Cleaning the optics
Frequency depends on the site, not the product. A laser projector maintenance in a clean lobby needs attention once a year; one in a kitchen, a workshop or beside a road needs it quarterly. Set the interval from the environment and write it into the site calendar.
Gobo inspection and replacement
Inspect the gobo whenever the image quality changes. Look for crazing in the coating, cracks at the edge, or a mark that appears in the projected image but is hard to see on the glass — holding it up to a light at an angle reveals most faults. Replace rather than clean a coated gobo that has started to degrade.
- Inspect against a light at an angle for cracks and crazing
- Look for marks that show in the image but not on the glass
- Replace rather than clean a degraded coated gobo
- Record the reference code for exact reorders
Heat, seals and electrical checks
The half-yearly inspection is short: feel the housing after an hour, look at the seals, check the gland, and confirm the bracket has not moved. Thermal problems and water ingress cause most of the premature failures in this class, and both are visible without any test equipment.
- Housing temperature after an hour at full output
- Seals and gaskets still seated and supple
- Bracket tight and the unit still on aim
- Cable gland intact and the drip loop in place
Seasonal and event checks
Before the busy season, run the unit for a full evening rather than a few minutes. Thermal cut-outs and driver faults appear after an hour or two, not in the first five, and discovering that on the first night of an event is the expensive way to find it.
What to keep on the shelf
Hold three things: a spare gobo, a spare remote or control interface, and the contact for re-cutting artwork. Everything else on a laser projector maintenance is either long-lived or a job for the supplier. Those three cover the failures that actually happen and cost very little to keep on the shelf.
- A spare gobo, cut from the same artwork file
- A spare control handset or remote
- The artwork reference and reorder contact
- The install record with throw and settings
