Introduction
If you’re new to this channel then welcome! This site is about man cave, home theater, and gaming room setups. This article is about a more specific problem projector users may experience.
This article is meant to give you some additional insight as to why you’re projector is getting too loud, potentially overheating, making your room too hot, and some other topics along those lines. These problems are not a complete, unnatural occurrence. This is also one of those things that probably won’t require a lot of outside help. You’ll find that many of the necessary things to do are things you can do today without any outside help.
So how do you stop your projector from overheating? The best things you can do to stop your projector from overheating are to put it in an area where it can ventilate, change the air filter, put a cooling pad under it (if on a shelf), and create more airflow in the room. I’ll talk about all these aspects in greater detail throughout the article.
Before we start, I’ve written some very similar content along these lines if you’re experiencing some of the related issues. If you’re interested in the related topics such as why your projector fan is so loud, take a look below in the conclusion section. If by the end of this you need more resources, feel free to reach out to entertainmentden.ns@gmail.com and I’ll do my best to respond.
Why your projector is overheating
Projectors have to heat up to a certain temperature before they project in image. The internal temperature needed is much higher than room temperature. The bulb has to heat to a certain temperature before it can accurately display the full range of colors on the color wheel. This is also why projectors need to warm up once you turn them on. For projectors to function beyond a couple minutes, they need a constant flow of clean air as well.
- It’s not in a location where it can ventilate heat. Pay really good attention to make sure it’s not in a place where its out heat output just gets trapped around the projector. Tucking it away on a shelf close to the ceiling can be a common reason this is the problem. Also make sure it’s not placed underneath a surface that will absorb head like a carpet if it’s a ground-up facing projector.
. - It’s not able to filter dust effectively. Projectors actually come with air filters that keeps dust out of the internal hardware. The air filter can sometimes get full or become ineffective if the projector is super old. An accumulation of dust forces the projector to work harder to regulate its internal components.
. - The room is generally too warm, stuffy, or small in size. This was one of the challenges I had with my family’s first projector set up. It was in a small room and the room itself didn’t have adequate AC throughout the room during the summer months. We had to put more fans in the room to keep our projector from heating up the room and then overheating itself.
In less common cases, overheating projectors are a trait of older models if you bought it used. In those cases, it’s worth calling the actual company to see if they can do anything about it.
Solutions to keep it from overheating
There are some super easy solutions out there if you’re in one of the categories above. All of these shouldn’t require a great amount of effort to implement. Implementing a majority of this will definitely do a lot for your projector.
- If you seat your projector on a shelf, consider getting a cooling pad. Before you start thinking more fans = more noise, you’ll find this to be the opposite. Cooling pads like the ones below are designed for devices that heat up and create sound. The fans that come with cooling pads are as quiet as a CoolerMaster PC case. It’s nowhere near the loudness of PS4s fans. There are a ton of different models and sizes that can find any dimension your projector might have.
. - Change the location of the projector if it’s not already mounted. The area you already have it in could be dustier or more compact. If you can afford to mount it or put it on another shelf that gives it some horizontal and vertical buffer space for heat to escape, this will keep your projector from working too hard.
. - Confirm that the air filter is not full or defective. This can be the case for old or refurbished projectors. It’s a simple fix to clean the air filter out, similar to changing out a vacuum cleaner bag. You either need to utilize the manual if it came with one or check out the video link below to understand how to do it yourself.
. - Most companies offer technical support. Calling the company brand with the exact model number can actually be super helpful. Even Best Buy’s tech support has been helpful to me when I come to them with issues like this (I’m not sponsored by them in any way).
*I don’t recommend getting or building a “hush box.” You might come across products that are essentially projector enclosures, designed to make one sound a lot quiter. In general, most of these don’t let your projector ventilate the way it needs to. All the professional home theater setups I’ve come across don’t incorporate these with their media players.
How to Change the Air Filter On Most Projectors
This is the most useful example video I’ve found on changing an air filter for a projector. Every model will have a similar look, so this should be able to help you regardless of whether yours is an Epson one or not.
Notes from the video if you can’t watch it.
- Turn off the projector and leave alone for up to five minutes to ensure it is completely cooled down
- Get a small, soft brush to clean the filter. Don’t use any kind of compressed air to clean it out. It’s not meant to be cleaned like a laptop.
- The best way to access the filter is to flip the projector on its back. Air filters are usually located under the lens.
- Take out the air filter tray from below the projector. Use the soft brush to sweep off all the accumulated dust (make sure to do it on both sides).
You want to be able to see the pores in the air filter. You might not see a whole lot of dust come off of the filter, but this can actually make a huge difference in the projector’s ability to regulate itself.
Note: some air filters are located on the side of the projector. The most probable place you will find it will be wherever you can feel air coming out of when the projector is on.
Conclusion
Projectors overheat for all the reasons above. If you apply even a few of these things you can dramatically increase the lifespan of your projector. As you can see, these fixes are extremely simple to implement. If you don’t have any real hardware problems then you’re projector should be up and running after cleaning the air filter and finding a better way to ventilate the air around your projector.
There’s one more extra resource that might help you if you want some additional ways to make your projector better. The solutions are extremely similar to what was already written. But if you clean your air filter and that completely stopped your projector from overheating, you might still be wondering why your projector is still loud. That article will answer some additional questions more specific to the aspect of fan noise. In short, that also comes down to giving the projector adequate ventilation.
Thanks for reading! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to reach out. I’m also taking article suggestions for related topics if you have any! Be sure to check back regularly for new articles.
