Why does the lamp in my Sanyo Pro xtraX projector keep getting hot and shutting down to cool?

Answer 1

Projection TV lamps a quartz envelope, inside which a gas resides. As the lamp heats up, the quartz tends to distort at the base of the lamp from all the heat generated and it generally bulges out some at the base. What this does, is lower the pressure of the gas inside from the extra room created inside the lamp by the bulging area and that causes it to require more energy to keep it ignited. This of course also generates more heat which tends to make the quartz envelope hotter and it expands even more, requiring more cooling. If your TV can't provide the extra cooling, the TV's going to protect itself and shut down the lamp. The general cure is to replace the lamp, which should run cooler until the process eventually starts all over again. In average terms, you should only expect about 2000 hours of use from a lamp before they develop symptoms.