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Some will probably disagree with me, but that is what I have heard. Your comment is not to far off.

As the bulb gets older, it gets harder to strike. Sometimes the igniter sounds like it is splattering crap all over the place. Obviously, this might be equivilant to several hours per strike.

I'll bet that you'll get a more accurate answer from the bulb manufacturers.

Paul

So far, we lost two reflectors to Q-Arc bulb explosions in the Strong Super Lumex lamphouses in the last three months or so.

That bulb is in service, as it replaced the one that blew up in No. 2 with 349 hours or so. Both bulbs were part of the July batch we received.

I am going to replace them with 2500-Watt bulbs from either Christie or Hanovia, whichever I can get my paws on.

Paul

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I am aware of some locations that use 3000W lamps instead of 2500W, feeling they are a more reliable lamp. That's fine if: a) the 3kw lamps are physically compatible; b) the cooling and exhaust is VERY good (MIN of 250CFM, I would say); and c) you run a fairly "soft" 3000 Watts (100A or less).

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Thanks for the input. At 100 amps with the switcher power supply, the load voltage is about 25 volts. This gives 2500 watts. That is about 100 watts above the minimum requirement for the 3000 watt lamp. (presuming the figure of 80% is still valid for manufacturer's recommendation)

It would seem to me that after a xenon lamp ages (about 1000 hours or so) ignition may become a little harder. I have observed this in our lamphouses. Of course, with the Strong igniter, it'll make practically anything strike.

If a 3000-watt bulb is used, there is no headroom to compensate for bulb aging in our system.

Just my thoughts.....Do they make sense?

Paul

We use 2000 and 3000 watt in the L.P.A. lamphouses with L.P.A. reactor power supplies. We have had some "bad batches" over the years that had me going around changing capacitors and tighening wires, etc. Most likely unnecessary. But for the most part the ORCs perform well. Only two explosions of the 50 in use and those were due to improper handling or insufficient cooling.

Our theaters only run one or two features a night then the bulbs are resting. But we usually get over 2000 hours without problems. We do changeovers in all theaters and leave the bulbs on for the whole performance. We disabled the "simmer" mode in the LPA units many years ago. Somebody said the lamps would last longer without it. I never noticed any difference.

But there are some name changes of late. Anybody know how that affects the final product? At first it was ORC provided by L.P.A. then just ORC. Now I see it is Perkin Elmer. But the address is always the same. ??

Whenever a theater calls and says they have a hard-to-start lamp I always check the weather map first. Seems the ignighters on these LPAs rely on a spark gap that is affected by barometric pressure. So if there is a typhoon in your area be sure to turn your power on early. Quirky..Yes?

Christie also has an huge current range that works well with them on any given size.

The only quirk I have had with them is on some igniters they are harder to strike.

Steve

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They didnt really 'go out of business', they were victims of a merger and a resilting spinoff.

-Optical Radiation Corp. (ORC) was absorbed by EG&G Technologies around 1996. Shortly before this (1995, IIRC) ORC sold its Cinema Products Division (except the bulbs) to Ballantyne.

-In 1999, EG&G spun off its optoelectronics division (including ORC) to PerkinElmer.

PerkinElmer has not been known for doing things right the first time: They were the makers of the mirror that doomed the Hubble Space Telescope...

I'll Stick to my Osram and Christie xenons, thank you. I have even seen a CHINESE(!) generic bulb hold up better than an ORC/PE... :O

This one just decided to go "Pbpthbpthbthp!" in the middle of the show. We only lost two shows.....two too many.

While I was at it, I decided to change the mirror that was demolished in the last Q-Arc explosion....and showed it to our popcorn salespeople with a comment that this is what someone's face might look like if the bulb blew up while changing it.

If I can get a good picture of the mirror, I'll send it to Brad and maybe he might post it. This is the worse mirror I have seen. Hopefully, it'll keep the personnel out of the lamphouse unless they are fully qualified and have the protective clothing to change a xenon bulb.

Paul