Troubleshooting a Bad Video Projector Ballast | BenQ W1070 | No Light

[@superskier2]

Invaluable info Frank. I particularly like the process of your fault finding and how the individual components interact with each other. It's easy as you say to just buy spare parts in the chance that this will fix the problem. These spare parts soon add up .lol. These videos are the best free info on KZbin. Cheers buddy👍.....hope you both are doing well. 🙂

[@FixitFrank]

Much appreciated man! All is well here, so far so good. I'm going to posting a lot more videos with specific troubleshooting in the future. Thanks so much for all your kind words, its a big part of what keeps me motivated. Be well my friend and talk to you soon!

[@chessguru900]

Just to reaffirm Frank's statement: Don't buy lamps from Aliexpress either. If you are lucky you might end up with something that would last a while and perform well. First time I have ballast going on one of these Benq w1070n w1080 they are pretty reliable. I was always curious if I should put my meter on acv or dcv to read the ballast's output. I know now that the answer is neither. Well done Frank. Thanks for useful info as always.

[@ρικρυκρακ]

thank you for the in depth troubleshooting. i know you said not to buy random parts online but i am still going to take my chances after watching your video by ordering a new ballast replacement for my Benq TH683 projector. I am having the exact same issue, as shown in the video. i used OEM bulbs from aliexpress since getting new from vendor is a pain and costs 40-50% of a cost of a new projector. I didnt have any issues with the replacement bulbs and each worked for 2000h or so. 4 years and 3 replacement lamps later i seem to have lucked out. My projector doesnt light up any more. when it comes on you can hear everything working, but there is a weird ticking sound and after that i get orange light on my lamp. Replacement lamp didnt work either. Hopefully a new ballast will do the trick (70$ USD) After watching your video and dealing with this crap now, i definitely learned my lesson and my next projector (Optoma UHD38) will be handled with more care and i already checked where and how to get a new bulb when needed around my area. Pricey (170$), but i guess there is no other way but the right way. If there are websites that ship internationally bulbs that are trusted i would love to get links ecommendations.

[@FixitFrank]

if you have a ticking sound that is likely the ballast trying to ignite or a jammed color wheel trying to spin up. Have you checked the voltage into the ballast from the power supply? Without checking voltages, this is a gamble. I don't think your ballast is bad from your description. At least not yet. Verifying the PFC voltage to the ballast is critical. It should be 380Vdc. you may have a primary power supply issue and its not supplying the PFC voltage or the color wheel may be jammed and preventing the ballast control wires from signaling a turn on. You can try a ballast if you want, but I would really suggest checking voltages before firing the parts canon.

[@ρικρυκρακ]

@@FixitFrank I wish I had the equipment to check. This is a 100% gamble. Color wheel isn’t jammed. Looking at the projector I don’t see anything out of the ordinary. If it’s not the ballast I will return it for a full refund and see what I will do then. Maybe just sell for parts and be done with it. Already got my new Optoma UHD55 and I’m not going back lol. It worked well for the past 4y and It gave me more than I expected anyway.

[@pinomauro2426]

Another great fix, well done Frank!

[@FixitFrank]

Thank you Pino! I appreciate it

[@ziggythegreat]

I treated my self and got a new lamp from purelandsupply for my 5050ub and im about 95 percent happy. i feel like brightness uniformity isnt as good as the oe and the construction of the lamp assembly is different. the far right is notably dimmer but im not about to drop 330 bucks for an oe lamp from epson but im happy none the less. Cheers and thanks

[@FixitFrank]

It might not be the lamp. The way the optics are in those 5050's the light is collimated/combined into a beam. However, take the lamp assembly out and check to make sure the bare lamp didn't slip. It would have to be really crooked though to have uniformity issues. I'd also suggest re-seating it after it runs for a few hours to make sure everything 'settled' after being heated a while. There is a weird issue with some epsons where you get a pink/blue band on the screen and the solution sometimes is to just let the lamp run and the thermal fluctuations cause it to "align" itself. I wont pretend to know if that is 100% true but I have heard of people doing that. Worse case, seriously email their support or sales and ask to swap it out for another. That is an APOG lamp assembly so it should be pretty high quality. Pureland is really good about customer service.

[@ziggythegreat]

@@FixitFrankright on man thangs again for the info. i get a green band on the right sometimes that seems to exacerbate the issue but restarting her pc or projector seems to rid me of it and sorta correct the brightness. i should change the hdmi cables to be sure but i think its just a qwerk of the projector pc setup i got goin. am i misremembering or do people swap lamps back into oe housings?

[@FixitFrank]

sometimes they do. It depends. the problem with relamping is that some housings have other parts that are 'consumable' to a degree. Plus the cost savings versus the hassle isnt always as good as it seems. Epson in particular tends to use a lamp that has crimped connectors instead of screw on. Some models do have removable connectors but many are crimped. I find that the cost of a bare lamp versus full assembly tends to be pretty close to just the bare lamp. With your time, the chances of having the arc tube crack or getting finger oil on the quartz bits just makes me suggest using the full assembly if you can. Back in the day, relamping was more cost effective but when you can buy the whole thing for $86 and the bare lamp is $60, is that $26 really worth it? It comes down to each situation in my opinion but I always say change the whole thing if you can.

[@ziggythegreat]

@@FixitFrank As soon as I put the old lamp back in I realized its now Epsons warrantee departments problem and not at all the new lamp. It had the same pink and green tints in the same places. Ive given up on adjusting the uniformity settings to minimize it because it just blows out image. Its not even a year old and in less than 1 lamp the uniformity is shifting wtf lol I think the horror stories about these 3chip projectors are real.

[@PatsArcade]

Thank you for those videos, I have a BenQ w1080ST that was barely used, probably less than 50 hours on the lamp. Somehow after using it 2-3 times for Halloween this week, it wouldn't start anymore. I get the green power button, beep beep, shut down and a solid red LAMP light. It output no light at all, I took it all apart and did the entire cleaning as you showed in your part 1 and 2 video. It was really not that dusty, unit still looked brand new but I figured might as well worth a try. I wasn't sure of a way to test the lamp to make sure its the problem 100%. So just to confirm when using my bench multimeter, there should be 0 continuity between the poles of the lamp. Mine does have continuity so I assume its bad. The unit has super low hours however its 10 years old, is it common for lamp to go bad from age and not actual usage? Purchased this for an office conference room in 2014 however closed the office in 2017. It has been in storage at my house ever since until recently. Thanks again for your channel, it has been super helpful! Most of my work is on arcade CRT monitors, rebuilding chassis, swapping tubes etc. First time I actually opened a projector. At least less chance to get zapped :)

[@PatsArcade]

Someone I ran into this video of the turkish guy removing the lamp, hooking it on the meter and knocking on the bulb a few times to remove the short. As unbelievers as it seems, that worked and the original bulb is operational again. Must be something inside the bulb that was creating a short and that cleared it. So weird lol

[@privacyfig]

I accidently l had left my HT2050a outside overnight and it got sprinkled on. After that I got the lamp light coming on. Unfortunately, I didn't come across this video before I bought a replacement lamp (I should've checked everything else first, like you say). Anyway, the swapping the lamp out didn't help any. I'm going to go through these steps when I get some spare time, but I'm curious if is there any chance that I have a ballast issue or is it more likely the water shorted out the main board?

[@swalte1]

Where would you recommend I get a new ballast board for a BenQ MW632ST, I can’t seem to find a site that seems reputable

[@FixitFrank]

I agree. I use a company out of china who has an erecycler division. That seems to be the best source for good ballasts. You can try them. [e-mail] is their email. They can likely help.

[@OgaTony-fs3vk]

I like your teachings but how can i get the ballast tester

[@wiggy858]

Hi Frank , I have into my workshop a Benq PB2250 , this is strange one the unit starts to come on , the lamp begins to warm up I can hear the colour wheel spin up THEN the lamp turns OFF ! but the fans keep going . I have checked the ballast for dry-joints ,it only seems to go wrong once the fans start or is this a coincidence.Also you cannot turn the projector off again from the control panel , I have to KILL the power. Any Ideas , have you had a similar problem on this projector. Great Videos Thanks

[@FixitFrank]

Hi Stuart! How is the lamp assembly? Is it new or is it the original? If its new, was it from BenQ or another reputable seller? It kind of sounds like a bad IR cut filter on the lamp housing flooding the color wheel sensor with IR light and then causing a shut down. Or, if the lamp assembly is older, it might just be a weak lamp. If you can, turn it on, let it error and then let it sit and see if it finally shows LED error codes. It might need to time out to show them. Sorry for the late reply. I have an email address on the about page if you want to send pics or videos of it.

[@wiggy858]

@@FixitFrank Hi Frank, its a new lamp , the old one was doing the same fault (thats why I changed it). I will leave it on for a while and see if I get any fault codes on the leds.

[@simranshaikh5485]

I have same projector my projector is on standby mode when i press power button it doesn't release standby mode try many times with remote without remote my lamb broken when i was cleaning the projector so it is lamb problem that doesn't realase standby mode?

[@FixitFrank]

If you are stuck in standby with no power response, check the alignment of the power pins from the power supply. Especially if you took the main board out. If the main board was never removed you may have a more serious problem.

[@lukemcgregor9815]

Hi frank... I have a epson projector that is stuck warming up... Im curious to see if the problem is the ballast.. is there an easy way i can send a signal to the ballast to lamp on to see if it is cooperating?

[@FixitFrank]

Probably not the ballast. They tend to work or not work. Its rare for them to partly work. See if you have 380dc on the power input. If not your issue is in the mains supply. Personally I would be leaning towards a bad mainboard. That tends to be the common failure when they do that. Epsons are really tough though. You can't buy parts and epson wont sell them. I stopped working on epson because of the lack of parts. good luck with it. I hope you can get it working again!

[@hutt132]

Hi Frank! My W1070 got hit by a surge, but still shows signs of life. When powering on there's no startup beep, the POWER light blinks green, the color wheel spins and I hear 3 long whines, then the color wheel stops spinning and the LAMP light goes solid red with POWER light solid green. The lamp itself never fires. I measured 2v on the red signal out on the color wheel plug, and 2.2v on yellow ballast pin 5 and 1.6v on orange ballast pin 4 with my Fluke when the projector is trying to power on. Does this indicate the problem is only with the color wheel? Or should ballast pin 5 be at 5v regardless of the wheel working properly, indicating a main board issue?

[@FixitFrank]

That sounds low. The service manual is available for these with voltages. Elektrotanya.com has it as does a few other sites(for free). I'd check the main power supply first. You may have a few vented capacitors on the secondary side. I doubt the mainboard is your issue with what you have said so far. My guess is that you have some dirty DC coming in and the mainboard just can't quite get itself running properly. If you can't find the service manual, let me know and I will dig it up and share it.

[@hutt132]

@@FixitFrank Thank you! I just got the manual and will try to give the power supply a look over. I just didn't know if 2V coming out of the 'signal out' color wheel wire would cause the ballast pin 5 voltage to be low somehow.

[@hutt132]

@@FixitFrank Just pulled the power supply out and I don't see any damaged components. However I measured all the capacitors and C661 is showing as an open circuit, along with C701,702,703,704 on the back side. C661 I could replace no problem. Though, those little SMDs capacitors I'm not sure about.

[@FixitFrank]

I'd check the low voltage rails at the mainboard with the power supply connected. you need to isolate where the voltage is being lost. If you don't have the proper low voltages coming in, then you will know its in the mains power supply instead of one of the mainboard voltage regulators. That voltage sounds correct if its the pulse output from the index sensor. Keep in mind its not normally even DC, its pulsed when the wheel is rotating. Those caps should measure open circuit most of the time. I'd be checking them for ESR and their microfarads before condemning them. I'd focus more on the voltages and find where they are being restricted. My money is on something in the mains supply unless the surge came through a ground. If so, it could be one of the regulators on the mainboard. Take a loo at the service manual and the PMD1000 Ic. That drives the color wheel and handles the low voltage supply on the mainboard. Basically if your low voltage supply to the mainboard measures correct(17v, 3.3 and 5v I think) then go to the PMD1000 and check that.

[@hutt132]

@@FixitFrank I got new C701 and C661 caps, but the new caps are even measuring no resistance with my multimeter like you said, so the ones on the power supply are probably still good. I don't have an ESR or farad meter. I have the power supply on my desk and plugged into the wall (bridged CN602(on button) and put the temperature sensor in CN702). When I check CN701 on the PSU I get 12.3 and 3.3 volts on the correct prongs. The diagram doesn't show CN701 has 5V. However, if I measure across CN603, I get 2V AC. And TP2 to ground gives 60V. Should CN603 still measure 380V across it without the mainboard and ballast plugged in?

[@FilmSevilla]

Hello from Spain Frank! I just bought an used w1070 for 250$ and it is supposed to have just 30 hours of use. On Reddit they told me that it is a much better buy rathern than a cheap Chinese projector. I will receive it next week, and I wanted to ask you if you can give me advice how to test it in order to check it is working fine. I have 48 hours to test it before paying it. Thank you!

[@FixitFrank]

Reddit was correct! The 1070 is a great projector! All you need to do is use it. Hook it up and run a few movies. If you are curious but careful, go into the service menu and check the error log. Press menu, then press source and enter buttons at the same time. You will then see some boxes appear. Use the arrow keys to navigate. One of those boxes will have the errors listed. As long as its only a few and they are not common, then you are fine. Most will show a few errors from incorrect shutdown or fan speed but only worry if they show up a lot. Just be sure not to change any settings. It is super tempting to adjust things but if you change the wrong setting the wrong way, you will might damage the projector

[@FilmSevilla]

@@FixitFrank thank you so much for taking your time to reply! I will try to take care of it and fix it using your tutorials when I need it. Regarding the settings, is it okay calibrating it? My idea was looking for some calibration tutorials from google and try them. Thanks again and best wishes!

[@FixitFrank]

I am torn on calibration personally. I do agree that in some cases it can help but I also feel it starts to head into the "snake oil" category. Similar to oxygen free audio cables, calibration can be a waste of time and money. That said, if you look at the picture it does not look right to your eyes, there is nothing wrong with calibrating it to look correct. I think my problem with calibration is that some people think it makes a larger difference than it does. There are some calibration tools on amazon that I have heard good things about, so if you go that route it may be a benefit. Just don't go as far as to pay someone to do it. I don't think it would be a good use of money.

[@ilhamk]

Hi Frank. Do u have ballast schematic for Benq MP515?

[@FixitFrank]

I don't unfortunately. But they are all pretty similar. Check the mosfet pairs, and the main control mosfet. The starter caps might also be questionable.

[@didoortiz1048]

i got a osram on amazon... good find?

[@FixitFrank]

That is Hard to say. I wouldn't trust a single product from amazon in that regard personally. It might be real, it might be counterfeit. I would never buy a projector lamp product from amazon due to the lack of vetting. They let anyone sell anything and I have seen far too many problems. Your bulb might be okay but I cant really say without seeing it.

[@SunriseSearcher]

What's happening when the lamp goes on for one second and switches off immediately. On the second pin voltage drops to 2.5, lamp goes on, lamp goes off, voltage goes to 4.6v again. I suppose the ballast is blown somehow?

[@FixitFrank]

It might be. You want to confirm the 380Vdc power input to the ballast. There is a primary power supply before that which generates the 380vdc to power the ballast. If you have both the 380vdc and you see the TTL controls(the 2.5-4.6v you measured) then I agree the ballast is an issue. If you have 300Vdc at the power input or 150vdc(depending on your mains voltage) then your main power supply, specifically the PFC(power factor control) could be the problem. See if you have that 380vdc to the ballast. You may need to press the power button for the PFC to turn on. Is this for a W1070?

[@SunriseSearcher]

@@FixitFrank thanks. It's for the TH681 which is very similar.

[@SunriseSearcher]

@@FixitFrank yes I have the 380v, just checked. So I will have to troubleshoot the ballast. I will see you there on that video and might ask what to look for. You are a life saver :)

[@FixitFrank]

I bet you have one or more bad mosfets. If not the mosfets, check the small surface mount caps on the mosfet driver board(the vertical board). I've seen them go short.

[@ckca44]

Hello from France, First of all, thank you for this video. I have a W1070 that turns on correctly and then after a few minutes (usually 3-4), the image flickers and then the lamp goes out. Just turn it back on and it usually starts working properly again. I did your test: original osram lamp: infinite resistance ->ok colour wheel: ok. test output motherboard pin 4: departure 4.2V - 2.37V - 4.2V (with the indicator lamp flashing red and lamp off) and departure 4.2V - 2.37V - 3.3V (with lamp working correctly before extinction) High voltage test on ballast input: 854V then 852V and then it goes down to 844V in 3 minutes and the lamp goes out. What could be the diagnosis ? a defective ballast ? Thanks in advance,

[@FixitFrank]

Hello! This sounds like a lamp or color wheel issue. If you replaced the lamp assembly recently, compare the lens on the front to the old lamp assembly. I suspect it will be different. If the flickering is color flicker, then your color wheel is being confused by either a dirty color wheel sensor of a lamp assembly with a bad IR block coating and the IR light is flooding the sensor for the color wheel. your other measurements seem correct to me.

[@ckca44]

@@FixitFrank the lamp is the first lamp of the projector, no replacement so I don't have any other lamp to compare. Yes the flickering was the movie in blue/normal/blue/... very quicly during 2-3 seconds and then black as the lamp was off. I say "was" beacause since I have reassembled the VP, I use it 3 times and it runs fine.... If the problem comes back I'll look for trouble at the color wheel or its sensor (I saw you made a video on this side too, thanks)

[@meinkanal118]

My W1070 had an exploded lamp, changed it (knockoff lamp, but at least measures with infinite resistance), worked for a few hours, now it only stays on for like 20 seconds. After startup everything seems to be fine, normal Image and everything. Then suddenly color Start flickering for a few seconds, one fan ramps up to full speed and it turns off. Service menu shows failed lamp, no color wheel error. Already cleaned color wheel and sensor, measuring the voltage of the sensor and resistance of the motor coils it seems to be fine. When I measure pin 4 of the Ballast connector it's first at ~4.3V, then at ~2,4V as its supposed to be, but then it goes up to 3.3V. Is this normal behaviour?

[@FixitFrank]

If you changed the full assembly, check the glass on the front of the housing. It should have a reddish tint to it. If its greenish or clear, its allowing too much IR light into the color wheel sensor and confusing it. That is why it flickers colors and shuts down. Everything else you checked sounds good. Even if the lamp measures infinite it may not be the proper wattage even though it was advertised as such. I just see so so many problems with knock off lamps that they are almost always the cause. I would serious suggest a proper osram for this model. You can get away with anything from a PVIP 210 through PVIP240.

[@meinkanal118]

@@FixitFrank wow, I'm really impressed, thank you so much, really made my day :), wasn't able to use it for months because of this. Actually noticed the missing blueish color while installing but didn't think much of it. Actually nearly paid the same for the fake bulb with cage as for an original naked bulb because the exploded one had left some pits on the glass piece. But I certainly learned my lesson, never buying a fake bulb again

[@FixitFrank]

You're welcome! If you still have the old housing, you can swap the filter over. The pits are not great but they'll be okay enough. If you're in the USA I can help with a filter but shipping one overseas from me is expensive. You'd be better off ordering a new full housing or locating a good used housing and harvesting the filter glass.

[@meinkanal118]

@@FixitFrank thank you, I'm in Europe but I'm fine with it being pitted, I can't notice any Image artefacts and the beamer has run already over 11000h, so I'm just happy if it does another few hundred hours.

[@FixitFrank]

I kind of figured you were in GmbH. That pitted filter will be fine. The light tunnel concentrates the light so any small problems are washed out when the light is sent through there. As long as the fans are running okay, you should get plenty of life out of it.

[@Kujokouklos]

Nice Master Frank. Keep preeching about trash lamps, I see people paying thousands for a projector trying to find the cheapest lamp when it comes to replacement. Like having a Lambo and getting cheap, USED, Chinese tyres not fit for a scooter. Oh, well!!!!

[@FixitFrank]

That's precisely my feelings! Why buy a nice projector and then put junk parts in it? I don't blame people most of the time since the sellers are tricky with their wording but hopefully these vids educate a few folks.