Short arc Metal halide

Historically, if we want an insane light saber, the only option is short arc xenon because of it's extremely short arc.

Metal halide is efficient, but not as concentrated.

But it's getting better.

http://livedesignonline.com/mag/philips_msr_gold/index.html

Philips has the MSR Gold 1200 SA/SE

At 1200 watts, the arc gap is only 5 mm, and it produces 95,000 lumens.

If i'm not mistaken, isn't the arc gap of a D2S lamp almost 5 mm? However, utilizing a larger reflector, such as a 12" or so, can't we make a good searchlight out of this? I have a 400 watt metal halide floodlight, and the arc gap on that thing is probably close to 30mm.

Hi Xzn,

Sounds very promising...

Tho I like portable, this can be the oppertunity to build a quite easily movable searchlight.
But I wonder what the cost will be for bulb + ballast..


Thanks for posting this..


Regards,

Ra.

Looks good, now we just have to find a compact 800-1400W ballast.

I believe the lowest wattage "Short arc metal halide" lamp philips produces is 400 watts. A bit more reasonable and can be run off of a large SLA. Has an even shorter gap a that wattage.

Ra: I am very familiar with this lamp, it's been out since 2004, but forgot to post. Everyone in the theatrical / entertainment lighting knows about it. Best way to acquire a ballast for it is to search for a salvage / non working lighting fixture and remove the ballast from that unit. In an industry that can afford to get 250, $10,000 Moving lighting fixtures for 1 show, usually doesn't care about getting money for their non working units. They just sell it to auctioneers or liquidators for pennies on the dollar. Trick is getting in front of the auctioneer. I've gotten a handful of free spotlights over the years. I've even gotten a free 48 channel lightboard because they installed a new $15,000 lightboard and just wanted to get rid of the old one.

A staple of the lighting industry which uses the 1200 watt lamp: http://martin.com/product/product.asp?product=mac2000performance

Pricing: http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&q=Martin+Mac+2000&um=1&sa=N&tab=wf

Actually Philips makes a MSR1200SA 1200w short arc lamp, the brightest so far.

Xzn said:

I believe the lowest wattage "Short arc metal halide" lamp philips produces is 400 watts.

Click to expand...

mezzman said:

Actually Philips makes a MSR1200SA 1200w short arc lamp, the brightest so far.

Click to expand...

Yes... that's the title of my thread, but I was also including the 400 for those who want a more compact, less power hungry option..

Aha, you're right! Apologies for being redundant.

Anyone find a place to buy the 800-1400watt ballast and price?

That's helicopter searchlight territory! To make that portable would make you look like someone armed with a flame thrower. You know that sounds perfect for people around here!