Broncolor 1200W HMI

Kenn Christenson

Kenn Christenson

Well-known member
So, I just purchased a Broncolor 1200W HMI on ebay. Only trouble is, the light sounds like one of those mercury vapor lights you see in industrial settings. Anyone have any experience "quieting down" this type of light?

If not, I'm going to send it back.

Thanks in advance.
 
I believe it is electronic - as it has a flicker free mode - which is noisier. The high pitched noise is coming from the head. The noise decreases when I use the dimmer on the ballast.
 
Yes this is a common phenomenon with electronic ballasts and its due to the high frequency the bulb is being driven to avoid flicker. I call it "head noise". Its a resonance in the bulb and sometimes the ignitor of the fixture. Some HMIs have it and some don't. Its somewhat of a mystery how the ones that don't have it do it.
 
There is a "normal" mode, in addition to the "flicker free." In the "normal "mode I can dial back the dimmer and lose a lot of the noise, but I also lose some light to do it.
 
Yes, its normal. The more wattage going to the bulb the higher will be the noise. The dimmer reduces the wattage and thus the noise. The flicker free mode will only increase the frequency more and the noise also. Often people will use a magnetic or one of the silent hmis when sound recording is sensitive. On the other hand, most of the time, your microphone won't be anywhere near the light and you won't pick up the sound.
 
Thanks for your help, Richard. I've been dealing with ultra heavy, but quiet Desisti mag ballasts and lights. This is my first foray into electronic ballasts.
 
As they say, when you want absolute quiet go for magnetic knowing you may have some flicker issues at some frame rates / shutter speeds. Otherwise if you want flicker free performance then you can go electronic but MAY have to live with the noise on SOME models. I understand Arri's e-ballast models for instance have may have less or no noise. It seems to be that there is a perception thing out there that all electronic ballasts are quiet and after a couple of years of working on these products and learning a lot about them I guess its just not true.
 
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Have rented smaller HMI's a handful of times over the past couple of years. They were always setup by professional grips and gaffers, but I never recall having a problem with a noisy ballast. The rental guys here supply Power Gems ballasts with Arri, Mole Richardson, and LTM heads. YMMV. Have been wanting to check out the Broncolor system tho, seems like you could score a good deal on something like a Joker head for a lot less $$. But sadly I have never used one firsthand. Since they are primarily marketed towards stills photographers, maybe the engineers didn't bother solving the noise issues? On the other hand, Bron Kobald has been selling waterproof HMI's to videographers that shoot hurricane stand ups and they have been getting rave reviews online. Maybe just call the manufacturer and ask them what's "normal". Maybe it just needs a different / replacement globe or something simple? Thanks for reading my editorial, hope it helps you out in some way.
 
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