DWE Blinder Lamp Life

[Brian]

The DWE has a rated life of 100 hours. What sort of figures are people seeing in real life? Does anyone run them full on for any long periods (more than 1 hour?) Does this affect your lamp life?

[niclights]

I see years of life for in-house typical r'n'r use (glowing/flashing etc.) Never on full for long periods though. I wouldn't want to do this in normal fixtures because of the heat.

[Stuart91]

We have quite a lot of DWE in assorted blinder banks. They are only used for flashing so it's hard to assess how long they are actually used for. However I honestly can't remember the last time I had to replace one. (Maybe this means they are all going to blow at once?)

 

I don't think I've ever run DWEs for more than a few minutes. I wonder how split-second flashes add up to the hundred hour lifespan?

[sleah]

Halogen lamp life is similar to the length of the probervial string.

Flashing a lamp can shorten it's life due to the rapid heating and cooling - therefore expansion and contraction - of the filament.

Also leaving on one continuously could shorten it's life due to the continuous heat.

Movement is a huge factor. A halogen moving head will almost certainly suffer significantly reduced lamp life due to the lamp being moved when hot.

A moving head actually goes against manufacturers recommendations for halogen lamp use!

Of course specialist lamps will be designed to survive best in their given application.

I would suggest a blinder would not fair too well if left on more than a few minutes (even moments!) as it will be designed with an over engineered filament to survive the constant expansion and contraction, but the filament would probably sag and break if left on for a long period.

 

So, how long IS that piece of string? :** laughs out loud **:

[Ashley R]

I actually have used a pair of 4way DWE blinders in an emergency as a FOH wash, I had them running at about 80% for about 5 Hours one day and 4 for the next two. And the lamps that are fitted in them are only cheap Chinese lamps which I think are only rated at 110v which in turn gives a total of only 220v when we run at 240.

 

So far so good.

[Brian]

Thanks, that kinda confirms what I thought. Plan B it is then.