Blown Lamp question...

[gafftaper]

Hi all,
I've got a brand new S4 zoom that after only 10 hours blew the HPL 575 lamp. There was a burning electrical smell when it went. The glass on the lamp is perfect except for a faint milky white ring near the base and what looks like a tiny hairline scratch on the glass... no burned fingerprints!! The filament looks perfect. The only real evidence of damage to the lamp are burn marks on one of the two power pins.

My guess is that I've got a bad socket. What do you think?

 

[Foxinabox10]

Most new S4's will have a slight burning odor when first plugged in from my experience. Never had a problem with bulbs burning out so fast on the first use. Could have been a bad bulb. If so, you can probably return it in exchange for a new one.

 

[SketchyCroftPpl]

Sorry I just read the burning odor thing. I got a real good scare a few days ago. I normally don't get to see into the light when I put a gobo in and this time I saw it start smoking which apparently is normal for new ones, but jesus did that give me a freak.

~Nick

 

[ship]

Saw one of the bought in 2002 DeWalt batteries sitting outside the shop door with it's charger today. Appairently at some point after I left last night, it popped and started smoking. They left it outside to cool down in the dirt.

Guess when I install a battery for charging, I had at best pay a litte more attention to what the blinking light is telling me - at least a few days after the battery is set into the charger.

Odor is often a good sign of a problem - and I'm told my area smelt really bad. Odor in a dimmer rack is a bad thing. Inside a fixture, it can be but as said, things or washing can also smoke or leave residue for a few moments.

Sure check your lamp base contacts and the wiring leading from than, but as others mention, it's probably a bad pinch seal on the lamp. Turn it in for perspective credit on a bad lamp from your supplier. Granted they will either just credit you or have to send it back to the lamps maker for verification that it was a bad lamp by way of it being a bad lamp. In other words, in even expensive bad lamps, don't expect more than a 10% repayment on them if it has to go back to the manufacturer. In part it's part of doing business. Besides, who is to say how the lamp was wiggled about before hand or installed in stressing the pinch. In the end, follow thru if time but otherwise accept a few bad lamps out of the box as part of using lamps. On the other hand, I'm about to get into a partial lot number of lamps that blew up right out of a case of them. That's a bad thing in already being over $600.00 worth of lamps.

Considering you will pay shipping most often back to your supplier, is it worth lamp cost, and with some when you bought the lamps might also play a factor. Check your suppliers return policy, but some might expect any returns to be within a few days thus your spares might not get credit.