I just took my 15" monitor out of my testbed and replaced it with the 10.6"(thanks gadgetsmith!). All I can say is wow, I thought my 15" looked good, but now the colors really pop and the contrast is slightly better which makes a good bit of difference in dark scenes. I have all lumenlab components



400w ll t15 4200k(the first one that is not the usohio)

proreflector

s15 lense and fresnels

and the black e ballast





I am running unsplit fresnels for the best picture quality, although i have never tried split. The 10.6" is not as bright, although with adjusting the color contrast and brightness i was able to get it ok. Can someone recommend a precondensor for me? Or should I just get another bulb(i would prefer to buy a condensor)? Thanks alot

Many people use these in their setup.

The price is definitely right.

Better buy a couple though. Without some good active cooling on that precon, his lamp will definitely crack it.

Dazzla just got this one and has this to say:

"New pre-con arrived today and I just tested it out. So far it hasn’t cracked but I only ran it for 10 minutes to check if it would cover the 10.6 LCD using a 220mm fresnel, it did Now back to building.
http://www.surplusshed.com/pages/item/l3788.html"

DJ

Every one that I have bought from Surplus Shed have cracked. I don't like them at all.

Had the same thing happen to me with a 4.5 from SurplusShed. Went to a glass shop and bought a piece of Pyrex, no more cracked precons.

Yea but I can't get anything between my lamp and precon. They almost touch.

Thanks alot guys I will get a couple of those.

Jonjandran do you have a recomendation for a pyrex or something? Thanks alot

I ordered a piece of 5" diameter heat absorbing glass from surplus shed. When that comes in I'll let you know how it works, my main concern is how much light it will block. If its not bad its a cheap solution ($5)

greeneyed thanks for that link, it didnt work but I found what you linked too. I will probably pick up on of those too.

So exactly how could I cool the precon so it wouldn't crack. Could I simply point a fan at it?

Jonjandran, this lens is Pyrex so it should stand up to the heat well.

The only thing is that the arc will need t be about 15mm from the lens. For a 150W lamp it’s fine but using it with anything larger, in size, will be a problem. Although it may work with a 330m rear fresnel (just a guess) but for a larger lamp you would really want a lens with a larger diameter for it to be worthwhile.

DJ

Hope you have better luck with your purchase than I did. The heat absorbing glass from SS that I got didn't last 10 minutes, that's when I got the Pyrex glass.

anyone have any suggestions on how to actively cool the surpless shed condensor?

My plan is to have a 120mm fan sucking the hot air out. Hopefully that will be enough. Good thing I bought two! If they break, I'll definitely go with a pyrex one. No way that thing will bust due to heat from a 150W bulb.

So you now have bulb, piece of pyrex glas, and pre-con. Has that diminished your brightness at all??

How about if a piece of lexan is used instead??

i guess im gonna build a lightbox ala punisher style and see if it breaks... please precon gods dont let my precon break

camman,

here is the setup I originally used with a t15 lamp and the surplus shed 4.5x6.5 precondenser with a 15.4" panel.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

I eventually removed the tempered glass and moved the precon to within 10mm (or so) of the outter glass of the lamp and the precon never broke. as you can see I used a fan and created a "scoop" out of flashing material which blows the air directly over the plano side of the precon for cooling. worked for me. good luck.

gs

Lexan won't do anything to combat the heat.

LL reflector, lamp, Pyrex, precon. I have tested, eye ball's, I didn't see any appreciable light gain with Pyrex and pre-con removed. The only difference I saw is that you definitely need the pre-con.

Thanks alot for the pics GadgetSmith. I think i will do something very similiar.

if you're still looking for a precondensor you should get one of diy-beamer.com they have high quality pyrex condensors

Hello,

you said the darker scenes were more watchable with the 10.6, but the overall picture was darker? Could you clarify?

thanks.

I guess I was experiencing black crush with my 15" that I was unable to solve without a computer. With the 10.6 the level of detail in dark scenes is much better(ie no black crush) but the brightest whites are not as bright as the brightest whites with the 15". So it is better, and now with a precon it should be even better, ill let you know