Any issues with hanging a "portable" projector from the ceiling?

[Nathan J]

Hello all,

I am in the process of replacing a big, old antiquated 3M projector in our sanctuary with a new one. The bulb is about to die and a new one costs about $800 - and that only has 1000 hours on it - so we decided to buy a new projector which will be much brighter to begin with and a 2000 hour bulb.

I am seriously considering a Sony VPL-CS5 with 1800 lumens (nice compared to the current 1000 lumen one) and when I contacted a distrubitor about the price they said "The portable units, generally, don't dissipate heat well enough to be mounted on the ceiling and start to have problems." Our sanctuary is probably about 20-25 feet tall and the projector is hanging about 4 feet from the ceiling on a pole.

Here's my questions:

1. Would heat dissipation be a problem? There is a large fan very close to the projector and it is usually on during services.

2. Is there a better projector "out there" that I'm missing? We were leaning towards a NEC VT series but the throw distance isn't great enough - the projector has to be placed 17 feet away from a 120" screen. The other issue is that the price must be belos $1600.

I would love to get a Sanyo PLC-XP46 4100 lumen machine but right now, there is no budget for it as this purchase wasn't expected but merely happened with the "REPLACE LAMP" message flashing on the screen. Not exactly an ideal time for big purchases - and did I mention the pastor's wireless mic (probably) "bit the dust" Sunday morning during the sermon?

Thanks for reading and any thoughts you may have!

Small projectors that run hot are referred to as "ceiling scorchers" . Many do have some overheating issues, but if you use a mount that doesn't block airflow and if you aren't right up against the ceiling, I think you would be okay.

I really, really recommend not skimping on the projector. I think it would be more prudent and better stewardship to wait and get what you really need. If you spend $1500 on a projector that you know isn't adequate, it's almost like throwing that money away. I'm willing to even take a $200 hit on one of my demo Sharp projectors for you -- if you want it for $2799 it's yours (2500 Lumens XGA).

Don't get me wrong, I completely understand small church situations and lack of budget, but see if you can muster up the extra money for a projector that will do a better job for a longer period of time . I strongly believe that God cares about the quality of the projector you buy. He will provide the funds!

[Nathan J]

Thank you for your reply and your very generous offer.

I agree wholeheartedly about not skimping on the projector. I was hoping that the Sony would be a temporary fix and that when we buy the building we are at (long story), we would upgrade again and use the Sony as a portable presenter for Bible studies and classroom environments.

I have shown what you said to the Pastor (easy to do since he's my dad ) and we will be sure to think through all of this very carefully.

I trust that God will provide exactly what is needed and that He cares about every part of our lives and ministries. It's His money and talent, after all!

Thank you again for your reply!

It may be standard on all projectors now, I don't know... but I would make sure that it has a "ceiling mount" mode... If you are hanging it off a pole like we are, you projector will be upside down, and will project your image that way unless it has this setting to flip the image.

[Nathan J]

[quote]Originally posted by David Welch
It may be standard on all projectors now, I don't know... but I would make sure that it has a "ceiling mount" mode... /QUOTE]

Thank you. I was checking up on that fact a few days ago and found this on Sony's website for this unit: "Image Flip: Off/H/V/HV" so I am assuming this means it can be used at floor front, ceiling front, floor rear, and ceiling rear.

I should've made this more clear earlier, but I forgot last night when I was writing. The main reason that I was calling this purchase a temporary fix was that we don't currently own the building. It's a long story but we want to replace the existing unit that belongs with the building. In the very near future, we want to buy the building at that point I am hoping to upgrade the projector system again (maybe even cutting a hole in the wall and doing 16:9 rear-projection). One reason (other than the current budget) that we don't want to put a $5000 unit in that building now is that we are not the only people who use it and I would much rather have a $1600 projector get left on and used by somebody other than my team than a $5000+ projector.

That's just another note that I thought I would add. Thank you all!

If you're sharing a building and plan to move out, it makes sense to spend less on a projector and then maybe let the youth use it later when you have a bigger budget for a better projector.

We are a younger church plant and meet in a warehouse space on the back of a strip mall. Our classrooms and lobby and cafe are in the front of the mall.

I don't disagree with Tim, get the best projector you can afford! This was our experience, and we have no media budget, we got what we could afford, and it's worked out well so far.

Our Epson 5300 (1000 lumens) fried its power supply, it had been hanging on a post from the structural steel, upside down. Not sure if the fry was due to the mounting or not. It served us for about 3.5 years.

We ordered an Epson 53c, it was $1,650 online, 1700 lumens and a much higher contrast ratio, and we are all thrilled with how it looks. But we are in a room that fits about 150 and have no ambient light.

The focal length of our new projector was much shorter than the focal length of the old projector. We moved it forward, but we found that the rooftop air handling unit was located in line with that closer ceiling joist, and made the projector image jiggle when it was on. So now we preheat/pre-cool the room and shut it off just before the service starts. The room is also much quieter when we do this, and the comfort level is fine. Just a warning: The fan you describe may give you the same problems.

Steve

[Nathan J]

I highly doubt any problems will occur with mounting the projector near the fan. The current one is in the same spot and we have had no problems whatsoever. It's just a normal commercial fan - not like a HVAC unit blowing or anything -- I bet that's really annoying.

Thanks!

[eskipsey]

3M Projector - the "Replace Lamp" message is a reminder to tell you to get a new lamp, it is triggered by the internal lamp hours counter - your existing lamp may go on for quite some time yet. To remove the warning, reset your lamp back to zero - on most 3M projectors this is done by pressing and holding the "reset" button on the projector - this will display the number of hours used and give you the option to reset the counter to zero. After re-setting the counter it's unlikely that the "Replace Lamp" message will re-appear next time you turn on the projector.

Sony CS5 - this projector can be ceiling mounted (upside down) but, as it has no mounting holes in the base, it must be mounted in a cradle. Just be sure that you don't obstruct the air vents otherwise overheating will occur. As I am in the UK a popular supplier of projector mounts here is Unicol (www.unicol.com) one of their most popular products is the Gyrolok.