freegeek geeksquad pls help me solve the mystery accept the mystery

November 15, 2010 8:08 PM

I have a Sony VPL-PX40 and a Sony VPL-PX41. How can I open them up to swap the lenses?

One projector has a nice zoom lens, and the other has a fixed lens. I want to put the better lens in the unit with the better LCD screen. But I cannot easily see how to get these projectors open. There must be a secret. There must be the Sony Service Manual that comes with the projectors, or the new lenses. When I dig around in Google for such a tech manual, I come up empty. Except for "driverdownload"-style spam tech-manual sites which promise everything but deliver... .... nothing? P.S. what the dealio with those driver-promising or PDF-promising websites that then send you nowhere or around in circles?

posted by shipbreaker to technology (2 answers total)

P.S. what the dealio with those driver-promising or PDF-promising websites that then send you nowhere or around in circles?

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posted by mendel at 5:49 AM on November 16, 2010

Well, I take apart a lot of projectors for my job and for my projects. They are all held together with screws or clips. You need to locate these screws or clips and remove them. Most often, it is a combination of screws or clips -- like, screws holding it together from the bottom and clips holding it together at the seams.

I hate to tell you this, because I would never discourage anyone making modifications in anyway, but unless the projection engines in these things are identical, the chances of the lens being transferable are pretty slim. They almost always use a custom plastic mount and have different size rear apertures.
posted by fake at 8:14 AM on November 16, 2010