Call your local rental shops and ask if they have any old gear that they might be willing to sell for really cheap.
Just got a quote for proper
asbestos disposal... 5gal bucket by the time you get done with proper disposal costs, it's over $500.00 and that's the smallest size for disposal they would quote. I had a medium sized ziplock bag of it. That and once you get the permit for having such a disposal bucket you have a few weeks to fill it. Can fit a lot of
asbestos wiring and other stuff like backer pads for lenses into a 5gal. bucket, yet out of 25x 5K
Fresnel fixtures just bought used, there was only one with it. Will take me years to fill a 5gal. bucket even if I deal with antique lights more than most. Doing it properly is going to be expensive.
That's a factor in buying old gear, than there is the truck load of EC Lekos and other gear from the 90's I somehow fell rear backwards into helping to sell off. This gear was from the 90's and is a cheap clone to the
360Q series of
Leko. On initial random inspection, they were serviceable - as above "still had a few years in them" and could use a light amount of work on the shutters and other small parts needed. This was in me on-site and not completely taking apart the
fixture on random inspection - only opening it up and looking as best I could see for what I know to look for. As an expert persay... I got screwed in not taking apart the fixtures. Also sort of screwed the broker that bought most of them; but that's a long story in how I wound up with the rest to store and sell off. This as with many of my bulk
fixture deals often take six months or more to get done and by the end at best all parties are happy to just get it done no matter the final details.
Turns out the lights were stored in the
orchestra pit a few too many years and most of the
shutter assembly parts were rusted red. That and given steel pineapples and other lesser grade parts... they needed more work than expected. Worst hopefully I will see of them were a set of five I just finished working on which were rusted so bad that I could not extract the assembly short of soaking in liquid wrench. Problem was I was busy and it soaked in a few days until removed, than months until I had time to work on what was extracted. Those parts had to be dipped into
solvent and cleaned by the trucking dpt. before clean enough to sand blast. Bad mistake for me in cleaning some of the parts before de-greasing/oiling - those clothes are trash. A good
apron when using a right angle grinder is also a good idea as with the
face shield and if doing rust the good breather - not just
face mask.
In general, all the
shutter assembly parts, and many other parts had to be sand blasted, than
hand grinded with a silicone fiber wheel to polish, than re-coated with
PTFE. A sand blaster paying someone to get done or investment in it is a good thing -- there is stuff you cannot do with a Dremmel tool as well or as cost efficient. In man-hours for those five so far the worst... could have easily bought a new
360Q fixture for the time needed to bring back to factory spec. on a normal man/hour figure - for my time in getting paid a little more than normal man/hours.... Unfortunately given this was not directly related to a 501c3 donation I cant even get a tax letter for the man/hours I spent.
For other and on average normal fixtures in used condition... if of more normal "used" condition, expect to re-paint which takes a little work in removing bad paint, a total resurfacing of all bright work like the shutters, than lube of them and the
lens train, replacement
socket & wiring, re-tapping or replacing all fasteners and fiber discs for the shutters, cleaning lenses is easy -
wire wheel of the
lens retaining ring a lot more difficult. Figure a "still serviceable" used
Leko you buy will require if not immediately, at least six hours per
fixture to bring back to full factory spec. at some
point. You do want to have a factory spec
Leko if you want to depend on it or not trash it in a few years.
Lots of details in a full tear down, but if you have the time and materials and tools to do so, it is worth it because you will now be able to get years out of the refab. Stuff like P-28s lamp sockets on a 6"
Fresnel or Radial
Leko, about 90% of the time they can get resurfaced and coated. G-9.5
Leko bases, normally need replacement.
Gear bought
thru repretuable dealers or production companies will be from their show
stock. Might ask in buying if from show
stock or bone yard when buying. Back when there was a Bash, I bought some
Leko's and they were fully factory spec. even if used, that's the way we and other lighting companies often do their used gear. Many don't and you get what you get in do plan on bringing them back or the still a few years left in them gear will get away from you in turning into too many problems to be dependable. In other words - large scale in what is considered "used" and it isn't always price based.
