Has anyone mounted it in the attic space vertically and used a first surface mirror below the ceiling at an angle to project on the screen??If so, What special considerations are there for such a system? I would really prefer something like this to a fully visible projector.
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There have been variations on this idea but I don't recall seeing exactly this setup.

What immediately comes to mind for me is the potential issue of condensed salt deposits within the arc tube causing some projection artifacts in an upside-down-vertical setup like this. I believe the salts tend to deposit on the gravity side of the arc tube and that would place them directly in your light path. Some members have encountered this problem with this kind of configuration.

Second is the volatile nature of attic space - temperature extremes are possible.

There may very well be other issues I can't think of prior to waking up this morning.

Still, cool idea and best of luck in your implementation if you go this route.

Thanks for your thoughts Durachko. I will take this into consideration. It is hot where I live so cooling will definitely be a problem! As far as salt build up is concerned do you think having the projector at a slight angle (say 22 degrees) would help much?

22° would - I think - just move the problem to another area and not solve it. I'm not certain salt deposits would even be a problem with every bulb - maybe just some bulbs. If I can find the folks who've done this I'll try to remember to come back here and post links. Maybe just do a search for "upside down" or "salt" or similar in the plog section?

In my vertical plog you can see the salts that accumulate. The picture was taken through a welder hood.
That setup might work but the heat would definitately be an issue too. Maybe build a box in your attic and set your pj in it. Kinda like a box in a box.

Funny i was just thinking of making one just like this for my syster... She wants one in her master bedroom, but she doesn't want a box hanging out. So i asked her if i could put it in the attic... lol The way i'm going to make is one mirror before the lcd and one after so i wouldn't have the deposit problem and will allow me to cool the light box separate.

well i'm planning on doing something "like" that...just not in the ceiling all the time...

my idea right now is to have the projector lower into the room during movie/game/tv time and when we aren't using it for it to be kept in the attic.

looks like a good idea you have...but to fix the problem with the salt deposits maybe you could make a folded path for the light, so it is level with the ceiling and then the mirror just makes it shine the proper way?

Yes, like Insane said, you could make a folded light path or projector. That would definitely solve the salt problem.

For the cooling problem, maybe a liquid cooling system along with fans could work? I've seen it work for intensely hot computer environments.

Just a suggestion, good luck!

Thanks for all your suggestions!!I'll have to look for a source of cheap mirrors I guess.

You can read this thread about making your own.

http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=21137

Hi Strgzr,

Just wondering if you got anywhere with this design. I am looking at doing something very similar with my build.
Heat, dust and keystone adjustment seem to be the biggest problems for me.
If you did I would love to hear about it.

According to his profile, Strgzr was Last Seen: 7th August 2007 - 03:52 PM - so I doubt you'll be hearing from him. You might have better luck PMing him as he might have his PMs set to send an e-mail to him when he gets one.

That being said, you might be able to find similar builds using the following Google search of the LL forum: site:lumenlab.com +attic mount

One other problem I foresee is the collection of dust on your fs mirror. Cleaning it often would be a pain.

If you're smart about your design you could make air flow over the mirror, to constantly blow the dust off of it.

well its been a while, i had forgotten that i wrote a reply to this thread.

my wife gave me the go ahead to build a projector as she finally came to terms that 32" 720p just isn't enough for the living room

and going back through threads i saw this one, and thinking it would be a lot easier to try something like this out then to get some motors to try and lower and raise the projector whenever i need it.

my problem would be a ceiling fan that would be in the way, but this would still be able to keep a lot of it in the ceiling if not the whole thing.

anyone found anymore info on a build like this? or some other way to hide the large box?