Philips to stop production of Mains Voltage Halogen Lamps

[alistermorton]

Or, rather than soldiering on, if they start to fall apart you could solder on instead! :)

 

Although, given it's an SLD rack, spannering comes into the equation too http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif

[sleah]

It would be fine. Even dimming them would probably be all right. What you might have trouble with is if you switch the dimmer to zero, the fixture will keep "pinging" on as the leakage through the dimmer charges up the psu inside it.

Thanks Tim. That was my feeling too.

I'm transitioning to LED over the next 6>9 months. The rig has a patch panel (on 15A) and I'm keen to avoid a bucket load of 15A>13A under the patch panel!

[timsabre]

It would be fine. Even dimming them would probably be all right. What you might have trouble with is if you switch the dimmer to zero, the fixture will keep "pinging" on as the leakage through the dimmer charges up the psu inside it.

Thanks Tim. That was my feeling too.

I'm transitioning to LED over the next 6>9 months. The rig has a patch panel (on 15A) and I'm keen to avoid a bucket load of 15A>13A under the patch panel!

 

The danger is with dimming something inductive like a transformer-based PSU or a moving head with a wound ballast for the lamp. That can do bad things. Anything with a switchmode psu will be fine (apart from the above mentioned leakage problems) as the PSU just rectifies the mains AC to DC then pwm's it down to the desired voltage.

[NTABID]

As an all-tungsten amateur theatre, we discuss the change over to LED, but scratch our heads about the issue of LED fixture obsolescence. Our stock of around 60 lanterns should all last 50 years (some are getting close) with minimum TLC. With only 6 or so shows a year, lamp replacement costs are not high.

 

We could slowly start buying simple LED fixtures (clearly we'd need fewer), but wouldn't the first ones be obsolete long before the change over was complete?

 

Would any expert out there like to comment on LED fixture lifetime? Is it getting longer or is the technology still too volatile? The posts I read on this Forum seem to indicate that when fixtures go wrong, replacement rather than repair is necessary. There's no Chinese equivalent of Jim Laws, it seems!

[DrV]

LED fixture life will depend on a couple of things. Firstly, life of the LEDs themselves is related to how long they are illuminated and how brightly. If you are doing 6 shows a year you will get a far longer life from them than a pro theatre doing 6 or more shows a week. Secondly the other "lifed" components are electrolytic capacitors, mainly in the power supplies. If you power down the rig when it is not in use (rather than just dimming everything to zero and leaving it powered up) you will extend their life too. However a downside of replacing fixtures piecemeal over a long period will be getting consistent performance in terms of colour and intensity matching.

Just my 2p worth...

[adam2]

Cheap LED fixtures are basically disposable. DIY repair MIGHT be viable if you have the skills, components and time, but paying someone to repair a cheap to replace product is unlikely to be viable.

 

The better LED products will have a UK based warranty., though once this has expired they are unlikely to be worth repairing. In a low use venue I would expect many years use from most of a batch of LED fixtures. Sods law states that one or two will fail.

 

I would think twice about purchasing more than a single unit but less than say six. If you buy two, one for stage left and one for stage right, then one will fail and the replacement wont match. If instead you had purchased 6 lights then that is 3 matched pairs initially, and is still 2 matched pairs after the first 2 failures.

 

For a slightly larger venue, consider purchasing perhaps 14 units, 6 for one lighting bar, another 6 for the other lighting bar and 2 spares. That gives a rig of matching lanterns until the THIRD failure.. After the third failure consider purchasing perhaps 7 or 8 replacements so that 6 old lanterns and 5 spares are on one bar, and 6 new lanterns plus a spare or two for the other bar.

 

If for some purpose a single lantern is needed, then purchase just the one, any future replacement needs to simply meet the lighting need and does not need to match the dead one.

 

 

 

[pmiller056]

For an amateur or community theatre point of view.. We have a stock of Strand 500W/650W profiles and fresnels (using T26/T27 bulbs) which lead a gentle but useful life. These are mechanically and optically in good condition, although I appreciate that some model ranges are better than others. Provided we can get the bulbs, I'm sure they will be in use for many years to come. I noted the LED replacement for an Arri lamp further up the thread. Is there a viable LED retro-fit option for these lamps, even if it means removal and substitution of the lampholder and reflector? Or would it be better to change the mindset of how we work and plan to replace a portion of our lighting stock every year or two with some oriental throw-aways as required?

 

Thanks, Peter

[Mazz]

Good idea. But it's a pity that someone in a venue with these installed has no idea when looking at the outlets on a bar, if they are dimmed or hard power. I'm old school. I like 15a for dimmers, and 16a Ceeform for movers or leds.

[timsabre]

I noted the LED replacement for an Arri lamp further up the thread. Is there a viable LED retro-fit option for these lamps, even if it means removal and substitution of the lampholder and reflector?

 

Not to my knowledge, and even if there was it would not dim properly. You'd have to run permanent power and fit a DMX driver to get proper dimming. Personally I would be looking to swap to LED fresnels, but as Adam suggested above buy a reasonable number at once. For example the eLumen8 MP60 is only £200, I've heard good things about that though never tried it personally. The big gotcha with LED fresnels is steppy dimming at the lower end