the idea of the fresnel lying on top of a sheet of tempered glass. Lexan tends to bend a bit under its own weight. How much does "hot side sag" happen? I'll need to start looking for broken scanners =)

With the vertical style of PJ you've got 2 things against you. Natural convection and Gravity. Even if you have good ccoling, the top of the lightbox (ie the polycarb or glass) is going to get the hottest. Glass will not bend, polycarb might if it gets warm enough. Check out Puni5her's plog and some of Elken's latest work, they are both vertical setups.

Hi there,

Interesting design... I would say that for the sides of the piramid and to aboid the dreaded corners use 1/4" ply. This will make the edges less notisable, then I would get some wood puddy to make it look smooth and let the paint cover the mistakes

Hanamalu

Sorry for the lack of updates! Between classes and projects, I have little time to work on the projector =(

I've completed cutting out the panels. The round wood molding was REALLY hard to nail in! Note to others: use rectangular molding!

Gotta love Google SketchUp! =)

Aaaaaand....the inside....no time to put in anything yet.

Cooling

I'm having some trouble designing a cooling setup that'll fit in the pyramid. As per ozstang65's recommendations, I read through the vertical setup plogs. Wow, they're amazing. Unfortunately, I can't set up anything like that.

What I propose is a 6 fan setup (can you tell I'm not a ME major? ) They're set up in pairs as shown below.....red, green, and blue.

The green pair is the most important one, as it blows air across the bottom of the lamp, which will have a relatively big homemade heat sink that's attached to the reflector.

The red pair circulates air through the electronics.

The blue pair blows air up at the LCD tray in general.

Would this scheme work? Would 6 fans be too loud? I honestly cannot think of anything without mounting fans outside of the pyramid, which I really don't want to do. Any help would be appreciated!

Edit: The fans are standard 80mm ball bearing computer fans. The green air stream is going through the two pyramid "doors".

Ok. 6 fans isn't going to be too loud as long as you find good fans that are
rated pretty low dB wise. FYI, 3 fans in my setup (one each of 80, 92, and
120mm) is only mildly bothersome until I turn up the volume a bit.

Looking at the path of your proposed setup, I would suggest a few things.

Click to view attachment

This is adding two fans, but according to how you want to cool your setup,
this is the only way I can see it working the way that you want to. If your
blue fans are going to cool the LCD, they have to move air across the LCD,
so they get moved up, and if at all possible, separated from the other fans
to maximize airflow (we really want that LCD to be cool!). That, and the
fans need to be on the walls of the unit to create better suction.

As to red and green? If you really wanted to use green JUST to cool your
reflector setup (with heat sink, you said), then you'll want to have a set of
fans set up with ducting running from the intake fan to the heat sink, and the
heat sink to the exhaust fan. If that's the case, then to cool the electronics,
you'll need an extra set of fans if they're going to be on either side of the
case.

If you're not dead set on that whole cooling the heat sink thing, then you can
just have the two sets of red fans, eliminate the green, and move them a
little further in towards the middle so they effect both the electronics and the
heat sink.

That's just my idea. The way you've got it set up now would just end up
swirling a whole bunch of air around the case without really evacuating any
of the hot air. There NEEDs to be an exhaust fan to evacuate hot air. As it
stands, the left is set up fairly decently except for the red fan (just really
inefficient), but when you get to the right, your green fan never gets to let
the hot air out since it's caught by both the red and blue.

Hope that helps. Sorry if I over-explained.

Ty vonneuton! I see what you mean....the air blown out by the green fans will be sucked back in! Wow...how did I miss that...

I took in your suggestions and revised the setup. The blue fans will blow through some kind of duct in a cycle. I've also moved the red fans onto one side, with all of them blowing in. I have one green fan act as the exhaust for the red and green fans. That way, all the air's coming from one direction, and leaving in another. I could use aluminum flashing to guide the air a bit.

Would this work, or is there something else that I'm missing? I really don't want to drill anymore holes, hence the reason for ducting with the blue fans.

Looking very good so far, love the shape

Just with regards to your cooling issue, just remember hot air rises, and in the case with projectors the air gets very hot

I personally would put the fan higher up than the intake, not too sure about the lcd part, maybe just an open vent to let the hot air out may work?

Someone that has tested that should comment on it though

So have you already made the holes that are shown in the side of the case?

To get the most efficient airflow, you need to have an equal number of the
exhaust fans to the intake fans. I really like the cube of intake, though.
With the blue fans ducted, I'm not worried about your blue air path, other
than that green exhaust fan needs to actually be ON the side of the case, in
order to get maximum suction from it, and pull any hot blue air out.

Now, that green exhaust fan is going to need to be a higher CFM rating than
the others if that's your ONLY exhaust. You may want to cut the others down
to like 9v to slow them down a bit. AND make it a 120mm fan.

Also, unfortunately, your red path is totally not going to happen that way.
Every time it hits something, it will go all over the place. I don't really know
what to do about that, other than my previous idea of having them on the
sides slightly above where the electronics are.

Basically, I think what I'm saying is that I can't see you NOT making more
holes in your case for REALLY efficient cooling. However, I think that you
SHOULD set it up with the few tweaks I said, without poking holes, and see
if that does the job. You never really know. Sometimes this stuff will really
surprise you.

Oops! Sorry, the model didn't reflect everything. For the exhaust, there will be panels covering the sides the green and blue fans. The intake red and green fans MUST exit through either the exhaust green fan, or leak out through the top. I COULD do an 8 fan setup....with 4 fans intake and 4 fans exhaust...but would that be overkill?

Well, having those closed off will definitely help, but you're still looking at an
uneven flow of air. If you don't have as much exhaust as intake, you get
some real strange stuff happening to the airflow. So I still think you'll at least
have to knock down the voltage on those intake fans if you're not going to
change them and all your fans are equal CFM.

This is rough, but it will explain what usually happens when you cut the
voltage:

4 fans at 12v 30CFM = 120CFM intake

4 fans at 9v 16-18CFM = 64-72CFM intake***

2 fans at 12v 30CFM = 60CFM exhaust

Which is why I think if you cut down those intake fans to 9v, then you should
equal out pretty well.

*** I edited this, because different fans act different ways...

Don't you think this would look great next to your pj?

http://www.maingear.com/ProductCart/pc/con...p?idproduct=527

Thank you vonneuton! That'll info'll be really useful when I set up the fans. For now, I'm working on getting the other components together.

LOL chewyman! I didn't know they made those! They WOULD look great next to the projector, except I'm a poor college student and don't have thousands to spare =(. Those pics do give me a new idea on the paint scheme I may want on the projector....

I must admit, that is really... really... cool.

Placement

I've begun placing the major components onto the base. Here are pics of the layout. The bulb is currently propped up by a box of tacks. The reflector is missing, and so are the fans. If you see any disaster waiting to happen, or have suggestions, feel free to comment! Thanks!

Components from top left, going clockwise:

*120-220V transformer (black thingy)
*bulb
*220V MH Ballast
*LCD circuitry
*Worm gear motor for top
*Barrier strip for connections

White box = 12V source for fans and motor.

The main cooling problem is the LCD. The lamp it self does not need any real cooling just the heat in the box needs to be removed.

That and he'll definitely need to keep the LCD electronics protected and cool...

Click to view attachment

Also... about how far up on that picture is the first thing going to be? Just
curious as to if an idea I've got might work.

What do you mean by first thing? The LCD tray will be ~22cm above the light bulb...

Nothing. I can't remember what I was going to say now. But I keep on looking
at your setup, and keep on worrying about all that heat heading skyward.

What *I* would do, really... taking away all constraints of what's already been
cut, etc... Completely isolate the electronics with either some aluminum or more
board (not my best thought, tho...). Completely isolate the LCD/Fresnel holder
with tempered glass (usually there's someone local who can make a custom size
for you, or you can just have a frame for that if it's not the full size).

For the electronics, install two 120mm fans on the same side, but use a divider
to route the flow... like this:

Click to view attachment

Sorry... all I've got at work on this computer is paint. You can see where I've
got the intake and exhaust, with the reflector in the middle. You would make a
hole in either the isolating aluminum or board for the reflector to rest, then just
make a divider so that the air flows over everything the right way. The 120mm
fans usually have a CFM of 70-80, which should be enough to cool everything as
well as help get heat off the reflector.

You could do the same thing with the isolated LCD section with the tempered
glass with either 60mm or 80mm fans without the divider (obviously), with the
fans on the sides to get appropriate flow.

If any of what I'm saying is unclear, just PM me and either you can send me the
sketchup file so I can just add what I'm talking about and send it back to you, or
I'll just give you my number so you can call me so I can explain. Much easier
either way.

Your picture is perfectly clear, vonneuton. Great job with Paint =)

I see what you mean...I'll try to do something like that once my fans arrive...

A Hiatus....

Sorry for the lack of updates! Schoolwork caught up near the end, along with other side projects I'm trying to finish.

I have most of the components manufactured...they just need to be assembled.
The last thing was the 20 wire LCD cable extension. It was a labor of LUVE! To those who may want to extend cables.....REMEMBER TO BUY MULTI-COLORED WIRES! Also look into extending it with a floppy cable or something that already has headers...

I'll be going home home and won't have a chance to work on the projector till after the 15th of Sept....seeya all then!

Alright, man... I need my cyclopean fix. Where be you, Arthas?

Arthas, could you please post some close-ups of how you extended the FFC problem with your LCD. I just stripped a Polaroid LCDTV, and have the exact same FFC cable to fix. It has a connector on one end, and is soldered to the board on the other so I am curious as to how you extended it. Thanks.

Finally....an update

Sigh, I've been away a lot longer than anticipated. Schoolwork caught up, and lots of loose projects needed tying up. I've got a fellow classmmate helping me with the construction, and thus assembly has resumed slowly but steadily.

We've completed building the fan blocks.