I have a Sim2 D80 projector on a job. It has been there approx. 7 years with no issues until now. The projector has no BLUE. The system consists of an integra receiver, Verizon cable box and integra DVD player. We used belden 5 conductor wire in the wall to carry the video. I thought at first it was a problem with the connectors so I tested the cables for shorts and found none. I used the green cable on both ends to the green on the projector and receiver and I had a picture. I also did the same with the red and blue to the green on the projector and receiver and had a picture. I am assuming the cable and wires are fine. Just to make sure I used a new component cable stretched across the floor and still had no blue. I repeated the same procedure with the new cable just to be sure. I also tried a new Verizon box, hooked up directly to the DVD and bypassed the receiver. I sent the projector to Sim2 and they found no problem. It had blue. They sent it back, I hooked it up and it had blue. Client called me 2 days later and said the blue was gone again. We sent it back to Sim2 and they ran it for 10 days and the blue never went away. They sent it back and we hooked it up and it had blue for 2 days. I final put a loaner JVC in place and it has been fine for 2 weeks. I know it's the projector but not sure why Sim2 can't find the problem. Any thoughts?

7 years is a good life. I would suggest looking at replacement, as you have an inconvenienced customer who wants a big picture.

I tried to sell him the JVC at a great price. It's a hard sell because his wife does not want him to spend the money on another projector. I guess it is going back to Sim2 and see what they can find.

New projectors are better.
And if that projector had been a dog from the beginning, that would have been 49 years in dog projector years.

Fred's right. Seven years is a good life for a projector, unless the client used it for only a couple of hours per week. The thing is, the client will expect any product to last forever. They have to unlearn that and you have to help them with it. The manufacturer provides a warranty to help against premature death of equipment, which in a way means that the manufacturer feels that death of the equipment once the warranty is over is not all that exceptional.

Now, on to the unit at hand: does it have blue when you feed it a composite or S video signal? VGA? The problem may well be a flawed RCA jack on the projector, which they never notice because they are using some slightly oversized or tiger-grip RCA plug in the service department.

When blue goes away, does wiggling the connector at either end make it come on and off? Have you tried reversing blue and red in the field and leaving it like that for a few days?  When you connected only one wire, did you wiggle at both ends?  With all three wires connected, did you then wiggle the blue at the source end?  I think that nothing you've listed here proves that the problem is at the projector end of things.

It is a classic intermittent failure. The mfr doesn't want to observe it long enough to see it fail. Perhaps the worst part is you cannot be sure it is fixed. It is intermittent. The ramifications of this - your client will be the tester to see if it is really fixed. Stress that in your next discussion with him. Plus you cannot take responsibility for an intermittent problem - each visit to the house to pull it, ship it, etc will be quite expensive!

I just experienced the same thing on a MICO50 - painful for me and my extremely patient client!

I took the projector back to the shop and hooked it up there. Still having the same issues. We turn it on and it has blue then turn it off for a while and when we turn it back on the blue is gone. I have wiggled the connectors and the blue doesn't flicker or cut out. It is very frustrating and I wish he would just realize he needs to buy a new one. Clients think products we sell them should last forever. I always wonder how many cars, computers, and cell phone they have been through in 7 years but that's another thread.

Please, just for the hell of it, respond to two issues that I brought up above. These will help pin down the issue, at least a bit.

A.Does it lack blue when you use a composite or S-video input?
B.Does it lack blue when you use a VGA input?

You say "the projector has no blue" but have not responded to those two things.

I suggest you pretend it's not intermittent. Get the answer to my two questions. Then call the company and ask how much it CAN cost to repair a projector with no blue on the component, composite, and VGA inputs (or whatever your actual combination of things is). If they are not willing to give you a price, ask for the maximum it can be and tell them that you're going to have to replace the projector and you're sure not going to use another Sim if they can't even pin down that MAXIMUM price. And you'll be glad to publicize on an international internet forum their inability to respond. Somehow I think these ideas might help.

Open the case and look fr any multi-pin connectors- slide them off and back on. It's possible that something is contaminated and making the connection intermittent. It's also possible that it has at least one bad solder joint. The fact that it works for a while, then stops tells me that the connection makes/breaks due to expansion and contraction. You can use freeze mist to find thermal problems and the plastic butt end of a screwdriver to gently press on the circuit board- if it changes when you press on the board, look for bad solder joints.

Looking for bad solder joints on today's pc boards is incredibly challenging. Bright light, magnifier, and a tiny solder tip that you probably don't own. ICs with dozens of micro spaced pins. Then, instead of the manufacturer being responsible, now it's you. "I paid you good money and you said it was fixed. Now what are you gonna do?" Even changing an entire video board at $500-1000 you could find the intermittent is elsewhere. All I am saying is you had better set some low expectations if you go down that road.