Forgot to mention that the ballast do get rather toasty. I was kind of surprised how hot it was. Ramps up slowly but hangs tough after the power is chopped. When I pulled the plug on the lamp the lightgate sides cooled practically immediately. So, I'm thinking I'll put my cool-down, fan-shut-off thermal probe strategically near the ballast. That way, the fans will run until the component with the highest thermal mass is cooled. Make sense? I think so. But then again - my "brilliant" ideas come and go like the wind.

My eballast runs hot, but the curious thing is that when I was doing the testing for the unit, it never got hot at all. When I added it into the mix with the transformer, it started to get hot when I ran it. I wonder if maybe the power transformer's method of changing to 12v creates some type of feedback that the eballast doesnt really like? How does yours run when straight wired?

I'm using a coil & core type. Why the heck would the eballast run cool then hot? While I do not doubt the capabilities and suitability of the eballast I'm happy I went with old-school in this regard. And now arrik says the severity of his focus problems are inversely proportional to the distance of his fold mirror from the triplet. I suspect all these funky troubles are a result of some not-so-savvy members neglecting to recite the proper incantations and sacrificing the requisite poultry prior to ever starting their projects!!!

HEY!!!! I forgot the words & as for the sacrificial poultry........ I was hungry.

Lightgate refinements. Details, details, details.

Fixing a light leak due to my pro reflector sled adjuster design. A little sliding cover held snug with a spring under my adjuster knob. Voila!

The best part about these kinds of projects is using some of the bits and pieces I've collected over the years. I must have at least a hundred pounds of the most bizarre stuff in my junk boxes. Notice the knob was filled in with JB Weld and then drilled and tapped on my benchtop lathe. No set screw required to keep the knob on this way. The JB Weld bites the all thread j-u-s-t right.

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Whoops! Dem shtinkin' rivets are restricting my adjustments slightly. Oh well, still plenty of adjustment there.

Stopping up some of my sloppy metal work light leaks with High Temperature RTV. This tube is pretty old and the contents aren't in the best condition - starting to separate into a clear fluid and the red creamy stuff - but it seems to have set up just fine overnight. Of course, I had to dig a cured plug out of the nozzle to get to the crappy stuff. Regular silicone would probably work fine too but it ain't opaque. It's not the prettiest fix but it works.

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Planning on using two small bolts as adjusters for each of the four sides of the iris. The bolts will be held in place with "Jesus clips" or e-clips. Here are some of the rough-cut parts.

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Everyone I know calls them "Jesus clips" because when you pry them off they usually fly across the room and you say "JESUS!!!" As if HE were going to help you find the damn thing?

Once I get the iris working you'll see what I mean if that off-the-cuff description makes absolutely no sense to you. I doesn't make any sense to me and I wrote it!

Here's one of the heat baffles I'm gonna put in to keep the outside of the lightgate a bit cooler. I'll attach it with rivets and some washers or similar to keep some air space between the baffle and the lightgate side.

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Never mentioned my pro reflector holder is removeable by simply lifting it out. Maybe I'll even do a percent gain comparison when I get this thing up and running. Nah . . . probably not.

Is this lightgate a thing of beauty or what?

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And last, but not least . . . my helper.

WAY scarier than that Punisher pic I saw recently.

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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We are the Borg. Prepare to be assimilated.

Heat baffle standoff details and installation pics below.

Also, going with springs instead of retaining clips on the iris. Lowe's sux for springs. :angry: No local Home Depot yet. True Value is out of my way.

Remembered the Mom & Pop hardware store nearby and stopped in.

THEY HAVE OVER 200 STYLES OF SPRINGS!!!

There was a small problem when I tried to charge my $2.12 springs. Minimum $5.00 credit charge. A minor scuffle ensued when I took a swing at the "lady" behind the counter but she was a battle-hardened broad and blocked my right cross then gave me a shot to the solar plexus dropping me cleanly. I acknowledged she had bettered me and made the trek to my car tail betwixt my legs to retrieve my greenbacks and coinage. All was then well.

Springs are truly wonderous things. The display board is a work of industrial art. Details of the iris should follow soon.

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One of the finished iris panels.

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Damn, nice job! Hey, what size is the precondenser your planning on using. I didnt see if you posted it yet. Has there been a final verdict on whether the condensor is beneficial in longer envelope lamps & larger lcds? From last I read, I still hear mixed opinions.

No precondenser for me as of right now. I've tried to allow for alterations and additions in the future though. Time will tell.

From what I gather the precondenser does indeed give a gain but we're still not using optimal lamps (arc length). Shorter arc length lamps are available and Lumenlab is working on getting some custom made. Again, only time will tell.

I looked into the whole precondenser thing and I just couldn't justify using one in my initial design.

My plan is to get mine operational and "modular" enough that I won't be gutting the thing totally if I want to add a precondenser, change to a "better" lamp, go with a WUXGA panel, whatever. The hard thing to plan for is the potential for using a longer focal length rear fresnel but I think I can maybe even deal with that if need be.

We'll see . . .

I hope things are coming together for you arrik!

Yeah,

I'm not goin w/ the precondenser either, at least until we get the new lamps. My PJ is going. I mean.... it aint made of beautiful, cold, shiny, metal.... :angry: but I'll find a way to live with it.

A trick I use on a lot of the Rube Goldberg devices I create. Punch washers out of a milk jug to s-m-o-o-t-h the action and cancel out that nasty friction. These punches are really affordable if you wait for a Harbor Freight sale.

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The iris panel is now sooooo smooth to adjust I just sit in my basement and turn it for hours on end. Too bad I'll only have to adjust it once and then likely never again! Uh-oh - I'm falling into the trap of geeking out a little too much on this phase of construction. Gotta move on!!!

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A bit more work on the lightgate and then it's back to my almost-finished fresnel and LCD frames I haven't shown yet. I actually cut those out weeks ago but the project stalled and then I got hooked on the lightgate design. I haven't had a project like this since our son was born 4 years ago. Nice to be back. The time change and warm weather could cause trouble though. Hope I can stick with it.

Well, the lightgate is practically done. Needs some paint and electrical details finished for the fan and lamp hookups.

Here's the iris.

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Side detail and a closeup of the corner of the iris.

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Many thanks to Samuraijack for breaking lightgate ground and providing inspiration.

Looking good.
You might won’t to use gasket paper or some other material for the washers. I could be wrong but I think the plastic may not stand up to the heat

DJ

Thanks DAZ - I'll be watching them!

I forgot to mention I wired my fans in series last night and MAN are they quiet running at 6VDC. They still push major air so that's my next test when I fire the lamp.

I scored this GREAT 12V 1.8A power supply the size of a deck of cards from a junk-drawer here at work. I can drive enough fans to blow my house apart with that puppy!

I use to have a junk-drawer full of all sorts of goodies until a mercury tilt switch broke and spread itself everywhere. Grrr. Years of excessive compulsive collecting gone.

In honor of my 500th post I figured it should be in my plog instead of off somewhere dispensing ill-conceived advice to some poor member who thinks I actually know something!

No, I'm not just going to say something stupid (again) and leave it at that. Here's a really crappy picture of the power supply mentioned above. (This dang Samsung camera drives me nutz!)

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Personally, I think the whole mercury thing is W-A-Y overblown. I've got a mouthful of it and I'm . . . fine . . . I think. Aren't I?

Seriously, we had a small mercury spill here at work (broken thermometer but a quite odd, large thermometer) and the hazmat guys come with their sniffer and fancy vacuum cleaner and do their thang. I take one of them aside and ask how serious it really is. He screws up his face and says it's no big deal at all but it only makes sense to get what they can.

I think you have to have a situation where you get chronic exposure or a really large dose to get ill effects.

Yes, I've heard the stories of how quicksilver used to be passed around in the classroom for the kiddies to play with years ago and that's not good but if I spilled a few grams in a pile of my PRECIOUS junk I'd not - I think - give the lot the ol' heave-ho.

Spirit thermometers SUCK.

Curious - what did you do with the spilled mercury anyway?

Where does it drive them??


sorry could not resist.
Things are really looking good your lightgate.
Keep up the great work.
One question - do you think the fans attached to the lightbox will be affected by the heat??
I have been working on putting the fans farther away, but have seen several folks putting them right on the lightbox.

Later,
R

PS: Guns, cards, XBOX, portable PJ and beverages are loaded and the RV is pulling out at 12:30 with not a nar female in sight. I love this weekend

My initial lamp firing was for two hours with both fans powered @ 12VDC. The entire box felt like room temperature everywhere except next to the arc - on the long sides where I put the afterthought, so-called heat baffles.

I pulled the plug on my lamp (fans running) and promptly stuffed my fingers everywhere (No, NOT THERE! Now I know how you think!) except the lamp which was still glowing ominously red.

NOTHING was beyond warm and "warm" is even a stretch. I didn't touch the pro reflector nor immediately below it because I couldn't reach there. The outside bottom of the box immediately below the reflector never got warm though - BUT, there're two layers there - my reflector sled and the box itself.

Even the roughly 100 degree F sides cooled incredibly rapidly.

Based solely on my few hours of experience I think the only place you'll get significant heating is around the periphery of the arc - not out the "tip" or "base" of the arc.

So, I'd say don't put a fan blowing directly on the arc - it's supposed to stay hot anyway to work properly - but rather keep them off that open-ended cylindrical area surrounding the arc.

All that said, my initial firing was in the open on the bench. Once I get that chunk of tortured metal into my build things may very well change.

I intend to do some more testing prior to ever putting the lightgate in the box though.

Short answer: Nope, not worried about the fans.

Stay tuned . . .

It’s still there I presume I can’t actually see it except for a few small fine bits. I just can’t bring myself to throw anything away, been there for two years now. I open the draw now and then, look at all the bits I’ve accrued and close it up again. I know I’m pitiful I should just chuck them but…
DJ

No offense but I'd say you're going about this in the worst possible way. The mercury that is there will slowly evaporate (is that what mercury does?) and contaminate the air and you have the makings of a chronic-type exposure situation. You wait awhile and the mercury concentration builds up then you open the drawer and draw a lengthy sigh as you stare at the contaminated contents while unwittingly sucking in mercury vapor which will deposit itself in your fatty tissues (again, no offense, heh!) and in a few more years you'll be mad as a hatter - as they say. It's likely nothing to worry about but I'd take the contents of that drawer and put 'em into a non-airtight box whilst inspecting each one for droplets of mercury and then put the box into an airy outbuilding which is not frequented much. Then I'd gather up what mercury I did/could find and dispose of it properly. There are absorbent kits for such stuff but probably something like kitty litter would work. Would have to research that a bit. We used to have quite a few milliliters of mercury in our lab and always kept it in a flask under water to prevent it contaminating the lab air. I don't know if that was proper but I believe someone (perhaps I?) looked into it and found that to be an acceptable method of "keeping a lid on it". Scrub out the drawer, allow it to dry out and air awhile, then you have a nice, new, clean, fresh drawer in which you can start collecting your crap again you messy goober! I'll bet it'd fill up in no time at all.

On second thought DAZZZLA - maybe that's why yer so dang smart! The road to madness may very well be genius?

At least hold your breath while you look at all those contaminated goodies!!!

Second that - I work at a mine and one of our byproducts is mercury production. We spend a lot of money on air handling and filtering to protect our workers. The metal itself isn't that dangerous unless you breath the vapors or mix it with some other chemicals that form mercury complexes with the ability to infiltrate your skin.

No need to panic but do take care of it. Here is a small PDF with some information. http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/envir...ocs/cleanup.pdf

Also - google for mercury spill cleanup kit and you will get links to suppliers.

Testing the laser pointer, non-contact thermometer.

First I decided to NOT test it on my retina even though I'm pretty sure of the temp.

I know the doctors say rectal temp is the most accurate but I ain't that flexible and I don't want to risk my Lumenlab FS mirror on an over-the-shoulder Annie Oakley attempt.

Ambient by my ootsy-cutesy-wootsy-puppy-wuppy wall thermometer.

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Side of my lightgate.

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Now for a MANLY test. Drink the bourbon and shoot them ice cubes!!!

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Okay, looking good. More to follow once I'm sober.

BTW: SJ - I think I never actually said it was okay for you to join me in my manly water/alcohol immersion ceremony. How rude of me! You have a standing invitation.

BYOB. (Book not bourbon. Unless yer picky. Let me know your favorite brand(s). How's Maker's Mark or Bulleit sound?)

good choices there

Ah...The waters are calm and all is right with my world. I might have to mix up a few Dragon's Breaths...Im more of Martini Man myself....or Sake....or Beer....or wine ( Red only. White makes me do Shakespeare on the Westside...)

Aw screw it! White Stag Tequilla all around!

SJ

Remember dem dare sprockets aways back up in this plog? Well, I see a lot of members using all-thread but I wasn't happy with the idea of adjusting all them dang nuts 'n washers.

Solution: sprockets and ladder chain. Four pieces of all-thread fixed in place. A sprocket on each and all connected with a chain. Pull the chain to adjust things up or down. You'll see.

Playing with posting some video. Here's a 1.25MB wmv movie of me threading my sprockets on my little lathe. Click here for video.

NOTE: The drilling and threading operations are a bit risque.

The sprockets and chain were obtained from Hale Brothers.

Nice! I REALLY need to get me one of those!!!
Nice vid! That mechanism should work very well,good thinking!
That should give you nice movement,and be able to keep everything parallel too!
P

pun15her, if you get a lathe you'll probably make a freakin' wristwatch projector!!!

I got mine from Homier. What with the extra tooling you need it costs around $500 minimum.

Modifying a mini-lathe is a hobby in and of itself.

Check this site: http://www.mini-lathe.com/

Very cool, indeed.
I've been trying to think of a good way to move the mirror/triplet assembly evenly. That might be it if I don't decide to switch to a straight-through design instead of a vertical.

Okay, still some little details to finish on the lightgate but time to move back to the frames for the lenses and LCD.

I keep getting a little woozy seeing some recent results from guys using pre-condensers (could be the bourbon I suppose). You know who you are! WOW!!!

Here's the frame in which the uncut pro collimator fresnel will reside.

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The field fresnel will also go in this. I've left provision for some cooling air to go through here. Can't stand the thought of an enclosed space. Like a thermopane window. Heat trap?

The LCD frame will sit on this and be adjustable if necessary. The bearing plates are for some adjuster screws to do the twist (remember Chubby Checker?) upon.

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Here's the LCD frame.

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LCD frame sitting upside down.

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And the whole Lumenlab sandwich ready to eat. I built a little duct around a PCAC fan to move my air. Bench tests demonstrate enough air appears to be moving through the assembly.

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This whole assembly will move up and down by way of the sprockets and ladder chain I'm using.

I'll be able to lift out the whole assembly after disconnecting power and/or signal cables to the LCD and fan.

This will allow for cleaning, modification, and testing ease. At least I hope so!

Awesome idea, very inventive. Cant wait to see the super-frames in action.

Nice frames! Very creative! Your build is looking very good.
No tequila . Everytime I drink it I end up in the slammer! I get real mean!

Thanks guys.

I'm with you on the Tequila. You know that SJ though.

I think maybe being a Texan makes a difference too. You carry a .45 around with you everywhere ya go?

Second test firing details.

Rosco Hot Mirror 6.3 inch diameter suspended temporarily with some copper wire. I'll make permanent mounts this weekend. Hot mirror around 1 inch from lamp outer envelope.

Fans (2 of 'em) wired in series for this test. VERY QUIET!!!

Laser pointer, non-contact thermometer used to measure hot mirror and lightgate temps. Outflow air measured in the plane of the iris and smack dab in the middle with a handy thermocouple doohickey.

Ballast coils peaked at 200F (93C) which shocked me. I'll be puttin' that hottie in some airflow and using that as a thermal control point for my cooling fans. The fans'll run until that glob of near-molten iron gets c-o-o-l.

Noticed that the yellowish deposits on the arc tube do not revaporize even after a 2 hour burn.

All components except the ballast cooled rapidly (within minutes) immediately after turning the lamp off.

Ambient temperature 60F (16C).

Measuring the hot mirror temp was tricky and I had to estimate the average reading in my head. The thermometer reading fluctuated about +/- 20F (7C).

Temperature readings in degrees F:

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The hi-tech test rig.

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The power-in plug straight out of SJ's playbook and a circular cover for the end held in place with 3 little glued-on magnets.

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A disinterested observer. That's the Easter Bunny BTW.

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I also painted my LCD and fresnel frames. Boy they look soooo much better painted flat black. Maybe them ol' Amish and Mennonites are onto something?

Wife and son away for the weekend. Hmmm . . .

Install new brakes and rotors on car, rotate tires. Clean garage. Repair woodchipper. Hand pick about two tons of field stone to continue lifelong need to fix up lane. Repair garden cart. Weld broken garden tools. Apply hard surface weld to mower skids. Cover field stone with dirt. Cover dirt with fine stone. Clean garden pond. Clean basement. Do dishes LEFT THERE so I don't get yelled at when they return. (I eat straight from the freezer, fridge, pantry, counter - heck - even the floor - when I'm alone. Why create work and waste time?) Prune and fertilize ornamental and fruit trees. Feed roses. Weed. Divide perennials . . . etc.

I think I know why my projector ain't gettin' done!!! :angry:

Made permanent supports for the hot mirror.

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Antiglare Strip.

12 hour water soak method.

Came off very easily after starting corner with an X-Acto knife and viewing through a jeweler's loupe.

Analytical grade lab water (18 mega ohm) used.

Never had to rewet toweling.

Will post transmissivity spectrum of the antiglare soon.

Contemplating TAC removal. Gotta do more research.

It came off soooo easily. I dislocated my shoulder trying to pat myself on the back. Then I realized I had my camera there on the tripod and I fully intended to get video of the strip. Thought that would be cool. So, then I sprained my ankle trying to kick myself in the arse for being such a forgetful dork. Oh well, maybe next time?

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Got the LCD on the sled. Fresnels in the frames. Have to admit it was tricky getting the fresnels aligned. At least much more so than I thought it'd be. I think they're good now.

Glued some keeper strips onto the LCD sled to keep the LCD in place. As the 5 minute epoxy was firming up I realized I had the dang LCD upside down from what I require. Double DOH!!!

But wait - all is not lost! Just flip it over - right? WRONG!!! The LCD is asymmetrical left to right as normally viewed. Argh! :angry:

Peeled off the keeper strips and redid it. Not the worst mistake I could've made.

Still going to fabricate a blacked-out partial cover for the LCD control circuitry and mask off the LCD better.

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Removed my rear tac, gained almost a percent in transmission. Real gain was in color reproduction,I noticed a difference in it when even after the AG had been removed. It took half the time of the AG removal.

Thanks for that piece of info ChuckL. I'm getting my enclosure wood today but maybe I'll fiddle with the LCD some more. I'd like to get everything I can out of it. Is it pretty much a guarantee that since the antiglare went smoothly I'll have no problems with the rear TAC? Like I said - gotta do some more reading, re-reading, and re-re-reading, and maybe even a PM or two to some of the egg-spurts.

Go Durachko!!
Looking Good.
I need to get my tail in gear, and get back to work on the PJ.
Your making me look lazy and slow.

PS. did you get all that on your list done in 2 days??


All I can say is WOW.

In all honesty, the "etc." was a lie! Did it all from Friday 5:00 PM to Sunday 2:30 PM.

Some of the rock was pre-picked. I didn't get ALL of the pruning, weeding, etc. done either.

I was very tired.

Wow...All I did Sunday was get up and proceed to beat the japanese and the aztecs into total non-existence. Oh and mop up the muddy bunny prints the easter bunny left behind...and a few loads of laundry...and some dishes...oh and some replication work..Oh and I made the big dinner thing for easter...and took a nap with my daughter...and sketched some designs and did some raking and vacuumed up all the Nerds from the floor and ... Jesshhhh. Its now wonder I dont feel like my Sunday was restful.

SJ

SLACKER!!!! No wonder your roses die on you!

Just kidding. I know that's a sore spot for you.

I spread raisins throughout the house and told the boy they's Easter Bunny droppins'. I then proceeds to eat 'em.

Well, at least the ones the dogs didn't get.