Film-Tech Cinema Systems
Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE


  
my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home
  next oldest topic   next newest topic
» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Digital Cinema Forum   » Dowser - maximum closed time with lamp on

   
Author Topic: Dowser - maximum closed time with lamp on
Gavin Lewarne
Master Film Handler

Posts: 278
From: Plymouth, UK
Registered: Aug 2009


 - posted 01-27-2013 02:42 AM      Profile for Gavin Lewarne   Email Gavin Lewarne   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Hi Everyone

I have actually spent the time to look back through all 50 odd pages in the digital forum, and run a few searches as well, but cant seem to find an answer to my question.

Is there a maximum "safe" time you can have the dowser closed, with the lamp on, projecting a black, or nearly black image?

I know on 35mm machines it can range from just a few seconds to a few minutes. On our Vic5, if the main lamphouse dowser is open we only ever use the shutter dowser for the leaders and tails of the film. Having left it down myself a couple times it only takes about a minute to start to smell it.

So, is there a concensus on the digital dowsers? I was thinking of it in this context-

Lets say my video monitor is broken, and i need to be Playing a bluray. So turn on the projector, cue the film and pause on black. Need to wait 15 minutes to start it, leave lamp on and dowser down or extinguish lamp and wait the 15 minutes?

Cheers!

 |  IP: Logged

Marco Giustini
Film God

Posts: 2713
From: Reading, UK
Registered: Nov 2007


 - posted 01-27-2013 04:22 AM      Profile for Marco Giustini   Email Marco Giustini   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
On a Barco the shutter is before the lens and the picture is automatically blackened by the DLP when the dowser goes down, hence there shouldn't be a time limit. (That was changed by software, previously they had trouble with bent shutters).

I don't really know about Christie, where the shutter is before the light engine.

 |  IP: Logged

Gavin Lewarne
Master Film Handler

Posts: 278
From: Plymouth, UK
Registered: Aug 2009


 - posted 01-27-2013 04:37 AM      Profile for Gavin Lewarne   Email Gavin Lewarne   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
That's great info Marco, thanks (we have a barco)

 |  IP: Logged

Jock Blakley
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 218
From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Registered: Oct 2011


 - posted 01-27-2013 06:08 AM      Profile for Jock Blakley   Email Jock Blakley   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Marco, even if the picture is automatically blanked, that wouldn't have any effect on the heat from the lamp, would it?

 |  IP: Logged

Marco Giustini
Film God

Posts: 2713
From: Reading, UK
Registered: Nov 2007


 - posted 01-27-2013 06:29 AM      Profile for Marco Giustini   Email Marco Giustini   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
When the picture is blanked, all the light enters the light ngine and then is diverted to some heatsinks inside the light engine. On a Christie the heatsink is fitted on the front of the unit, it's a V shaped metal element.
Hence, almost no light reaches the lens/dowser.

The only doubt I have is whether the light engine is capable of dissipating all the light for an undefined time, but I have never heard otherwise and I have seen many machines working for several hours a day showing nothing and it did not look like a problem.

 |  IP: Logged

Dave Macaulay
Film God

Posts: 2321
From: Toronto, Canada
Registered: Apr 2001


 - posted 01-27-2013 07:33 AM      Profile for Dave Macaulay   Email Dave Macaulay   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I've wondered about the different approaches Barco and Christie have taken. The Christie dowser is able to take lamp energy indefinitely, I've never seen one damaged. The Barco dowser on the 23B and 32B had overheating issues with bright images, and an advisory went out about it: this was later handled in a software version that blanks the image with dowser closed. The light engine itself can take lamp heat pretty much forever, part of the annual maintenance involves projecting a black image for an hour then checking the system temperatures. I've never found one with unusual temperatures on the DMDs. I asked a Barco engineer about it and the idea is to have the light engine avoid focus and convergence changes as it warms up. I have looked at the convergence pattern immediately after lamp start and as it heats up and the change is small but visible. I don't know why Christie took the opposite approach.

 |  IP: Logged

Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999


 - posted 01-27-2013 07:58 AM      Profile for Steve Guttag   Email Steve Guttag   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Christie's approach is consistent with film designs. The best way to keep heat/light out of the system is to not let it in in the first place. The down side is Christie's dowser is slower and is going to have more wear problems over time due to the greater mass involved.

I'm good with both ideas.

Thus far, I have not found a time limit for leaving the douser closed. Then again, I recommend leaving the dowser open unless there is a demonstrated reason for closing it.

 |  IP: Logged

Marco Giustini
Film God

Posts: 2713
From: Reading, UK
Registered: Nov 2007


 - posted 01-27-2013 08:02 AM      Profile for Marco Giustini   Email Marco Giustini   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Dave Macaulay
part of the annual maintenance involves projecting a black image for an hour then checking the system temperatures
Hi Dave,
Where did you find the above reccomendation?
I think the DMD wouldn't heat up when showing a black picture, they're not absorbing the light. As said, the light is reflected on some heatsinks outside the light engine, hence I don't think there is any difference for the DMDs whether they're showing Black or White, but if it's black the projector needs to dissipate the extra heat from the light engine cavity - which shouldn't be a big deal.

 |  IP: Logged

Dave Macaulay
Film God

Posts: 2321
From: Toronto, Canada
Registered: Apr 2001


 - posted 01-27-2013 08:57 AM      Profile for Dave Macaulay   Email Dave Macaulay   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
In the manual under service tasks...

 |  IP: Logged

Marco Giustini
Film God

Posts: 2713
From: Reading, UK
Registered: Nov 2007


 - posted 01-27-2013 11:12 AM      Profile for Marco Giustini   Email Marco Giustini   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Found it, thanks!

That, IMHO, is not necessarily for checking temperatures but to check the entire machine's status. That said, because showing a black picture is testing the cooling capabilities of the projector, it's indeed a good test to do.

 |  IP: Logged

Jock Blakley
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 218
From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Registered: Oct 2011


 - posted 01-27-2013 05:35 PM      Profile for Jock Blakley   Email Jock Blakley   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Thank you Marco, that's good to know.

 |  IP: Logged



All times are Central (GMT -6:00)  
   Close Topic    Move Topic    Delete Topic    next oldest topic   next newest topic
 - Printer-friendly view of this topic
Hop To:



Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classicTM 6.3.1.2

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.

© 1999-2020 Film-Tech Cinema Systems, LLC. All rights reserved.