richardc1983 Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 Hey guys/gals Your opinions please, what are the pro's and cons of the above 2 bulb versions. Are 250w Halogen brighter than 150w Discharge??? When the bulbs go do they shatter? ETC. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Beesley Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 Can you give a little more info on the scanners you are looking at? Could it be the Acme/iSolution range?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robe575xt Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 Hi, Having used scanners with both types of lamps the 150w Discharge lamps are brighter than the 250w halogen. The 150w lamps have a much higher colour temp so they are a more intense white than there halogen counterpart. Of course the brightness out of any given fixture is limited by the quality of the optics the light source has to travel through so the better the optics the brighter the light output of any given fixture. The 150w discharge lamps will be more expensive to buy, however a usable life of 700+ hours average compared to just 50+ average hours on the halogen lamps makes them more economical in the long term. Of course lamp life varies greatly from lamp to lamp I'm just stating the average expected life as I have found it it be from using both types of lamp. Cheers Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tokm Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 Typically 150w discharge lamps'll be brighter, why.. cus that's what their designed to do! Just the way the current interacts with the gas inside the lamp capsule. While the Wattage rating does have baring in brightness, its not a suitable way to compare against tungsten/halogen/incandescent lamps. For example, a 575w MSR lamp (typically found in mac500s & similar range fixtures) will produce a massively higher amount of Lumen's (the proper way of measuring brightness) than a 575w HPL/tungsten style lamp (often found in source 4 lanterns). The simple answer is 150w discharge lamp will be brighter than a 250w ELC lamp. In both lumen's output & how it looks to the eye due to it producing a more true 'white' light. While the fixture a lamp is in does usually have some bearing in a brightness comparison test (quality of the reflector/optics of a fixture), in this case, I doubt it would. Why, because most DJ fixtures (which are the only things that use these type of lamp) all tend to have simplistic/cheap optics. HTH, Tom *edit - dam, beaten to it on a few points!* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richardc1983 Posted October 16, 2007 Author Share Posted October 16, 2007 The lamp im going to buy is the Geni Mojo Scan 2. Ive currently got the halogen versions but one of the motors is dead now and will cost more to get it repaired. Is just easier to buy new. The type of bulb they take is CSS150 150w or NSD150 150w Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niclights Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 I'll just second the facts that 150W discharge will almost certainly be better than 250W halogen and much nicer with the higher colour temp. Most importantly the lamp life would win every time for me. 250W halogens are awful. More expense on the discharge will quickly pay for itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 And one extra benefit with the discharge lamp is that is is far more shock resistant, a hot filament is quite prone to failing with shocks or vibration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richardc1983 Posted October 16, 2007 Author Share Posted October 16, 2007 Right the company I am buying the lights from say that they have 2 of the discharge version in stock and 2 of the Halogen Version in stock. Im now at a loss of what to do!!! I already have 1 x the halogen version that is about 6yrs old. Would it be ok for me to mix the 2 and have 2 discharge and 2 halogen??? If I buy discharge then that means I can only buy 2 of the fixtures? I want to get them as they are going cheap you see. There only for small rooms, reason I want these fixtures is because my controller is already programmed with endless shows and if I changed manufacturer would mean reprogramming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musht Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 Discharge light sources are more efficient lumens for watt than halogen, other advantage is smaller source size , the bit that actually generates light. In a halogen its a coiled filament of wire which gets s longer and bigger as the desired wattage increases. Using a lower voltage means a thicker shorter filament can be used, but at 250W its still a long dangly bit of white hot tungsten waiting to fall apart at the very slightest provocation. Discharge is striking an arc between two electrodes, shorter the arc usually brighter the light and shorter lamp life, but it means that the actual light emitting bit is considerably smaller than an equivalent halogen lamp. Smaller means easier to gather the light up with the mirrors and lenses and get it out the front. Electrodes are less prone to falljng to bits like a filament. In practical terms, disharge bit more to buy up front but will be cheaper and probably more satisfying to run in long term. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenalien Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 Discharge lamps have many good points over halogen filament lamps - brightness and longevity being the main advantages. However, not all discharge lamps are equally good. For example, the CSS150 you mention will start to fade after about 500 hours and will be noticably dim a hundred or so hours later; compare this with the most popular discharge lamp for small fixtures, the MSD 250/2, which can run for between 2000 and 3000 hours.Usual lamp care precautions must be followed. i.e. do not touch the bulb glass with your bare hand or the oil from your skin will damage the bulb and reduce its life. Discharge lamps can explode but this is only likely if they have been run past their expected life; by that time, they will have lost some brightness which is usually noticable; nevertheless, take suitable precautions when changing lamps, especially with regard to eye protection.Another point to watch is re-strike ability - some discharge lamps won't re-strike immediately after a power outage - some have to cool down for as long as 10 minutes before they will relight. Forcing a hot restrike - which some cheaper fixtures will allow - can drastically shorten lamp life. FWIW, my advice would be to forget about the Mojo Scan and look at the ACME / ISolution 7S , as mentioned by Chris Beesley - might mean saving up for a while but you'd save a lot in replacement lamp costs over a few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P. Funk Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 Don't bother mixing the two models - the halogens will look more 'orange' and will be dimmer, and it will all look a little bit rubbish... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richardc1983 Posted October 16, 2007 Author Share Posted October 16, 2007 Well what im going to do is buy 3 of the Halogen versions then I have 4 in total and at least is consistent. Might buy the 2 discharge also and use them for room with a different music style so you wouldnt tell the lighting is different in each room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richardc1983 Posted October 21, 2007 Author Share Posted October 21, 2007 Okay the discharges have arrived. Ive focussed them in and everything but they appear dimmer than the halogens. There bright on open white but they still appear dimmer than the halogen and the beam of light down to the floor is not as strong. Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tokm Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 Hmm very interesting! Bit of a long shot, but.. Only thing I could think of would be that perhaps the reflector/optics system is the exact same as the one in the 250w ELC lamped' units and as such, aren't set for a different light source? Or am I just talking bull.. :) Your sure the units and the lamps are brand new? Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richardc1983 Posted October 21, 2007 Author Share Posted October 21, 2007 Hmm very interesting! Bit of a long shot, but.. Only thing I could think of would be that perhaps the reflector/optics system is the exact same as the one in the 250w ELC lamped' units and as such, aren't set for a different light source? Or am I just talking bull.. :) Your sure the units and the lamps are brand new? Tom Hi Tom Ive checked and the optics are exactly the same as is in the Halogen version although the halogen version doesnt have reflector as it uses a reflector lamp. The discharge version does have a reflector in the unit. Well I bought the units thinking they were brand new, turns out one is brand new, never been out of the box the other appears to be broken. Firstly the stepper motor on the tilt has had to be replaced as it was broken, it was thick with dust and looked like it had been used before as smells of nicotine. The gobo wheel on this unit is also out of align and apaprently they are sending out new inards for this tmrw. To be honest am not impressed at all. If they aint the same brightness level tmrw and im going to speak to them about this and I will ask for a refund otherwise and get the halogen version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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