Knock-off HMIs any good?

[Martin Weiss]

While browsing eBay, I came across some chinese manufacturers selling HMI fixtures and ballasts at a suspiciously attractive price (fraction of an equivalent Arri wattage), yet they have a very good rating. (One example.)

Has anyone practical experience with them? I expect them to be not flicker free, and not meant for a rental business, but how about a owner/operator situation, espeically one where the choice is between having said cheap HMI or no HMI at all?

 

[Justin Marx]

Looks pretty scary with that ballast cable!

 

[Ramesh Jai]

Speaking from my experience they will let you down when you most need them. The real Arris are workhorses. For peace of mind I'd save and go for the real deal.

 

[axel ebermann]

I did not order these particular HMIs but bought a few tungsten/kinoflo knockoffs from the same manufacturers (the guys
you see selling them are usually only middle men).

they kinda work but the quality is shoddy. be prepared to take ballast apart, have power plugs fall off and switches in the
wrong positions.

when I came to buying HMIs I therefore opted to rather buy a couple of used brand name pars for the same price. And I haven't regretted
it because they just work without the McGivering.

While browsing eBay, I came across some chinese manufacturers selling HMI fixtures and ballasts at a suspiciously attractive price (fraction of an equivalent Arri wattage), yet they have a very good rating. (One example.)

Has anyone practical experience with them? I expect them to be not flicker free, and not meant for a rental business, but how about a owner/operator situation, espeically one where the choice is between having said cheap HMI or no HMI at all?

 

[Daniel Doherty]

Another low cost option are the HMI's from Coollights. I bought the 1.2k and the 575w. Been very pleased with quality of light and build.

 

[Richard Andrewski]

Thanks for your comments Daniel.

I've seen all these kind of offerings here in China and we don't sell any of them because we ultimately have to support what we sell. Plus I wouldn't personally use them either so why would I sell them. The units we sell are uniquely ours with our own touches and ideas, are reliable and supportable.

Its highly questionable that the unit in question in the OP link would be hot restart at that price and it isn't unless its some new model I've never seen. It should explicitly state one way or the other in their Ebay listing what kind of ballast it is and how long wait is if you are restarting when hot. Secondly, its about as loud as a jet taking off with that fan they use for cooling of the ballast. We did beta test some of these "loud" solutions in the past and I decided not to go ahead with them even though they are very cost effective.

We've worked hard to keep all our solutions as quiet as possible for HMI/CDM offerings. Our 575/1200 ballast for example is hot restart and very quiet. A hot restart unit is always going to be more complicated and expensive than an equivalent cold start type. In addition, if its a dual function ballast that can drive either a 575 or 1200w head then that adds more complication and cost. A 575 only cold start, like the one in the Ebay listing, should be about as inexpensive as you'll get because they are simpler. On top of all that, the engineering to keep something quiet and not need the loud fans is also quite a daunting task and adds to the costs.

Another complaint I've had with these "stock" units: the plastic connectors they use for connection between ballast and fresnel are not at all a good idea.