# How serious is the dust issue?



## bill77094 (Apr 12, 2010)

I'm really enjoying reading all of the advice and reviews on the Shack. I read a couple of threads that indicated they were having dust issues with their projectors. Is dust a real issue to be contended with? Do projectors like the AE4000 have filters or some other kind of protection against dust?


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## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

The problem is going to vary a great deal with projector and with the environment. If you see a regular and large buildup of dust on the intake vents, you need to be more concerned. If you don't you will likely only need minor blowing out of the dust when you change a lamp.


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## Blaser (Aug 28, 2006)

Any idea what's the procedure to clean a dust blob? Is there anything easy to do?


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## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

Every projector is different. Some can be a real challenge to get to. Gentle and careful use of compressed air is a possibility, but you need to take care that the propellents and condensation do not cause a problem, as well as rapid cooling of lamp parts. Blowing can also make a problem worse if there is other debris or dust in the unit.


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## RBTO (Jan 27, 2010)

I have the AE2000 projector (the AE4000's predecessor), and after more than 2 years, I can't say I have a serious dust problem. I've seen plenty of postings about dust problems in the Panasonic projectors but haven't had that much bad luck myself even though the projector is in a "dusty" area. Most projectors use filtered air as does the AE line, and should have filtered, positive pressure, inside the unit when they are on, but that still won't keep all the dust out. My projector has two specks of dust, which each produce small circular color "blobs" when the video goes to a solid black background. With normal video, you never see them. The specks are out of focus and not on the LCD panels themselves. By changing the focus of the projector, the specks can be brought into sharp focus, along with a host of other dust particles that don't show at all, so I assume they are on one of the polarizers or a filtering element somewhere in the optical path.
To answer your question about cleaning, I have popped-the-top of my projector to see if I could flush the two specks of dust that are visible, but to get at the optical assembly, a main circuit board has to be removed which is a little involved. At this time, the problem isn't serious enough for me to do that, but at some point, I'll probably go there. I can't address how easy it is to clean other projectors, but this one isn't the easiest. Cleaning the filter is a piece of cake, but I always use a vacuum after pulling the filter because the filter sheds dust into the projector case in the process of removing it, and I don't want the dust that's shed to find its way on into the air path and the inside of the projector. The filter is best left alone until it really needs cleaning (don't wait too long though or overheating can result), or a bulb changing is done.
To summarize, I'd say that my dust issues aren't that serious over a fairly long period of time, but that opinion will vary considerably from user to user.


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## bill77094 (Apr 12, 2010)

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like I am going to have to do a better job at keeping the dust under control in my house. My dog is not going to like the fact that she is going to get shaven on a regular basis to keep her hair from ending up in the projector. But the show must go on. So, on to more pressing worries, like how I am going to control the light coming into my theater room when I can't get away with blacking out my windows.


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

NO DOGS ALLOWED..is the sign you should have on your theater door!! 
Dog hair can cause all sorts of problems with a projector..
Even a shaven dog will still emit fine particles into the air, when it shakes itself..
I have two large short hair dogs and they NEVER come into the theatre..


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

Prof. said:


> NO DOGS ALLOWED..is the sign you should have on your theater door!!
> Dog hair can cause all sorts of problems with a projector..
> Even a shaven dog will still emit fine particles into the air, when it shakes itself..
> I have two large short hair dogs and they NEVER come into the theatre..


Maybe thats why my house is so dusty. I can wipe dust off my equipment rack everyday. BAD DOGS!addle:


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