XENON arc lamp
ioannis galidakis
Hello everyone!
a month or so ago, there was a discussion on the operating pressures of
various discharge tubes, including high pressure mercury and xenon.
Although i have been involved with high pressure mercury bulbs since
long ago, i got hold of a deal last week which was too good to pass
away. On the local flea market here in Athens, the electronics merchant
had a HUGE xenon arc lamp on display for sale for $40. Needless to say,
i immediatelly grabbed it and was happy like a kid with the deal. Ok, so
most of my mercury tubes i am able to operate using a variant
combination of ballasts, from 125W to 250 by connecting them in parallel
and with separate switches on each ballast to raise the Amperage. My
ignitors for the big types-the HPI/T or HQI/T 2000 go in parallel to the
lamp endpoints. The xenon bulb has the designation XBO 1600 W and it is
made by Osram. I was able to trace the corresponding type on my Philips
engineering catalogue, as Philips CSX 1600 W. The characteristics are as
follows:
Lamp voltage:25V
Lamp Current: 64 A
Flux: 60000 lm
Luminance: 70000 cd/cm^2 (yikes!)
Arc length 4.2mm (which matches the actual length anyway)
Burning position: vertical + up +-30 degrees
Now, the stuff i am basically interested in is any further electrical
characteristics as well as any data on operating pressures. If i
remember well, the xenon chamber operates at much higher pressures than
my mercury chambers, and i would hate this monster to blow up on my
face. Is it safe to operate it naked? What about UV? It would probably
be safe to assume that it would emit a very high degree of UV-both short
and long, and i would like to take some precautions in advance. I have
the following setup for operation which semirectifies alternating
current through a fourway bridge, but my ballasts can go only as high as
30 Amps. Any suggestions on how high the starting peak should be? Can i
start the damn thing without an ignitor?
o------Coils----------/\
| 220Vac / \
_ / \ 35Amp max rectifier bridge
_ PFCorrection Cap|\ /|
| | \ / |
o---------------------\/ |
| |
| |
| Coil 10kW induction coil
| |
o o
Rectified sinusoidal dc arc (2.5Amp to 30Amp)
I have asked the guy wgo sold me the bulb for the power supply but was
unlucky and was already sold. Any suggestions or any information
whatsoever about the bulb are welcome. Please email as well if you post.
Thanx very much in advance,
ioannis galidakis
John Byrne
Please be VERY careful with any high pressure Xenon lamps, especially the
short-arc type. Even when cold, they still represent a very significant
explosion risk, with cold fill pressures of 10-25 atmospheres. You drop one
of these on the floor......... think of a hand-grenade! (and yes, It has
happened to me!)
All xenon lamps are now shipped in multi-layer protective packaging, with
many warnings about the use of FULL face and body protection BEFORE even
opening the the box!
As to the operation of these lamps, don't try to make your own gear, it's
just too expensive, and the ignition voltages required sometimes exceed
75kV.
UV is a definite problem, and also the explosion risk, so operation of this
lamp will require a protective enclosure.
Apart from your obvious curiosity concerning exotic lamps, what is the
nature of the application?
have fun, but stay safe.
regards,
John Byrne.
ioannis galidakis wrote in message <34E861...@ath.forthnet.gr>...
>Hello everyone!
>a month or so ago, there was a discussion on the operating pressures of
clip...
Buck Flair
>Hello everyone!
>a month or so ago, there was a discussion on the operating pressures of
Hello.
I worked with these lamps as a cinema projectionist and I can
only re-emphasise the other writer's warnings about safety.
These lamps need to be housed in solid casings - ours were converted
from the old carbon arcs. Safety equipment; goggles,face/chest
protectors etc are essential. The rectifiers are BIG ! It took four of
us to move one. I never saw one blow, but I heard of a guy who lost
his favourite hand to one.
BE VERY CAREFUL !!!
ioannis galidakis
John Byrne wrote:
>
> Please be VERY careful with any high pressure Xenon lamps, especially the
Holy cow!! After all the details pertaining to their operation, i will
just add it to my gas discharge bulb collection (which by now numbers
180 members) without ever worrying about operating one.
I was hoping to operate it at a lower Wattage, like 500 or something,
but after all the details supplied, i will skip it and just proudly
display it on my glassboard. :)
Thanx to everybody that responded. Better go and make some good
packaging for it, i still have it on my desk.
Cheerios!
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Rune Larsson
I know that xenon arc lamps have a strong negative impedance, meaning
that the drive current, if not properly controlled, will immediately
increase until the lamp (or something else) explodes. The more
current you feed it with, the lower will its resistance go. POF!
We built drive electronics for these units back in the 70ies and that
takes a professional electronic engineer. The lamp housing must be of
strong metal.
Only use this lamp with a power supply and lamp housing built for it!