Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Strong Lamphouse 39000-02 Cabling

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Posted by Pete Hobday (Member # 8076) on 05-27-2016, 05:39 AM:

Hi there

We're replacing our old Kalee lamphouse on our 2nd projector with a Strong 39000-02, connected to an IREM rectifier

Obviously it's a 115V lamphouse, so know we need to put a transformer between the projector / rectifier and the lamphouse. Of the cables coming from the lamphouse, the DC cables we'll be running directly from the IREM to the lamphouse, but need to work out which of the other 5 cables are which (2-Brown / 3-Red / 4-Orange / 5-Blue / 6-Yellow) so we know where to connect them to

I take it that 2 of the cables are to power the lamphouse fan & other circuitry, which we'd normally pick up either from the rec or the terminal strip of the Kinoton projector itself. Also take it that two of them (3&6 from what i've read) are for rectifier control to turn it on and off (????) and the other cable am assuming is to strike the lamp

Obviously I may have got that completely wrong! Any help would be very gratefully received :-)

Thanks
Pete

Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 05-27-2016, 07:53 AM:

Without looking back at a manual (check any Strong lamphouse manual the wiring is consistent) 2 & 4 are 120V power to the lamphouse for the fans (and ignitor if it has an AC ignitor). With power switch ON, auto/manual switch in manual, and all interlocks (doors and airflow) OK - 5 is connected to 2 and 6 is connected to 6. The 120V then on 5 and 6 is to power the rectifier ON contactor. Wire #3 is only for automation control, it would switch to 6 via an automation "lamp on" relay.
For interfacing with other (not Strong) lamphouses I would power it from any source, it doesn't need to be from the rectifier except for convenience. It doesn't draw much current, the fans are an amp or two but the AC ignitor probably 5A when zapping. The add a 120V relay across 5/6 and use its contacts for whatever ON signal your rectifier wants. IREM want a dry contact closure, some want 120 or 240V power to power the internal contactor.
Many used lamphouses will have oddball wiring changes, it is possible to rewire them for direct use with Allanson or Sanrex rectifiers, not so easy for IREM.
There are also a variety of auto ignite boards for AC ignitors - with different trigger voltages. A board for a switching rectifier may never strike with a passive rectifier, and a passive board will have starting problems on a switcher because it tries to ignite before the switcher is fully powered up. The auto/manual switch is only for automation "lamp on" control, auto ignite is not switchable. You can do some internal rewiring to disable it and only use the manual ignite button if you wish.

Posted by Pete Hobday (Member # 8076) on 05-27-2016, 09:06 AM:

Hi David
That's a big help, thanks very much. Of the 2 lamphouse power cables - 2 & 4 - do you know which is + and -?

Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 05-28-2016, 10:58 AM:

These are 120VAC. The circuitry is all isolated (except for a couple of capacitors to ground) so I don't think there's any real difference as to neutral and hot. I would tend to make 2 as neutral just because the AUTO-MAN switch is in the 4-6 circuit.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 05-30-2016, 12:44 PM:

Note that all Strong rectifiers had the 220 to 120 volt step down tranny built in. If you are using other then a Strong rectifier then you'll have to hook one up externally.

Mark

Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 05-31-2016, 02:32 PM:

Error - "5 is connected to 2 and 6 is connected to 6"
Should be 5 is connected to 2 and 6 is connected to 4.
Strong lamp power supplies have an isolated transformer to supply the 120V to #2 and #4 on the lamphouse. There are 5A circuit breakers on the supply for this power so presumably the lamphouse load is less than 5A. I've connected several directly to our canadian 120V normal line power without and problems having one side neutral.
Make absolutely sure you have a good ground wire between the power supply and the lamphouse. The cathode is grounded so if something goes weird the lamp current can try to go through the power wire ground conductor... never fused and easy melting.

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 06-01-2016, 09:46 AM:

Is this a Super Lumex? All of the wiring listed above is correct. You may or may not have the incorrect auto strike board. If correct, the IREM and lamp combination will work flawlessly and instantly. If not, you will need to modify the board. (Only change is the Zener diode on it.)

Wiring: 120v input; be sure to add a 2 or 3 amp breaker or fuse. 120 volt output; add a 120v relay as described above. Contacts turn on the IREM.

This is a really good combination; better than anything the factory made.

Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 06-03-2016, 09:32 AM:

The problem with changing the zener diode (super easy on the board itself) is the nylon standoffs Strong used to hold the auto-strike card in. I asked Strong many times to please use UV resistant wire ties and standoffs in the extreme UV environment inside their lamphouses... they never did. The standoffs shatter if you remove the board on a used lamphouse. Replacements might be available from Ballantyne?

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 06-03-2016, 11:23 AM:

Dave: common part from electronic distributors. If I was still in business, I had about 100 of them.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 06-05-2016, 01:02 PM:

Well, everything in those lamp houses turns very brittle including the wiring if you run any larger then a 1kw lamp in them. The one in my screening room came out of a tiny room and it only ever saw a 1kw lamp. Its still like brand new inside. I have replaced countless wiring harnesses and standoffs in those over the years. The rear cover nylon locks were also prone to breaking. Many rear covers were tossed because of this.

These Strong's should have been wired with teflon insulated wire!

Mark

Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 06-06-2016, 08:51 AM:

I had a bag of those standoffs as well. I could never find them from distributors, I could find lots with different threads but not what Strong used. I think they used 8-32 and I could only find 6-32?
I just couldn't understand why Strong kept using parts that disintegrate in UV light.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 06-06-2016, 09:03 AM:

It is the mystery to me why "natural" wire ties remain in use...even in digital Cinema lamphouses. They die in UV. Switch to black and that problem vanishes. Least someone boast about cost (black ties do cost more) but some of these companies used the proper wiring that didn't decay in UV but continued to use natural wire ties.

With respect to the auto strike board...see now they put that impenetrable metal plate in there to prevent ALL UV light from hitting those standoffs and board [Wink]

. I know black standoffs exist since I just saw them in my home HVAC unit though getting them with the threaded base is something I have not seen.

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 06-06-2016, 09:12 AM:

I suspect Molex Waldon might have them

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 06-08-2016, 08:27 PM:

Try DigiKey. I did eventually source the proper black ones.

Posted by Pete Hobday (Member # 8076) on 06-09-2016, 03:50 PM:

Well the good news is the 115V step down transformer arrived today, so tomorrow i'm gonna be firing her up for the first time!

Yeah Louis it's a Super Lumex

For starters gonna just connect up cables 2 (neutral) and 4 (live) to the transformer to at least power up the lamphouse, and not bother with the 'auto' option just yet

I'm dubious about using the auto switch on for the IREM anyway... we use it for our other 35 as that has the correct Kinoton LH2000W lamphouse with it, and the ram air system on that is so effective that it hardly chucks out any heat at all. Good job really, seeing as the Kinoton FP30's are designed to cut all power to the lamphouse (including fans) the minute you stop the motor!

But with the Strong which needs external ducting and extraction i'd be much happier - certainly for now anyway - keeping the IREM power manual so that we can at least keep the fans running to give the lamp chance to cool properly, until we see how well it does cool

Guess the first fun bit will be to see if it strikes (manually) ok...

And as for grounding, yeah there's a nice chunky earth cable coming from the lamphouse which we've wired directly to the IREM earth connection... so that any stray currents will go thru that rather than the cathode if there's a problem!

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 06-10-2016, 08:03 AM:

The fan will come on immediately. It is always ON. Please note that the autostrike circuit in the lamp is always connected unless you remove one of the 4 wires on the autostrike board.