An advisory for Pluto II owners

[Bradfo69]

The scarey thing (for a European) is I disagree with this entirely. Over the next 20 years, even If you can stay out of a war with Russia or a complete incorporation by the Borg (aggressive Muslim expansion), the East is huge and growing much faster than Europe. Its a little like our wild west. You will find lots of cheap, deceptive garbage, but also some increasingly sophisticated technology at practical, affordable prices. I think it's a bit like Frank Hebert's "The Dosadi Experiment". Watch out!

It's amazing to me to see in just the four years or so that I've been around the laser game the advances in quality and what they're doing. Yes, there is still a lot of the winkie blinkie going around but, more and more manufactures are turning out increasingly better products and paying attention to (for example) CDRH standards. Look at what Koreans have done with Hyundai. Look at cell phones, computer hardware, televisons and audio gear.

[hitekvoop]

Lots of interesting points brought up in this thread. I'll chime in:

My primary interest in this world is computing. From my first 486 I've prided myself on building my own systems (my previous commodores and 386 were purchased). Keep in mind back in the '90's this was a far more complex task than simply slapping a bunch of hardware together and powering on. This was pre-PCI when hardware interrupts needed a mediator in the form of an increasingly frustrated human to co-exist properly. Before Preemptive multi-tasking meant any mis-behaving application could crater the whole system. It's safe to say that I know my "speeds and feeds" quite well as I've built my career around a vast knowledge set and its application to large-scale datacenter computing. With that all said, at some point I came to the realization that every project I faced and the associated problems to be overcome amounted to simply a matter of time. I knew that as long as I had sufficient time to spend I could basically do anything I wanted. As a person with multiple hobbies (R/C Racing, Full size automobile stuff, Hifi stereo/theater, drums, electronic music dabbling) I found my free time increasingly at odds with my hobbies and career. Once you know what your time is worth, you begin to choose where to spend it. Sometime around 2005 I decided I was done building/tinkering with computers. I switched entirely over to laptops (something I decried a coworker for doing just 4 years prior) and a couple years after that, to Apple-only devices (It's the Unix admin in me).

This story relates to every other hobby I have, including lasers. Do I want an end-to-end understanding of everything going on within my projector? Yes. Do I want the skills to fix/build my own? Absolutely. Do I recognize that *my* time is better spent not engaging in these "tinker" activities and instead working to create content? YES. But that's *my* time. For others, who have a stronger DIY drive than I (and perhaps more free time), I wholeheartedly support your endeavors. Eric, I absolutely love the videos you produce. The dedication to R&D that you show (and share with all of us) is a testament to your desire to push forward in areas others have seemingly neglected. That you share/teach your findings with a like-minded group is a blessing. Please keep it up, but do recognize that not everyone has the time/desire/aptitude to dive in as you have.

For others in the thread that have indicated an inability to perform basic maintenance/upkeep on their gear, I question whether this is the right hobby for you. Certainly there are talented people who view the hardware simply as tools with which to create, and that's fine, but maybe a more comprehensive/efficient post-sales support structure would be beneficial. In this case, I'd suggest going with a locally sourced product with the inherent support that entails. Build vs. Buy always comes down the question, "Can I and Do I wish to take on the role of designer, builder, operator, maintainer, or would I rather spend the money to eliminate some of these roles?"

I've always found professional auto-racing fascinating for the sole reason that teams of smart, dedicated, hard-working individuals work tirelessly to bring a complex system of parts together into a finely-tuned machine in order to hand it to a driver for his race. Does the driver know "what all's going on under the hood"? More than likely, yes. Do you see drivers turning wrenches on their cars? Never.

Am I good at rambling? Absolutely. Carry on.

[norty303]

For others in the thread that have indicated an inability to perform basic maintenance/upkeep on their gear, I question whether this is the right hobby for you.

Amen

Just like stage lighting, if you cannot do your own basic maintenance and fixes then it gets very expensive very quickly, and to me is simply 'part of the job'.

Maybe everyone should have a 'rite of passage' building just a basic single colour projector, just so they understand how the core components go together (in the same way that every car driver should have to ride a motorbike for a bit...)

[planters]

Maybe everyone should have a 'rite of passage' building just a basic single colour projector, just so they understand how the core components go together (in the same way that every car driver should have to ride a motorbike for a bit...)

Agreed.

I will probably not build any more projectors. For all the above reasons given by hitekvoop there is a lot of other stuff to do even in the realm of lasers.

Just like stage lighting, if you cannot do your own basic maintenance and fixes then it gets very expensive very quickly, and to me is simply 'part of the job'.

This is true for most occupations and is one of the reasons that a general gets promoted through the ranks.

[dsli_jon]

... the real payed jobs (not the birthday party or your neigbours wedding) require... you have to invest first in the equipment.. to get cashflow you need to invest first to get cashflow....

..IMHO, that's what it all comes down to, re: 'what's "smartest" for each person's goals / endeavours'.. ie: Are you *banking* $10-15-20K jobs on your PJ? Then you'd - most-likely - be wise not to employ a $2K-class Pj for such endeavours. Not because the '$25K projector' - that you probably should-be using in such a situ - cannot fail, or, you always / automatically 'get what you pay for', but – Because, in all-likelyhood, the $25K projector was engineered well-enough to deliver, to the degree that one can 'bank' that high-value gig on.. (..And, even in such cases, if you're doing such high-value shows, and don't have some kind of 'backup' / perfomance-insurance, you're a fool.

...Conversely, if you're doing 'light-risk' werk - ie: at-home LSXing / Club / EDM-sho werk (where, if one laser craps-out, it's not likely going to mean your head, vs your show being 'The Star' at some Corp-event w/ 5K people, etc, etc..) or other-such 'the lasers are only the sprinkles'-situations, then, sure.. a $25K projector does not make much cents.

..But, regardless, when you pay for something, you expect a certain-level of 'fidelity' with the manufacturing of a "professional" product.. And by that, I mean that the manufacturer purports / implies that the unit is 'worthy' of "for-pay" (professional) endeavours.. No, they may not 'directly say-that', but.. When they, for example, show pix of thier product, implied-working, ie: in some club, or, Outdoors, doing - clearly-commercial work - the implication is 'Yes, you can 'bank' on our product... And then, if the thing shows up and it's all glued-together with old-toothpaste and / or craps-out in 3 hrs, or 3 weeks, or.. during a paid-for gig? OM >_< ..people get upset... And then, of course, other people say '..Well, what did you expect?? You only paid $2.99?!!' (..Hyperbole, intentional..) ...And, well.. they have a point.

..In my-observation, the 'pitfall' of the Far East 'value-meal' Cloner-projectors (..and they ALL are.. is that in nearly every-facet - from the 'Chivos', to the cabling, to the PSUs, to the laser-modules, themselves, to switches and, uh.. fuse holders thermal-management design, even down to 'case-screw choices' etc, etc.. It seems that most - not all, but most - 'take shortcuts', with component-choices / materials-choices.. *Because they don't understand WHY a certain material / component was-specified in the first-place* by the OEM they are kiping / copying / cloning.. Don't believe me? PL is FULL of such-examples, and I'm shortly going to illuminate one, that, imho - actually presents Safety-concerns, with these very-PJs, in another thread, TBA..

..So, that's where, in large-part, the 'risk of buying cheap' vs paying all that extra $$ for the at-least well, or even over-engineered, systems, presents itself.. That's why, for example, the 'Compact 506's are such a big deal', because they are clearly very-well *inherently Engineered*, yet only cost a fraction of their Legendary-competition, the CT 68xx-line.. (..Now, if we can just-get the OEM-amps to drop.. But, anyhoo, same goes for systems like RGB (Hungary), and RTi's line of Pikos and Nanos, and Swisslas, etc- Those systems are *VERY-WELL* Engineered, even much more-so than Kvants earlier-lines (..all due-respect.. ..But, as was well-said, 'the gap is closing', and - for the Price / for this 'class' of Pj - the 'Pluto's' really-are a nice piece of werk... SAVE-FOR a couple fixable 'issues' - one kinda 'serious' - I'll address / ref, in a bit..

..Where the 'ChOEMs' will start to distinguish themselves is *self-improvement*.. Those that welcome the feedback from their in-the-trenches customers, and, from those that are 'fussier' / will 'pick-apart' the engineering-quality / materials/components-chosen, etc - and implement changes, that better the Product.. *Those* are the ChOEMS that will rise-above, and 'close the gap'.. So far, I've observed / opin that both Lightspace and Able are doing a really-good job..

...Am I good at rambling? Absolutely. Carry on.

Haha! ...Really, tho, Thanks for the thread, Rick.. IMO, it's *really* important for this sort of 'PSA' to be put out there, not as a 'public spanking', but more of a 'this could be a good-catalyst for change' / betterment of these nicely-improving products, as-per my ramblings, above..

..I'll post my own observations / 'advisory' in another thread, to keep this one clean / not have it get lost in all the 'religious wars', here..

cheers..
j

[liteglow]

where is the pictures of the Fuse fix ?

[norty303]

Is a picture of a fuse holder really necessary? :-/

[Bradfo69]

Is a picture of a fuse holder really necessary? :-/

What he said...

It's a simple swapped identical part - just a fraction larger in diameter (probably an SAE/metric thing).

*********************************

Now, another thought.... about this fuse holder that failed. It's been implied in ths thread that Lightspace used a cheap substandard part. I replaced mine, as did Rick. I went to my local Radio Shack and bought a $3.49 replacement fuse holder. Problem solved. But... How am I supposed to know if the one I bought at Radio Shack is an example of "European high end quality" or, if it's just in fact, just anoher Chinese fuse holder sold by Radio Shack? It's just a fuse holder for goodness sake.

[liteglow]

Is a picture of a fuse holder really necessary? :-/

Maybe not, I was just curious what was actually happen on the backside of the fuse (where you said all the problems appeared)
I cant see that without opening the case.

[norty303]

Open the case