OK, i figure now is a good time to start my plog. I am going for a basic box design loosely based off of Vrooms pj. Design will be a basic box with a shower drain focus mechanism.

The components i already have are:
400 watt MH ballast (core and coil)
mogul base
Samsung 512n monitor
12v dc adapter for the fan
Partially assembled box

I ordered all of the following from lumenlab, waiting for arrival:
LL lens kit (2 fresnel lenses, triplet)
120mm fan
65k t15 lamp
pro reflector
5 amp circuit breaker

Still need to get:
Lexan for heat shield
various wiring stuff
various small pieces of wood for lcd/fresnel frames

I stripped my lcd today, with much help from Vrooms guide for stripping a samsung 512n. I stripped it without too much difficulty, and then plugged everything back in when I was done. I turned it on but was unable to get any sort of image on the screen. The strip was done in accordance with the directions i had seen. does anyone have idea what could be wrong?

Just to be thorough: You shined a light through it and its blank?

Yes. I had a lamp behind it. Of note is that the first time i tried turning it on after the strip the small power light in the corner lit, but now i can not get even that to light up.

Just a quick question did you have your PC connected? from these pics I don't see it. If you did sorry for the dumb question.

In those pictures i didn't but i have tried it with a computer plugged in and still didn't get anything.
Is it possible that i blew a fuse or something?

OK, i have been making some progress so i figure i should update here. I am taking a break from figuring out the lcd panel and making headway on my optics and lighting. I fired up my lamp tonight, everything works great. I used a spliced air conditioner extension cord and an 8 amp fuse with my core and coil ballast and LL t15 lamp.

Feels great to see the bulb burning doesn't it! I know when I did the burn in on mine I was over the moon!

Can't wait to see the rest of it. Keep it up.

Yes, seeing the bulb burning was a pretty cool feeling. I was very happy that it was wired it properly
I'm going out of town for thanksgiving tomorrow so i probably won't get any more work done until sometime next week.

Been working on the box lately, thinking about what the interior layout is going to look like. here is what i have so far (not much)
I am probably going to have to mount my lamp diagonally and put the ballast underneath the end of the lamp that is higher up. will excessive heat damage my magnetic ballast?
Another question: My radioshack SPST switches have a red LED on them that is supposed to light up when the switch is in the "on" position, however i can not get them to light up. Do I need to do something with that third contact? If not then what is that contact for?

Just a quick question? Are you using the same switches for the ballast that you are using for the fans? Cause if I am not mistaken they are not rated for that much current. Could be wrong, but better to say something and be wrong, and there be a fire.

I have my ballast right next to my lamp also and have never had a heat problem. Also the third contact on your switch needs to be grounded for the LED to come on. Good luck

My switches are rated for 16 amps and I am using a 8 amp fuse so my fuse will blow long before my switches will be fried if there is a problem.

Just tried grounding that third contact, still nothing. Obviously if I can not get them to light up it's not a big deal seeing as aside from that they work fine, I would like them to though.

WIRING DIAGRAMS AND OTHER STUFF

Number 41 in the list to the right side of the page is the one you want. Then scroll down to the lighted switch. That should fix you up. Good luck and hope it helps.

Thanks for the link, lots of helpful stuff on that site. I just got the switches to light up thanks to a diagram on that site.

Glad I could help. That place has been up for YEARS and I have always had good luck sending ppl there.

I have made lots of progress lately, the projector is nearing completion. Pretty much everything behind the lexan heatshield is good to go. I ordered a new samsung 512n, $53 w/ free shipping from ebay. Just got done stripping it, i tested it and it still works
This weekend i am going to try and frame the lcd and fresnels. Pics will come shortly, I can't find the camera battery charger at the moment.

Here are some test pics i took a couple days ago. I placed a transparency slide with an image on it in front of my fresnel lenses and held the triplet in my hand. I did not have a lid or front on the projector, so there was a lot of light pollution going on. I was projecting onto a tablecloth tied to the bookshelf in background.

This is how i have laid everything out so far. The 3/16 in. lexan is sandwiched on the edges with 3/8 in. balsa wood glued to the side of the enclosure. For my fresnel lenses i did something i am fairly sure no one has done before: I used two triangular pieces of 1 in. balsa wood on each side attached to the walls of my box with velcro. There is a 5/8 in piece of balsa wood in between the triangular pieces to space the unsplit fresnel lenses.

I built the frame for my samsung 512n last night. The base is 3/8 in x 3 in basswood, and the two supports are 3/16 in x 1 in basswood. I used silicone sealant to attach my panel to the metal frame it came in. I used really small (not sure exactly the size) bolts to attach the top of the frame to the supports, and glued the supports to the base.

I like the idea of the Velcro. I have never seen that. Good Job.

do you know how much time and energy i could have saved on cutting slots for the lcd and lenses and then building a frame for it all .
i should have thought to use velcro
nice job

Thanks, I wanted something that was easy to put together and adjustable, this was suggested to me. I will be out of town this weekend, hopefully next weekend i will be able to borrow my neighbors jigsaw and cut the hole for the shower drain in the front as well as the air intake slot in the top of the lid. I already have both of those pieces cut to size.

I like the velcro idea are you going to use it for the lcd as well?

I think I am borrowing that velcro idea

OK, The projector is more or less finished, just some tweaking that needs to be done. I borrowed my neighbors jigsaw and cut the slot in the lid for the air intake and the circle in the front for my triplet. I made my box a couple of inches short so i cut two pieces of a 2x4 about 2" long to extend my shower drain. I then put my panel in and fired it up. I had tons of light leaking out of my box So the contrast was pretty bad, and i am still projecting onto a tablecloth, but it was still awesome to be able to project a couple scenes of a movie (cars) on something that i built. In these screenshots you can see my da-lite screen samples. From the left: High contrast matte white, matte white, video spectra, and high power. The one with just three samples doesn't have the high contrast matte white. I loved the high power but with how my seating is set up All the seats are at too much of an angle to be able to notice the increase in brightness. I ended up ordering a da-lite matte white 100" 4:3 versatol screen from provantage. Here is the link. The price was $91 dollars shipped.

Here is how I mounted My pro reflector (those screenshots were taken before i installed the reflector) I had the projector running again last night with my reflector installed and most light leaks covered. Much better picture. I will post more pics once my screen gets here. You can also see how i extended my shower drain (and used electrical tape to prevent light leaks) I monitored my panel temp for The ~45 minutes i had the projector running last night and never saw the temp go above 85 degrees fahrenheit.

Here is how I mounted My pro reflector (those screenshots were taken before i installed the reflector) I had the projector running again last night with my reflector installed and most light leaks covered. Much better picture. I will post more pics once my screen gets here. You can also see how i extended my shower drain (and used electrical tape to prevent light leaks) I monitored my panel temp for The ~45 minutes i had the projector running last night and never saw the temp go above 85 degrees fahrenheit.

Hey juggleitup,
I ordered the exact same screen a couple weeks ago, and I love it so far. Just so you know, the retracting mech (at least mine) was a bit tricky to figure out. Or maybe I'm just a noob

Thanks for the heads up, if I run into any problems I'll post here.

My screen came yesterday so i have been having some fun with the projector. Here are some real screen shots:

Here are some pictures of my screen. In the first one I moved the top down and the bottom up about 10" each For widescreen. In the second one it is fully extended.

here are some new high-resolution screenshots: (Ratatouille)
If you click on them to view the full size versions those vertical lines will go away.

Does anyone know how I can change the subtitle/description of the topic for my plog?

Go to your very first post for this thread and make your changes.

I think that you need to have 50 posts before you can change your title. But as SIM said, you do it by modifying your first post.