Here's my first project

I'm planning on starting with a simple dog coffin projector (see diagram). Before I start, I want to give thanks, and credit for the hours of pleasant surfing this site has given me. My wife now thinks I'm totally crazy, so I guess I just might fit in here.
Design modified to improve airflow.
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Here is the parts list. I seem to have everthing but the 15.4 lcd. I had one, but it got busted in our recent move.

s15 lens - Lumenlab
Pro reflector - Lumenlab
220 fresnel (large) - Lumenlab
330 fresnels (large) - 3dlens
65K T15 Lamp - Lumenlab
mogul base HID socket- Lumenlab
M135 400w att ballast - ebay
15.4 wuxga lcd - To source
5 amp breaker - Lumenlab
120 vac - 12 DC trans - recycled parts
2 12V dc fans - recycled parts
wire, switches, pwr led - recycled parts
mdf - recycled parts
screen frames - Minard's (hardware)

Comments and criticism are always welcome.

Looking good so far.

But one thing to note. If your air slot is going to be above the Lcd sucking cool air past the Lcd, then you might want to re-think the fans and/or heat shield/stand for the bulb.

It looks like there won't be any way for the fans to pull the hot air easily out of the box with the light stand covering to whole area in the back.

hopefully just an oversight, but you'll probably need a controller for the wuxga

Looks like a good, straight-forward design.

Will your projector be ceiling mounted with your cooling slot on the bottom? From what I can see, it looks like you have a cooling path running between your LCD and fresnel, up over the top of the rear fresnel, then underneath the lexan and then beneath the rear (aluminum?) heat shield. Is this right?

Concerning your sourcing for an LCD, you might want to check out this thread: HD projector with component, composite, coaxial, AND HDMI inputs?)
Then check out what new member John D did here concerning his building a mock-up so that he could see what the finished product might look like. I would just like to make sure that you understand what the short throw of the S15-ish lenses will be like.

Hey someone referenced my PLOG in another thread!! :-)

He's right, I didn't realize just how short 6-8 feet was until I actually hung the thing up. Don't let that deter you, just try it out before you build.

I'm new to sketchup so my diagrams aren't as clear or complete as I would like. The air flow enters the front through a filter of some kind. (not in original diagram). Air then goes over (first fresnel) , under (LCD), over (second fresnel), under (uv shield), then over the lamp and metal sheild. The metal shield is 2" shy of the top so air should be able to reach the fans. On the front at the very bottom of the metal shield is a small slot with a bendable flang used to control airflow under the shield to cool the ballast.

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Hopefully the controler can be mounted flat in the front of the coffin. I will try to update the original design diagram as items are pointed out.

You're cooling path is, I think, too complex to be effective. At most, you should have two right angle bends to the airflow.
The best type of cooling path is as described in the Keeping it Cool section of the The Lumenlab PRO DIY Projector Guide.



You'll want to have the area in front of the LCD sealed off from the rear section of the projector, with a cooling slot either in the top lid or the bottom, allowing for cool air to flow between the LCD and rear fresnel.

Interesting.

Yours suggested flow looks alot simpler and more efficient. Having said that, could it be improved by drawing air from the bottom, up the lcd and then over the fresnel? Just like your suggested design but flipped vertically.

The short throw is actually a benefit. Once I get the concepts working I'm going to fold the light path and put the lens in the top of the box. The idea is to fit it into a now defunct 60" mitsubishi rptv. Because it's build into the corner cabinetry, there is an unusually large cavity to work with. By moving the main mitsubishi reflector mirror back and angling it at 45 deg, I can get a 54 inch throw from the top of the projector enclosure --> mirror --> screen. A 54 inch throw would generate about a 54" diagonal screen. In a widescreen format that would just about fit the existing Mitsubishi screen. (see dig)

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At this point it's mostly pie in the sky. As recommended in previous forums I will try to make things adjustable to keep my options open. Because the planned 54" screen is relatively small the overall lumens won't have to be as bright. For that reason I will leave precondensers, ag stripping and things like overclocking the ballast till a later time. I also have a couple 18" besellers kicking around if I get bored.

Yes, it can be flipped. In my projector, I have the air intake on the bottom. I'm still in the building stages and have been using my projector for movies when I don't need to work on it. Currently, with my 150W lamp and no fan installed, I don't even have any active cooling. Not that I would recommend doing this, though.

Ahhh - an RPTV explains why you've chosen this method! Were you aware that we have an RPTV section here at LL?

Yes, I have read some of the rptv blogs.

That is what inspired me to think about filling the hugh hole in my theatre room (dead mitsubishi). For now though, I'm going to keep it simple, and get some practical experience by building an s15 dog coffin.

Today I found an awesome fan from my project (cheap)

I ripped 2 12vdc super quite fans out of an old seasonic powersource. One 120mm and the other is 60mm. Perhaps the metal case and fan guards might come in handy also.

You might be able to use them for a reflector or pre-condenser mounting platform. I just picked up two 120mm fan guards for my own pre-con, today.

That's my intention
I've seen the fan guards used in other plogs. They're pretty cool looking. Form, function, and cool, what else could you ask for. Maybe a cool beer?

I was seriously eying these gold plated 120mm fan guards today.

Gold plated fan guards. What is the term my kids use. O yea, Bling Bling.

Talking about cool. I had an idea of making a projector which collapses to looks like a borg cub from Star Trek. Lots of steel and blue leds. Maybe my wife would allow me to hang that in the home theater.

Next project perhaps.

As for the BORG cube idea...It would have to be a double fold. I thought about doing on, but it is really hard to fit a PJ into a cube. I also was trying to fit a PJ into a TOS shuttle craft. No joy there either, but I would love to see someone try to do that cube idea. Have the triplet lens be the port for the BORG sphere like in First Contact or something like that?!?!

First I'm going to get a dog box working and after that who knows.

My cube idea was to put a box within a box. One box would hold a typical projector from the lcd/fresnel back to the light and ballast. A second box would contain the focal lens. Some kind of drive could be used to extend the box when it's turned on (like a draw being pulled out). The outer box would be decorated like a borq cub and sit on a counter or hang in the room like a model. When it's turned on it transforms into a dog coffin.

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Started new topic. 60" mitsubishi conversion

Moved to 60" Mitsubishi conversion

Moved to 60" Mitsubishi conversion.

Moved to 60" Mitsubishi conversion