Hello all,

I've been lurking in these forums for quite a while now and finally decided to sign up! Anyway, I've built a projector out of overhead projector parts and it worked marginally well over the past few months. Well last week I started getting lines in my LCD, looking further I noticed the FPC cables started to pull off the circuit board on the vertically side of my LCD. So I am going to start over and "do it right" this time. I bought a Samsung 150MP ($150 shipped, eBay) which I've seen a couple of users on this forum use with really good results. I just bought the S15 Lens Kit from LumenLab ($65). I think I am going to stick with my halogen light from my overhead projector until I run into a few more dollars to buy a ballast and new bulb. The halogen seems to work pretty good for the price (FREE!).

I do have one question, the S15 Lens Kit -- are those fresnals split, or are they pressed together?

Some pictures of my old projector (and my first LCD on an overhead projector) are available on my Flickr site here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tloftus/sets/72157594185097324/

Thanks in advance for all the help I know this group will provide!!

Tom

The fresnels sold here are separate units. They are not stuck together. Best wishes for a great build!!! Welcome!!!

ya there split... the kit is actually just all 3 lenses shipped together not actually any different part wise

Have any of you seen a design for LCD / Fresnal mounts that allows for sliding the panels forward/backward as well as keystoning adjustment (horiz & vert)? I'm going to be building just a standard rectangle box, nothing special but would like to be able to make these adjustments.

Thanks,
Tom

The more I read into this -- correct me if I'm wrong but is the only lens that needs adjusted to fix keystoneing issues the lens lens between the LCD and the tripplet lens?

Tom

People have used all-thread for adjusters. You can incorporate a little keystoning into that method.

For modest keystoning just the front fresnel need be adjusted.

Check this.

Thanks, that link really helps. I think I will use threaded rod (one on each corner) for the first fresnal and the LCD. I will drill the holes in the LCD / Lense frame to fit the rod securely. The last fresnal I will drill those holes bigger so there's a certain amount of "play in to allow for adjustment any direction, then use a large washer and nuts to keep it in place.

Does this sound like something that will work out?

I'm kind of pricing Ballast's and Bulbs for this project -- LL is a little more than I wanted to spend ($200). Does anyone have a site selling this stuff at a better price or anyone looking to sell their parts?

Tom

you can use a nice m135 combo (V90D7612K ballast, 73531 400w bulb) or the LL t15 bulb with m59 ballast (V90D6413K) from http://www.hidirect.com/. Both will come in under $100.

Thanks! I ordered the V90D7612K ballast and the 73531 lamp. Came in at $99.59 shiped from HIDirect.com. Thanks again!! Now off to order the mougl and reflector!

Does anyone know if the 73531 blub from HIDirect.com will work with the LL reflector?

http://www.venturelighting.com/LampsDataSh...alide/73531.pdf

Thanks,
Tom

I don't think it will. that bulb is very wide and the pro reflector is quite small. do a search for the bulb or ballast code on this site and you should find a bunch of threads and possibly see what others have used. Also, that ballast should come with a capacitor, but I doubt the bulb comes with a mogul base. you will need an e39 mogul. I believe the base sold in the LL store is e39.

HIDirect.com e-mailed me. They are out of that ballast but they can sell me one that's not wired and without the brackets for cheaper. Then she added the brackets on for like $5 -- anyway it still comes out to be pretty cheap (especially after the 15% first time buyer discount). I will post the total here when I get it, but I'm seeing if they have a base they can sell me too.

After looking through some posts I guess this bulb is pretty huge (a lot bigger than the LL bulb) so I might have to make a trip to Linens and Things to find some kind of reflector.

LCD/TV should be here Thursday, I've got the day off work Friday so I can start building! Think I'm going to use 1/2" MDF (my old projector was made out of 3/4" MDF and that sucker was HEAVY!!).

Any other suggestions / tips for this type of setup are welcome, God knows I will be browsing these forums a LOT between now and Friday!!

Tom

Well I have to say I've had great service from HIDirect.com!! I got my order placed for the Ballast / Bulb and Bulb Base -- $81.51 (includes a 15% first time buyer discount).

Thanks for the suggestion of ballast / bulb and site tameone!

Going to go buy some MDF for the enclosure build this weekend after work thanks all for your help to this point and I will get back with some photos once I get rolling on this hog!

Thanks again!

Tom

So I started my build tonight. I'm going to build it in 3 parts (triplet, fresnals / lcd & light box). Trying something like the Art Deco projector by SamuraiJack (I think.).

Got quite a bit done, but have a problem in that i can't figure out how i'm going to frame / mount my LCD.

Can I get some suggestions from the board? I would REALLY appriciate it! The LCD is about 1/16" thick.

Any help would be appricated!! Pics attached.

On the LCD, the small board on the side of the monitor goes to the right (when looking from the lamp) and the large board goes along the bottom. I left space for this board to go under the LCD and fresnals.

Heres what I did for El-Nino's build, we were able to reuse the metal frame and back light frame. then I framed it up with a mount for the rear fresnel. it also supports the side board and FFC extension.

side view of sled with extension.

you sure you don't need the board to sit in front of the LCD, i.e. between the LCD and triplet? remember the LCD needs to be upside down and backwards for a non-folded design.

Yes, you're right -- that's how I have it, when i said it's on the right looking from the lamp it's actually in front of the LCD itself. I've gone with TESCORP's advice and used the frame, but I'm not entirely happy with it. In fact I'm a little disappointed with the entire build right now-- how you are supposed to mount all these pieces together and have them aligned is beyond me. I'm thinking of some alternative designs and it may even come down to me going back to the huge box style. I don't want to sacrifice quality for looks. The hardest part for me has always been figuring out how to mount all of these components (fresnals / lcd / lexan).

Tom

lining everything up is a matter of making all the measurements first, draw center lines on all the pieces. I frame up all the parts and when it comes together they line up. Check out Durachkos tweaks thread. of course I leave room for adjustment with the bulb mount slide, the adjustable keystone blocks and focus mech. the way it works for me is to mount the LCD and rear fresnel as a fixed unit then work backwards to the lamp and forwards to the lens. once you have this worked out just build an enclosure around it. SJ built a very unique PJ and is a perfect example of what the imagination can come up with. thats what is so much fun about DIY. You will come up with something very cool it just wont happen overnight.

Well thanks for the words of encourgment. I just walked away from it this morning. I will have another shot at it tonight I think. This time I've got a table saw borrowed, which will hopefully help me out a bit more than my circular saw and saws-all.

I do think I'm going to go back to the standard 'dog-coffin' as some people call them.

I will post some pics with updates as soon as there are any (updates, that is.)

Tom

Well all, I got my father in law's table saw and ripped out 3 frames (2 fresnals and lexan) in a matter of 30 minutes, what a difference the right tools can make.

Anyway, I sprayed them with high temp black paint and they are drying now, I will get them all mounted tonight and be good to go on my 'dog coffin' tomorrow!

When I assemble these I'm planning on just hitting the corners with a brad nailer. Do you guys normally silicon in the groove to keep them steady? They're pretty tight now, so it's probably not necessary but I will do it if you guys think it will help.

Anyway, thanks for the support and I guess I'll be ready to build a LCD frame soon!!

Pics of the frames to come later tonight (hopefully), going to see Talledaga Nights with some friends that are in town later!

Tom

Well here are the frames and lenses. The white is the lexan with the protective covering on and the fresnals have been covered with saran wrap to keep them from getting dirty. Next up, LCD frame / sled.

Tom

you want the fresnels to be able to move a bit since they will expand under heat. snug is good.. but not too tight.

Cool, thanks, I think they're in pretty good shape then. I need to go to Lowes and get some clamps for the corners, not sure how to describe them but they have spikes on them to hold the joints together, unfortunately the brad nailer split the wood a bit and I just need to reinforce them.

More to come tomorrow!!

Tom

I know exactly what you're talking about I'm always afraid of nailing anything into wood this thin without pre drilling.. and you found out why

Well today must just be my lucky day! This morning we got a call from my sister in law, she was house sitting for my brother in law and their dog ran away. Spent 3 hours looking, no luck. So I came home to work on the projector, got a screen frame all ready to go, get it painted and the screen put in -- test it out, a black bar across the top 1/3 or so of the screen. I can't see any damage to the circuit board or connections but I must have done something to it while I was mounting it -- $150 -- gone, just that quick.

But since I have the controller boards and everything I'm trying to see if I can find a replacement panel on eBay for cheap, there's one up there now for $50 + $15 shipping, I gave him a best offer of $35 + $15 shipping, we'll see how that goes I guess.

So projector is on hold for a while.

Talk to you all soon.

Tom

nice job on the frames! too bad about the panel and the dog! is it micro chiped? (the dog) most kennels and vets have a scanner that will read the chip and cross reference the info to the owner.
are you sure you fried your panel? are the connectors firmly seated?

I don't think she is micro-chipped, but I'm not sure-- both of my dogs are, and just for that reason. Anyway, I'm sure my panel is gone there are only two connectors to the panel and I've checked the others between the input boards. If i wiggle the ribbon on the side of the panel the lines will come back and disappear randomly so I know that's what it is. I started to mount everything on threaded rod but am having a hard time getting it all lined up, the rods want to go in on eachother, probably my holes aren't straight, I will re-drill them tomrrow I think with them all clamped together to make sure I get the holes striaght -- sometimes I wish I had a drill press.

Tom

Well good news, they found the dog, finally. And I drilled bigger holes in the frames for more adjustability and sure enough I had the tempered glass frame too tight, everything fits beautifully now. So on the low note of the screen being trashed, at least I got a (little) something done today. Bulb and ballast should be here Monday, I think if my rod is long enough I'm going to mount my bulb on it as well for forward / backward adjustability along with a neat contraption made out of an erector set or something with two studs and wing nuts. Don't remember who did it, but I will have to find it again because it was sweet.

On another note, I think I may still shy away from the "dog coffin" projector and angle the front to a point like the Haas design, however since my bulb has to be mounted vertically I guess it will probably only be a 'half-Haas'.

Anyway, that's all for tonight. Back at it again tomorrow!

Tom

TESCORP - I know you've been checking out my Plog and your PM box is either full or disabled, so I will just post this here:

I see in July you offered to send a shower drain "thingy" to another member for a triplet adjustment.

What are you using? I would like to go to Lowes or HD to buy something like this but everything I've found has been tapered and won't thread in far enough.

Could you tell me what parts you are using for this mechanism as I really don't want to use the 'box within a box' method.

Thanks!

Tom

TESCORP - Nevermind! Just checked your plog, found the photo of the drain you use. Let me know if you've moved to something different since then, otherwise I will be off to Menards today!

Tom

I am glad you found the dog, mine are both chipped too. heres the latest version of the focus ring (drain). what I have done is to take a flush router bit and take down the lip flush so the lens triplet will just press fit in snug. the triplet holds it from falling in and the ring stops it from falling out. black spray paint for plastic makes it look nice.

Hmm, I must have bought something different, or assembeled it different. I have some pics I will post when I get home from work. Bulb and ballast should be here today! I'm having second thoughts about the threaded rod -- these panels will be so close together adjusting it will be nearly impossible anyway, at least by trying to unthread 4 nuts and slide washers -- we'll see. I will probably have the bulb be adjustable, the triplet is adjustable, and I will have a keystoning rod for the last fresnal (I really should learn their names).

More to come tonight!

Tom

Well great news...

I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to Geico!

No really -- searched my busted LCD's model number on eBay -- it's the same as a Gateway Profile 3!! Which by the way I know someone who happens to have one of those sitting in a corner!! Score!

Maybe projector won't be as delayed as I originally thought. =)

Anyway, going to the computer surplus store down the street today at lunch, they have some processor squirrel cage fans for $1.50 each.. might go see if I can score two or three of them. I will get specs when I get back.

Tom

Well I bought 4 of these fans at $1.99 a piece, hopefully they will work out. Let me know what you guys think of these specs:

Specifications:
Size: 75x75x32mm
Speed: 2500rpm
Bearing: Dual Ball bearing
Flow vs Noise: 35.9cfm@53.8dBA
Connector: 3-pin

They are 12V @ 0.72 A, I have a 12V 7A AC adapter I will proabably use to power the fans and possibly the LCD if I can run all three on that much Amperage. I will have to double check the LCD power consumption / voltage though.

Thanks,
Tom

don't want to burst your bubble, but thats possibly the worst flow vs noise ratio I've ever seen those are going to be loud and push little air.

Don't worry, you're not bursting my bubble -- at $2 a piece I thought it was worth a shot. After I posted that last reply I checked the specs on some other fans (including the LL store) -- I may just skip these ones and find something a little better.

Tom

Ok guys, I need some help.

This bulb is HUGE. I knew they were big but this sucker is GIGANTIC. Can someone please confirm this is the right bulb?

On a second note, I hooked everything up and fired it and it went good, extremely bright and I didn't even let it get up to full brightness.

Finally, is there a proper way or even necessary to discharge this capicator before unwiring everything? I don't really feel like dying today, I have a child on the way. I have some "electronics" background and quite a bit of "electrical" knowledge -- but you guys have experience, which speaks a lot louder than background or knowledge!

Thanks! I need to know before I take down my test setup to begin figuring out the placement in my real box!!

Tom

Picture time. Got a little bit of work done tonight. Decided that I'm going to mount a lot of this stuff in a seperate box, not so much because of size as it is weight. That ballast is heavy!! Plus it will allow for ceiling mount and control from the shelf with my Sony 5.1.

I know the distance is no problem for the bulb, but has anyone done any testing with extending the wires for the LCD? For my sake I hope it will work, if not I will have to move the input control boards to the projector housing.

Here's the pics.

Tom

That is a big bulb, is it the BT37? I use the ED28 style. heres a pic of the two for comparison. BT37 on the left, ED28 on the right. LL carries the T-15 which looks like a test tube and will work with the Pro Reflector.

I wouldnt run the fans and the LCD off the same power supply. I like the 120Vac 120mm fans, I can get all sizes and voltages. I can even get one thats 150mm ( 6").

Looks like the focus ring you have is very similar to mine. will the triplet fit in the other end? I think it looks better without the big ring of plastic around it thats why I routed the lip on the other end and painted it black.

The ED28 looks a lot more manageable than mine. Before I look into exchanging them can you see any advantage to mine? Otherwise I'm going to call Venture and exchange it. Also do you suppose the ballast I bought will work with an ED28 bulb?

If the BT37 is going to be worth building an enclosure for I will keep it, if there's no advantage I'd rather have a smaller bulb.

Thanks,
Tom

I just checked out HIDirect.com, the bulb I ordered was 73531 and the ballast is V90D7612K.

The BT37 appears to have about 14,000 more lumens than the ED28 - it this reason enough for me to 'deal with it'.

Thanks,
Tom

Upon even further review, I think this is the only size lamp that my ballast will work with. Or through HIDirect.com anyway.

Here are the spec sheets:

Ballast - Spec Sheet
Bulb - Spec Sheet

The ballast is an M135, M155/E standard and the ED28 bulbs appear to only work with different ballasts. Mine is a 'Pulse Start' -- I don't know, this is all greek to me.

So I think we'll just stick with what tameone suggested last week with the M135 combo.

Thanks,
Tom

yep, thats the 37. the ED28 comes in pulse start too. the only diff I see is size and burn position. I like the smaller bulbs, smaller enclosure. if you can build your enclosure to fit this big bulb then it will be ok. its just a big bulb. The very first LL pj's used this bulb placed diagonally. the most important thing is to center the arc.

Thanks for the heads up. I think I'm just going to stick with this bulb since I have it -- it will make the enclosure a little bigger but at this point what's another couple of inches. Unfortunately this one only has a vertical +- 15deg burn position, so I will have to burn it straight up and down.

Anyway, didn't get anything done last night -- trying to figure out how I'm going to extend my LCD back to the control board in a seperate box so I ordered a Male to Male DB25 connector and going to radio shack to get some female plugs and try wiring it up.

I only have one of these connectors, I hope I don't screw it up, but it's just extending the wires already there, so I should be okay.

Tom

TESCORP -- Is this the bulb you would recommend if I were to get it exchanged?

Venture MS 400W/H75/ED28/PS

It looks like that will work with the ballast that I already have. The lumens are a little lower, will it make that big of a difference?

Basically concidering calling them up and having it exchanged.

What do you think?

Tom

Well I did what I was scared to do, and that was to start cutting. So I did and overall I think it went pretty well. I have the sides and base of the box up, the slots for the lexan and the first fresnal. I have the location of where the LCD will be mounted in the box, but avoiding doing anything with it until I'm ready to fire it up. The box isn't going to be this long, I just left myself plenty of room to find a place for everything, then I will chop off the front with a circular saw. I must say a laser level for this job is the best $15 I ever spent -- it makes it so easy to line everything up.. hopefully it will be right the first time, but I left myself a few 'adjustments' although not as easy as some peoples.

Have a look, here's the pics!

Tom

BTW -- I decided I'm keeping the beast of a bulb.

Edit: Full size pics on my Flickr site (linked in my sig).

looking good, the burn position is recomended. it will still work diagonally just not as long. if you did go with the ED28 you listed that is the right bulb for your ballast. since you have the big bulb go with it, you can get the smaller bulb for your next build.

Just to verify.. the grooves on the fresnals go toward each other, with the LCD between. The back one (near the lamp) is 220mm from the arc, the front one is 320mm from back (inside part) of the triplet lens? This is the standard 15" LL lens kit.

Also, in keystone correction I want to use a dowel and the grooved slots to move the rod toward and away from the LCD? How far away should the closest groove be and avoid the circles from the fresnal in the LCD? How are these 'groove blocks' cut? I don't have a router or anything so I thought about drilling 3 or 4 say 3/4" holes in a strip of board and then cutting the tops of the circles off. I think that should work.

How are people attaching the fresnal to the dowel? I thought maybe some clips or a groove in the dowel would be good, but I think my sawblade is too wide and the fresnal too narrow to get a tight fit.

Just running through ideas while I'm at work so when I get home I can get back to it!!

Thanks for your help guys,
Tom