Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Lume-X Striking Problem

This is topic Lume-X Striking Problem in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Ian Bailey (Member # 1752) on 12-02-2004, 04:55 AM:

About a month ago my Lume-X was striking way too many times before the xenon would operate.The lamp had done over 2000 hours so i installed a new xenon.The amount of striking went from 15-20 down to 2-3 before the xenon would operate.Then the problem seem to get worse again So I bit the bullet and put the safety gear on and switched the lamp on with the cover open.I could see arcing between a few wires at the back of the lamphouse.So I replaced the wires with heavier guage/thicker insulation wire.The problem wires were the two going to the amp guage on the back of the lamphouse and one going to a metal box with two large solder connections next to the "striking circuit".From that point on all was well,lamp would operate in 1-2 strikes.
This morning i come in to start the first show and it seems to be back with the same problem-way too many strikes.Could it be that by moving the old wiring I'm just creating more problems?Any advice would be much appreciated.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 12-02-2004, 05:52 AM:

One possibility is contamination/dust on the wires or terminal connection blocks. They may have some conductivity to the high voltage ignition, especially in humid conditions. Vacuum any dust, and clean the insulators/insulation with pure isopropyl alcohol. Don't forget proper safety procedures: xenon handling safety gear and "lock out, tag out" of power.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 12-02-2004, 07:55 AM:

This is a plagueing common problem with these lamphouses. Its obvious that the HV either isn't making it to the lamp electrode or that the lamp is bad(open). I've seen HV arc to just about every point inside these lamphouses over the years. Some of the new ignitors will arc right thorugh the black casing the ignitor is in. Unfortunately this problem never been fully resolved by the manufacturer.... you just have to do what ever works in your situation to get it to work. Its actually still manufactured and used on the Super(?) Trooper spotlight. Efen a new DC ignitir won't cure this problem as you will end up with a whole new set of problems. Good Luck with it!

Mark

Posted by Dean Kollet (Member # 1789) on 12-02-2004, 09:26 AM:

I've never actually struck a lamp with the lamphouse open....besides the normal safety equipment, what do you wear? I'm guessing a welder's mask and possibly some SPF 1,000,000?

Posted by Brad Allen (Member # 470) on 12-02-2004, 12:31 PM:

I have this problem from time to time with my Kneisley lamphouse's. I've found that taking all HV connections off and cleaning them up good with emery cloth every couple of years does wonders for starting problems.

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 12-02-2004, 01:51 PM:

check also the noload voltage of the rectifier and also check and make sure the filter caps are still good those little lamphouse need to be able to dump a lot of current at a fairly high noload voltage to make them strike

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 12-03-2004, 06:12 AM:

quote: Dean Kollet
I've never actually struck a lamp with the lamphouse open....besides the normal safety equipment, what do you wear?

Posted by Peter Hall (Member # 695) on 12-03-2004, 09:37 AM:

Does the thing strike OK when you use the manual strike button ? I have had one where the open cct DC was low, around 85VDC, such that the instant the ignitor started to strike the voltahe dropped just enough to pull thr strike relay out. Manual strike worked OK. If this is the case there's a zener diode than can be changed in the lamphouse..

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 12-03-2004, 07:03 PM:

regretably the Lumex ignitor has no manual strike capability

Posted by Peter Hall (Member # 695) on 12-05-2004, 03:31 AM:

Gordon

Apols - thought it was a Super Lumex. No emergency strike button - what a pain !

Posted by Thomas King (Member # 2745) on 12-05-2004, 07:12 AM:

Sounds like a pain: our CX20H wasn't striking the other day. Oddly, the discharge sound was coming from the top corner, where I knew full well there was no lamp. Turns out the flexible anode had got a bit too close to the manual douser. A through cleaning of the power leads couldn't go amiss, if it's not a case of a lead being too close to ground, it could be that because of a poor connection it's easier for the HV to ground through something other than the bulb.

Posted by Justin West (Member # 920) on 07-20-2005, 05:19 PM:

quote: Mark Gulbrandsen
Its actually still manufactured and used on the Super(?) Trooper spotlight.

Mark: So, is the ignitor board for a Lumex lamphouse still available NEW? Thanks.