Old 360Q's

[gafftapegreenia]

My college has a number of early 360Q's in its inventory. These were before Altman began casting heat fins into the pineapple. These 360Q's are the same brown hammertone as the ones from highschool, but are obviously older due to lack oh heat fins. My biggest problem as I have been scrapping a few beyond all hope (gasp) and putting a few back together is thus: is there any way to get those old shutters out without cutting them up? Maybe I'm blind, but those shutters will NOT come out of the slits cast into the housing. Seems like a bad design choice, non-replaceable shutters, any suggestions as to how to remove these?

[derekleffew]

If memory serves, you have to drill out the rivet holding the fiber 1" circles to the shutter handles, then pull from the inside. Now install the new one (or the used one in better shape, and re-rivet, or use little bolts and nuts and LocTite to hold the heat-resistant "handles" on. Keep another unit open so you get the shutters back in the same "plane" from whence they came.

I don't recall any mfg. making "replaceable shutters back then. What kind of new-fangled concept is that? Diecast Century Lekolights used thin stainless shutters that would cut your hand, would you prefer that?

Or the Strand Lekolight just before the SL series had shutters that were too easily removed--look at them funny and they'd fall out. In 2000, I was focusing the FOH catwalk for a friend and he asked for a cut off the SL proscenium. It was my first time using these lights and boy was I surprised when I reached on my left side of the fixture only to find no shutter there! Then I realized that that particular light I was on had no shutters whatsoever. I yelled, "Hang on, I have to go find a shutter." Having never worked with these lights either, he gave me the most puzzled look, while I pulled a shutter out of an adjacent light and shoved it in the light that was lit. We finished the focus and when I got down to his level I explained to him. This was a state-of-the-art light in 1991.
I didn't mind them other than that, but no one else would use them because they weren't SourceFours, so they became landfill, even the 6 15° units that I loved as specials. By the way, there was very little intensity difference between a 19° S4 575 and a 20° Strand Leko with an FEL (sorry ship, I didn't know any better.) We had more than enough dimmers and the hotel paid for the power.

[Dustincoc]

For some reason I'm thinking that new shutters come with rivets and heat-resistant handles for you to install after you put the shutter in the unit.

If the units your scrapping hav good shutters in them, it may be easier to just swap the ?gate?(the section that holds the shutters, gobo slot, and iris) than to change out the shutters individually.

The Altman min-zoom shutters are also too easy to remove, I had to track down and install shutters in over half of ours at the last hang.

How hard is it to replace the shutters in a century Lekolight? We've still got some in our small theatre that are missing shutters.

[icewolf08]

The shutters on the 360Q were not designed to just slide out. You either need to cut them or as derek said, drill out the rivets. Any new shutters will come with parts. You will need a pop rivet tool to put them together. It isn't hard, it just is probably more work than you wanted to do.

[Grog12]

Originally Posted by derekleffew

If memory serves, you have to drill out the rivet holding the fiber 1" circles to the shutter handles, then pull from the inside. Now install the new one (or the used one in better shape, and re-rivet, or use little bolts and nuts and LocTite to hold the heat-resistant "handles" on. Keep another unit open so you get the shutters back in the same "plane" from whence they came.
I don't recall any mfg. making "replaceable shutters back then. What kind of new-fangled concept is that? Diecast Century Lekolights used thin stainless shutters that would cut your hand, would you prefer that?
Or the Strand Lekolight just before the SL series had shutters that were too easily removed--look at them funny and they'd fall out. In 2000, I was focusing the FOH catwalk for a friend and he asked for a cut off the SL proscenium. It was my first time using these lights and boy was I surprised when I reached on my left side of the fixture only to find no shutter there! Then I realized that that particular light I was on had no shutters whatsoever. I yelled, "Hang on, I have to go find a shutter." Having never worked with these lights either, he gave me the most puzzled look, while I pulled a shutter out of an adjacent light and shoved it in the light that was lit. We finished the focus and when I got down to his level I explained to him. This was a state-of-the-art light in 1991.
I didn't mind them other than that, but no one else would use them because they weren't SourceFours, so they became landfill, even the 6 15° units that I loved as specials. By the way, there was very little intensity difference between a 19° S4 575 and a 20° Strand Leko with an FEL (sorry ship, I didn't know any better.) We had more than enough dimmers and the hotel paid for the power.

Those old Strand Century's were POS's...not only would the shutter fall out if you looked at it funny but it would fall out of optimization if a butterfly farted in another county.

[derekleffew]

Watch it mister. In my mind there's no such thing as an "old" Strand Century anything. Are you talking about the first generation TP-22 base Lekolight with the joystick lamp adjustment, c. 1978-1988? Because those shutters were captive. The one's whose shutters fall out were I believe 1988-1994 Strand Lekolite, need a phillips screwdriver to align the lamp and must rotate lamp cap 1/8 turn on yawl axis then pull out the back. It has the letters "LEKO" about 1.5" high near the rear of the fixture? Then Strand dropped the Leko name with the SL series in 1995 to compete with the ETC SourceFour ERS.

Personally I was always of the mind that the joystick alignment was a problem. I used to have a saying: "Align a 360Q with three screws and one in the middle and it stays that way forever, OR use a joystick every time you focus the light." I did like the ability of in-out for peak vs. cosine beam distribution however. Never liked the Altman Speed Caps, but that may be all they sell now.

As to replacing the Diecast Century Lekolight's stainless steel shutters, never needed to do it, so can't help you there.

[gafftapegreenia]

Funny how what's always been standard in my life, replaceable shutters, gobo slots, we once not so common.

If that's what it takes to replace the old 360Q shutters, so be it. I'm willing to do it.

Also I've used those Century Die-Cast tanks before. The only problem I had with the shutters were that the handles had very small nobs on them and offered practically no heat insulation.

[Dustincoc]

I'm still using 12 of the old pre-gobo Century lighting LekoLights. Anyone know how to replace those shutters?

[derekleffew]

Replacing shutters on a Diecast Century Lekolight (gray aluminum housing) #2231 or similar: Now that I think about it, If you move the blade, say the top blade, all the way to the right (or left), I believe one corner of the leading edge of the blade will slide out of the slot. You just have to play quite a bit with it. Getting them back in, and figuring out between which pieces of sheet stock it goes is even more challenging. Basically, pretend you're trying to make the sharpest angle possible, with the cut out as far as possible.

Just for fun, I've attached a picture of a shutter from a Strand Lekolight #2215, 2220, 2230, or 2240, not sure which as I found it on the floor of the FOH catwalk in 2000. The fixtures were purchased in 1993.

[ship]

Hmm, pre-fin pineapples.. Can’t imagine unless the absolute original type. Take photos and are you sure they are Altman? “Deekleffew” no problem on the FEL - I used them too at times, and completely agree with you on the drilling them out rather than falling out in experiences with other fixtures than cited. Pain in the rear - this especially since Altman has changed rivet size over the years... PITA...

By the way, rivets and handles don’t persay come with the handle/shutter... persay unless as part of an assembly. Side note, unless you buy aluminum rivets of 5/32 or were they 1/8 or 3/16" - forget in this case, they need to be both aluminum shank and aluminum flange, your rivet will rip right thru what is the plastic or fiber handle material. Just a note in buying rivets that are all aluminum and no steel in them or they will tension themselves a wee bit too tight.

Century shutters should match the overall design of a 360 shutter and possibly that of a 360Q or say a 1KAL type. In other words, Altman no doubt is still making them. This or if you have one shutter, easy enough to have made for you. Beyond this, there is still a place Hub that sells the old gear listed before on the website.

“Derekleffew”’s observation of never having to had replace a set of Century shutters I also totally have to agree with in my case also. Can be done but if absolutely needed they at most can be ground down no doubt to a fresh flat edge. Hmm, given the photo from the above... I might have a few of these shutters in stock extra, but otherwise it should be easy enough to get thru Hub or made for you. Is that the shutter - I have never worked that type before, the Century ones I am more used to are more like Altman so perhaps younger as it were. Than of course still waiting on the storage building to find my two 8x9 fixtures somewhere about the building.... perhaps they were like that.