samhatcher Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Hi, I've noticed for a while now that one out of my 4 Roboscan 218's I bought a while back second hand is particularly bright, having never had an issue with it I've never looked, but upon opening up the lamp hatch today I've noticed that it infact has a MSD 250 lamp in it, when the specs for the 218's say that there only compatible with the MSD 200's. I actually opened it because it started making a burning smell recently, however this was only after I foolishly ran the unit with the 250 for a while with the bottom lamp fan covered, which caused the formation of lots of black gunk on the inside of the lamp, which still works fine, but smells bad. So, my question is, despite the fact the specs for the 218's say it takes an MSD 200 lamp, will any damage occur to the unit if I replace them all with MSD 250 lamps like my single unit, as long as it make sure the bottom vent isn't blocked to prevent air flow to the lamp, as I'd been using the unit for many hours hung before I even realised it had the MSD 250 lamp with no issues, it was only because I sat it on the floor to inspect, that it cause the lamp to have blocked airflow and presumably overhead, which is what caused the black gunk? Will using the 250w lamp cause any damage to the light in general, the ballast etc? Because ideally it would be nice to have 250w in all of them as they seem to be significantly brighter. Sorry for the long winded question Thanks Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marktownend Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 From what I remember, and I've not checked to see if there's any info on Martin's website, the Pro218 was only ever specced with the MSD200 whereas the Pro518 started with MSD200 but later versions were fitted with the MSD250/2 and I believe there was an upgrade available for the early versions. Whether this would also work for the Pro218 I don't know. I certainly wouldn't go putting the 250 into a fixture designed for a 200 without an upgrade. You may well find that the 250 is brighter because it's just a newer lamp (and that's all the previous owner had available) and in fact just changing them all to new MSD200s rather than ones that haven't been changed since 1996 will do the the job. When I was running 218s and 518s together I don't remember the 518s being significantly brighter than the 218s, especially as they've got different gobos and possibly slightly different beam angles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashley R Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 I know on the Roboscan Pro 518 the upgrade kit to go up to the MSD 250 lamp, was just a new fan, which moved more air, thus keeping the internals cool. But the ballast and ignitor could take the 250 Lamp. I am unsure if this is the case with the 218. (Do you have a Mk1 or a MkII?) If you have a MkII, you might be lucky?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samhatcher Posted March 13, 2013 Author Share Posted March 13, 2013 I know on the Roboscan Pro 518 the upgrade kit to go up to the MSD 250 lamp, was just a new fan, which moved more air, thus keeping the internals cool. But the ballast and ignitor could take the 250 Lamp. I am unsure if this is the case with the 218. (Do you have a Mk1 or a MkII?) If you have a MkII, you might be lucky?? Hi, yeah I've got the MK2, the fact that nothing happened until I accidentally blocked the intake fan would suggest that the ballast can handle the 250w lamp, but as you can imagine I'm just slightly nervous of it blowing up or something! Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timsabre Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Lots of things will survive if run over their specified maximum, but it doesn't mean it's a good idea to do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marktownend Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Hopefully you mean extract fan - don't they vent out? If it's venting in then someone's put the fan in the wrong way round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samhatcher Posted March 13, 2013 Author Share Posted March 13, 2013 yeah I just meant the fan on the bottom, I'll order some new MSD200 and hope its just the others have old lamps. Cheers yeah I just meant the fan on the bottom, I'll order some new MSD200 and hope its just the others have old lamps. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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