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Author Topic: PlusRite Lamps - Anyone used them? Gavin Lewarne Master Film Handler Posts: 278 From: Plymouth, UK Registered: Aug 2009 posted 11-05-2014 05:27 AM                     I just received the monthly "newsletter" from DCinex (our VPF group support company) offering a new line of PlusRite lamps certified for use in their vpf funded projectors. Our finance guy is very tempted as they are considerably cheaper than the Ushio lamps we usually purchase. DCinex claim they offer the same life and reliability and warranty cover as ushio. I must admit, their introductory offer is very tempting. Has anyone got any feedback on this brand of lamp? experiences? As far as I can tell they are a Chinese brand. Thanks  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-05-2014 06:59 AM                     There is Ushio...and then everyone else is way below them. It is easier to be cheaper when you make an inferior product. It is unreasonable to think one can make a similar quality product for significantly less money. Ushio also constantly is a leader in lamp development...odds are, the others are trying to copy a design rather than develop it and know how/why it is made the way it is. I've seen that alot. If lamp design was easy, there wouldn't be such a clear cut leader in the field.  |  IP: Logged Marcel Birgelen Film God Posts: 3357 From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands Registered: Feb 2012 posted 11-05-2014 07:39 AM                     There was a discussion about those lamps here before. Maybe you should ask DCinex if they're willing to take over any warranty claims if it blows up while they figure it out with the supplier...  |  IP: Logged Gavin Lewarne Master Film Handler Posts: 278 From: Plymouth, UK Registered: Aug 2009 posted 11-05-2014 07:49 AM                     Steve - I have always fitted nothing but ushio during our 35mm days and now our digital system. I have never had a single problem with their lamps. If I was in charge of the money, I would continue to purchase them, but our Arts council funding has been significantly reduced and as a charity we have to save as much money as possible now and I am under a lot of pressure to minimize costs Marcel - The newsletter about these new lamps was from DCInex themselves, and it very clearly stated that they will honour warranty against flicker, lamp life and explosion right up to the normal lamp hours, including reflector and lamphouse damage. Honestly, with the financial pressure we are under, it is an extremely tempting offer. Im going to try to hold out, but at the end of the day the decision really isn't mine in this case.  |  IP: Logged Marcel Birgelen Film God Posts: 3357 From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands Registered: Feb 2012 posted 11-05-2014 08:09 AM                     Gavin, My question is who is "they" in this story? The Chinese lamp manufacturer? Because how trustworthy are they in this?  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-05-2014 08:33 AM                     There are some areas in life where saving money bites you in the end...xenon lamps are one of those areas. The best warranty is the one you don't have to use.  |  IP: Logged Gavin Lewarne Master Film Handler Posts: 278 From: Plymouth, UK Registered: Aug 2009 posted 11-05-2014 08:33 AM                     Marcel - That is the only question I have had, and I have already sent the same question to DCInex by email, just waiting on their reply. Steve - Our organisation has had funding cut by 1/3rd and staff redundancies are imminent. As I said before, its not my choice, if it was, it would be Ushio. But with severe financial limitations compromises have to be made, and Projection maintenance costs are under intense scrutiny by those in charge of our finances. If they decide to go ahead with the purchase of these lamps, there isn't anything I can do about it.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-05-2014 10:29 AM                     Then why even ask?  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-05-2014 11:20 AM                     If you haven't started tracking your lamp usage, start right now. Keep accurate records of when lamps are installed, when they are removed, why they were changed and any notes that you can make about lamp performance. You might already have a lot of this information in the projector logs. Put this information in a spreadsheet and break it down in terms of cost per hour. (Price of a lamp divided by the number of hours of lamp life.). Factor in cost of labor to replace lamps that fail early. Also keep track of lost or compromised shows due to lamp problems. If, as you say, management is determined to buy the cheaper lamps, regardless of your advice, then you can use these spreadsheets to compare overall, long-term cost of using a particular brand of lamp. After you have used a few different brands of lamps, the data should show the difference pretty clearly. I have done cost analysis like this on two different occasions and, in my experience, there is at least a 25% increase in overall, long-term cost when using cheaper lamps and possibly 50% or more, It often takes hard numbers to convince empty suits that buying cheaper equipment or supplies is a false economy.  |  IP: Logged Marcel Birgelen Film God Posts: 3357 From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands Registered: Feb 2012 posted 11-05-2014 12:19 PM                     Well, the difference here is that the Chinese supplier guarantees the same amount of hours as USHIO. If you're doing it right and don't want to risk expensive, uncovered damages to your equipment, you're not running those lamps past their guaranteed hours anyway. So, let's assume the supplier keeps its promises regarding lifespan. Then, in the end, it will be a lot cheaper. Both in the books and probably even in the real world. But the thing that might suffer here is the quality of the presentation. How stable are those lamps? What about the actual brightness? And how does this brightness keep up during the production run? How good is the service? Those are the open-ended questions, but they don't immediately appear on any balance sheet...  |  IP: Logged Gavin Lewarne Master Film Handler Posts: 278 From: Plymouth, UK Registered: Aug 2009 posted 11-05-2014 01:05 PM                     Randy, this is something I already do so I will have something to compare it to. I log when lamps are changed, for what model and running hours every month, as well as keep a spreadsheet of Lamp output brightness (according to the light sensor in the projector) I always change lamps when they are around 200 hours to warranty, since we use the 1.2Kw lamps we are talking warranties lifespans of 3000 hours. It happens to coincide with 1 year of average useage for our site. If we do get one of these Plusrite lamps, it will certainly be interesting so see the brightness falloff compared to the usual Ushios I have records of. Of course, this all depends on what Dcinex have to say about who honours the warranties should a failure occur.  |  IP: Logged Rick Raskin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1100 From: Manassas Virginia Registered: Jan 2003 posted 11-05-2014 02:01 PM                     Best cost is not necessarily least cost.  |  IP: Logged Pete Naples Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1565 From: Dunfermline, Scotland Registered: Feb 2001 posted 11-05-2014 04:43 PM                     Tread very carefully....  |  IP: Logged Gavin Lewarne Master Film Handler Posts: 278 From: Plymouth, UK Registered: Aug 2009 posted 11-05-2014 04:50 PM                     Pete, I fully intend to Im waiting on response from DCInex as to who honors the warranty. If they pass it off to the Chinese our management will not go for it, I got that far with them at least. EDIT: Not sure if DCInex are up to something, in their newsletter they claim the projector manufacturers have tested and certified the lamps, but I cannot find any reference to Plusrite lamps in Barco Communicator, only Osram, Ushio and Philips. We are running the very latest Barco firmware. Ill mention this to the finance people tomorrow morning, hopefully that will convince them. EDIT2: The plot thickens.....Forget everything I have asked about. Managers convinced (stick with Ushio)...Strange goings-on...  |  IP: Logged Marcel Birgelen Film God Posts: 3357 From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands Registered: Feb 2012 posted 11-05-2014 05:58 PM                     I don't know about the others, but I'm still interested in the answer DCinex will come up with.  |  IP: Logged

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