Reflector issues in Canto 1200 follow spot

[Laurie]

Anyone else out there had issues with the reflector in the Canto 1200 followspot? A dark spot in the center of the light image was caused by a hole burned into the surface of the reflector. It was just covered by the warranty, but we need a matching spot and I'm hesitant to order a second one of these if this is going to continue to happen. It messed with the lens next to iris as well.

[JD]

Haven't heard anything like that being common on the Canto. The dark spot in the center of the beam is usually a classic "bench focus" problem caused by the lamp not being at the proper depth in the reflector. The Canto uses a glass reflector. You say a hole burned in the surface? Lost reflection in one spot will not usually manifest itself that way. The manual is below. Page 5 and 6 explain lamp adjustment. What is left out is that if all the screws are too far down or all are too far out, the lamp arc will not be at the proper depth in the reflector.


http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...aB2Teg&cad=rja

Although the following link talks about an S4, if gives good examples of what happens to the beam if the lamp depth is set wrong. Sounds like you have the problem in the third image.

http://www.etcconnect.com/docs/docs_...&%20Tuning.pdf

Not sure who bought what when, but when Strong built the unit, they did great support. See this post:
Strong Canto 1200 PSU Troubleshooting

One last thing. Wear glasses when you are doing the adjustment. The light leakage seen through the adjustment holes contains unfiltered UV. Not a problem unless you spend some time staring at it like you would while making the adjustment.

[MNicolai]

We experienced slight flaking of the reflective coating on the reflector. Nothing major but I could see where you may have issues. LDR (the manufacturer -- Strong is just their US distributor) gave us excellent support though on the couples issues we've seen on our Cantos. The president of LDR personally contacted me and put me in touch with their expert at Strong. Both of those guys made absolutely certain our problems were resolved.

Think I still have their technician's contact into around here somewhere. PM me if you want his info and I'll look it up.

IIRC though, the issue was that flecks of dust from the black paint on the fixtures were getting sucked into the fixture by the cooling fan and landing on the lenses, then were getting stuck on the lenses directly at the center of then where the beam is the hottest. Might have just wiped them down really well to fix the issue or might have gotten new lenses from Strong. Think we talked about getting new lenses from Strong for free out of warranty but then didn't need to because cleaning the lenses was sufficient enough.

Pull your front and rear lenses out and clean them really well with a 50/50 isopropyl-alcohol/water mix and a non-abrasive pad. Won't be perfect but I bet you'll see a noticeable difference.

The flecks of paint are normal for this model of fixture. The paint is powder-coated on, and some flecks will be vented around in the fixture during use.

[derekleffew]

... Not sure who bought what when, but when Strong built the unit, ...

It is my understanding that the Canto line of fixtures are and always have been made in Italy by LDR - Luci della Ribalta. Strong is merely the North American distributor.

Notice how the LDR units bear a remarkable resemblance to those from the French company Robert-Juliat?

[Laurie]

Thanks for the responses. This was definitely a reflector issue - it was new last Oct with a textbook consistent image, and by March the image looked like a donut with the reflective surface burned off the center of the reflector. It was under warranty, so the shop we bought it from replaced the reflector at no charge. The shop has replaced the reflectors in both of their rental units and one other besides, but assumed it was due to rough handling. Ours never moved once it was set up but still had a problem. Because we want to get a matching spot I asked if there was a design issue that needed to be addressed or something we could do to prevent the the issue and was told the factory does not consider this a general problem. That's why I'm putting the question to you all. The shop is willing to give us extra warranty time on the reflector if we purchase the second one, but I'm still hesitant because replacing both spots in a couple of years when we can't get parts probably won't be an option.

[JD]

Odd that with the number of users on this forum the reflector issue has not come up, unless there was a running change in the design (such as a different reflector manufacturer/vendor that messing up.) I would agree that when you buy a followspot, you expect a 20 year lifespan. In fact, I think most followspots stay in service until the theater closes! Strong is a good example. Plenty of 30 year old spots going "strong." In fact, if it wasn't for the regulations against carbon arc, I bet that there would be a lot of 50 year old spots in service!

Contact Strong ( Strong Canto 1200 PSU Troubleshooting ) and ask them point-blank about the reflector issues. Specifically, why you are hearing about the early failures on the newer spots. Could be they are on top of it and are making changes. You are more likely to get good information from them, as compared to the local vendor just due to the number of units handled.