I have chosen 2 design plans for my enclosure. There is no way the woman is going to allow a human size coffin in the living room so I came up (found ) with two designs that shorten the length of the enclosure.
Check it out. Which one do you think I should proceed with. Keep in mind that Bellows are extremely expensive probably $75-100. I could diy one. We shall see.

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Here is the plan. Click to view attachment

looks good, just know that the actual distance from LCD to Triplet will more than likely be at least 550mm or so depending on the image size you want to project. the larger the image, the closer it will be

Curses! I wanted to be the first lumenlab junkie to build a PJ with a bellows. :angry:
I'll probably be DIYing mine. Don't think I'll be able to find one remotely the right size. More power to ya though. It'll look really cool.
I was planning on making the front lens mount tilt and pan to allow for lens shifting and focus adjustment.

Hey Shivers,cool design.
Check out DarkMeat's plog.He was looking into the "extendo" idea.
It may have some answers for you...
DarkMeats PLOG
I hope it is of use.
Cheers P

The bellows seems to be a good idea. Has anyone looked into "Goretite's" bellows? Appears that they can be made to any dimension without tooling charges. For example, a 15 or 17 rectangular opening on one side and a circular (read ProLens) on the other.

As mentioned earlier, the kicker is cost, but hopefully a one-time cost. See link, http://www.gortite.com/gortitepdf/CB100.pdf

Sorry bro! I received a quote for a bellow(s) just a few hours ago and the price was outrageous. $135.00 for a 17x15 (rough measurements). A bit too pricey for me. I may have to go with DIY bellows after all. I have also been playing around with some new ideas. I am going to try and see if I could come up with some plans for a vertical standing pj that uses bellows. Those standing pj's make the saliva fall out the side of my mouth. I'll keep ya guys posted.

Side note: what happened to the member who was testing with a 1000 watt bulb? Or should I not dare ask hehe. I was going to give it a try. I think two pieces of tempered glass sealed up nicely and four 120mm fans on the back would pull enough hot air out. I could be wrong. Is their anyway to test out the heat factor without splurging on a new 1000 bulb?

If you do go down this path, you may want to consider using 2 exhaust fans and 2 fans at the air slot pushing air into the projector. You're going to want all of the fans to be the same model to insure that you don't get any turbulent air flow along the air stream line.

My fluid mechanics knowledge is limited, but I think this will get you more reliable air flow. You're also going to want to watch out for light leaking out of the "push" fans.

I just sent this plog to another LL member yesterday Shivers20 you might want to look at it , it looks pretty good.

http://www.allinbox.com/fill/fill.htm

Okay I am in the process of building a light box. I have a few questions!


I would like to build a box that houses the bulb, ballast, reflector, lexan.
I will rout 1/4" lip to insert the lexan, seal it with some high grade silicon.
Do you guys think the heat from the bulb will melt the lexan. I am planning to place it about 2-3 inches from the bulb. I drew a picture.

Click to view attachment

Sounds a bit close but it might work - with cooling. I have a sheet of lexan about 2" from my bulb and it seems to be doing fine because I have quite a bit of air flowing past it. Were you going to have a fan integrated in your light box? You should also consider cooling for or relocation of your ballast (especially if eballast - those tend to overheat).

I am going to place two 120mm fans on the back of the light box. I was thinking maybe I should router a slot on the top of the light box so the two fans can pull cooler air across the bulb which would help in lowering temps in the light box, similar to lcd cooling slot. The down side to this would be the amount of light escaping the box and entering the room but then again light escapes from the lcd slot so in the end it would cancel each other out. I hope. I may install a curtain that runs across the room leaving just a hole for the lens to get through. It should be able to cover any of the exiting light and keep the room nice and dark. I am going to do a rough build of the box and take some temperature readings. Wish me luck.

PS I have a big/bulky coil ballast. It doesn't really generate any heat so I doubt it will be an issue.

Donkey any pics of your setup?

Sounds "cool" shivers!
Sorry - no pics. I haven't even started a PLOG
Good luck and look forward to your results!

How sweet is this! Probably wouldn't look bad if the box was double the size.Click to view attachment

Just bought a dell 20 inch lcd with some great specs. Some members say that the pro lenses can only be used with a 19 inch monitor, no larger. Brain said the lenses will fit up to a 21" 4:3 so I decided to go ahead and make the purchase. Once I get the monitor I will open it up and post some pics.
I paid $356 after taxes/shipping.

WHERE did you pay THAT????

Dell small business was having a sale online. I believe it was $140 off then I added a coupon of $100 dollars off from slickdeals.net with free shipping. The discount expired 5 hours later



I am sure it will come again, hang in there!

what model did you end up getting??
what are the specs?

Is that the 20.1 widescreen LCD? I bought that one a few months ago for about $385 and love it. Really great picture. Of course I wasn't going to take it apart though!

I ended up using two 120v fans in the rear of my pj and it cools the 400 W very nicely. I am also using the cap and coil ballast for now. My temps are staying in the low 80s. Of course if you use the 1000 W you may need to double it or even make sure there is an extinguisher or halon system nearby .

D, how does the PIP look on the monitor?

The Dell™ UltraSharp™ 2005FPW 20.1-inch Flat Panel LCD Monitor is a wide aspect desktop display that redefines the performance of LCD displays with a stylish new Dell industrial design, and advanced functionality. Watch DVDs in natural format and run multiple applications simultaneously. Improve productivity with less scrolling and toggling. The 2005FPW wide aspect Flat Panel LCD also provides an excellent option for video editing and 3D imaging as both source and destination video can be viewed in a single window! With 4 USB 2.0 ports, 2 located on the side, the 2005FPW gives users convenient access points to plug in devices such as keyboards, digital cameras, secondary hard drives and printers. It also supports advanced features such as PIP (picture in picture) and PBP (picture by picture) and can be activated with a touch of a button on the front of the display. With 5.1 inches (130 mm) of height adjustment virtually every user can adjust the display to their exact comfort level and help reduce eye and neck strain. This Flat Panel LCD Monitor comes with a 3-Year Warranty.

Diagonal Size: 20.1"
Viewable Size: 20.1"
Display Type: Flat Panel Display / Active Matrix TFT - Desktop
Depth: 9"
Features: Automatic Setup Adjustment, Kensington Lock Slot, 100 mm VESA Mounting, Height Adjustable Stand Included
Height: Compressed: 15.3", Extended: 22.4"
Weight: 17.64 lbs
Width: 18.6"
Image Max H-View Angle: ±88°
Image Max V-View Angle: ±88°
Color Support: 16.7 Million
Compliant Standards: 100 mm VESA®, TCO '99; UL 60950, NOM , CE Mark–EN60950, IEC 60950 CCC , TUVGS , NEMKO, GOST, PSB, TUV–S, SASO; FCC Part 15 Class B, CE Mark–EN55022:1998, EN55024:1998, EN61000-3-2:2000, EN61000-3-3:1995 A1(2001), VCCI Class B ITE, MIC, BSMI, ICES–003, C–Tick; ENERGY STAR®, TUV Ergo
Connectivity Technology: Cable
Device Type: Flat Panel LCD Monitor with Height Adjustable Stand
Dimensions (WxDxH) / Weight: 18.6" x 9" x 15.3" to 22.4" / 17.64 lbs
Dot Pitch: 0.258 mm (Pixel Pitch)
Enclosure Color: Midnight Gray
Image Aspect Ratio: 16:10
Image Brightness: 300 cd/m²
Image Contrast Ratio: 600:1
Max Resolution: 1680x1050 Pixels
Max Sync Rate (V x H): 75 Hz x 83 kHz
Port(s) Total ( Free ) / Connector Type: VGA / DVI-D / S-video / Composite / 4 x USB 2.0
Power Consumption Operational: 75 W (maximum), 55 W (typical)
Warranty: 3-Year
Diagonal Size / Viewable Size: 20.1" / 20.1"
Compatibility:PC

Here are some pics of the inside that I got off ANandTech.com

Anyone know where I should start?



Click to view attachment

Another pic:

Click to view attachment

i'd suggest a anti staic wrist band and pad, and then the trusty 'screwdriver'

FUN FUN!!!!

Ricoks

Hmmm, I didn't know it did that? (Maybe I should read my manual sometimes... ) I use it in conjunction with Xp Media Center and the tv image looks pretty good when maximized on the whole screen. The DVD image looks awesome! It has incredible resolution. Now I have to go home today and check out the PIP.
Thanks for the tip!

I received my monitor 3 days ago and what a beut!! No dead pixles. Thank the lord. Anyway Like most Dell monitors the backlight bleed through is a bit too much on this widescreen 20.1 inch
I am going to be playing around with the monitor for a few weeks before I decide to open it up. I have been trying to find time to build my enclosure but I have been to busy working on a flip. Hopefully as soon as sell the property I can devote all of my time to the projector. BTW The resolution is awesome!!

good luck with it, I bought the same moniter last week too, Slickdeals rocks, anyway I had major problem with backlight, but I called them up and they overnighted me a new one. This one is perfect no leakage or dead pixels.

Check back of your moniter: October Revision is the bad one, while November is the good one.

Kuba

Thanks Kuba! Unfortunately I have the October one. It doesn't matter, I am going to attempt to strip this bad boy next week. The problem is with the blacklight right? not the actual lcd panel?

Yeah correct, its all the backlight. Can't wait to see this project up and running.

Shiver20,

So what happened with the bellows (a.k.a convolutes)?

Fulcrum

I have decided to take a break from building my pj. I damaged three lcds and ended up selling all of my parts. I was going to purchase the pro lens but I chose to hold off on it once I saw that Brain was going to come out with a 800X600 pre-made pj this summer. Another reason why I chose not to go ahead with the bellows was price. I received five different quotes from various companies, all wanting about $100.00