Convert A Projector To An LED Light Source

I received a Projector from a friend December of 2010. It is a Sharp D100U from 1997. It did not have the original bulb, but everything else worked fine. I did some research online to see if I could get a bulb for it and found out that it would cost me $300. I could buy a reasonable projector new for that much. All I really needed was a new light source, so I thought a high-powered LED would work great. 

There were two stages to this project. The first was figuring out how to bypass the bulb checking circuit, and the second was building the new LED light source. 

I found these two Instructables by claudiopolis to be very helpful with this project:

http://www.instructables.com/id/LED-Projector-Lamp-v10/

http://www.instructables.com/id/LED-Projector-Lamp-v20-in-progress/


I am entering this Instructable into a couple of contests, so if you like it or if it helps you with your own projector please vote. 

Step 1: Bypassing the Bulb Checking Circuit: Observations and Research

The first thing that I wanted to do before I started taking the projector apart was to see how it currently ran. I plugged it in and turned it on. The fans came on and I could hear the sound of the fans and a faint ticking sound. along with two green lights that indicated Power and Bulb. After about 3 seconds the bulb status light started to blink, and after about 5 minutes the projector shut off and both lights turned red. I shut off the main power switch the red lights turned off. I then repeated that process a second and third time to ensure consistency.

I did some research online to try and find any documentation on the projector. All I was able to find was the user manual. Reading it I found the section that addressed the indicators: Power, Bulb, Temperature. There are three possible states for each indicator: Solid Green, which indicates Normal operation; Blinking Green, which indicates Starting up; and Solid Red, which indicates a problem. 

I removed the top case and accessed the main logic board. My intent was to find the logic signal that was telling the the board that there was a problem with the bulb.

I used my multimeter with the ground connected to a grounding point on the projector and started measuring values of all the wires going to the main logic board. 

I was lucky to find that each set of wires was labeled, but it was only abbreviations. After I recorded all the wires in each state, I made some assumptions as to what each set of wires went to.

RC - Remote control  (Since i did not have a remote for the projector and did not want to buy one I removed this wire and sensor)

BL - High voltage and lamp check circuit ( This is the wire set that I finally figured out was the one I needed to focus on )

LF - Bottom fan cover sensor  ( The two wires on this connector need to be cut and tied together if you want to be able to run the projector with out the fan cover ) 

FF - Fan 

LL - Lamp cover sensor  ( The two wires on this connector need to be cut and tied together if you want to be able to run the projector with out the lamp cover )

Q - Temperature sensor

FN - Fan 

There was also a set of colored wires in one connector that I also recorded, but these ended up not being needed to modify the projector.

WHEN CUTTING AND TYING THE WIRES TOGETHER MAKE SURE TO CUT A COUPLE INCHES AWAY FROM THE CONNECTOR. THE WIRES SHOULD BASICALLY BRIDGE THE CONNECTOR. DO NOT SIMPLY CUT THE WIRES OFF OF THE CONNECTOR. ON THE OTHER HAND, THE ORANGE WIRE NEEDS TO BE CUT OFF OF THE CONNECTOR.

Comments

[bogdanvitelaru]

Hello, I am new here, and i need some help for my new project replacing the bulb with high power led; i found here some leds at good costs anybody can help me to choose one? http://www.tme.eu/ro/pages/New_Product:oferta-bogata-de-diode-de-putere-citizen.html
my projector it is a sharp xg p10xe with 3000 lumens
it is ok for it to use a single led with 120 degrees? and if it is, what color temperature should i use, and where should i find a heater? may i use a standard processor heater. i guess that the projector it is cooled enough there in the bulb case! A first question i have, it s worth to do that? Thanks in advance, Bogdan!

[dtommyd]

I too bought a 20w LED like your first one for a projector I had to give up on. I'm now about to put it in to a different projector. When I bought mine I ordered the 3000k (warm white) version. Seemed like the best idea to match the actual one but I haven't been able to test it out yet. What version did you get? The 3000k or the 5-6000 (White white)? How's your color? It also seems like too much light isn't always good if it's blowing out your whites.

[roelvdm3]

Hey,

Nice mod! How did you power the led driver? With the original lamp plug or just on the mains?

kind regards

[joshvonnieda]

Did you use a bright white LED? I've also seen warm white. Wondering if this color temp may be more suitable.

[joshvonnieda]

Also the link is down for the bulb assy and lens. I was able to find the pieces to put it together, but i'm curious how the refraction is on the lens. I read some of the comments on the other build link that you referenced. Have you run into the same problems as the other fellow?

[invisiblelight386]

try this one

http://www.ebay.com/itm/221037245498?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

The reflector and the lens do a good job focusing the LED. Better than the first couple reflectors that I made my self. I'm not sure as to how much of the 8,000 lumens actually gets to the screen, but it is enough to be able to watch a movie and not be dark.

The main problem is focusing 100 little LEDs, each with its own focal point, but the combination of the 8000 lumen LED, the reflector, and the lens works for what I want.

[joshvonnieda]

Very cool! You got my vote. I want to try and do this to a projector I've had laying around for years. Hopefully it won't take me quite so long to bypass. :) And thanks for taking the trial and error out of the LED selection. Hopefully I can refer to you for help along the way.

[invisiblelight386]

Glad this could help. The main reason that it took so long was the face that sometimes life gets in the way of my projects, but in the end it was worth it.

[claudiopolis]

Good job! Congratulations. I envy you for that 100W LED.

How did you powered it? Also, mind the heat, check your LED datasheet and see if a temperature probe placed on the LED metal tab confirms you are in the safe temperature area. Otherwise you're wasting that LED lifespan.

How good are the projected colors? Usually LEDs tend to have a bluish light (CRI index) and this changes the color output of the projector. While it might be possible to alter them from the projector's menu, the problem usually remains.

If you can get a DLP type projector to fit your LED in, you'll notice the light loss is much smaller than the 3LCD you're working on there. I gave up on my LED projector bulb for now as I scored a brand new NEC projector (with original bulb) so my hunger for watching movies is satisfied for a while :-)

[invisiblelight386]

The LED came with its own power supply. I have been keeping an eye on the heat of this LED. I will be running more tests on it soon. I can always use a larger heat sink as I still have a lot of room inside the bulb housing.

The colors look good. I adjusted some of the values a little bit with in the projector's settings and the white looks very white.

For now I am away at college and do not have the projector with me so the use that it gets is not even close to what I thought it would be. For what I was able to get out of it satisfies me. Free projector plus $100 worth of LEDs and others beats buying a new $500 that I wouldn't have used much any way. Over all it was just a great learning experience for me and has lead me to study electrical engineering.

[biolethal]

Very nice! voted.

[biolethal]

*meant to vote, but it doesn't look like it's entered in any contests right now...

[invisiblelight386]

I just submitted it. It is probably still going through review for entries, but thank you.