Author Topic: Large format light recommendations  (Read 829 times)

Offline Sparx22929

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Large format light recommendations
« on: January 29, 2018, 12:43:23 PM »
Hello-

Long time lurker first time poster.  About to make the move to banner printing and will be burning screens upwards of 60 x 52 inches.
Just wondering what everyone is recommending for a light source here.  Olec, etc?  Also would a 1000w metal halide do the trick?  Obviously the burn time will be long but I do not burn many screens per month and can wait if needed.  Thanks!


Offline Atownsend

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Re: Large format light recommendations
« Reply #1 on: January 29, 2018, 06:23:37 PM »
We use an Olec 5K. I picked it up end of summer from eBay, under for $400. I replaced a bulb and a relay on the PCB to get it going (several weeks of troubleshooting). New units and parts can be picked up from Douthitt. With a little bit of hunting and luck you might be able to find one on the used market. But it is a crapshoot out there. It is a very strong light source, coming from our 3000 watt Amergraph the quality is night and day. We burn two 23x31's on our vac frame. I don't have much else to compare it to other than our amergraph.... but with screens that big I honestly don't think I'd want anything less than 5K watts. I'd look at the Olec 5K or Nuarc 6K. If you're buying one new, expect to pay a lot of $$$. The 5K has been incredibly sweet to us so far. I think Satti has a single point LED on the market as well, but I wouldn't go LED unless I had no other choice.