Optoma’s Advice on Dust

How to keep your DLP projector dust free:

Keeping anything dust-free can be quite an undertaking. Optoma has tried to make this as simple as possible with sealed optics.

However, in most lamp-based projectors, no matter the manufacturer, there is an open vent on the light engine to allow the hot air to expel, in dusty environments this can lead to dust entering the light path.

In Optoma’s professional installation projectors, LED light source, and laser light source projectors, the vents are sealed throughout

Mat Oliver, service product manager at Optoma suggests the following tips and tricks:

  • Lightly hoover around the outside of the projector
  • Remove all input and power cables from the projector
  • Use a soft bristled head to hoover the open vent and input and output connections
  • Very lightly dab fabric softener onto an anti-static cloth—please ensure the cloth is wrung out as much as possible—and wipe this over the plastic of the projector, making sure that no solution touches the vents, connection ports, or the lens.
  • The biggest mistake people make is to buy ‘air in a can’ and blow the product through. This blows dust into the projector, the light path, engine and eventually the DMD chip.

What you should do if you find it getting clogged up
Use a hoover; do not dust it. Remove all mains leads and hoover the intake vents, input and output connections

How and why dust gets in
Lamp-based projectors feature air vents and fans to suck up cool air and let out hot air, if the environment is dusty it is inevitable that dust is also sucked up.

Where it tends to accumulate
Fans suck up dust and this will accumulate around any object inside the projector where there is lack of airflow.

Dust can get caught on normally big capacitors and resistors, the power boards, and the outtake exhaust fans.

Different types of light source are affected by dust

Laser and LED Optoma projectors are sealed and do not suffer from an ingress of dust.

IP-rated projectors – such as the ZU850, are IP6X rated. They will have been independently tested and certified to IEC standard 60529. This means they are dust resistant.

Lamp based projectors can be affected by dust. In a very unlikely event this can cause the reflector of the lamp to become pitted with burnt dust. Dust can also cause issues with colour wheels and sensors. If very unlucky the dust can enter the engine causing dust to appear on the projector image.

Why some versions of a particular DLP SKU will be fitted with filters while others will not, etc:

We find the need for filters is requested by the education sector or places that have heavy human traffic. That’s where we would recommend a ProAV product.

If you suspect dust has entered your projector, UK customers should contact our service team who can arrange for the projector to be looked at and cleaned.

The Optoma Service Team: 6 Mar 2020

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