Marc-Engineer Posted May 16, 2011 Posted May 16, 2011 Unify 55, welllllllll..............do you want me to start? no iv not seen as many faulty but they are not as old yet are they!!! Marc Projector Engineer
AVTechy Posted May 17, 2011 Posted May 17, 2011 Hahaa, yes that ultimate test of time! I'll probably be back here at some point then
rokstar Posted May 20, 2011 Posted May 20, 2011 Hi AVTechy, I strongly recommend you avoid the Unifi 55 we have supplied a substantial quantity of them and the failure rate is colossal. We fitted them over an 18 month period and we are seeing failure of early, mid cycle and end cycle failures. Always the same problem flashing lights and shut off. The really frustrating thing is that many of the replacements - when they finally came (don't get me started on that!!!) also failed after a matter of weeks. The support is a joke. This has made for some interesting reading. Our new site has a lot of these units in place and I'm disheartened to hear they have such a high failure rate. I do however see you can get a retro fit for the unifi55 onto older boards which may be an option if I start to encounter the same issues. What are people's experience with the 55 models? I hear they're a lot better. Interesting read about DLP projection too. I understand they rely a lot more on mechanics for picture & colour but it didn't sway our decision to go with our lovely Sanyo PDG-DHT100L. It's a very nice bit of kit, colour is fantastic and it's very reliable once set up correctly, particularly with the 2-lamp system and 'automatic' filters. So far it has paid for itself (which I should add was a rather extortionate amount), with use by film societies, conferences, productions etc everyone has been nothing but happy, although not quite as bright as one could hope. An excellent complement to our theatre... (sorry, I'm just bragging now)
DarrenC Posted May 29, 2011 Posted May 29, 2011 That's very interesting Rokstar as we have seen no where near the failure rate you are alluding to on the 55's. The 35's certainly where a dog of a unit but as yet we have not had a lot of complaints from the 55's and we have supplied huge numbers of them. When you say substantial quantity how many are you talking and what percentage failure rate have you seen? Coud this have been a faulty batch?
rokstar Posted June 1, 2011 Posted June 1, 2011 Hi Darrren, I've pm'd you if you want to discuss further and I'm certain it's a major problem, Smart have confirmed this is a technical issue with the UNIFI 55 and does not appear to be restricted to a batch.
MYK-IT Posted September 14, 2011 Author Posted September 14, 2011 Sorry to throw up one of my old threads! But we've had another Unifi35 Projector go 'Pete Tong', tried all the usual new bulb etc etc but no joy, and yes out of Warranty. I know that the final solution will be to go back to ceiling mounted pole / projector solution etc, but just thought I would see if anyone they knew of any AV repairers (besides equinox) who repair this model? Many thanks.
Marc-Engineer Posted September 16, 2011 Posted September 16, 2011 If i could only get parts........even the manufacturers have distanced themselvs from this unit, sorry. Just dont replace it with another DLP unit. Marc Projector Engineer
MYK-IT Posted September 16, 2011 Author Posted September 16, 2011 Hi Marc, Yeah, came to the same conclusion after our first one went faulty last year. We decided to go with the Casio XJ-A140 projector (30 of them) when upgrading projectors during the beginning of the year. Although that model has now been replaced by the XJ-M140 now (bigger, lower zoom range). So we will probably go back to ceiling mounted projectors or one supplier has suggested the Hitachi Ultra SHort Throw ED-A220NM.
Marc-Engineer Posted September 16, 2011 Posted September 16, 2011 Yes the Hitachi is a nice unit not seen much problem with Hitachi altho i have seen one unusual problem that effects them in a Victorian school with suspended ceilings, they suffer a problem (very rare) in some schools of this type. I am unfortunatly wary of the Casio as i belive they will have a problem with half life in the method of the illumination unit in them they use a combination of laser and LED to get the colour blance and they age at differant rates, this will in time give you a colour tint only age will tell how bad this will get, i also find them not quite as bright as they claim and not quite as sharp as i would expect them to be. And people forget they still need cleaning same as any other projector and by this i mean a deep clean of the internal optics. Very shortly you will see "true" LED projectors by other companies that are testing them now. Marc Projector Engineer
Paul10k Posted September 20, 2011 Posted September 20, 2011 We've replaced quite a few now with Benq units. One was an Ultra Short Throw unit which can go amazingly close to the board - BUT - it failed after 2 weeks, the 'engineer' replacing it was useless, plugged wrong leads in and couldn't align it to save his life. This replaced unit is now failing and BENQ support are pretty hopeless.
Marc-Engineer Posted September 23, 2011 Posted September 23, 2011 Yes i am sorry they are not good in place of BENQ read Wolworths if you get my point. They are OK for occasional use only Marc Projector Engineer
S4R4H Posted October 9, 2012 Posted October 9, 2012 We have 14 UF55s and all have been swapped at least once, some swapped 3 times and all with colour wheel issues. They are now just out of warranty which I found out when I rang Steljes to say about the latest machine flashing away despite being regularly cleaned. The tech man offered to send me out a cleaning kit - first I heard there's a colour wheel cleaning kit so why has no-one else offered this over the last few years!! Another of our 55s has developed what Steljes say is probably a problem with the DMD chip going by the description I gave. They have quoted £150 to collect and look at it - £150!!! I have rung Equinox who will collect and look at it for £40 but they might not be able to get some parts as Steljes are the only authorised Smart reps in the UK who can get parts. ARGH!! I thought I'd look online to see if someone has put help on how to access the colour wheel so I can look myself but can't find anything. So now I need to consider whether to replace the projector with another but who to use, or whether to let Equinox have a look and hope they can sort it... Any suggestions or advice would be fab
nc700 Posted October 16, 2012 Posted October 16, 2012 Hi Just joined today.First up I am in the commercial sector and don't want to break the rules but will be asking how we can advertise. I agree with Marc Engineer the Unifi 35 were poor when new and the 45/55 also give trouble. It is possible to replace these with short throw units and also if required to keep the Smart manual wall riser - even though Steljes told a local school to scrap the Unifi 35/arm, wall riser and only the board was any use! They now have a new Epson and have retained the rise and fall. Don't go back to ceiling mounted units you dont need to. Epson or Hitachi both offer 3 year warranty with offers sometimes taking this to 5 years. As Marc commented the issue is parts, Steljes are a funny company to deal with and Unifi parts hard for any repairer to source. Could this be deliberate???
S4R4H Posted October 16, 2012 Posted October 16, 2012 So it is possible to keep the height adjustable Smart board yet get a different projector fitted?
nc700 Posted October 16, 2012 Posted October 16, 2012 Hi S4r4h, Yes. So far I have seen Unifi 35 and 45 replaced keeping the original Smart rise and fall unit. The image is much better - wouldn't be hard really -and you have to lose the Smart connection pod with PC connection by trailing cables or to a wall plate. 1
S4R4H Posted October 16, 2012 Posted October 16, 2012 Hi S4r4h, Yes. So far I have seen Unifi 35 and 45 replaced keeping the original Smart rise and fall unit. The image is much better - wouldn't be hard really -and you have to lose the Smart connection pod with PC connection by trailing cables or to a wall plate. Thanks nc700, I'll look into it some more as I've had someone who fits projectors say it isn't possible with the unifi 55 combo plus adjustable board to replace the projector with anything apart from a Smart one
nc700 Posted October 16, 2012 Posted October 16, 2012 I think you will find that is the Smart (UK) stock answer. Its the one we got too. I am convinced it can be done with a UF55 as well albeit with some creative thought. We had a bracket made and re weighted the balance. I have emailed the webmaster to ask about an advert so we can promote these solutions.
Marc-Engineer Posted October 17, 2012 Posted October 17, 2012 I have fitted hitachi Units to the rise and fall smart system depending on what rise and fall system you have as there are several? Marc Projector Engineer
Oaktech Posted October 17, 2012 Posted October 17, 2012 I have fitted hitachi Units to the rise and fall smart system depending on what rise and fall system you have as there are several? Marc Projector Engineer I believe the brick shaped orange Hitachi's fit... Also some of the Epsons, but i'm not sure what models.
hallb15 Posted December 21, 2012 Posted December 21, 2012 I have fitted hitachi Units to the rise and fall smart system depending on what rise and fall system you have as there are several? Marc Projector Engineer We had 10 Unifi 35 units in our school. Only 3 remain and one of these has finally died this morning - yes, on the last day of term! I have been replacing them with ceiling mounted or wall mounted short throw units depending on location. If there is a reasonably straightforward way to connect a 'standard' short throw projector and re-use the existing wall mount and boom arm I would love to know.
nc700 Posted January 7, 2013 Posted January 7, 2013 It is straightforward to replace these with any ultra or short throw if the are static wall mounted but you would need a new arm. The Hitachi ultra short throw comes with one as do others. If yours are mounted on manual rise and fall units ie the Smart HAWM it is slightly more tricky but easily do-able - no matter what Smart/Steljes say. Check back on my and Marc's posts. We find Hitachi and Epson are both great and Epson have just announced a 5 year warranty promo this week so I would go there. Not sure if we could help directly as webmastewr declined our offer to advertise. Good Luck. 1
tsavitt Posted March 13, 2013 Posted March 13, 2013 The sole service repair center for all Smart projectors is Mendtronix, formerly Projector Doctor. You may visit their website at: www.mendtronix.com to generate an RMA number.
S4R4H Posted March 14, 2013 Posted March 14, 2013 The sole service repair center for all Smart projectors is Mendtronix, formerly Projector Doctor. You may visit their website at: www.mendtronix.com to generate an RMA number. which is fine if you are in the US...
exim Posted September 27, 2013 Posted September 27, 2013 I also have a Unifi 35 Projector (likewise out of warranty) that has recently developed a really noisy cooling fan! Steljes put me in touch with Equinox (their appoved repairers) but having had experience of them in the past, I'm not keen. Does anyone know of any others in the Sout East? Or even a source of spare parts? Thanks! The tread that keeps going. I have the same loud fan issue with UF45s cropping up now... clearly they're not spinning properly, one stopped completely so powers off instantly. Who's been able to remidy that? any advice?
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