I broke the bulb on my Mac's Mini HID

:mecry::mecry: :mecry: Long story short... the top part of my HID bulb in Mac's Mini HID broke and I'm left with a functioning HID with a ragged bulb.

There are some parts that are still left benind, the glass only broke half the way. The beam is scarred now... :mecry:

Question is... do I break of the rest of the glass bits or not?

If so, how do I go about doing it?? If not, then is it fine to just leave it as it is, scarred beam not withstanding...

Many CPF'rs intentionally break away the outer glass of the Welch/Allyn lamp. The EZnite comes that way from the factory. Just carefully break the rest of the outer glass, bit by bit. It does not affect the operation of the lamp in any way. Wear safety goggles. I've used needle nose pliers to gently snip tiny bits at a time.

How robust is the filament (ok, I know its not a filament) or whatever it is thats producing light inside the glass.

If while changing reflector, the reflector accidentally knocks against it, will I be left with an expensive paper weight???

Depends on whether you damage/crack the glass. There's quite a few of those lamp/ballast combos out with CPF'rs and I can't remember the last time I read about a damaged bulb. Worse case, you can get a replacement bulb from Brightguy for about $85 if I remember correctly.

I've taken the outer chimney off a couple of bulbs now using a little diamond cutting wheel on a dremel. The one thing I found out the hard way is that the connection between the arc chamber and the squarish piece of glass that has the wire and fuse in it is the weak point. So just keep that in mind, and try not to put any significant load on that point. Other than that take it slowly and good luck.

Did the cuttings from the diamond wheel operation mar the glass? Seems like the cuttings trail could sandblast the arc tube outer glass?

Needle nose pliers and slow, deliberate cracking of the glass tends to reduce the amount of glass dust produced. Positioning the area being cracked down towards the ground, or vacuum helps pull the broken glass away from the inner envelope.

BVH said:

Did the cuttings from the diamond wheel operation mar the glass? Seems like the cuttings trail could sandblast the arc tube outer glass?

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I tell you what BVH I believe it has ! And I think I know when it happened too. I could be wrong, and please correct me if I am, but I think there might be a vacuum between the arc tube and the outer glass because when the wheel ground through the outer glass I could have sworn I saw some quartz dust get sucked in past the arc tube. Fortunately there isn't much damage, it is limited to about a ~1/16th" patch, and it isn't totally opaque, but still.....

I'm glad you asked the question, because otherwise I wouldn't have thought dust so fine could have done that.

Has anyone checked for any increase in UV from these lamps with the outer cover removed? We had a mercury vapor light that lost its outer cover, and found it to be releasing a lot of dangerous UV. The light wasn't mounted very high on the side of a shed. As ragweed started getting close to it (we have seen that stuff grow up to 14 feet) we notice some dramatic changes in leaf formation. It may be a good idea to check this.

DN

Tessaiga, were you able to remove the rest of the evelope? The inner glass is delicate but you'd have to push the reflector agaist it fairly hard to break it.

Just out of curiousity, how did you break your outer envelope?

Patriot36 said:

Tessaiga, were you able to remove the rest of the evelope? The inner glass is delicate but you'd have to push the reflector agaist it fairly hard to break it.

Just out of curiousity, how did you break your outer envelope?

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Well... I got this aspheric lens from KD and was busy trying it on different mag heads to see the effect... I know that it doesn't really work on incan type of bulbs and setup but I just gave it a go for the heck of it. screwed it down too hard and the rest is history...

I have not removed the rest of the envelope... i have read some horror thread warning that it might become a 20,000 volt stun gun if something goes wrong... or am I reading it wrongly??
So, the question really is... to do or not to do... :devil:

Tessaiga said:

Well... I got this aspheric lens from KD and was busy trying it on different mag heads to see the effect... I know that it doesn't really work on incan type of bulbs and setup but I just gave it a go for the heck of it. screwed it down too hard and the rest is history...

I have not removed the rest of the envelope... i have read some horror thread warning that it might become a 20,000 volt stun gun if something goes wrong... or am I reading it wrongly??
So, the question really is... to do or not to do... :devil:

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Ah, I was wondering if it head was screwed down too far... It would be easy to do if you got to working quickly though.

You'd have to link the thread that you're reading because once the batteries are out, it wouldn't make an efficient capacitor so the risk would be small to begin with and nearly non-existent after the light has been sitting for a while.

The best I can describe the outer envelope breaking procedure is that it's not nearly as daunting as it may sound. The hardest part is the initial break but that's already been done for you. I try to stay low near the base where the two rectangular air vents are and pick it apart from there. Mini needle-nose pliers seem to work the best because they're capable of crushing where tweezers really aren't. The beam quality will improve but the remaining envelope will be even more prone to breaking if you screw the head down too far again. You may consider marking the body with a max depth line to avoid making the same mistake. To take full advantage of the smaller bulb you'd need to get a new reflector with the smallest bulb opening. The only option is to purchase a new bulb, so considering that I think you should go for it.

OK... I went ahead and did it... safety and 20,000 V stun gun issues be damned...

I removed all the glass envelope right down to the thermal compound portion, if that is what it is...

The beam is now gorgeous.. intense round hot spot with minimal side spill... I like mine focused to a tight hotspot with less side spill... mine is fulfilling the role as a thrower light and how it throws... brilliant

Was a bit gingerish when i turned it on the first time after i removed it... images of me being reduced to a convulsing mess constantly popped into mind...

BUT.... all's well and I could not be happier... thanks to everyone for all the advice...

Ok now go and have a shot at the aspheric lens again and see what happens.

Tessaiga said:

Was a bit gingerish when i turned it on the first time after i removed it... images of me being reduced to a convulsing mess constantly popped into mind...

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Whatever that thread was it must have really freaked you out..lol. Anyhow, I'm glad that you actually did it and are pleased with the results. It makes for a much nicer beam imo. Just be careful, now not to screw the head down too far because it would break even more easily that it did the first time.