# Christie DHD800 Lamp issues



## JVTD (Jan 29, 2019)

So I purchased a few aftermarket lamps for my projector, and found out that Christie purposefully limits non Christie lamps to eco mode, the projector locks the lamp settings. I was told by tech support that there is no work around unless I pay 3 times as much for Christie lamps. Let's face it, that lamp is the same product with a few lines of code added to the chip on the lamp housing.

Anyone have a firmware hack or something to override this? My projector is well out of warranty, and I'm most likely going to replace it in the next few years anyway. I'm just looking to get a few more years of life out of it.


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## ruinexplorer (Jan 29, 2019)

You might be able to find an older firmware version that doesn't read the chip. On the J-series projectors, the lamps have had the chip from the start, but it took a couple of firmware revisions before the projector started accessing it.


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## JVTD (Feb 1, 2019)

ruinexplorer said:


> You might be able to find an older firmware version that doesn't read the chip. On the J-series projectors, the lamps have had the chip from the start, but it took a couple of firmware revisions before the projector started accessing it.


Any Idea were to find the older firmware? The usual searches have not proved helpful.


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## ruinexplorer (Feb 1, 2019)

I downloaded the service manual to see what I could find. It looks to me like this was one of the projectors that was actually made by Sanyo (based on the menu design). I couldn't find a firmware change. Likely, there isn't one. 

If, as I suspect, this projector was manufactured by a third party, there will likely not be anything that you can do, because Christie can only do so much. My guess is that they hard coded the non-standard lamp mechanism to protect themselves from certain warranty repairs. There can be significant damage done by lamps from heat, IR/UV, or power requirements (lamps exploding). I was able to justify New projector purchase several years ago due to lamp cost (and parts availability). 

So, unfortunately, I think that you might be stuck at this point. The best hope that you can find is a lamp manufacturer who can replicate the OEM code on the lamp itself. If you have an OEM lamp and send it to someone who can relamp it, they might be able to reset the hours on the chip. Obviously, you always accept all risks when not using OEM products.


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