By M6, do you mean 6mm?

Sorry,mate.
Yes,6mm,B&Q,or similar,large DIY store.
Cheers,P

Cheers, Pun15her. Helpful as always!

EDIT: typo...

As always,a pleasure!

On a different note,I am just waiting for a hot mirror to arrive from the good ol US of A.Then I can start temperature testing,and hopefully get to work on a light gate for V2!

As requested.
Hope it helps!!!

Sorry,more focus mech guides.
If anyone has any questions,please add replies!





Fig1:Main assembly.190mm x120mm made from 9mm mdf.Circle cut in middle is 110mm diameter to fit the pipe.(please adjust size to fit pipe being used!)
Fig2:Drawer runner supports.50mm x 25mm,again cut from mdf.Fix these to the side of the main assembly using countersunk screws,and glue,be sure that they are at right angles.They support the runners to ensure smooth running.
Fig3:Shows position of runner support on main assembly.
Fig4: Shows cross section of runner.
Fig5: Shows a small L shaped bracket,bought from a DIY store.
Fig6:Shows the larger section of runner mounted onto the main assembly,and the inner piece of runner attached to the L shaped bracket.Hopefully this will show you how the assembly fits together!!!
Fig7:Shows a birds eye view of the assembly fitted into the front of the box.
Fig8:Shows the triplet holder,as described before,and how it fits into the pipe.
I am sorry for the quality of the diagram,guys!
I am having problems with focussing the thing!!!!
But hopefully you can make out what is what!!Like I said,please post any questions,and I will reply as best I can!

Preliminary wiring info!

First point of entry for mains.
And from the back...

This shows how the electricity supply enters the box.As soon as the switch is activated,power goes to the pc psu,and onto the fans,fan controller,focus mech and lcd.There is a further switch to supply the lamp circuit.I will "attempt" a circuit diagram when I get a minute,but this at least shows the starting point!

And part 2 of the wiring?? layout.
I found a high temperature flex cable in a large B&Q.
Switches,fuse holder and fuse were all from Maplins electronics (UK).

Hope this is OK??
Cheers P

I got a pm from someone tonight that read...

"My benq 557s ver 2 lcd monitor my power button powers on

And the backlight powers on but the circuit boards weren't grounded. and the ciruit board that connects to the lcd it touched the other ciruit board

And I acidently touched the big circiut board with my hand and got shocked and then the next I know the lcd screen goes blank and shuts off but I don't get it the power button comes on and I plugged the backlight in and it comes on but the lcd does not come on please email me or post or aim"

I have pointed him towards SonicWonder 2000's Plog,but was wondering if anyone had any ideas??
I was thinking a grounding problem,but dont know if the lcd board may have gone to the great projector in the sky!
Cheers P.

Yes he is a very persistant and determined fellow to an admirable degree. I have strongly recommended that he get a partner to help him at home. I have also told him that I will not help him further until he gets some assistance.

He really wants to do this for his family and I wish there was more we could do to help him but I think he needs help with the build beyond what we can give him. If I were to give him advice on grounding the Benq, probably the easiest way to handle it would be to put it back in its chassis if it will fit in his projector.

Perhaps someone in the US would be willing to see if they can revive the Benq and mount it in a sled for him or even finish the build. He said that he would be willing to pay someone. I suggested joe200chevy as he is currently building a PJ for waterfowl.

I hope that we as a community can help him achieve his goals.

Well here are some pics of my car, it wasnt raining saturday morning so i got some pics before it did rain. Like i said i just put a small block 350 in it and the headers i had to put in are pointing upwards because i have the original steering column so they couldnt go down so until i get the exhaust put on (sometime this week i hope) flames shoot out the headers and would burn the hood. Therefore i dont have a hood, it looks a lot better when the hood is on it though. Its a 52 chevy styline deluxe 2 door coupe. Just a fun car thats nice for a college kid to have.
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

another pic
Click to view attachment

Now questions concerning your PJ

are the poles used for holding all the lenses anchored or tightened in the pj at all or is it just tight when you put the side panels on that you dont have to worry about moving. Mine dont move very much but when in the case there is still a little bit of room available.

What did you use to stick the mirror to the surface, just some strong glue or something.

And i still cant figure out exactly how i am going to find the exact spot where to put the triplet lenses. I had the idea of when i get everything going to turn it on and look to find where i see the spot on the inside of the case and put it there. Another way i thought is since the distance is know and i can figure out the angle just measure to the center of the mirror and then from that point (at the correct angle) to the case. For some reason i have this feeling like im not going to put it in the right spot and thats why i have not put a hole in the front of my PJ yet.

stupid question i know but thanks for the reponses

That car is awesome.Very nice.
My poles are not fixed.but there is a sheet of mdf,between the image bank,and the front of the box,which completes the airflow circuit.It is VERY tight!
I used double sided sticky pads to stop latteral movement of the mirror,and to stop it dropping off,I made small L shaped brackets from aluminium and screwed them into the side wall of the mdf mirror mount.
As far as the triplet goes.Dont be too woried!!
You can move the height and angle of the mirror,and move the triplet in and out.If you dont put it in exactly the right place,you can adjust these 3 things to accomodate any minor error!!!
Go for it!!!
Cheers P
Very nice so far though.

Hot mirror arrived today!

Surplus shed couldn't give me any specs on it,so I have no idea of any temps,light transmission etc etc!
But at $2,I couldnt pass it up.Buying a piece this size normally would cost $100!!!



As you can see,I bought 2 pieces,just in case!!!



50mm x 55mm.Small,but should be possible to use in the pj,if tests go OK!



First test...Temp testing.IE;chuck it in the oven and turn it up!!!!



We will see if it is still in one piece in an hour or two.Max temp in the oven is 250 degrees.I would like to go a bit hotter,but we will see how it goes with this test.If it is OK,I will make a sled for it,and put it in the existing pj,to judge light throughput,and do some localised temp testing.
Wish me luck!!!!
Cheers P

I am very unhappy,obviously no-one wished me any luck,as I certainly didn't get any!!!

After a couple of hours in the oven,I was greeted with this...



The coating on the glass flaked,and come off in parts.
Maybe the coating is supposed to stay on the cool side???
I will try putting it into the pj,with the coating on the cool side,and see what happens.At least I know it won't melt all over the lamp!!!
Oh well,one down,one to go!!

Man, I would hate to have to eat your brownies....

( Could you resist that?)

Seriously, that sucks...that coating looks thoroughly crispy. A larger piece of glass would allow us to go back from the bulb but the cost becomes prohibitive. My piece of glass is a Karl Storz filter for a zenon lamp. Im hoping it will take the heat better than yours.

Oh...and I DID wish you luck...but since you live in a different time zone you probably wont get it til five hours from now...

Yeah,what a bummer!
I will play with the other piece,but to be honest,I don't have much faith after test number1.
It was definateley worth a go though!!
(and I don't even eat my own brownies!! )

I Do not think you will have the same results inside the projector, because the temp. will be alot different and also you will have airflow within the projector, so IMO it would work fine for you.

Joe

Cheers Joe,here's hoping so!
I will give it a go,and we'll see what happens.

Pun15her,
I think you should try the design we discussed with the Schot glass (sp?). A slightly recessed glass piece with air coming in on all four sides before it vents through the light chamber. That should keep the glass from reaching anywhere near 150, probably much less.

Thanks Samurai.I am just throwing around ideas for now.
Maybe one of them might even work!!!!
Then again,maybe not!
All input thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated! Thanks

Punisher, is this the part of the forum you said you had posted the wiring info as i cannot find it.

cheers.
dlynch

Sorry,plog has been busy!!!
It is on the last page,here is a link:Pun15hers rubbish wiring diagram

I hope it is what you were looking for!
Any questions,let me know!
Cheers P

hehe oops, went past it before posting and didnt spot it.

cheers punisher. Will try and see what i can do with it. Im sure it will be simple enough.

thanks
dlynch

A pleasure! I think The wiring can be as complicated as you want.The way I ended up doing it was the most simple I could think of to do the job required.Ideally a one switch system is the most foolproof way of operating the pj,but I could not find a thermostat at the time.
Cheers P

Pun15her?
Any luck with the filter? Im havin a decent time with mine.
You go on holiday or something?

No progress I'm afraid!
I have been clearing out the garage this week,and scribbling ideas on how best to use my hot mirror.Had alot on,so havn't been able to concentrate on the pj at all this week!
Loving your progress though Samurai.It is really coming together.

Yes, I have been looking at hot mirrors as well. I came up with some interesting info about how they used to be used quite frequently in older slide projectors....Trip to junk shop, anyone?!
I was thinking if we could use one of those we may be able to shorten the lightpath, while it wouldnt be too much on a 220MM path, it might be enough to come up with a few cool designs....Hint Hint...

Hey Pun15her, hope you are well.

Just got a few questions about the piece of mdf that the lcd powersupply & control board sit on:
Such as what are the dimensions? And, where did you get the brass standoff's?

TIA.

Hi,remixme.
Thanks,I am very well.
I will get the dimensions of the mdf in the morning.It is 1am here,and I don't really fancy stripping the box down,after a few glasses of red wine!!
The stand offs were from my box of collected parts,and are standard motherboard stand offs,from a motherboard I bought last year.My local pc store sells them by the bag for next to nothing.I just drilled 3mm holes where they needed to be,and screwed them directly into the mdf.
Hope this helps.Cheers P

Hi Pun15her,
My vertical projector is coming along nicely thanks to your PLOG but I have a question for you.... How did you secure the two side panels to your image bank? Are they just screwed to the reflector base plate and the LCD frame? I'm having a problem understanding how you can retain adjustability of the image bank if two or more frames are permanently held in place by these side panels. I'm sure your method is as ingenious as the rest of your design but I'll be damned if I can work it out...

Oh yeah - do you remember the ball park size of your mirror? I have a big piece and I need to know what size to cut out.

Thanks as always!

Regards,
Dave D.

Hey,Dave.
Glad to hear things are coming along.
I am sorry my plog is a bit confusing.The design changes as the build progresses.
To clarify...
The "Image bank" sits tightly against the back wall of the enclosure.There is a piece of mdf,as tall as the lower fresnel mount,at the front.This piece seals the airflow circuit,forcing the air inbetween the lcd and lower fresnel.I will try and dig out a pic.
Again,sorry for any confusion.My plog was not made as a build guide,but as a description of my particular build process.I am very flattered that my design is helpful to others,but the plog is not layed out very well for would be builders of the box,However,I am only too happy to answer,to the best of my ability,any questions.Keep em comin'!!!!

Edit...pics...




Hope these pics illustrate the position of the image bank in the box.
Nothing is glued or screwed.the image bank is "wedged" in place by the mdf piece in front,against the 2 x vertical side pillars.

Everything is coming along great but i was curious what size is your mirror that you used. I have one and its huge and i dont know exactly what size to cut it. Thanks man, always appreciate the help

Always a pleasure.
My mirror is 12" x11"
It is bigger than I need,but the extra size allows me to play around a little.

Hello Pun15her, I too am getting close to the point of mounting my mirror. Did you purchase yours pre-cut or did you cut it yourself. If you cut yourself, do you have any tips?

Thanks for the help, and the inspiration.

Cheers,

Chris

Thanks Chris.
I am afraid I got mine pre-cut.To be honest,I wouldnt know how to even approach cutting an FS mirror.From what I can tell,the FS part of the mirror may cause problems,it may flake or crack????
I would advise taking it to a specialist,or at least get some advise from one first.
Sorry! P

Take it to a glass shop. They will know exactly how to treat it.

[/quote]
Thanks Chris.
I am afraid I got mine pre-cut.To be honest,I wouldnt know how to even approach cutting an FS mirror.From what I can tell,the FS part of the mirror may cause problems,it may flake or crack????
I would advise taking it to a specialist,or at least get some advise from one first.
Sorry! P

[/quote]

Take it to a glass shop. They will know exactly how to treat it.

[/quote]

My father in law used to fit windscreens for a living. He just used a glass cutting tool to score a line across my FS mirror and it practically fell apart in his hands - perfectly down the score line! It was a bit harder to score than normal glass but use a spray lubricant and have it on a perfectly flat surface because you will have to use a fair bit of pressure. Also, we scored the back of the mirror.

Good luck!
Dave D.

Thanks everyone for the advice. Remaining items for projector just arrived: ice cap ballast and bulb and the FS mirror. Just now opened the packaging for the mirror and it is CRACKED . Not sure what to do now, it was a 12" x 16" that I was going to cut down to around 12" x 10.75. I think I can just queeze it out of the undamaged sectionFingers crossed!

For all those wondering about how to cut the mirror I bought a glass/window/mirror cutter at home depot to cut the FS mirror and it took 5 min and worked perfect. So give it a try if you want to.

Excellent,well done,good work!
Did you score both sides,the non coated side,or the coated side?

I am away on holiday,please post,but I wont be able to reply for a week.
No bloody computers for a week!!!! YAY!
Cheers all.

Whoa....a WEEK?
Wont you get the shakes around Tuesday?

Have a good vaca!

Hi Pun15her,

I've been working on my projector solidly now for a few months and I'm now at the stage where everything starts to come together.

If you don't mind I have a couple of questions for you.

I was wondering how you fixed your FS mirror to the board it's mounted on, is it advisable to use an adheisive or a bracket of some kind?

Also I was also wondering what the size of the BenQ's circuit boards are, I will be mounting them soon. But I haven't stripped my tft yet, because I have no place to store it when stripped, so I don't know the sizes of the internal components.

Your projector really has been a huge inspiration and this plog has helped me loads.

Cheers

Spatula.

Pun15her check out this thread:

http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=6004

Any chance you can post the file?

Hi pun15her,

Just wondering, did you cut the lenses yourself or did you order them cut to size?

Also do you have the dimensions for the positioning and angle of the piece of wood that fits in before the focusing mech.


Here's some other images I drew up

hi strent, i was just wondering what program you used to draw that box. nice work. would love to know as it looks like it may help me make my box.

hope you have a great holiday punisher and cheers for the wiring info earlier it is proving to be extremely useful. Managed to get one of my customers to eleborate on the design further so now i have a complete uk wiring diagram.

cheers
dlynch

Hi,guys
Just got back.
Fantastic week away from everything. lots of walking,lots of cream teas!!????
North Devon for a week.
Chilling out now,will get specific tomorrow,nice too hear from you strent!!!!
Glad to see you are on the next step Samurai!!! I am sure it will be as interesting as the last steps.
Cheers guys,bear with me,I have one or two pm's to get to!!

Hi Strent!!
Hows it going.Glad to see you are still busy!
The part that you are asking about was literally cut to fit the gap between the 2x side supports,with a hole in it big enough to fit the focussing tube in.
I am loathed to give the exact measurements of mine,as I can see a certain amount of fluctuation between boxes!And tubing used in the focus mech.It is really just a piece to mount the focus mech to.
Keep it up!Cheers P

EDIT: The lenses are the older LL cut corner fresnels,and didnt need cutting at all,they fitted right in!