Equipment Maintenance on a Tight Schedule

[cdub260]

Originally Posted by derekleffew

Agreed, cdub, if outward inspection shows no issues, why look inside? OTOH, clear covers for the 2P&G are genius!

I've known some companies fill their connectors with re-enterable potting compound or silicon. Not 100% sold on that idea, but if one is having problems in an outdoor location, [A theme park perhaps? Forget I said that. Now I must kill you all.] it might be worth a thought.

Well I am in an outdoor venue, so it might be worth looking into. However, I'm not convinced that connectors without the silicon are unsafe, and it would certainly make addressing any problems a bit more difficult.

[cdub260]

Well, I'm returning to this thread after a lengthy absence.

A couple of days ago I was working on the annual maintenance for some of my Source 4's when I encountered something rather odd. Three fixtures in a row got the exact same note in my Maintenance Log.

Repaint for next year.

Now, given that my venue is an amphitheatre and much of my equipment is exposed to the elements for a good chunk of the year, it's not at all unusual to have two or three lights that need repainting when they go through their maintenance cycle.

But three in a row?

That's a new one for me.

As for why I'm putting it off until next year, I will simply be unable to fit this repair into my 2009 production schedule. Yes, I know that I've said that you don't find time for proper maintenance; you make it. But this is a repair that I don't need to make time for as the damage is purely cosmetic and has absolutely no bearing on the proper functioning of the fixture. However, by making a note in my log, I assure that when I begin my maintenance for the 2010 season, I'll know to keep an eye out for these three lights. Then, in the fall, when it's a little easier for me to free up time, I can repaint them.

[icewolf08]

Originally Posted by cdub260

But three in a row?

That's a new one for me.

It seems statistically irrelevant. You have a relatively large inventory that was probably lined up at random to be checked out. Given the nature of the venue, it doesn't seem odd to me.

[church]

regular maintenance pays dividends, I inspect all of my fixtures annually, cables and whips are checked each time they go out and come back. Whips are always tied up when they go out and are almost never returned the same way so it is good practice to quckly check to ensure there are no splits in the fibreglass and that nothing has pulled out of the strain relief. Cables are always tied when they go out and usually need to be redone when they return, again a quick check for damage.

Optics are cleaned annually and shutters are straightened/replaced/graphited at the same time. many fixtures have little thumbscrews, knobs etc which can get lost, normally this is because someone has unscrewed it to far or not tightened it correctly. These things can be replaced I keep a supply of items to hand. Many times an acceptable substitute can be found in the local fastner suppliers.

The accountants are always in an unenviable position when it comes to people wanting new equipment, however unless you are working in your own space that you run from your spare cash in your own pocket and don't charge anyone to use it or come in to see a show and pay sales taxes and property taxes on everything then either you or the organisation you are involed with or work for have to deal with financial and tax rules. So while it seems easy to just buy new fixtures the financial and tax rules around doing this are also very different to buying spare parts.

When you buy new fixtures they are normally considered a capital purchase which you have to depreciate over a fixed number of years maybe five or ten years - Lamps and spares are considered an operating expense and are expensed in the year you spend the $. If you scrap a fixture after 3 years and it is depreciated over 5 years you have to take the loss or you carry a value for inventory that is greater than your actual inventory value - another problem altogether. Similar problem if you sell a fixture for less than the book value to but new fixtures. Of course you can try to fully expense the purchase in the year yo buy them. So you buy $45k worth of fixtures and expense then you now need to do $45k of extra revenue or reduce your other expenses (salaries, benefits etc.) by $45k to make things stay the same.

these are the things that anyone running a business or a charity etc. has to worry about - not just the accountants.

[cdub260]

Originally Posted by church

regular maintenance pays dividends

Absolutely!

With very few exceptions, the bulk of my lighting and effects equipment is in better condition now than it was new. Even a piece of new equipment usually needs some fine tuning to operate at its best.

[church]

I agree with you I always check everything out of the box and perform any final adjustments to get the best performance I can. Also you occaisonally find a problem with a new item when you take it out the packing. It is always easier to correct it now - things get dropped in shipping etc.

[ship]

Don't know if it's of any help but a fiberglass whip with a cut or abrasion too bad can often be repaired without replacement. I normally use a McMaser Carr offered glue that smells like crap especially if heated (in use of gluing thermoplastic to heat shrink) but works well for fiberglass sleeving also called Plyobond. #7468a22

Works well in repairing especially fibrous cuts to the fiberglass sleeving.

[Esoteric]

We used to keep 1/5 of our inventory in reserve undergoing maintenance. This was very thorough. We cleaned everything, replaced anything that needs replacing, bench focus, tighten, etc.

Mike

[Lightingguy32]

We clean about 12 fixtures each year at the end of the year. Since our inventory is only about 60 fixtures, this keeps the fixtures that are needed clean and the extras as spares ready to be deployed. Depending on what show is about to happen, we might actually clean each fixture that is used for a large show to make sure that they are in full working order

[shiben]

I actually ran into this today. Currently, I am working on getting all of our cables up to code, seeing as that seems to be the biggest issue right now (at some point, all the strain reliefs were removed so that the black insulation on the cables is cut to about an inch off the plug on the end of the cables. However, while pulling cables I noticed a lot of lights that need some serious care. Started a maintenance schedule today. For those of you working in educational settings, what is the best way to use an inexperienced crew for this task? As the Student ME, I have to maintain the inventory, and it has been neglected for years. I have a crew that is re-assigned on a per-show basis, and currently I have only 1 crew person with any experience. Is it ok to just show everyone basic things, and leave more complex tasks for myself later? Or should I get the TD, who has a lot of experience, to help teach all the crew people how to do things right and then just inspect them myself?