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Topic: Xenon lamp shelf life?

Tom Sauter
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 163
From: Buffalo, NY, USA
Registered: Sep 2000

posted 12-11-2000 03:16 PM

Greetings all:

The persons from whom we acquired our projectors just dropped by to give me two spare Osram 1600W HSC-OFR lamps that have been sitting in the back of a closet since the end of the (last) Bush Administration. Should I be concerned that the seals may be dried out or do these lamps have an indefinite shelf life?

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John Walsh
Film God

Posts: 2490
From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way
Registered: Oct 1999

posted 12-11-2000 07:16 PM

They pretty much have an indefinite shelf life.

Try to store them standing up. If they are new, leave them in the box. If they are used, (and you don't have the plastic sleeve/tool) wrap them in newspaper and place them in a sturdy box with packing "peanuts."

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Randy Stankey
Film God

Posts: 6539
From: Erie, Pennsylvania
Registered: Jun 99

posted 12-11-2000 10:43 PM

I'm indifferent about the orientaion during storage. If you stand it up it could fall over and get busted. If you lay it down maybe the electrodes will sag. I don't know. I'd say it's whatever you think is right. How about laying it down and rotating it every couple of months?

The way I look at it is most lamps spend months lying on their sides installed in the lamphouse. The electrodes get red hot. If they were going to sag, they'd do it then.

As far as storage life... as long as it has been stored someplace "safe" without getting knocked around, I agree, it's pretty much indefinate.

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Stefan Scholz
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 223
From: Schoenberg, Germany
Registered: Sep 1999

posted 12-12-2000 12:04 PM

I have found a lamp dating back to the Osram XBO 2001 times, somewhat 1958. It was still igniteable and normally the shelf life seems to be quite long.
But there is a warranty claim period, even though your bulbs might have never been istalled, there will be no more warranty from the mfg..

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John Pytlak
Film God

Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 12-12-2000 01:17 PM

I agree with Randy that "electrode sag" is an issue only when the electrodes are red hot, so storing cold lamps horizontally should not matter. Storing them on end does risk them falling over or out of a cabinet. AFAIK, the seals are metal-to-quartz or ceramic, and so should not deteriorate with time. Try contacting the lamp manufacturer for a definitive answer.

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com

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Ari Nordström
Master Film Handler

Posts: 283
From: Göteborg, Sweden
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 12-12-2000 04:03 PM

We bought two 4k Osram bulbs that had been sitting on a shelf for about ten years, more or less untouched (they had been moved with the rest of the gear in that storage space, but carefully, or so the seller told us). We got them cheap so I thought what the heck. Also, our tech said the same thing as you all seem to agree on. Properly stored bulbs should have a pretty much indefinite shelf life.

The first one ignited without a hitch, it was perfect. No problems at all. The second got really black in a matter of seconds.

The lesson? None I can think of, except that I didn't dare to keep the good one in either. We had a film festival coming up, and I did not want an incident right then.

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Neil Fish
Film Handler

Posts: 16
From: Norwalk, Ct
Registered: Dec 2000

posted 12-12-2000 07:34 PM

I believe the only problem with electrode sag during storage is with higher wattage lamps and correspondingly heavier electrodes (4kw and up). It is a factor with a cold lamp and seal stress, and possible xenon leakage. The same risk does not apply to a hot (operating) lamp in a horizontal position as the seal assembly has expanded and is designed to accomodate this stress on the electrodes.

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John Walsh
Film God

Posts: 2490
From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way
Registered: Oct 1999

posted 12-12-2000 08:26 PM

Yeah, you guys are probably right... electrode sag wouldn't happen, especially with a lamp that small (1600 watts.)

That's what the old timers told me when I was starting to learn projection, and you know about old dogs and new tricks....

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Art Averett
Film Handler

Posts: 14
From: Orlando, FL
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 12-19-2000 09:20 PM

I met a representative from Strong a few years ago and he told me that XENON lamps have an average shelf life of five years. Nothing about "sagging ends" to say the least. However I've had brand new 2KW Osrams explode on the shelf. They were in the horizontal position in the protective casing and in the orginal box. I've also had a brand new ORC 4KW explode on me just after it was installed, the minute I turned on the lamp. Follow the lamp manufacture's
storage recommendations and you should have no problems.

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Paul G. Thompson
The Weenie Man

Posts: 4718
From: Mount Vernon WA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 12-19-2000 10:09 PM

Tom, I don't think you will have any problem with them. If they went flat, they probably wouldn't fire anyway. If for some reason they did fire, they would blacken in a matter of seconds, and your ammeter would show a very high reading. The issue I would be concerned with is how they were handled before you got them. Namely, contamination by oily fingers, etc. If the protective envelope has the slightest sign of being compromised, then be very careful. When I ran across bulbs that were questionable in that aspect, I donned the protective gear and cleaned the bulb with alcohol and distilled water. So far I have been lucky - I had none blow up on me yet.

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