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Author Topic: Lamphouse Spot-the-Difference game! (With pics!) Jason Burroughs Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 654 From: Allen, TX Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-07-2004 10:03 PM                     Only in Canada! Looks like Red Green got a hold of that thing (including the use of duct tape) Honestly, I would have been better to have lost shows, and taken the loss, than have the possible catastrophic results you may have had. Sure we commend you on your desire to put the show on, but young Jedi, there is a time when you just have to say enough is enough. Honestly I seriously question the ethics of the "tech" that advised you though this process, including the use of a wire hangar for the bulb support. I'm sure everyone has had to go to some pretty great legnths to make sure that the show goes on, but at the same time, we've also had dark theaters as well. Regarding the potential upset customers, there's little more you can do than letting them know that the project is broken, and that you are awaiting parts. Most can handle an honest answer like that.  |  IP: Logged Paul Mayer Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under! Posts: 3836 From: Albuquerque, NM Registered: Feb 2000 posted 10-08-2004 12:19 AM                        Sorry Mark, I didn't go back and correct that post. I meant "Lume-X" when my fingers typed "Super Lume-X." Those were the ones that seemed to always be too hot when they had 2Ks in them. I agree with you though, the carbon arc Supers were great lamps to run. Very smooth and very well balanced. I never liked the way the Xenons handled, even after I got used to them.  |  IP: Logged Dick Vaughan Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1032 From: Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK Registered: Jul 2000 posted 10-08-2004 04:54 AM                        Daryl said quote: Too bad Canada isn't part of the commonwealth! Did we give you permission to leave Careful or we'll sell you more submarines  |  IP: Logged Matthew Nock Film Handler Posts: 82 From: Bairnsdale, Victoria, Australia Registered: Jan 2003 posted 10-08-2004 07:12 AM                     I know I am late coming in to respond to this - but I too have to agree with the majority of people here. While the "fix" might seem ingenious, there would be a couple of issues here... 1) What sort of decent technician would even recommend doing such a thing?? 2) Yes, the "Show must go on" but not at the expense of equipment, or personnel. When ever I train new staff, I do inform them of the important of "The show Must Go On" but with conditions - ie: in short, if you are causing damage to equipment, or film, then stop - otherwise, use what ever methods within your power to keep the show on screen. I agree that the shows for that weekend should have been cancelled - I have and will continue to do things like that before putting any equipment, or staff at risk. Being in the country, running a small theatre, sometimes its not always possible to have new lamps readily accessible, but we do have a stock of 'taken out cause they flicker a bit, or take a bit to strike' lamps that we would use as a temporary solution. And I too would agree with the "contact a local cinema" - we have done that in the past... thats why its important to build good relationships with your competition.  |  IP: Logged Steve Kraus Film God Posts: 4094 From: Chicago, IL, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 10-08-2004 01:09 PM                    quote: Too bad Canada isn't part of the commonwealth! Oh? Encarta: Canada belongs to a variety of major international organizations. One is the Commonwealth of Nations Word IQ: List of Commonwealth Members by continent Date of membership in (parentheses). * Europe ... * North America --* Canada (1931) ... USA is eligible to join; maybe we should. I hear you get discounts on dry cleaning.  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 10-08-2004 04:31 PM                        I tried! Canada isn't a part of North America either, apparently! You can keep your pleasure crafts, Dick.  |  IP: Logged Phil Hill I love my cootie bug Posts: 7595 From: Hollywood, CA USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 10-08-2004 04:56 PM                  quote: Daryl C. W. O'Shea ...pleasure crafts... Oh My...that is soooo suggestive it makes my tongue hard. However, it IS a sad day that all those poor guys are dying. In general, the subs reflect shitty engineering and are another example of why I would NEVER buy an European product. (Sorry guys, just my personal opinion based on years of experience with your "stuff".) >>> Phil  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-09-2004 12:02 AM                     I think I understand your "meaning" in doing this kind of repair and, though I think you were pretty sure of yourself when you did it, I must say that it probably wasn't the smartest thing to have done. Okay, okay. You got the thing to work... Or to LOOK like it was working. Yes, you got light to come out of the thing but I'm worried about some other things besides the danger in running the lamp the way you did. I really hope you didn't do lasting damage to the machine that won't make itself known to you until the lamphouse, the projector or the power supply have totally melted down at some time in the future, when you least expect it, nor can you afford it! 1) The obvious: While you were making these modifications, can you be sure that you didn't break anything? (Either while doing or UNdoing?) 2) The lamp you installed, being a higher wattage, probably ran hotter than the usual one. Can you be sure that there was no excess heat that caused damage? 3) Since the lamp was a different size than usual, I can't imagine HOW the thing would be in alignment/focus. Can you be sure you didn't "hot spot" the film and put burn marks on it? Can you be sure the projector's shutter, dowser, gate and/or lens(es) didn't suffer any heat damage? Do you have any idea how much those parts cost to replace? Hint: More money than you are likely to have in your bank account! 4) Since the lamp draws more power than the usual one, can you be sure the excess "draw" on the power supply didn't cause it to overheat? Diodes, capacitors and other parts of power supplies are famous for appearing to be okay on the outside but they are really damaged on the inside. That damage often doesn't show itself to you until later. You really have to know where to look and what to look for in order to know if any of these things have gone wrong. Even an experienced person can overlook this kind of thing. You really have to look out for old Murphy's Law! In a situation like yours, if there is any hidden damage (I fear there is) it won't make itself known to you until the worst possible moment. It'll be a busy Friday night when your projector will simply stop working... or worse... collapse into a shower of sparks and flame! I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I have never used "Yankee Engineering" to solve a problem but I will advise you that you need to learn when to quit. There are times when coat hangers and duct tape may be an appropriate way to make temporary repairs but there are also times when when you should just walk over to the fuse box, shut off the breakers and say, "Sorry folks, the show is over for tonight!" All this is coming from a guy who, not too long ago, advised a member of this forum to consider making a repair with a piece of coat hanger wire!  |  IP: Logged Steve Kraus Film God Posts: 4094 From: Chicago, IL, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 10-09-2004 09:03 AM                    Xenon bulbs don't draw current, they have current forced through them. There will be some variation caused by the particulars of the bulb, the internal pressure, gap length etc. but in general the P/S determines current and the ultimate power output of the bulb. This is not like replacing a 60W incandescent bulb with a 150W bulb! Someone else will have to address the question of whether it's even possible to overload a P/S by cranking it up to its maximum output. I will guess no. Wide open should still be in the safe operating range (although there may be units where that is not true). He said it was running at 80A. Depending on the voltage across the arc (probably in the low 20's) it's still only about 2000W. For example 80A x 24V = 1920W. So what's the big deal?  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-09-2004 12:14 PM                     Often if a larger lamp is installed the rectifier will attempt to deliver the increased current as older rectifers were a voltage source and the pressure of the gas and arc gap determined the current draw compared to voltage Newer solid state rectifiers are often current regulated The Superlumex with a 2.5K lamp is supposed to be a 2.5HS and fits without a change of the yoke (it drops to a lower point and the collet needs changeing depending on the previous lamp the dowser doesn't need removing From the picture it looks like this is a longer lamp probably a HVC and as such it has a larger envelop and I doubt sufficient air will move through the hole in the reflector to cool it properly This is one reason that the spotlight versions don't have as good of lamp life because the lamp which is mounted in the opposite polarity anode at the back must be a lot farther into the reflector to bring the cathode tip to the focus of the reflector and the hole in the reflector doesn't have the volume of air moving through it to cool the seals  |  IP: Logged Steve Kraus Film God Posts: 4094 From: Chicago, IL, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 10-09-2004 10:45 PM                    What % of rectifiers are even regulated? All switchers of course...how about conventional? (Sorry but "hi reactance" seems like a gilding-the-lilly term.)  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-09-2004 11:19 PM                     There are no regulated straight high reactance rectifiers that I am aware of but they probably do exist in some form. I suppose the ORC 1000 would be considered a regulated unit and the model 1600 with its bank of germanium pass transistors definately was. Strong produced a regulated 2kw rectifier that was a dismal failure back in the late 70's early 80's. The only other way to regulate a large rectifier would be with a main transformer that has a magnetically resonant primary but the output level would not be able to be varied. Magnetically resonant transformers are still pretty common and are primarily used as voltage regulating transformers in large computer systems to clean and control the incomming AC. The term high reactance refers to the design behavior of the main transformer, so its definately not just a "gilding the lilly" term. There are many rectifiers that are not of the high reactance type. The Irems and the Eprads are among them. Mark  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-10-2004 09:57 AM                     Irems are a saturable core style as are the Sanrex except they use a magnetic amplifier (allanson is as well)as are the miller rectifiers As such they are a current device  |  IP: Logged Cam Jones Film Handler Posts: 35 From: Calgary, AB, Canada Registered: Sep 2004 posted 02-28-2005 06:22 PM                     Looking back on this thread I notice the stupidity of this. I can now talk freely because I am no longer employed at this theatre and am no longer under the threat of loosing my job if I post here for any reason (as I was told by a certain person in management). Dan had to do what he could to avoid cancelled shows, even if what he did wasn't quite safe. Unfortunately this kind of make-shift dangerous work has been done a lot there due to the over conservative policies on spending money. This place never has spare bulbs and replacements only get ordered after one dies, and one lamp is running over 1000 hours past the rated life, flickering and just waiting to explode. Any ways, just though I'd make a little post here, since I am now free too! Thanks for all your warnings and help.  |  IP: Logged

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