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FB500 Lamp Hours/Power
- Thread starter neil_se
- Start date
Desert_Signs
New Member
For the price, I just replace mine when the machine calls for it, at 500 hours. It's easy and inexpensive.
OutputTech
New Member
i turned up the intensity, then changed the lamps recently on my fb700
if blue painters tape pulls off the ink its time to change the lamps
if blue painters tape pulls off the ink its time to change the lamps
Turnergraphics
New Member
fb500 lamps
I purchased 2 new lamps and they both have a large brown spot in the middle, which makes me think it's used. My old lamps have 800 hours on them and don't have a large brown spot on them. The spot is kind of glittery. Has anybody else seen this? Are the new lamps good? My tech says it's not unusual.
I purchased 2 new lamps and they both have a large brown spot in the middle, which makes me think it's used. My old lamps have 800 hours on them and don't have a large brown spot on them. The spot is kind of glittery. Has anybody else seen this? Are the new lamps good? My tech says it's not unusual.
Jboogie214
New Member
Im up to 767 hours on my fb 700. I just turned up uv lamp power when i noticed on some substrates that the ink felt sticky so to speak. That was the first sign the lamps were losing its curing power. So Far i haven't had any other issues curing wise. I do periodically scratch the edges of some samples i run especially on big jobs. If your able to scratch off the ink rather easily it be wise to change lamps. Good luck
uvgerard
New Member
Brown spot on UV lamp
I believe I addressed this before, the "brown spot" is actually iron iodide, a salt used in the manufacture of the UV lamp. When the lamp heats up it vaporizes into the arc stream. It will re-appear when lamp cools off. The fact you cannot see it in a used lamp simply means the halide salt is diffused around the inner surface of the lamp. Believe me it is still there.
Lamps are not designed to last longer than 500 hours. If you change lamps and ink does not cure I would always look at the shutter assembly to be sure it opens all the way.
I believe I addressed this before, the "brown spot" is actually iron iodide, a salt used in the manufacture of the UV lamp. When the lamp heats up it vaporizes into the arc stream. It will re-appear when lamp cools off. The fact you cannot see it in a used lamp simply means the halide salt is diffused around the inner surface of the lamp. Believe me it is still there.
Lamps are not designed to last longer than 500 hours. If you change lamps and ink does not cure I would always look at the shutter assembly to be sure it opens all the way.
724 hours on the original lamps here and still going strong with the power increase function on. Still curing fine.
At first we had a very strange problem with the UV lamps always reading under current, after installing a transformer to bring the voltage down it fixed the problem however now we have another problem with ink starvation on the cyan and even magenta. Had a few LVDS errors but ink system looks good and was flushed, filter replaced, vaccum good, headboard, IOboard replaced. Waiting on motherboard to be replaced along with LVDS cable. Hopefully the motherboard fixes it.
At first we had a very strange problem with the UV lamps always reading under current, after installing a transformer to bring the voltage down it fixed the problem however now we have another problem with ink starvation on the cyan and even magenta. Had a few LVDS errors but ink system looks good and was flushed, filter replaced, vaccum good, headboard, IOboard replaced. Waiting on motherboard to be replaced along with LVDS cable. Hopefully the motherboard fixes it.
uvgerard
New Member
Low output UV lamp
Surprisingly for expensive printers most machines use UV power supplies of low quality.
Due to current-voltage characteristics of UV curing lamps, a current limiting device must be connected in series with the lamp. The simplest and least expensive arrangement consists of a choke and ignitor connected in series with the UV lamp. The ignitor is required to start the lamp. Most printers rely on this technique to operate the lamp. Your machine operates with a choke.
Use of a choke generates an undesired shift in phase between primary volts and amps. To correct this condition a compensation capacitor is used across the primary input. You might think of this as a power-factor correction capacitor. If your lamp was operating at reduced power (amps) more than likely the capacitor is the culprit. This normally is a cheap fix.
Chokes are also influenced by line voltage. If you are having UV issues look at your line voltage going to your printer. Having 230 or 240 volts input is far better than 208 volts. If you have issues with lamps running and then dropping out (arc extinguishing) look at your input voltage.
Surprisingly for expensive printers most machines use UV power supplies of low quality.
Due to current-voltage characteristics of UV curing lamps, a current limiting device must be connected in series with the lamp. The simplest and least expensive arrangement consists of a choke and ignitor connected in series with the UV lamp. The ignitor is required to start the lamp. Most printers rely on this technique to operate the lamp. Your machine operates with a choke.
Use of a choke generates an undesired shift in phase between primary volts and amps. To correct this condition a compensation capacitor is used across the primary input. You might think of this as a power-factor correction capacitor. If your lamp was operating at reduced power (amps) more than likely the capacitor is the culprit. This normally is a cheap fix.
Chokes are also influenced by line voltage. If you are having UV issues look at your line voltage going to your printer. Having 230 or 240 volts input is far better than 208 volts. If you have issues with lamps running and then dropping out (arc extinguishing) look at your input voltage.
uvgerard
New Member
HP UV lamp life
This just proves that second source lamps are just as good if not better than OEM product.
We manufacture this lamp and it is designed for 700 hour life. We suggest changing lamps at 500 hours. To obtain 1300 hour life you must be operating at reduced power and not working on difficult to cure substrates such as corrugated plastic.
This just proves that second source lamps are just as good if not better than OEM product.
supersignmart
New Member
Not sure I've ever changed a bulb (I have 2 printers) with less than 1500 hours. My printers run a minimum of 8 hours
a day. I was told that since we don't start and stop our printer that the bulbs last longer, kinda makes some sense. BTW
we only use OEM.
a day. I was told that since we don't start and stop our printer that the bulbs last longer, kinda makes some sense. BTW
we only use OEM.
VISCOM
New Member
what kind of UV printer do you have????
Thanks for the info Gerard. We now have about 236V entering the machine instead of the 250 odd that was before and have noticed the problem of under current has gone away. The lamsp are operating fine, even with an error of undercurrent they were still on.
We have had 2 service end lamp assemblies go in the last month and are waiting on our 3rd to be installed later this week/early next week with the machine down and out. First it was a home position error and now the actual shutter motor has seized. Still getting constant starvation from the cyan and magenta heads with the IOboard, headboard and mutliple other items being replaced.
We have had it with our FB700, while it's working it's great, will print on pretty much anything, red's a little lacking. But when something goes wrong then it's a pain as it's down and out. In the 7 or so months of operation it has been down for at least a whole month.