posted April 04, 2015 07:54 PM
I just picked up a 20 dollar Elmo with blown projection lamp. I'm trying to replace it, but having a really hard time taking it off based on these instructions: http://www.apecity.com/manuals/pdf/elmo_st-800_projector.pdf
It's on so tight as if it were part of the connector, I feel like I'm going to shatter the lamp when trying to pull it off, so I stopped.
Am I missing something?
Suggestions appreciated.
FALSE ALARM! I GOT IT OFF. I WOULD HAVE DELETED THIS MESSAGE, BUT ONLY ADMINS CAN DO THAT.
Posts: 3468
From: Sunnyvale, CA USA
Registered: Sep 2011
posted April 04, 2015 08:10 PM
The prongs of the lamp can get corroded making it difficult to pull out. Try rocking the lamp back and forth and up and down from the connector. Possible a few drops of alcohol or even CLR :-) might help dissolve some of the corrosion and pliers might help also, but be careful if of the glass if the old lamp breaks. You might want to cover it with a cloth first. As long as you pull the prongs straight out you shouldn't crack the lamp connector.
OK...I see you got it off. All is well
-------------------- Janice
"I'm having a very good day!" Richard Dreyfuss - Let It Ride (1989).
Posts: 7016
From: Long Island, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003
posted April 04, 2015 08:32 PM
I'm kind of concerned about the condition of your lamp socket. I have the same machine and have probably changed the lamp about ten times now: never more than two fingers to slide the socket off.
Maybe if you slide the socket back and forth on the new lamp pins you can scratch through the oxides and reach some metal. (Worse comes to worse the sockets are easy to replace.)
Something you have to watch with ST-800 is they are set up to use the EFP with the locating lug in the rim (It slides into a little slot in the mount.) The ones without the lug tend to twist in the mount and all of a sudden the picture dims.
You can use the lugless ones (much, much more common...), you just need to put a ty-rap around the neck of the lamp and the clip that holds it in place so it pulls the lamp inwards towards the machine's chassis and keeps it from sliding out of alignment.
It's not the fanciest of projectors, but it's a good, reliable machine that can produce a great picture and sound. If I'm going somewhere and bringing one machine, it's the one I choose.
(I just need to remember a ty-rap and a pair of wire cutters with the spare bulb!)
PS: Is your machine ST-800MO (magnetic-optical)? I've heard they are fairly common in Japan, but are pretty rare everywhere else.
-------------------- All I ask is a wide screen and a projector to light her by...