Far out idea for Richard

Shawn Philip Nelson

Shawn Philip Nelson

Veteran
Hey Richard, Drewski, aka "The Man".

Here's an idea for you, it's either great or crappy...

I recently acquired some cheap Mole 2k's (#412). As I typically do, I first buy at least two lamps for every fixture I own. I found they use G38 Mogul bi-post socket.

After a friendly eBay search I found that you can get G38 HMI 2500w bulbs. (ding!). So...how hard would it be for you to sell an electronic 2500w ballast only? Then people could buy Mole 412s, put in one of those bulbs with NO tooling at all, then plug it into your ballast and rock and roll!!

Eh??

BTW, here's the ebay link to the bulb I'm talking about
http://cgi.ebay.com/Osram-HMI-2500W...ryZ29943QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem
 
Ooh, interesting. I've got one of those big 2k beasts and I'd rather have a 2.5k HMI. Don't know how this would be possible though, but ... hey, if it's possible, let me know too!
 
Nothing crazy about that at all Shawn. I'm already headed in that direction. The only thing holding me back is enough capital to stretch that far.

Ultimately, if you carry it to the extreme like this (high wattage HMI) that's what my articles series was all about: Putting together your own serious high wattage solution. It's not so hard to find regular garden variety metal halide ballasts up to around 400 watts. The missing link has been the low cost HMI ballasts. There simply hasn't been a sympathetic party or no one viewed a market for just the ballasts alone until I came along and decided to do something on the subject. The whole thing has been shrouded in mystery as much as possible.

Its absolutely in my plan to have at least up to the 575w/1200w ones and matched ignitors available when I can get the capital to stock them in large enough quantity to make all that possible. All this also plays into the new concept of having backups in case anything goes wrong. The best warranty in the world on any fixture won't help you get something going immediately on an Arri, Cool Lights or any other brand for that matter when you've got everyone there on set, the magic moment should be happening, costs are rising and there's no light to shoot with. And everyone is looking at you. But you stun them by whipping out your backup ballast or bulb. Not very probable before with $3000 to $4000 ballasts.

As far as that goes, anything with a G22 socket will let you do 575w HR or 1200w NHR. G38 will let you do 1200 HR as well as 2500. 2500w is available of course from the same source I'm getting some of my other "pro" ballasts. Never priced it though. I've been so busy focusing on my initial offering didn't have time to think much beyond that.

I would say at least one more article covering the aspect of cabling between ballast and head and ignitors would be necessary as we didn't go all that much into detail. Ignitors are not well understood and there's a bit to learn about there. One more obstacle is the distance between the bottom of the tube and the center of the mirror in the fresnel. This may require some adjustment up or down to get an optimum focus. What you'll see is a weaker output and a kind of "mottling" effect on the light projected on a smooth wall. Not a smooth spot like you'd expect. Simply change the center of where the bulb is though and you get a smooth round beam of light that looks great.
 
But is my idea of using a Mole 412 without retooling, since it's already a G38, feasible? That way you could offer a 2500w solution by only offering a ballast.
 
Yes its feasible with the caveat that you may need to raise or lower the socket a bit to make sure the center point of the bulb is in the center of the mirror. In addition, you should know that the sockets in many tungsten fresnels may not have the extra insulation necessary to prevent arc'ing between contacts during ignition. The HID version sockets generally look just like their tungsten counterparts but have more insulation between the contacts to protect against the 1000 to 4000v spike that comes during ignition. I have used tungsten sockets before on some fixtures when I was checking out ballasts. For our solutions we're selling though, I have to use the HID versions to keep it professional and guard against any problems.
 
I'd be careful of the UV that spills from HMI lights. Could burn you pretty good. Also if/when they blow, I'd want some extra protection within the fixture .
 
Precisely why people should read my articles on the subject to see all the hazards involved. For instance, you can protect against the UV factor with a Lee 226 filter sheet.

http://www.leefilters.com/lighting/products/finder/ref:C46DD4225904A9/

Protects against all the light in the UV spectrum. As for exploding bulbs, thats all the more reason to not use any of these things in an open face configuration but choose a fresnel or par with a good thick lens and a safety wire guard in front of it.
 
Cool Lights said:
Yes its feasible with the caveat that you may need to raise or lower the socket a bit to make sure the center point of the bulb is in the center of the mirror. In addition, you should know that the sockets in many tungsten fresnels may not have the extra insulation necessary to prevent arc'ing between contacts during ignition. The HID version sockets generally look just like their tungsten counterparts but have more insulation between the contacts to protect against the 1000 to 4000v spike that comes during ignition. I have used tungsten sockets before on some fixtures when I was checking out ballasts. For our solutions we're selling though, I have to use the HID versions to keep it professional and guard against any problems.
Click to expand...


Ah, okay, that makes sense. So...are you going to offer a 2.5kw solution?

If not, at least get us affordable 1.2kw solutions before March!
 
I already anticipated that question and am looking into the "next size up" so to speak from the 1200w. Next thing you guys will be wanting an 15k hmi ;-)
 
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