Cleaning optics inside old bulb-based projector

[Alex Eisenhut]

Replacing the bulb in a Sharp PG-F325W projector, I wanna rescue this from landfill. Give it another 2000 hours of use if my little bulb replacement works.

How can I clean the slab of important-looking glass that (I guess) filters the bulb output?
The manual only talks about replacing the entire bulb assembly, but I've decided to try just the bulb.


I'm guessing generic lens cleaning wipes would do the job? Like eyeglasses stuff.

[Stray Electron]

  Blow, wash or vacuum all dust and dirt off of the optics before wiping with any kind of tissue. Otherwise the material on it will just be a grinding compound.  Fold your cleaning tissue into quarters and use each quarter only ONCE.   With every wipe turn the tissue over and use a clean area.  Do not use the same tissue surface to make more than one wipe of you'll just be using the girt and grime picked up on the first pass and grinding into the surface of the optics on the second pass.  I really can't advise you about a safe cleaning liquid, that all depends on what the optics are made of and what coatings that they have on them.  The manufacturer needs to advise you on that. (Yes, I know that it's an old item and the manufacturer is probably long gone.)

"I'm guessing generic lens cleaning wipes would do the job? Like eyeglasses stuff."

   Yes, and do NOT use ordinary paper towels for this kind of cleaning, the fiber in them has a lot of abrasive material remaining it in. Always use tissues made for optics or lens cleaning.  That apples to eye glasses as well.

[Alex Eisenhut]

Thanks I figured it can't be that complicated and cleaning that glass slab can only help the projector to project!

[wasedadoc]

If that slab of glass is between the bulb and the LCD panel its primary purpose is to reduce the amount of heat from the bulb that reaches the panel.  As such it has very much less impact on image quality than the lens(es) on the other side of the LCD.  But that is no excuse not to clean it carefully.

[Alex Eisenhut]

Oh it blocks IR? Makes sense, I didn't notice a difference looking through it. It's a DLP projector but same idea I suppose.

[Alex Eisenhut]

The cheap bulb I got on eBay was a bit tricky to get into the sheet metal cage, there's a little notch on the reflector that needs to line up with the metal, once that's done, it's easy. Everything works, Ms Pac-Man on the wall is pretty fun!