| Message/Author |
|
|
 Anonymous posted on Friday, February 25, 2000 - 04:15 pm
|
|
|
| A noted lamp supplier has supposedly gone under. Any words from anyone? |
|
|
|
|
| Well, let's see. From some quick web browsing it looks like Perkin Elmer bought ORC. Is that what you're asking? |
|
|
| FilmSpeed posted on Friday, February 25, 2000 - 07:02 pm
|
|
|
| ORC was bought some time last year or so buy EG&G and that company is now Perkinelmar ORC. Gee , just when they got all their stationary and business cards printed EG&G. Oh well. :-) |
|
|
| Anonymous posted on Monday, February 28, 2000 - 03:45 pm
|
|
|
| Duro-Test has "left the building". |
|
|
|
|
| Earlier in the week, I got a call from Imax. They were doing a survey: What kind of lamps am I using, and what kind of lamps do I have as spares...I answered Ushio to both questions. Interesting timing though...I wonder if this is related to poor ol' Durotest pulling up stakes. Any thoughts? |
|
|
|
|
I placed an order for a new lamp over three weeks ago with a certain manufacturer of Xenon lamps that starts with a "D" and ends with a "T". After repeated attempts at communicating with the company, I finally gave up and ordered through a vendor. Has anyone else had problems with this "certain" company that appears to have closed their Xenon doors and left in the middle of the night?
I guess this leaves Ushio and ORC as the only two choices...would be nice to know the official story - if there is one - regarding the sudden loss of said supplier.
I just installed my first Ushio last week and have been happy with it so far. Would like to know everyone elses thoughts on subject. Will two of the three be able to meet the demand in the next two quarters? |
|
|
| Jim DiDio posted on Tuesday, February 29, 2000 - 08:42 am
|
|
|
I've had lamp problems for two years now. I had five Duro-Tests in a row that had to be pulled early (between 700 and 950 hours) due to tremendous flicker and arc wander. Another had to be pulled at 5 hours because it wouldn't stop leaking. Yet another didn't even make it into the lamphouse because the flanges on one end were uneven.
I tried an Ushio after that. It also flickered and wandered very early and had to be pulled because, when on standby, the voltage would creep up to over 50 volts and the lamp would go out.
People have come down and poked about, and didn't find anything tremendously wrong with my system. The only thing we did was boost the exhaust air.
I have heard rumblings about problems getting good quartz, and problems getting good electrode material. I assume that such problems would affect all three suppliers, so I don't have warm fuzzy feelings about the future lamp supply for 1570. |
|
|
| Jim Walker posted on Tuesday, February 29, 2000 - 08:47 am
|
|
|
| I, too, have faxed in a purchase order to the above mentioned lamp manufacturer... I received a letter shortly after I placed the order that said they were experiencing some delays in filling orders, but they would be back in touch. Nothing yet... |
|
|
|
|
| Our Ushio rep called this morning- he said it is his understanding that Duro-Test has "closed it doors", whether or not forever is unclear. In any case, he advised me to go ahead and order a lamp now to avoid the backlog; they were not expecting to be half of the supply of 15KW lamps and may not be able to meet demands right away. |
|
|
| Jim DiDio posted on Friday, March 03, 2000 - 09:32 am
|
|
|
#1: I don't think Duro-Test "closed it's doors"; it's a large company that manufactures a lot of stuff. The 1570 end of it may be done, yes, but I don't think the company is.
#2: Of COURSE he advised you to go ahead and "order a lamp now to avoid the backlog." You think he'd say anything different, even if they had 5000 15kW lamps in storage? He's the SALES REP! [g] If his boss heard him say, "Oh, no... don't bother buying our product right now, we've got plenty of it," he'd probably be selling fries by noon! :) |
|
|
|
|
| Being a persistent type of person, I called the main Duro-test number and went through the directory until I actually got a real person. Everyone's voice mail was business as usual. But the real person, told me he couldn't really tell me exactly what was happening because he wasn't certain. But there is only 15 people left there. That 75 to 80% of the employees were let go two weeks ago. They were called into a meeting and told the news. He did say that of all the areas of the business that the 15K business was a successful area and that they are hoping that they will get back up and running. He took my name and number and promised to try to find a contact for me. |
|
|
|
|
| If it's true about not being able to come up with "good" quartz and electrode material, then why wouldn't it be advantageous for Ushio to buy back old lamps like Durotest did? It's gotta be something else... |
|
|
| Jim Kral posted on Friday, March 03, 2000 - 01:25 pm
|
|
|
Hi Cherie and thanks for the good info. I too had a call from IMAX. We have been using Ushio 15k's ever since they came out which may be 3-5
years ago or so. FOR US, the Ushios give a better brightness level and they are more prompt in delivery. We have had no problems with the lamps whatsoever. ( FYI I just ordered 2ea 15k's and they told me they are in stock and will ship right out. The cost is also less than what we were paying from the competition.) The only other thing is with the Ushios they say to run them at 420 amps instead of 400 with the other lamp maker. We also run our lamps upto 1150 hrs with no problem. With all that said seems Ushio is a very tough competitor. |
|
|
|
|
| Their salespeople are a little more persistent as well. |
|
|
| Jim Walker posted on Wednesday, March 08, 2000 - 11:38 am
|
|
|
| I was told yesterday by a representative of Duro-Test that they had gone through a bit of "re-organization". The xenon lamp division "hoped" to be back in full operation soon, but they couldn't guarantee delivery of lamps for about 6 weeks. |
|
|
|
|
We recieved a call froma Duro-Test rep who confirmed that they had some sort of bankruption and a change of management, but will continue making 15K Xenon lamps. Mr.DT rep said he was trying to get with previous customers to see if they were still interested (hmmm)in DT lamps. I suggested this site to him and mentioned the "Ushio vs. Duro-Test" discussion and the fact that there are many Duro-Test loyalists from the days when there was only DT. He seemed excited to have the information about the projectionist's website and the fact that there are actually Duro-Test loyalists. So, this is good news.
Jim D: yes, I know he's a salesman and is therefore supposed to sell stuff, but with only the one lamp (in the machine), I needed to order anyway. Better safe than not having a lamp.
Erik: Ushio does buy back used Xenon lamps- we get a $100 credit for each one. Not much money in relation to what we pay for new ones, but when you're non-profit, every penny helps. |
|
|
| Jim DiDio posted on Wednesday, March 08, 2000 - 08:44 pm
|
|
|
Ian: the comment about the sales rep was supposed to be humorous. You know, [g]?
As far as Duro-Test's lamps go, I would like to see them back in business if only to give Ushio competition. But, in all honesty, I'm not happy with the product from either of them right now. My one and only Ushio lamp did tremendously freaky things, and I can't even get them to return my phone calls so I know where to ship the corpse. And my current lamp, a Duro-Test, is already flickering at 350 hours. If ORC was smart, they'd be sending a rep around to talk to every Theater Manager in person and try to drum themselves up some business. |
|
|
|
|
| I think it's still the case that the ORC lamps are only cleared by Imax for 2D use not 3D, so if DT didn't get back up and running then Ushio would still have monopoly for 15kW 3D. |
|
|
| Jim DiDio posted on Thursday, March 09, 2000 - 11:24 am
|
|
|
| Lamp update: I've talked to Bob Fujihara at Ushio, and he was very helpful. Thanks to Bob, my funky Ushio is soon going to be on it's way out to California for a once-over. (And, hopefully, between Ushio, Duro-Test, and the Imax Service Dept., I can figure out what in my system is causing lamps to go bonkers after 350-500 hours.) |
|
|
| Back to top |
