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Author Topic: Repairing XBO lamps? Peter Mork Expert Film Handler Posts: 181 From: Newton, MA, USA Registered: Jun 2002 posted 03-04-2005 07:10 PM                     I have two dead Osram XBO 2,000w lamps. Both died mere weeks after being installed - no fadeout or explosion, just suddenly went dark. I believe the cathodes of both got overheated. When you shake them, you can hear a bit of metal rattling around inside the hollow part. I'm guessing that heat caused a solder connection to fail. (I am working on the overheating problem - for the full sad story, see my old post "Kneisley Xenex lamp holder meltdowns" - a real tear-jerker. I decided to start a new topic because this is really a separate question.) Does anyone know a way to repair a rattling lamp like this? I bet the glass seal is uncompromised and the bulb part is still good; there must be some way to restore the broken connection in the cathode and relight these (expensive) XBOs. Thanks.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 03-04-2005 07:15 PM                     How's this for dead? Yup, no joke, this Osram lamp was received this way.  |  IP: Logged Mike Babb Master Film Handler Posts: 250 From: Norwich UK Registered: Jul 2002 posted 03-04-2005 07:24 PM                        Good luck fixing that one:)  |  IP: Logged Don Furr Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 509 From: Sun City, Ca USA Registered: Nov 2002 posted 03-04-2005 08:43 PM                     I did a survey on a TN twin about 10 years ago. When I got to the booth the first thing a saw was a stack of bulb boxes (maybe 25-30) The previous owner stated, "I just can't keep bulbs in the lamps. About 2 weeks after I put new bulbs in they just turn black!!!" Upon a quick investigation I discovered BOTH roof top exhaust fan were burned up. This poor guy didn't know about a booth and had been there 8 years. Don  |  IP: Logged Richard Hamilton Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1341 From: Evansville, Indiana Registered: Jan 2000 posted 03-04-2005 09:38 PM                     Peter, If they died just weeks after installing them, they should be fully warranted. If Osram doesnt replace them because of lamphouse problems, then it sounds like a new lamphouse would already have paid for itself! Brad, You havent returned that thing yet? Maybe you should hand carry it to Showest and personally deliver it!!! Rick  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 03-05-2005 02:55 AM                     ..danged thing would blow if moved around with that anode plug busted off of the shaft slapping itself inside and banging itself against the quartz. Luckilly that wasn't a 6k bulb with that anode plug busted off. Them 6k anode plugs weigh in almost a pound and a half. Osram....good luck on warranty replacements. After fighting with them on warranty stuff, we switched over to Christies.. After a few hours and they die..send them back to New Hampshire to their Osram/Sylvania warranty factory... -Monte  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-05-2005 10:10 AM                     quote: Monte L Fullmer Osram....good luck on warranty replacements. After fighting with them on warranty stuff, we switched over to Christies.. Monte is right on that... worst warranty claim company in the world! The real pisser is that the Osrams work better with some reflectors but we too have gone back to selling mainly Christie. The best thing is that warranty claims just do not exist with their lamps in the first place. Richard, Actually the Xenex is not all that bad... Peter definately has some sort of problem and a professional should really be called in to check his problem out. Mark  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-05-2005 12:18 PM                     I would send the lamps back to your dealer (osram usually will only honour the warranty throught the dealer that sold the lamps in the first place They will tell you what the problem is But is sounds like this based on other heat issues that the problem isn't the lamphouses persay but either the installation of them or there maintance that includes exhaust systems  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-05-2005 02:30 PM                     I had a couple of Osram lamps fail like the ones in Brad's picture except that they didn't do it until after they had been installed. The lamphouses were CFS, which have a vertical lamp. In both cases the anode slid off its rod but didn't come completely detached. It came loose just far enough to make contact with the cathode, thus creating a dead short! If the projector works just fine for one show but, on the next, when you go to start it up the breaker for the lamp trips about 3 seconds after it powers up... what would you normally think? Bad diode! Right? I checked the diodes but they were all A-OK. I must have stood there for five minutes just scratching my head! I finally thought to look inside the lamphouse to see if there were any wires that had come loose and shorted out. That's when I found the defective lamp! I was beside myself in amazement! The second time it was a service call to another theater. I told them to check the diodes and look for loose wires then call me back. They couldn't find the problem. Remembering my own, personal experience, I asked them what kind of lamps they were using. Of course, they didn't know. I asked them if the lamps came in ORANGE boxes. When they said, "Yes.", I told them I'd be right over. (Luckily, I only had to drive across town!) When I got there I found that the eletrode had, indeed, come loose and shorted out. We changed the lamp and rechecked all the connections and all was well again. Oh! And, in regards to the original question: "Can you repair xenon lamps?" I'd say it's about like reusing toilet paper! While, technically, it IS possible, in reality, I don't think you'd want to do it!  |  IP: Logged Jean-Pierre Van Hoof Film Handler Posts: 21 From: Enschede, Ov, Netherlands Registered: Dec 2003 posted 03-06-2005 11:13 AM                        We did use those 2K Osrams for over 1 1/2 year now and they never reached their 2000 hours. They usually start to fail at about 800 hours. We always sent them straight to Osram and they replaced them within two weeks stating that there is an unrest in the stability of the arc. Our projector is tilted at +/_ 9 degrees because our boot is above the balcony. First we thought that is was out of specs but recently we discovered that it wasn’t properly adjusted to hold a 2K lamp (was 1.6K before) The service engineer told us that when replacing the next 2K lamp we should adjust the magnet to get the plasma hit the anode straight and not creeping to the sides. We will attempt to adjust the magnet the next time we have to replace the 2K lamp because once it has burnt faulty it’s not possible to get it straight again. Greetings, JP  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-06-2005 12:38 PM                     Jean-Pierre, You're very lucky they honored those waranty claims of yours!! Over here in the States they rarely pay any claims and cite the stupidest excuses. U.S. Osram has never been known for paying justifiable claims even before they were teamed with Sylvania. Unless they are the only ones that make a lamp for your lamphouse they are a brand to stay away from in my 20 years of experience....... Mark  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-06-2005 12:57 PM                     I have never had a legitamte warranty failure not honoured by OSRAM but if the system it was installed in didn't meet there specs then they have no obligation to payup  |  IP: Logged Richard May Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1057 From: Floral Park, NY USA Registered: Aug 2004 posted 03-06-2005 01:11 PM                     I have only had one warranty failure with Osram bulbs. They did not honor it because of heat damage. I have never had any other problems with Osram bulbs. In my theater, we get well more than the rated hours. It,s usually all about installation, maintenance, or ventilation problems. The last being more of the problem usually.  |  IP: Logged Peter Mork Expert Film Handler Posts: 181 From: Newton, MA, USA Registered: Jun 2002 posted 03-06-2005 02:21 PM                     Well, I found an old lamp and cut apart the cathode to see how they're made. To answer my own question, I don't think they can be repaired - at least not by me. (There's one solder joint where a copper cable connects to the cathode proper. But that joint seems to be intact in the heat-damaged lamps, so it's apparently not the problem.) As far as toilet paper goes, if it cost $1300 a roll, yes, I might be tempted to find a way to reuse it!  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-06-2005 02:31 PM                     So is the source of the overheating been found yet  |  IP: Logged

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