Now that you are done with deciding colors, and as opposed to stripping the whole thing and sending in for re-powder coating, you might have to revisit the subject, it's time to find out some info about them.
Interesting, the website still features a picture of the two having the family name or are they the two new owners? - Didn't look that closely. But that explains a lot especially a lack of good info about what lamps the fixtures use, much less exploded pictorials or parts plan views such as
Altman offers and help - that I'm a big fan of. How is the new stuff the updated company offers Reggie? Given a founding in the 1920s I will have expected products similar to the Mole Richardson
line in being tanks. Just got in some 5Kw beam projectors from them, they are still on pallets - one per
pallet, and I'm yet to see what it does, but expect them to take a lot of abuse without falling apart.
Given the look of their new
line of fixtures, I would expect something similar to stuff made in Korea or Italy not that lines such as ARRI that I believe is Italian are in reality bad - unless you need parts for them or they get rough handeling. Our ARRI kit in the 650 and 300
line have not required work yet, but given the preponderance of plastic parts, I hope not to have to fix them.
On your louvers, if they are anything like
Strand or
Altman studio fixtures, he he he, or as computer savvy people would put it "LOL", patience is of virtue during re-assembly of the louvers. I'm sure you know what I mean having already re-assembled a few. I feel your pain if similar. Not quite as difficult as field stripping a
iris, but it can be just as frustrating. No, you can't
bend them little hook like shapes to get them into position than
bend them back LOL again... Lots of experience especially with 2Kw Studio Fresnels myself to the
point of having to re-surface burnt contact plates on
Altman Fresnels due to the fact that on the 2Kw they discontinued the replacement lamp bases a year before they came out with the upgraded lamp
base assemblies which take completely different lamp bases, and whell, we are still working on the 5Kw upgrade using the same lamp
base. I now having spent about a week re-surfacing old lamp bases have about 50 more in
stock than I need if they are
Altman style - see below.
Steel Fresnels, nice gear. In theory, all the parts you are working with will be similar to that produced by other companies depending upon what material they are made out of. Take a
Strand Bambino apart, and for the most part, it's the same as a
Altman 5000L with the main parts - lamp
base and
gel frame asside. Louvers are louvers, yokes are yokes if made out of the same metal. Your parts might be given the age of the company and it being domestic, very similar to those produced by Mole Richardson or
Strand. TMB being a good place amongst other companies to get both of their gear from. And it's a big enough company that they can lean on the supplier should they decide to backorder instead of
send the parts.
For stuff I know about and would be similar, Thorn makes a 2.4Kw CYX upgraded lamp for the
fixture now if you need that extra punch. They have not published what the actuall ouutput is but given the same color temp, and 100hrs less than a BWA in life, that lamp, for it's wattage, it ought to put out a lot of extra lumens. Plus the fact that it's a 115v instead of 120v lamp like on a HX-600 or
HPL lamp. Meaning it's life should be similar to that of a CYX, but output and
color temperature given the wattage and
voltage should be huge to an extreme. I am not allowed to
play test the lamp because nobody wants to pay for the upgrade should it be much better.
Otherwise, the BWA
line of lamp is the most long life available, or GE/Thorn, Philips with the exception of the Euro #6994Z, and Ushio all make a decent CYX lamp with the same max output. Wiko and Osram are a
bit dim. Think that Koto used to make this lamp also, but they are now owned by GE and either conform or make the lamp for them. My guess would be that Koto now makes the GE
line of CYX lamp.
However, should your fixtures need to travel, both the Philips and GE lamps do not travel well due to the cartons they come in to put it lightly. Ushio costs more in this lamp which brings Osram even if 4,000 Lumens less bright back in the running at least for me. The other option being buying the Philips and GE lamps and packaging them in your own boxes. GE, Philips and Ushio should all have similar output and nobody has complained about less output from the Osram yet so the specs might be off.
Of interesting note, what is your lamp
base like? Is it rectangular and about say 2.1/2" x 4" or 2" x 3.1/2" with say a 3" dia circle stuck in it's center? I just went
thru a major upgrade of the
Altman latter lamp
base since they in general are discontinued and no longer available much from anyone, and am in the works of a 5K upgrade nightmare given the same lamp
base. Even sent a
fixture to them so they could re-engineer their upgrade kit. The upgrade they sent out did not fit. They paid to ship a
fixture back to them the same that they paid to have me ship a 2K
fixture back for re-engineering last time around. Reality verses engineering specification, gotta laugh.
Given you note about replacing lamp bases, just curious about if it's the old style smaller size with the circle like shap in the center, who you were getting them from? I'm also a big fan of no longer using normal heat
wire. Instead I use TGGT Teflon 250c
wire so it does not wear out as fast as the SF-2 200c Silicone
wire. Just a thought since you are working on them.
Be glad it's not a 5K
fixture, otherwise there would be further notes as to the
switch mounted to the side of the
fixture reqiring special work.
If any help, I believe that I found a deoxidant/lube spray that works well both on the lamp
base and electrical contacts and the lamp pins. It's not rated for the temperature but is yet to have any adverse effects. McMaster Carr # 7437k15
Sprayon Electrical Cleaners, 16oz.
#SO2001 Electrical Cleaner & Lubricating Spray
Works well.
Also, Teflon Tri-Flo while it will
smoke some initially works well for lubing the rails possibly better than white lithum grease that gums up in time. Radio Shack otherwise makes some high temperature grease that has a higher
viscosity than even High End or
Martin moving light grease. Yet to try it on the studio lights but it could show promess.