Hi,

Does anyone have any experience with heatsinks (the rediculous large kind you often find in high end computers)?

More specifucally, could one be used by placing it very near to the light, and blowing a fan across it to disperse heat?

The logic seems sound to me, but im not 100% on how a heatsink is implemented, only its purpose and the general concept.

Regards,
Travis

On second thought, the light itself may already serve this purpose just by nature but ill post anyway so its on the forum and im not totally sure yet.

Im also thinking this could possibly help with bulb longevity by soaking the heat out of it sooner.

A heat sink shouldn't be necessary as long as you follow the advice described in the Keeping it Cool section of the DIY Projector Guide.

Question regarding your response:

If i am considering doing a ceiling mount, would it be more logical to do the opisite of the diagram in 'keeping it cool'? That is to say, would it be more effective to put the fan at the top and the intake at the bottom so that convection would aid the cooling system?

Thanks for your response,
Travis

One other thing; you mention i do not NEED a heat sink. However, do you think it could help with cooling the bulb (prevent scorching of the box)? Im certainly not contesting your previous statements; only trying to tap into your knowledge base relative to my pondering. Hopefully you/ whoever answers doesnt mind

Travis

Cooling the rear compartment/lamp of the projector enclosure is secondary to cooling your LCD.
90+% of the light that hits the LCD turns into heat. That's why it's important to have cooler air entering the projector between the LCD and rear fresnel. It doesn't matter if the cooling slot is in the top or bottom. What becomes important is that the path that the air takes does not get hampered by too many turns. So, if your cooling slot is in the bottom, I would recommend that you allow the air enter the projector from the bottom, move between the LCD and rear fresnel, over the top of the rear fresnel (and heat shield/Lexan, if you use one) and exit out the top-back of the enclosure.

If your projector is going to be ceiling mounted, it's logical to assume that the air towards the bottom of the projector will be cooler than the air at the top. This might cause a significant amount of light leakage through the cooling slot, though. This can be resolved, for the most part, by air conditioner filter cloth and/or a light baffle.

A heat sink might help, but why bother. One or two fans will be sufficient.