8mm Forum: Using Different Bulb Wattage?

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Posted by Luis Gonzalez (Member # 1556) on May 11, 2009, 05:51 PM:

Will using a bulb with a higher wattage fry my projectors motor?
My projector uses a 80 Watt Bulb but I have a 150 Watt bulb that fits and lit up when I tried it for a few seconds.
Thanks

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on May 11, 2009, 07:15 PM:

Hi Luis,

It's not so much the motor, but the wiring, switch contacts, fuse, socket and transformer that power the bulb. All of these will be running hotter than with the intended bulb.

They won't last as long as they would have otherwise. If this means they will fry in 5 minutes or 5 years remains to be seen: it all depends on how much fat the original designers built in when they designed the projector. Since Fat=Cost, it's not promising.

The bulb probably won't last as long as rated either, since the cooling air available to it probably won't be adequate to operate at a recommended temperature.

You can drain your radiator and drive your car around for a minute and not do any damage at all, but.....................

Posted by John W. Black (Member # 1082) on May 13, 2009, 10:23 PM:

As long as the voltage matches,you should be ok.Some 16mm machines can handle bulbs from 300 to 1000 volts

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on May 14, 2009, 05:54 AM:

I think you mean "Watts".

Posted by Luis Gonzalez (Member # 1556) on May 16, 2009, 03:14 PM:

Don't try this at home. I used the higher wattage bulb and it ran fine for about 7-8 minutes then It smelled like something was burning and as I reached for the on off knob it completely stopped and now no longer works. I was warned but I didn't listen. I learned a valuable lesson, I'll never do that again.

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on May 16, 2009, 04:59 PM:

Just maybe you've lucked out here.

Since it stopped completely my best guess is the fuse blew. I would imagine if you fried something in the lamp circuit without the fuse blowing then everything else (sound, motor) would still work.

It's also possible the fuse blew because something else roasted first, but we have to start somewhere.

Posted by John W. Black (Member # 1082) on May 17, 2009, 11:40 PM:

Sorry,I meant watts.If your voltage matches,it should be fine unless it's a cheaper plastic filled machine

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on May 18, 2009, 06:15 AM:

The thing about it is a machine designed to accomodate a bulb in the range of 300 to 1,000 Watts is really always a 1,000W machine. It was designed to operate with a 1,000W bulb all the time and give the designed service life.

If you should put the 300W bulb in there you are just operating it way underrated: kind of like driving a Ferrari no faster than 25 MPH. It's a huge waste of potential and expense, but it will do it all day and never break a sweat.

Using a machine with a lower rated bulb probably just means that that some other sub system of the machine will fail first instead of the lamp circuit.

The typical S8 machine is intended for a specific bulb and wattage: maybe less, never more.

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