GS1200..250Watt lamp

[Brian Fretwell]

I remember Derann saying at one time they were getting some ESC lamps made for GS1200 owners. I believe they were no way as good as the originals and they didn't get a second order made.

[Lee Mannering]

Well done Graham I love to read about upgrades and dedication to keep em going.

I'm down to my last genuine Elmo 200w lamp now which was one of the reasons for going up the HID lamp route in a trusty Eumig. My workhorse Elmo GS1200 now HID and with a 2 blade shutter is a tower of light and handy for halls when we get back to them.

Mentioned before that I had been using 250 watt in the gs for some time but yes you have a risk of the power supply to burn out. I rested on the perhaps risky thought the designers left enough tolerance to drive the bigger lamp. The focus is perhaps different tho.

Some ESC 200w lamps are being sold in white boxes and I measured these up against my new Elmo GS1200 lamp. The white box ones are around 27% less bright so pass on those perhaps.

[Paul Adsett]

The 200 watt EJL lamp is much dimmer than the OEM 200 watt ESC, which has a filament specifically designed for the super 8mm gate. But the ESC is no longer available and Graham's ELC conversion offers the means to equaling or exceeding the light output obtained from the original ESC , without endangering the life of the projectors transformer. In fact the life of the transformer will be increased because all lamp load is removed. Another advantage is that the color temp of the ELC is where it should be for optimal saturation of projected color prints, which may not be the case for HID modified projectors. Even in a home room environment super 8mm projectors can always benefit from more light especially when projecting scope films. I find that my GS1200, even with the ESC lamp and 2-blade shutter and f1.0 lens, is noticeably dimmer than my video projector.

[Simon McConway]

I feel that if Elmo had thought the 250w lamp was worth it, then they would have used it.

[Maurice Leakey]

The correct lamp for the GS-1200 is the ESC (24V 200W).
I have always used these, and on the lower power setting the light is quite adequate for home use.

Maurice

[Brian Fretwell]

Good to see that you are keeping with Elmo for the lamp power supply. I believe that the 250w lamp is focused more for the 16mm gate at standard separation and moving it back compensates for this.

[Graham Ritchie]

Just a quick mention as I have been asked about using a 250 watt lamp. Years ago I gave up using the EJL as a lamp in the GS1200, as its dull. Using a 250 watt lamp seemed like a good idea, folks have used it without any problems with the projector transformer. However with the age of these machines, I was reluctant to take that chance. I opted for a external power supply for the Osram Xenophot ELC 24v 250watt. The downside to using an external power supply, is that you have to remember to switch the GS1200 lamp to "ON" as this switches the lamp cooling on as well. You could leave it on all the time for cooling if you wanted to in case you might forget.

One excellent point regarding using the 250 watt lamp, that was brought up by Thomas in Germany on the forum, was to move the lamp holder back 10mm, as this will focus the lamp better, and as such, more light, this is what Thomas came up with, and it does work

When I worked at the cinema, we used Elmo slide projectors, in time they wore out and were heading to the scrap. What you can do with those old slide projectors, is to junk the mechanics, leaving the rest in place. Running a couple of wires from the old lamp wiring, up to the GS1200 means you can still use the High/low lamp switch on the slide projector.

Using old slide projectors is a cheap way to get your 250watts.

Anyway here are a couple of photos, I did alter three old Elmo slide projectors, and have a good supply of Osram lamps that will last years.

PS....I am finding that by moving the lamp back the 10mm, does seem to improve the lamp cooling, as I don't see any discolour on the mirror, nothing like it used to be as the lamp gets older.