What LED exposure unit is the best performing?

[ZooCity]

At one point M&R support wrote me a program update to run the fans more, so that exists too.  Unfortunately, there is no filtration for air exchange so you'll be introducing some dust or will need to diy something if running the fans more. 

I adapted by drastically reducing our coating thickness.  There is still breakdown where you would not see it if running MH (at the blade drop points for instance) but it's overall doable, especially if you top tape there. 

[nightheron]

What LED unit would you recommend?  We have an old MH 6K NuArc, but sometimes the bulbs are hard to find.  Is the Starlight or Saati  a good choice?  We do our own line of 4c process and simulated process.   W use a Wasatch RIP and an Epson Surecolor 4900 printer.  The printer occasionally needs repairs.

[blue moon]

What LED unit would you recommend?  We have an old MH 6K NuArc, but sometimes the bulbs are hard to find.  Is the Starlight or Saati  a good choice?  We do our own line of 4c process and simulated process.   W use a Wasatch RIP and an Epson Surecolor 4900 printer.  The printer occasionally needs repairs.

We use the Saati pro lite 450w and are pretty happy with it. With films you might need the fully enclosed version, dont know anything about those as we run the light source only.
We tested the Vastex unit and it had a good uniform field. M&R had really bad field consistency, but they did not care. All of this testing was done many years ago so it’s possible they fixed it.
As far as i know, Saati is the only one that has it set up as single point light source, all the others will create some under cutting, which might or might not be a big deal depending in the work you do.
Smaller MH units can be had pretty cheap and can be excellent value for the money. M&R Nuarc3140 is a great unit thats dropping in price. Yes, you need to replace the bulbs every now and then (i think we ran 2 years with about 50 screens per day), but the integrator works well so it’s easy to use.
Pierre

[bimmridder]

Umm, how can it be a point light source if it has more than one light?

[blue moon]

They are all bunched up in about two inches circle and there is a proper colimator around them.

[tonypep]

FYI depending on emulsion but my experience with wb/discharge regardless of exposure including LED/LTS in order to properly ensure great results use the sun!

[nightheron]

 Thank you for the good tips.  I will look for a M&R Nuarc 3140.  Would the Saati prolite 450w replace my old Nuarc 6k MH lamp?  I use film, and I have a large vacuum  frame with blanket. 

[cclaud3]

We also use the Saati prolite 450w and make bulletproof screens for water based prints.

[blue moon]

Thank you for the good tips.  I will look for a M&R Nuarc 3140.  Would the Saati prolite 450w replace my old Nuarc 6k MH lamp?  I use film, and I have a large vacuum  frame with blanket.

If you have a separate vacuum, satti unit would work great. Your exposure times will be much longer, but you get rid of the MH headache.
pj

[Admiral]

FYI depending on emulsion but my experience with wb/discharge regardless of exposure including LED/LTS in order to properly ensure great results use the sun!

Ha - I do remember doing this back at the old building a couple times, to post harden and I think one day a few screens or so when the exposure unit broke!

I should probably reconsider it for long runs / water based post hardening!

[CBCB]

Saati LED here too in the Ryonet box. I did a custom passthrough system for CTS.

The replacement bulbs, heat, and power make MH a tough one. They can be bulletproof without it.

[ebscreen]

Let's call LEDs %100 efficient in turning electrical energy into light energy. (they aren't, 40-50% is reality)

Let's call MH %25 efficient in turning electrical energy into light energy. (they aren't, they're actually pretty close to LEDs)

At best the Saati 450 watt unit is pumping 450 watts of energy into a screen.
At worst our Olec 8K watt unit is pumping 2000 watts of energy into a screen. (or 3 at a time in our case)

There is of course the inverse-square of distance from light source to screen, but all else being equal you can pry
my MH from my cold dead hands.

[farmboygraphics]

I'm pretty happy with my Light Speed, although to be honest it's a step up from a halogen street light.  :D