Remember, not only do you have the access door safety switch, but there is a microswitch right in front of the blower behind the reflector and possibly an airflow switch right above the bulb on your exhaust too. Assuming no one has been rewiring the unit lately, if the blower is running behind the reflector, you have power going to the lamphouse. Be sure and check that as well, because I've seen many SLX units with a 110 plug instead of obtaining it's power from the supply.

Also, not all switchers have pretty lights on them. Just look at the model number plate and post the model.

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If the contactor does close, and your boost circuit is goofy, there won't be enough to allow the igniter to fire. If your open circuit voltage is correct and the igniter does not fire, I would suspect a mafunctioning igniter.

Just for shits and grins, did you press the manual ignition button? It is underneath the top cover of the lamp, access is through a small hole which may have a chrome 1/2 inch knock-out cover. Pry that thing loose with your thumb nail or a screwdriver, and the manual ignition button is right under it. (oops - looks like Mark beat me to this one. )

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Dustin:

Have you checked the air flow switch located in the back of the lamphouse? Sometimes dirt gets on the switch arm causing the switch not to work. You wrote that you had already checked the safety switch on the lamphouse door. Is the contactor being activated in the xenon power supply? You should hear a click from the power supply whenever you flip the manual switch on the back of the lamphouse. If you don't hear the contactor you might try swapping a power supply from another theatre?

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And the cookie goes to Greg . The MTS tech actually suggested that right after I threw up this thread. We were so busy today I didn't have time to reply that the problem had been solved. Thanks to all of you though for the replys. Needless to say I've read all of them in case of future problems.

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In a "brute force" power supply the AC line is stepped down to 27volts with a large step-down transformer and fed to the diodes. For a 2,000 watt supply this transformer can weigh up to a hundred pounds (a lot of iron). Then a heavy (tens of pounds) choke coil is needed, followed by a few filter condensers. In a "switcher" supply, the transformer can weigh around five (5) pounds. The higher frequency reduces the amount of iron needed. (In fact it's not iron but iron particles compressed into a "donut" shape. Much more effcient than flat iron laminations bolted together.)

The output voltage is monitored by a electronic circuit that varies the frequency of the AC fed to the transformer thus ensuring that the output voltage is very constant reguardless of variations in the input voltage and the load current. This also allows changing the bulb current with a small control resistance instead of moving taps on a transformer with heavy-duty switches (or a screwdriver with all power off!) or having series pass regulators which control output voltage by converting volts you don't need into heat!

Of course, this adds a lot of complexity to the supply vs. a simple transformer-diode bridge-choke-filter cap. supply, but the advantages are worth it. Smaller means less heat, better regulation and control. Every Personal Computer uses a "switcher" in it's power supply, so the technology is very well developed.

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