Conventional Fixtures Strong Trouperette III part

bdotblot

Member
Hello,

This is my first time posting. I've been reading on here for about two years and have gained a great deal of information so thank you for that and all that contribute here. Especially for a volunteer lighting designer for a small church theater group, this is where I come when I have questions.

On to my issue. I recently acquired a Strong Trouperette III secondhand. When I opened it up, there were a couple of problems inside. The focusing ribbon and the lamphouse support bracket were both broken. I got a new ribbon from Strong directly but they no longer make the support bracket and won't sell it. Does anyone know where I can get a new support bracket? I've tried a few places and they all get them directly from Strong. I didn't know if I could use a bracket from the Trouperette IV because I can't find the manual anywhere to compare to see if it would work. Does anyone have any ideas or advice? I suppose the part could be welded back together but I'm not a welder and don't know any off hand.

Here is the manual for the Trouperette III that I found. http://www.schellscenic.com/downloads/followspot_strong_trouperette3_manual.pdf

The part number is 45275. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. We have a show in about 7 weeks and this is starting to make me nervous.

Thanks,
Ben
 
Hello,

This is my first time posting. I've been reading on here for about two years and have gained a great deal of information so thank you for that and all that contribute here. Especially for a volunteer lighting designer for a small church theater group, this is where I come when I have questions.

On to my issue. I recently acquired a Strong Trouperette III secondhand. When I opened it up, there were a couple of problems inside. The focusing ribbon and the lamphouse support bracket were both broken. I got a new ribbon from Strong directly but they no longer make the support bracket and won't sell it. Does anyone know where I can get a new support bracket? I've tried a few places and they all get them directly from Strong. I didn't know if I could use a bracket from the Trouperette IV because I can't find the manual anywhere to compare to see if it would work. Does anyone have any ideas or advice? I suppose the part could be welded back together but I'm not a welder and don't know any off hand.

Here is the manual for the Trouperette III that I found. http://www.schellscenic.com/downloads/followspot_strong_trouperette3_manual.pdf

The part number is 45275. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. We have a show in about 7 weeks and this is starting to make me nervous.

Thanks,
Ben

That's a pretty big chunk of metal to be broken! What section is broken? Most of the time that would be a weld job. It also could be custom fabricated. Might want to drop by a couple of auto body shops and ask if they could weld it.
 
Trouperette.JPG

I have attached a picture here. It is the side connecting to the railing that holds up the lamp and the front optics. I took it apart today to get the part out and discovered that two of the clips on the other side were missing which would have balanced the tension of holding the support bracket towards the back (if this makes sense). Too bad as they cost 1.51 at Lowe's for two of them.

I'm going to try and find someone that can weld it. It's aluminum which I think is a little harder to weld(?).
 
View attachment 9334

I have attached a picture here. It is the side connecting to the railing that holds up the lamp and the front optics. I took it apart today to get the part out and discovered that two of the clips on the other side were missing which would have balanced the tension of holding the support bracket towards the back (if this makes sense). Too bad as they cost 1.51 at Lowe's for two of them.

I'm going to try and find someone that can weld it. It's aluminum which I think is a little harder to weld(?).

That almost looks cast to me. Take it to any machine shop in your area. Most NAPA parts stores have a machine shop in back. They will be able to weld that up for a few bucks.
 
Yep a machine shop or auto collision repair shop should be able to take care of that in pretty easily and cheaply.
 
Might also be able to through-bolt a splice plate on that, but go for the weld as the first option.
 
Yeah, at the very least it takes special rods and a different technique to weld cast aluminum since it's easy to burn through and/or fracture. However, as mentioned, it would be no problem for a machine shop. They'll have that piece ready for use no problem.
 
I wouldn't go near a body shop or machine shop with this, especially if it's aluminum. I would go straight to a welding shop. You want someone who does nothing but welding and has the experience and skill to handle aluminum welding.
 
You might also check to see if there are any local vo-tech schools which have an advanced welding program. Looking at the picture a simple weld might cause further issues, you are going to have to make sure the spacing of the hole that slides on the rail doesn't change, or you might get binding problems. You might also consider drilling and tapping some holes and using a mending plate. Dang I missed that JD had already brought up the mending plate idea.
 
I agree that it might take a little more than a simple weld. When to parts are welded together, ideally there is a small gap between the two pieces which allows for proper penetration. So some material may need to be ground away so that the gap needed for welding doesn't push the hole out of alignment. All that said, this appears to be a reflector assembly, which won't need to move as often as say, a lens assembly, so there may be a bit more tolerance -- but you still want it done right. I agree that maybe an auto body shop wouldn't be a good choice for a place to repair this, but I do think a machine shop could handle it. In fact, one might find it difficult in some (not all) areas to find either a standalone machine or welding shop. In many cases, they are combined as "machine & welding". Most welding-only shops I have seen specialize in larger jobs like trailers and more structural components, so make sure the one you go to can handle this type of repair.
 
I once bought a SeaDoo engine that had a cracked aluminum water jacket (past owner didn't winterize the engine properly). I brought it to a local welding shop and they fixed it without a problem. They did strictly welding, and they did it well. They had to weld a cracked piece that had a gasket surface, and the surface was done perfectly.

If you could find a machine shop that has experience with welding aluminum, I guess you would have the best of both worlds. I'm not too familiar with the machine shops in my area, so I don't know what welding abilities they have.

If you can't find a shop that can do both, you could always have the part welded at a welding shop and then have the finishing work done at a machine shop.

In my opinion, this part looks too delicate to trust to a body repair shop.
 
It seems the hard part will be disassembling the whole unity to get this casting out and all parts off.
 
Maybe check ebay to see if there are any for parts. I got my part welded back together and it has been working great for 5 years now. I didn't see anything off hand via a google search so maybe someone else has some ideas.
 
If you're going to pull it to take it to a welding shop, take a bunch of pics first, so they can see how it will go in.
 
I am looking for a replacement reflector for the Strong Trouperette III. Any ideas?
Buy an Altman 360Q reflector* and refabricate how to mount it in your unit. Should be very close.

*Altman discontinued the 360Q a couple of years ago, so reflectors may not be available new from Altman. But 360Q s are everywhere; should be easy to snag one and steal its reflector. Might not even be a bad idea to do all your experimenting with a used one first.

EDIT: Still available, but "limited supply." http://www.productionadvantageonline.com/Products/97-0125.aspx Only $25.52, less than a used complete 360Q fixture.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for that suggestion. I will try to locate that Altman reflector.

BTW. I like your Avatar. My distant cousins were the Kliegl brothers who started the Kliegl Brother's Lighting company in New York. My grandfather was a first cousin to Anton and John Kliegl, inventors of this type of arc light.
 
Hate to say it @derekleffew , but that looks a little more like a 3.5Q reflector. Has that been discontinued? The 360Q's discontinuation got all the fanfare but I haven't heard anything about the (under-rated) 3.5Q.

I also have a strong suspicion (no pun intended) that the 3.5Q and 1000Q followspot use the same reflector. @James Kliegl - contact me off line if you would like such a reflector for the cost of shipping. I happen to have a parted-out 1000Q just collecting dust in a storage unit. For that matter, I can send you the reflector and the assembly it's mounted to. Might be a long shot, but maybe you'll get lucky.

**Looking closer at OP's picture, I think it's pretty unlikely that my 1000Q carriage assembly will just drop in to the Strong unit. But you'd might as well have all the parts I can give you.
 
Will do! I'll get in touch with you tomorrow. I can also send you a 360Q reflector in case I am wrong (it'll be a larger reflector).

Cool! I'm looking forward to doing business with a Kliegl :).
 
fascinating the observation that a 1Kw FEL lamp for reflector is closer to a 3.5Q reflector than a 360Q reflector. Lamp shouldn't fit thru the hole - have to drill it out for the lamp to fit, but in OD size of the reflector, interesting Les's observation of what reflector type is most similar to use. Will have thought a 1000Q reflector correct, and it will have been the size of a 360Q - but hopefully more heavy duty than such a reflector.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Users who are viewing this thread

Back