OK, it's time for me to get serious about getting my PJ built!

I had this post looking for advice on finding a lamp & ballast, but the local retailer has been unresponsive when I called and tried to order the blub & ballast. :angry:

I would like to find a Canadian source for this stuff so I don't have to deal with cross-border issues like customs, extra taxes or tarrifs, and brokerage fees. Ideally I'd like a store in the Toronto area that I can just go to and order the stuff and then pick it up when it's ready, but that search seems to have come up dry.

Here's the bulb I'm looking for (found on this spec sheet on the Osram/Sylvania website):



Hopefully people can post here about where they've found themselves a 4200K short-arc ceramic and ballast so this thread will be a useful reference for others like me who are having trouble.

Please provide info about your location (country and province or state), and if you ordered online or bought in person.


THANKS,

OK, is nobody really interested in this?

The retailer I've been having probs with in Toronto is Paul Wolfe Electric. If someone else local wants to give them a try, they can be reached as follows:

Paul Wolfe Electric
425 Alliance Ave, Toronto
416-504-8195

I also found these bulb and ballast links on Page 21 of Elken's monster thread:

Philips CDM150/TD/942 bulb

150W Metal Halide Ballast Kit Quad Tap

But that's not a Powerball, and it seems like people are preferring the PB over the Philips CDM unit.

Help?

Please?

Just posted an ebay link in the Trading section for a 150w e-ballast for $43.50 shipped. FWIW...

I'm checking with EECOL ELECTRIC CORP. in Vancouver about the Powerball,
They can get the 830, the 942 was not listed. They are going to check with the Osram Rep.
Should here back from them tommorrow.

personally, i think everyone should wait <--- keyword

soon, in about a month, a 400w Ceramic will be coming out, according to that whole ceramic thread i read.

This means that contrast will be great, sharpness will be amazing, and lumens will be extra.

the going rate should pretty much be $50 for the bulb and $50-$100 for the 400w ballast searching around

I would err on the side of caution,, the 400 watt ceramic will not be much different to exsisting 400 watt ones,,

the real key to it is lumens per mm of arc,,

it wont increase contrast or sharpness,, so be wary

the real deal is short arc's opt is 6mm to max of 15mm, beyond that losse's occur,

and until a spectral chart is available,, there is no guarantee that it will give good RGB's above your normal quartz version's

Good news / bad news for Canadian buyers. EECOL can get the Powerball, But $146.00 CDN, ballast is $104, G12 Socket is not available from them. Pricewise I think I might get the Philips SA from http://www.protheatrical.com/ProductDetail...0000-1103045111 $50.50 USD. Anyone know
of retailer for the Powerball with reasonable price?

Ebay: $46.57 plus $6 shipping
(this is also for Philips CDM150SA/942)

G12 Sockets:
Ebay: $12.01 plus 7.95 shipping
Businesslights.com $8.90 plus shipping

None of which helps the Canadians buyers, though. Sorry I wasn't thinking...

I just noticed that the S/A Bulb needs 207 Volts , not a normal ballast is required.

You can get the Philips CDM150/TD/942 bulb in Canada at
Westburne Electric. http://www.westburnedirect.ca/

I don't know if you need an account to buy from, most places offer cash sales at the counter.

There is already a 400w Philips Ceramic Arc bulb out, that runs on the S51 ballast, I happen to have one but have yet to try it out. -> http://www.lamptech.co.uk/Spec%20Sheets/Philips%20CDM400.htm

Note the specs on that are exaggerated greatly...the arc is closer to 38mm, and the CRI is probably 85.


It might not increase CR or sharpness, but it WILL give you better reds/blues/greens

And there is already a Spectral Chart out for the EYE 400w Cera Arc.

~Lith

can you post it?

I think Simulator has one of the CDM400 watt lamps too.

http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/index.php?s...0287&st=583

Pictures of color temperature compared to an older Osram with 6500k (assumingly, not sure) further below at this link.

it will depend on the final specs of the lamp, but at the moment the 250W lamp has a spec with a 15mm arc length, and that lamp will provide better brightness than the 150W lamp. I would speculate that the 400W version arc size might be about 20mm. This would be a great improvement over the existing 27-38mm arc lengths currently used, so people should see an improvement in a 400W lamp with a 20mm arc (if indeed that is the case... we'll have to wait for the final specs). The 400W should also have a similar spectral output as the 250W lamp (250W Spec Sheet) It is the added red provided by the ceramic arc chambers that provides the better balance over the quartz arcs, the CRI of the 400W is 90, but alas, that is a preliminary number too...

If the lamp ends up having a longer arc, like 25-30mm, then there will still be the benefit of the added red in the spectrum, however the contrast/sharpness is certainly not a benefit...

To get the best of both worlds, the short arc HMI lamps looks great... it's just that they are expensive compared to general MH lamps... in addition to the added safety hazards.

gs

OK, a bit of an overdue update here. I got frustrated with Paul Wolf Electric in Toronto when the first guy I talked to stopped returning my calls, but I tried again and got someone competent. I've got a bulb on order (although it'll take a while because I ordered this week and obviously the holidays have an impact). The written quote that they gave me looks like this:



Presumably if you call them up with that info, you can get the same stuff. I'm sure that there will be a few people pointing out that that seems like a pretty high price on the bulb, but for me it's worth it to be able to order from a local brick & mortar retailer.

They can be reached at:

Paul Wolf Electric & Lighting
425 Alliance Ave.,
Toronto, ON, Canada
Phone: 416.504.8195

I talked to George at extension 307. I have no idea if they'll ship to you or not, but they will take CC info via fax, so ordering from more distant locations may be an option.


I'll follow up once I've got the bulb & ballast in-hand.


Thanks,

Production advantage has the CDM-T SA Short Arc 6mm for 48 buck.

http://www.productionadvantageonline.com/lamps.htm

Good price, only slightly-less on EBay...

Any cheaper?
Any 'electronic' ballasts 'known' to work, or just M142's?

I'm looking into the CDM 150SA also. As I would prefer an electronic ballast to a magnetic one, I have been searching for an appropriate electronic ballast.

Electronic Ballasts at 'www.ballastwise.com' seem to be inexpensive.

Would one of these work?

150W electronic ballast for $49
http://www.ballastwise.com/item.asp?PID=12...D=1&level=0

175W electronic ballast for $59
http://www.ballastwise.com/item.asp?PID=12...D=1&level=0

There's some discussion of that ballast in this thread. Nothing definitive, and its still unclear just how picky the ceramics are with the voltage specs. FWIW...

When I checked for an electronic ballast for the Philips 150 S/A, this is the ballast that was recommemded.

http://www.advancetransformer.com/ecatalog...pdf/IMH175C.pdf

Apparantly, this company is a division of Philips. The price quoted to me was $213 CDN.