Strand Century 1980s Lekolites

I am about to embark on a project where there are 24 late 1980s Strand Century 6x12 & 6x16 Lekolites on a front-of-house pipe. They have asked me to come in and clean, replace sockets if necessary and then bench focus and rehang these lights in a logical repertory plot. There is money for parts but certainly not enough to replace them.

I worked with these light a little bit in college 20 years ago and I remember generally liking them. They always struck me as being on relatively equal footing with the Colortran 5/50 and VASTLY superior to the Altman 1 Ks. Are there any tricks I should know? I know that the silicon lens "dampers" will likely be hard as a rock and should be replaced with SOMETHING. It also seems to make sense to replace the 750 watt EHG lamps with 575 GLA lamps (long life is more important that light output in this venue, I suppose the GLE would be an option for higher output….). Short of replacing these with new S4s, these still have life in them if cleaned and maintained, right?

It's pretty straight forward to clean and bench focus them. Getting parts other than new sockets is going to be next to impossible though unless you can find someone who happens to have some squirreled away in a closet. I can see you having tow problems with them, the first is the bench focus. You have to bench focus the light every time you change the lamp, so you may get them looking good now, but the next time someone changes a lamp they can screw it up. Which leads to the 2nd problem, if they're not bench focused right they can burn up the reflectors and leave them a nice tan color. And good luck finding new reflectors.

Watch out on lamp substitutions. The LCL (Light center length) and the overall length of the filament are critical. If there is a mismatch, the efficiency of the fixture will plummet! You could pick up a sample and try it. Put two instruments in the same condition next to each other and put an EHG in one and a GLA in the other. Bench focus the EHG fixture and the try to bench focus the GLA while doing an A/B test. If you can get a good output, then move forward buying the GLA lamps, but don't buy a bunch until you test it in that fixture.

Thanks for the input, John! That is very good advice. I'm rather certain that these fixtures have never seen anything but an EHG lamp since they were installed. I am content with that lamp since it will produce a consistent result and also have a very long life. In this venue they will commit to quarterly maintenance but not much more. This is a Dimmer per circuit situation on CD-80 dimmers with advanced electronics. Wattage is irrelevant, but maintenance is the much larger concern.

Scenemaster60 said:

Thanks for the input, John! That is very good advice. I'm rather certain that these fixtures have never seen anything but an EHG lamp since they were installed. I am content with that lamp since it will produce a consistent result and also have a very long life. In this venue they will commit to quarterly maintenance but not much more. This is a Dimmer per circuit situation on CD-80 dimmers with advanced electronics. Wattage is irrelevant, but maintenance is the much larger concern.

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Strand pulled the plug on parts for the 2200 series LekoLites many, many years ago, so good luck finding anybody that has the lens bumpers.

You might try the Source 4 version, not that different and it might fit.

Other then that , these are pretty robust fixtures and other then an occasional TP22 socket, they don't need much, especially if they haven't been banged around a lot.

As @SteveB mentioned, you may be able to substitute other parts. I know the 5/50 also uses(d?) silicone tabs, but I don't know how the parts experience over at Leviton is. They're not very complicated though, and anything that doesn't fit could probably be modified using an Exacto Knife.

Speaking of modifications, if you find any burned reflectors, you could probably get a 360Q reflector to work in there. $25 for a Super Reflector kit last I checked. Framing shutters could be punched by a machine shop, and Altman fiber washers could probably work as the grips.

Service call should be easy though: check/replace socket, clean reflector, check/replace framing shutters, clean the lenses.

As for reflectors, if the 360Q reflector works, I have 10 of these in in my inventory that I scored on ebay for a song. THEY will be charged $25 each for them, though.

Some have suggested that silicon based weatherstrip cut into 1/4" lengths might well work as well as the originals.

I will keep folks posted about my progress on this project. I am mostly looking forward to it.

Scenemaster60 said:

I am about to embark on a project where there are 24 late 1980s Strand Century 6x12 & 6x16 Lekolites on a front-of-house pipe. They have asked me to come in and clean, replace sockets if necessary and then bench focus and rehang these lights in a logical repertory plot. There is money for parts but certainly not enough to replace them.

I worked with these light a little bit in college 20 years ago and I remember generally liking them. They always struck me as being on relatively equal footing with the Colortran 5/50 and VASTLY superior to the Altman 1 Ks. Are there any tricks I should know? I know that the silicon lens "dampers" will likely be hard as a rock and should be replaced with SOMETHING. It also seems to make sense to replace the 750 watt EHG lamps with 575 GLA lamps (long life is more important that light output in this venue, I suppose the GLE would be an option for higher output….). Short of replacing these with new S4s, these still have life in them if cleaned and maintained, right?
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I have a number of the 6X9 version of these guys and would be willing to part with a few. Mine are well-used but serviceable. I'm local to you apparently.

I use FLK bulbs in mine and they work fine (I have a pile of 1K FEL that they came with that I pulled when I got them).

TJCornish, I appreciate the offer and I'll keep that in mind once I get going on this project!

You might even be able to fashion the bumpers out of some type of epoxy putty.

FYI, last I looked for 360Q reflectors, they were more like $60+. If anyone has a $25 source, please share.

kicknargel said:

You might even be able to fashion the bumpers out of some type of epoxy putty.

FYI, last I looked for 360Q reflectors, they were more like $60+. If anyone has a $25 source, please share.

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I questioned that price to, but production advantage was selling them for $25 and change yesterday.

kicknargel said:

FYI, last I looked for 360Q reflectors, they were more like $60+. If anyone has a $25 source, please share.

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Here's a direct link:

http://www.productionadvantageonline.com/Products/97-0125.aspx

The price has been in this range for a little while now, but they were around $75 when the upgrade first came out. I'll bet the people who paid that price are kicking themselves now. Other dealers should have similar prices.

The strand reflector has a notch out of it on one side as i recall so it would not be a quick thing to do as modifications will need to happen to make an altman reflector work.
but i have worked with these units for a number of years and cannot recall having ever seen the described problem. I rarely have had to bench focus with a lamp change but I will make sure that the lamp is fully seated and the cap is returned to the same position in/out wise, then a quick look at the field to make sure its good.
I just serviced my fixtures last summer and did not have any degraded bumpers. they were stuck in place, I took my time with them. The lens tube will not be easy to come apart just use slow steady pressure
if you need new silicone bumpers you might try cutting up some old silicone bakeware that your wife is not using. (be sure to hide the evidence)
I am still looking for replacement shutter handles/knobs, ideas anyone? I am going to pick up some for my source 4 units and will try to cook one or two of those with a FEL.

venuetech said:

The strand reflector has a notch out of it on one side as i recall so it would not be a quick thing to do as modifications will need to happen to make an altman reflector work.
but i have worked with these units for a number of years and cannot recall having ever seen the described problem. I rarely have had to bench focus with a lamp change but I will make sure that the lamp is fully seated and the cap is returned to the same position in/out wise, then a quick look at the field to make sure its good.
I just serviced my fixtures last summer and did not have any degraded bumpers. they were stuck in place, I took my time with them. The lens tube will not be easy to come apart just use slow steady pressure
if you need new silicone bumpers you might try cutting up some old silicone bakeware that your wife is not using. (be sure to hide the evidence)
I am still looking for replacement shutter handles/knobs, ideas anyone? I am going to pick up some for my source 4 units and will try to cook one or two of those with a FEL.

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I recall seeing a notch on a reflector - I guess that's the fixture. Seems like quick work with a Dremel tool. Not a common problem to have a burned reflector on the larger units with more thermal mass but I thought I'd throw it out there. For shutter handles, could you not rivet the Altman fiber washer on? I've never tried it myself, but it seems like it would work.

Les said:

For shutter handles, could you not rivet the Altman fiber washer on? I've never tried it myself, but it seems like it would work.

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Several of my fixtures were modified by the previous owner in exactly that manner.

Don't think I own one of these lights, I skip that version so far in yet to get one. I can't say but the advice above is way cool in things I will have thought of - though McMaster Carr I would do for getting the silicone padding material described. Ah' the Wifie missing her stuff has but never used adventure.... Love it. This way you can find something similar from the supplier and liability for the materials you use to replace this unknown padding to me is at least a product with tracable parts used. What's the lens bumpers all about - alien fixture to me in not an example yet in wondering about such a thing. Handles are difficult but perhaps a friend has a 3d printer... such printers can make all sorts of things - love them.

Shutter cleaning and treating I have posted a lot about over many years, stuff like silicone abrasive fiber grinder wheels, leading edge of the shutter and PTFE spray to coat. A slight bow in the shutters can sometimes be corrected or at least reverised for play in being just fine as long as your client knows your intent. This with adding oil to all metal to aluminum screws will probably be fine if you don't also re-tap holes. Lamp sockets are good to budget for but probably mostly fine. Hard to clean but check the lamp pins as you remove as a good indication of the socket. Spray down with cleaner/lube (mentoioned before Sprayon EL 2001 or there is other brands) if good condition, don't hurt and might help.

Ibid on Altman parts modified to fit if needed, once bench focused... the replacement lamp if seated properly and cap properly installed probably won't be a problem. Hate bench focus in general but your lamp options seem great.

Bit of PTFE on the lens train and it slides perhaps better than new as further concept. Have fun with them and let us know what you find in this survey of that model of light in problems. Check the cords for kinks and breaks in the insulation, dish washer the lenses with lots of "Jet Dry". Amazing how great in optics these Strand lights probably are.

ship said:

Handles are difficult but perhaps a friend has a 3d printer... such printers can make all sorts of things - love them.

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This is unfortunately one area where 3D printers won't work. Both ABS and PLA have melting points too low for use on a hot fixture.

I might still have a few of these laying around in the shop from a tear out I did a few months ago. I'll check tomorrow, if I have any, you are welcome to them and all the parts they're made of!

TJCornish said:

This is unfortunately one area where 3D printers won't work. Both ABS and PLA have melting points too low for use on a hot fixture.

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Thanks for the tip! Show what if any pieces are in bad shape and I'm sure we can all find factory still made parts or parts from our collections that might work.

Well, I have been through the entire inventory and was ASTONISHED by the condition of these lanterns. I don't think that these have seen more than 300-500 hours of use in the last 22 years! They were filthy dirty, but about 1/3 of them still had their Thorn FEL lamps in them. No bad sockets. I was able to clean them up, replace a few lamps that were on the edge, bench them and rehang and use them. While not an ETC S4 OR a Strand SL optically, these aren't bad for a 22 year old light. BTW, the inventory consists of 10 2216 (6X16) And 10 2212 (6x12). ALL are stamped May 1992 for production so this was near the end of production for this instrument!

BTW, since the lenses didn't look terribly dirty internally, I did not take the lens tubes apart. That would have taken hours more of work and I wasn't initially charged with that task. The lens mount bumpers were hard, but nothing seemed "loose" so I left well enough alone.