Optical Cleaning - DIY?

We are being asked by Promethean to pay £125 plus VAT for a "full optical clean" on a projector which we've kept meticulously clean - the projector itself, a XU41 Sanyo, is not used in a dusty environment and we've regularly cleaned the filters.

The 'argument' with Promethean we are having aside, is a full optical clean something that could be DIY?

We are competent technicians here and have no qualms about taking a projector to pieces to clean it, however, if it really is specialist job, we'll steer clear!

Advice welcome!

Normally an optical clean is done in a "clean" environment so its best done by an approved technical support company who offer this service.

Also you can invalidate your warranty if you take the projector apart, so be careful :)

We service projectors regularily & often uncover other problems with them so we notify the customer before repair.

It can often be cheaper to buy a new projector than repair an old one!

The model you refer to hasnt been shipped since Jan 2006 so theres a chance any repairs may not be covered under warranty.

We have in the past sent a couple of projectors off to promeathean for a full optical clean and they didn't come back much better than when they went to be honest - they will never be perfect again.

The LA now do projector cleaning although we have never used them and unaware of the cost but I think its cheaper than what Promeathean charge.

As has been mentioned above it is probably often cheaper financially in the long run to purchase a new replacement projector rather then paying for a clean depending on the age / quality of the projector of course.

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Originally Posted by Elemtech

Normally an optical clean is done in a "clean" environment so its best done by an approved technical support company who offer this service.

Also you can invalidate your warranty if you take the projector apart, so be careful :)

We service projectors regularily & often uncover other problems with them so we notify the customer before repair.

It can often be cheaper to buy a new projector than repair an old one!

The model you refer to hasnt been shipped since Jan 2006 so theres a chance any repairs may not be covered under warranty.

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Hasn't been shipped since 2006! We've only had it a year! We've been on to Promethean again, and it seems that they agree, as we've only had it a year, it shouldn't require such a deep clean so soon.... a decision is to be made, and they'll let us know..... not holding my breath.

My colleague has done some, apparently it can be tricky getting the lenses back into alignment - its easy to get them clean, but so the colours don't match up.
I recommend using methanol/ethanol or isopropanol and practice on an old projector.
Is it yellowing by any chance? probably due to the filters not being cleaned regularly enough (leading to dust getting dragged in and the unit overheating).

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We have in the past sent a couple of projectors off to promeathean for a full optical clean and they didn't come back much better than when they went to be honest

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snap

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Originally Posted by Tx2online

Hasn't been shipped since 2006! We've only had it a year! We've been on to Promethean again, and it seems that they agree, as we've only had it a year, it shouldn't require such a deep clean so soon.... a decision is to be made, and they'll let us know..... not holding my breath.

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LOL. According to Sanyo anyway. Was it ex demo/Special offer?