I presently have an older Buhl model 80, I used it the other night but found it wasn't as bright as I would have liked it to be. So I have been searching the internet, now I find about "lumens" I have no idea how many lumens make a good projector. I did see a 3m 9800 with 6000 lumens, how good is it, I don't know. I know the bulb in the projector I have is 600 watts, but how many lumens that is I also don't know. For some of you who use projectors what kind to you recommend? and also traveling with, but with power!
Posted by old paint (Member # 549) on :
dont get an APPOLO. I GOT ONE...bulb for it is $40 each!!!! 600W pretty brite but the bubls have a short life......and movin it around aitn good causes the filiment to break.
Posted by timi NC (Member # 576) on :
Cisco I have an old besseler that I use,...don't know about lumens either but I know the bulb is a 1000 watt and plenty bright enough. As for traveling I would reccomend the 3M projector as it folds and is plenty bright,...having used them many times in the past,....another option would be to rent one once at your destination if available,as if you already have one,you probably already know the cost of bulbs.One thing to take into consideration as I have had problems with bulbs breaking in transit in th past.
As for increasing the brightness I have found that alot of problems occur when I was trying to use the projector too far from my art. With a little attention paid to the quality of transparencies and using a grid to scale large work and breaking it down into sections you can use the projector closer to the job at hand and the brightness of the bulb is not a factor. I have scribed lines on the art(transparencies) with a needle,for dark areas,...and used a sharpie fine line tip for clear and lighter areas, to make a grid that would correspond to a grid drawn on patterns or the actual wall or job at hand.
Hope this helps ya,....
Posted by Gene Golden (Member # 3934) on :
I got one from a local school while in Baltimore. Actually from the county surplus, or something like that. Got it for free too! Try your local system. Just call the school board, it's worth a call.
Posted by FranCisco Vargas (Member # 145) on :
Well the 3m 9800 is gone but I'm checking on another one, thanks Timi for the info.
Joe, yeah some of them halogen light tubes are not cheap, the one for the Buhl cost around $26 bucks, now I find out it's good for 75 hours so that's not to bad.
Gene, the one I got was given to me, it's kind like an old school projector. But since I'm doing more walls, I want something stronger. Once I find out how many lumens this Buhl is I'll have a better idea of what to get.
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
Years back, I wanted one of those Besslers so bad.... I found an ad in a magazine from a guy that bought a warehouse load of them at an auction and it came on the Greyhound in this huge wooden case with probably fifty bucks worth of hardware on the latches alone. It probably weighed eighty pounds in the case. I was so happy to have it, and then a friend's dad got two of them real cheap at an auction. The Bessler's had a rubber track and you could turn a crank to re position the image. It also had a pointer, that I never used. It was huge, heavy, cumbersome, and projected a rather clear image. It could take a full 10"x10" image too. I built a cart for it with a cover, because it was way to klunky to schlep around. I finally sold it at a yard sale a few years ago. Never seem to use it any more.
Posted by Paul Peltier (Member # 4058) on :
I bought a 3M 1730AJP about 6 months ago. It is a non-folding unit, 360 watts.
It's sufficient for the indoor stuff I'm working on now--projects up to 8 feet long--if I turn off the lights in the shop.
Bought it via internet from Demco, a school supply catalog house. The lumens for this should be listed on their website.
This was a poor purchase, as there is a lot of distortion in the outer 1/4 of the image when using the full width of the platten.
I wish I could find one of the good old steel Dukane projectors which the public library loans out.
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
Hate to hog all the airwaves, but , another short anecdote.
It was in the late sixties when a friend and I discovered the opaque projector. I remember using transfer type and some illustration and blowing it up with the projector and drawing it on a board and then carving. Back then, we were carving with sharpened screwdrivers. There is still a sign on Balboa Island om the front of an upscale clothier where the carved letters lean to the left on the left end and to the right on the right end because of the lens distortion. We didn't know how to correct it and the customer thinks us hippie artists know much more than the pro's in the sign shops.
Posted by kent moss (Member # 4295) on :
Bought a Bessler op.proj. back in early 70's.I think I paid around $800.
Boy that was alot of money back then. Could buy two rolls of vinyl today for that much.
Posted by FranCisco Vargas (Member # 145) on :
Ok I found my projector is only pumping out 2000 lumens, and that a 6000 one is sort of an overkill, but what do I know, I can live with a 4000 lumens one. I will start searching probably eBay, I saw some good ones there, but I will also check some of these school warehouses, might get lucky there too. Thanks for your replies. Rick, yeah I know what you mean about the Opaque projectors, I have a pretty good one too, but when you go way back it does get distortion. That's why I am looking at a newer one that can fold, and with more brightness...
Posted by fayette pivoda (Member # 4339) on :
I have an Apollo brand #AI-2025 overhead that has a dual lamp system, if one dies then another is right there with a flick of the switch. As long as I stay away from the outer most area of the image, its relatively distortion free. I find it best to follow predrawn lines or use a grid to follow to ensure accuracy.
The opaque it replaced I thought had less distortion but with the overhead I don't have to turn the lights off.
Found it for sale at an audio-visual (listed under 'audio-visual' in the yellow pages too) outfit when the lamp of our work projector blew out, found they had all sorts of used equipment for sale and this one cost $100.00.
Until I got my plotter, I used to print designs onto acetate through my deskjet and then blow them up to size for patterns and the such, worked real sweet there, still do on occasion.
Hope this helps.
Posted by Randy Campbell (Member # 2675) on :
Go to your nearest school board and ask if they have any opaque projectors left from the old days.1000 watt bulb-5in.lense and great focus.I have projected 20'long at one time.Got mine free.
Posted by jerry jaran (Member # 524) on :
Hi, I have an Apollo Eclipse and found out that the service is done at a separate co. I don't have the name with me now but just call Office Depot or some other place that stocks Apollo and get the phone no.for Apollo and then you can order from the service co. bulbs for $10 ea or 6 for About $50. What luck! because I use the projector a lot and on a hot summer day they are prone to burn out or shut down because of the thermal overload switch activating then I have to wait 15-20 min till it will start up again. There should be two fans in it. one blowing and the other drawing out.
