NEC VT695 Projector Design Flaw

Found a defect with these NEC VT695 projectors. The projector fault is when the status light flashes red as if the lamp cover is off even if it isn’t. There is a design defect in which the tab (on the lamp cover) that closes the lamp cover switch is so fragile that it breaks over time. We are at about 2 years in with these guys and the plastic tab is so cheep that it’s snapping from the switch’s minimal pressure. Pictures coming soon.

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19 Responses to NEC VT695 Projector Design Flaw

  1. Norm Cornell says:

    Hi,
    I came across your page regarding the defect on the NEC VT 695 projector lamp cover tab…Have you done anything to remedy the problem? Have you contacted NEC? We have several of these models and I had my first tab break off when it was just mounted to a ceiling – no movement of the projector.

    Thanks in advance.
    Norm Cornell

    • admin says:

      Hi Norm,
      Our units are out of warranty so we were unable to get service from NEC. However the fix is fairly easy. You can disable the lamp cover switch by shorting out it’s connections on the logic board. I’ve done this with about 6 units and they have been working well for a while now. If you need more detail on how to do this let me know and I’ll post some instructions. -Kevin

      • Rick says:

        Kevin, I have 2 projectors with broken tabs, from my wife’s school, may be more soon. How did you short out the logic board?

        • admin says:

          Hi Rick, It’s fairly easy. You solder the two pins across the switch’s connections on the board. If you follow the switch’s cable you’ll see which jack on the logic board you need to solder. You could also create a short by cutting the cable and twisting up the two conductors. I’ll try to take some shots next time I do this if need be. If you want to send a link to a photo I can point out the switch’s jumper to solder.

      • Darren says:

        Kevin,
        How did you pull the cover apart, besides removing 5 screws.

      • Excellent work! I found the switch under the cover. Removed the screws (5) and (2) near the s-video. Found the two wires coming from the switch, cut them. Then strip and tie together the two ends connected to the board (actually they are connected to the board via a small connector). By shorting (connecting the two wires), the system thinks the switch is always on. Problem solved and a heap of cash saved.

  2. admin says:

    Hi ntopin. Yes. If you short those two points the switch will be disabled. Just be safe and keep in mind the projector will work without the lamp cover on.

  3. Norm Cornell says:

    Yes. It worked well. Now I have to figure why I have a 695 that says that the lamp is bad (solid red light) when I know the lamp is good.

    • dale tigue says:

      when you turn on your projector you will need to point the remote and the projector and hold the help button in for maybe 20 seconds

  4. Jay says:

    A low-tech solution is to drill a small hole in the lamp cover and epoxy in a small piece of plastic in that hits the button. A screw or bolt works in a pinch, but I’m leery of screws just hanging down into the guts of electronics.

  5. Darren says:

    Same issue here. I am struggling to get the projector apart. I removed 5 screws from the bottom. The front (lamp) end opens, but the back where the inputs are remains tight.

    Any advice?

  6. Cody says:

    Anybody know how how to manually reset the lamp hours without a remote, after it goes into sleep mode when the “lamp hours” run out? possibly by opening up the machine and clearing a memory card or manually triggering the sensor which the help button on the remote would usually trigger?

    Thanks for any help.

    -CODY

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  8. scott says:

    +1 to this whole thread. Thank you so much for posting this and helping us get this projector back online.

  9. appu says:

    hii admin please help me with my nec vt695 projector.i bought 3 old projector with security keyword lock please help me how to unlock this set.tq admin.

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