Just got in my LL stuff today and everything arrived in one piece. YAY!!

HOWEVER - the Ushio bulb is almost impossible to screw into the base. Is this normal? I am afraid to torque it too hard for fear of breaking the bulb. I have tried reseating it several times. Also, there seems to be a slight tilt in the bulb (I would guess 5-10 degrees. I did a search and found that someone was concerned about ceramic debris at the bottom of the bulb - I have that too! Also a crunching sound when I screw it in ...

Are all these things normal or do I have a defective bulb/base?

Is it completely unable to screw into the base, or does it just look like it should go further?

As long as it's in far enough that the bottom is making contact, that's all that's required, there may be some threaded portion of the base visible when it's all in.

The crunching noise may be ceramic dust and debris. Clean it out with canned air, or just tap the base upside down on something. Some "crunching" sound may be evident when screwing in the bulb, unless the base itself is cracked or broken, it should be okay.

As long as it's in far enough that the bottom is making contact, that's all that's required, there may be some threaded portion of the base visible when it's all in.

The crunching noise may be ceramic dust and debris. Clean it out with canned air, or just tap the base upside down on something. Some "crunching" sound may be evident when screwing in the bulb, unless the base itself is cracked or broken, it should be okay.

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sonic,
I also had trouble getting the ushio lamp all the way in the socket.I believe the crunching sound is the black insulator between the center contact and the
threads on the bulb.I think the reason this is happening is because the center contact in the mogul base is too stiff and is bent up too far. I had to bend mine down some to get the lamp to go all the way in.I have noticed some cracks in the black insulator.
I now have the ushio installed in my 15" projector with the mogul socket i got from 1000 bulbs and it seems to work just fine.
peter

The lamp packaging should give you the proper base to use with that lamp. What does yours say?

It should be like a normal light bulb setup. It will be tight but no you should not need to use excessive force.

Thanks for the speedy replies folks! This forum rocks - completely worth the price of admission

The bulb does go in a little (1/2" maybe?) but there are still threads exposed. As to whether the bottom of the mogul base is in contact with the bulb - I dunno. This thing is DAMN tight. I got the light/ballast/base combo from the LL store so I should think that they would be compatable unless I somehow got a defective unit?

My main concern is centering the arc in the middle of the box. If the bulb protrudes a bit and is angled, the arc will not be centered. I am also concerned after seeing the bulb explosion movies posted in one of the threads here.

Maybe brain could chime in here...

I had EXACT problem when inserting my bulb into the socket.
My problem was that thread on the side of the socket was way too tight(the thread in the middle ---> === = ===).
The solution was to bend that thread inward a bit, and put it in by holding it as close as possible to the base.
I hope it makes sense...i am not good at explaining things...

According to this the white mogul socket should accept all mogul based lamps except horizontal positioned lamps.

http://www.hidirect.com/end_user/faqs.htm#lamp

And you can get a HOR lamp to work just fine by bending the tab up a little without problems.

An update - I have cycled this bulb in and out about a dozen times, hoping to loosen things up. It is going in almost all the way now, but there is a noticeable angle in the bulb - will this pose a problem in aligning the light engine?

Also, at the screw end of the bulb, there are brown shards broken free in the bottom-most glass chamber of the bulb. I really don't want this thing blowing up on me - I need my eyes to see the projection when it's done!!

Call it general paranoia, but I inspected the outer bulb housing and, at an angle, it looks like there is a vertical imperfection in the outer casing (along the length of the bulb). Just wanna know if this is all normal before I fire this puppy up.

I cannot tell you if your lamp is fataly damage or not; only a test fire taking precaution will tell.

Every mogul socket that I have seen has the threaded portion slightly off center.

I also experienced the same problem with my bulb and mogul base. It fits you just have to twist it at abit of an angle as you insert it. Just dont go hercules on it.

I had the same problem. Fired without any problem... I only have 5 minutes on the bulb however (just for the test).

My bulb also had a "tilt" to it when inserted into the base. I mounted the base to a piece of 1/16" steel sheet. I then used washers/shims to get the bulb mounted perfectly horizontal. I used a torpedo level and lines drawn on the back of my box to check the alignment. I also measured from the rear of the box to the centerline of the arc chamber to be sure it was square in the dimension as well. Note: My box is square and was leveled before aligning the bulb.

see my PLOG

My S400D bulb also sits crooked in it's base. I had to make an adjustable bracket to correct the problem.