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Author Topic: How to make a xenon lamp. Stephen Furley Film God Posts: 3059 From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England Registered: May 2002 posted 04-18-2013 06:16 AM                     We used to have a member who worked at a company that made xenon lamps. I haven't seen any posts from him for a long time, but maybe somebody else knows the answer to this. Apart from the high temperature required to work quartz, blowing the bulb for a xenon lamp wouldn't be particularly difficult. Sealing the electrodes into the quartz is a different matter, but I have a rough idea how it is done. What I don't understand is this; I've done a bit of work with low-pressure lamps, I'm actually going on a neon sign course tomorrow. Sealing off these lamps is easy, you just heat the exhaust tubulation with a gas torch and as the glass softens it sucks in under the near vacuum inside, and seals off the lamp. However, this obviously isn't going to work with a lamp which is significantly above atmospheric pressure even at room temperature. So, how do you seal off a xenon lamp? Do they put the whole lamp inside some sort of container at a higher pressure than that inside it or something?  |  IP: Logged Jim Cassedy Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1661 From: San Francisco, CA Registered: Dec 2006 posted 04-18-2013 09:40 AM                     One of the major xenon lamp manufacturers used to have a 'white paper' posted online that detiled EVERYTHING you ever wanted to know about xenon lamps. (Even how & where they got the xenon gas from!) I just searched online to see if I could find it again, with no luck. I have a PDF copy on my other computerthingy, which is unfortunately in the shop at the moment, recovering from a really bad virus attack. Maybe when I get it back I can e-mail you a copy and/or post it in the warehouse section if you don't get the answer you're seeking from someone else here. (assuming the virus hasn't wiped out my wholefriggin' hard drive!)  |  IP: Logged Joe Elliott Master Film Handler Posts: 497 From: Port Orange, Fl USA Registered: Oct 2006 posted 04-18-2013 09:51 AM                     Found the answer in the osram bulb technical paper, although I don't know if it answers your question totally. quote: Depending on lamp design, cold XBO ® lamps are filled to a pressure between 5 and 15 bar. In order to obtain this positive pressure in the lamps, the xenon is frozen into the lamp body during manufacture. The pressure in the lamp rises during operation to about four times the value because of the temperature. Osram bulbs quote: Depending on lamp design, cold XBO ® lamps are filled to a pressure between 5 and 15 bar. In order to obtain this positive pressure in the lamps, the xenon is frozen into the lamp body during manufacture. The pressure in the lamp rises during operation to about four times the value because of the temperature.  |  IP: Logged Jim Cassedy Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1661 From: San Francisco, CA Registered: Dec 2006 posted 04-18-2013 10:25 AM                     That (freezing) makes a lot of sense. After I wrote my post I also considered the possibility that the entire final stages of manuafacturing the bulb took place in some sort of a pressurized environment.  |  IP: Logged Carsten Kurz Film God Posts: 4340 From: Cologne, NRW, Germany Registered: Aug 2009 posted 04-18-2013 10:42 AM                     The free online publication of CinemaTechnologyMagazine had lab reports from Philips/LTI and OSRAM in past editions (18 and 20) - lot's of information regarding specific manufacturing issues, history, photos, etc. After you read both articles, you understand that - xenon bulbs are still delicate to make - manufacturers basically have options to either utilize a high degree of automation/machinery, or a very well trained staff with a high amount of manual work. Both methods have their pro's and con's. One statement from a european USHIO representative once was, that USHIO also uses a lot of manual work with very specific and long time trained knowledge on their bulbs. Knowing this may also explain why some manufacturers sometimes have higher failure-rates or why changes in the manufacturing logistics can have such a high impact on product quality. Xenon manufacturing obviously has no place for hire&fire staffing policy. http://emag.cinematechnologymagazine.com/ http://emag.cinematechnologymagazine.com/Index.aspx?issue=issue20 http://emag.cinematechnologymagazine.com/Index.aspx?issue=issue18 (I know it's one of these strange online readers, but registration is free, painless, no spam, no issues, and reading is always very interesting) - Carsten  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 04-18-2013 02:02 PM                        I watched this in Germany. Put the bulb in liquid hydrogen; put the large syringe of liquid xenon in liquid hydrogen. Quickly load the liquid xenon in the fill tube and quickly seal. Put the plastic explosion shield around bulb and allow to warm up to room temperature. This is all the presserization that is needed. Volume of xenon liquid and internal area of bulb determine bulb pressure at room temperature. Liquid xenon is greyish brown in color and it lays there in the bottom of the bulb until it turns gaseous. Louis  |  IP: Logged James Wallor Film Handler Posts: 26 From: Houghton, MI, United States Registered: Mar 2011 posted 04-19-2013 10:49 AM                     This sounds like it'd be a really cool process to see. I had no idea these bulbs were so difficult to make.  |  IP: Logged Jeffry L. Johnson Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 809 From: Cleveland, Ohio, USA Registered: Apr 2000 posted 04-20-2013 02:18 PM                        Liquid nitrogen?  |  IP: Logged Richard Fowler Film God Posts: 2392 From: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA Registered: Jun 2001 posted 04-20-2013 05:15 PM                     I remember a tour of the old ORC facility with much hand finishing of bulbs with custom jig tools. Defective (failing factory tests) bulbs where salvaged to save end terminals and recycled if there where in spec. The reflector division with ORC reflectors and clients such as Maglight flashlight reflectors being created by large vats of electro-plating machinery......  |  IP: Logged Richard Fowler Film God Posts: 2392 From: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA Registered: Jun 2001 posted 04-20-2013 05:16 PM                     I remember a tour of the old ORC facility with much hand finishing of bulbs with custom jig tools. Defective (failing factory tests) bulbs where salvaged to save end terminals and recycled if there where in spec. The reflector divsion with ORC reflectors and clients such as Maglight flashlight reflectors being created by large vats of electro-plating machinery......  |  IP: Logged

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