Conventional Fixtures Strong Super Trouper™

porkchop

Well-Known Member
Ok so I'm in a house in Alabama and one of my Spot Ops swears that on a Strong Super Trooper the fan only cools one side of the lamp and therefore you should turn off the fixture and unplug it IMMEDIATELY after the show is over. I realize this is an old piece, but this still seems rather asinine. Anyone know and/or has heard anything to support or disprove this?
 
First off....how dare you call a super trooper a piece!

But yeah....that is silly.
 
Oh dear it seems I didn't take long to get myself in trouble

First off....how dare you call a super trooper a piece!

But yeah....that is silly.

I meant piece as in piece of equiptment because fixture didn't really sound proper, but didn't know what else to say.

Honestly people, it's Trouper!!

Ok you got me, I haven't been up on the catwalk so I haven't actually seen the units and trooper brought up enough results in google for me to believe it to be the proper spelling.

So is that a for sure that Trouper's don't cool that way? And if so, is the shut down process incorrect ie. not letting the fan run at all after the show to cool the lamp.
 
Ok so I'm in a house in Alabama and one of my Spot Ops swears that on a Strong Super Trooper the fan only cools one side of the lamp and therefore you should turn off the fixture and unplug it IMMEDIATELY after the show is over. ...
Oh, boy, have you touched a nerve! Your operator is 100% incorrect.

I daresay I may have more hours on a Strong Xenon Super Trouper (LT and ST) than anyone here. This week I'm running the newest model #7201156, built in 11/07, currently with 154 hours on the odometer, for a nationally televised event. My 10 House Units were built in 1993, and I've been running them steadily ever since. The first time I ran a Xenon was in 1981.

From the Xe Super Trouper Long Throw - Rev 6 June 2005.pdf, Instruction Manual, page XST/004 (Item #8):
"To insure maximum bulb life, operate the lamphouse blower and the exhaust system [if applicable] for at least ten minutes after extinguishing the bulb."

Furthermore, the reigning expert on Super Troupers, Jack Schmidt, of Special Lighting Solutions, stated the exact same thing, in a maintenance and repair class I attended.

I can get a quote from the Vice President of Strong Entertainment Lighting if you'd like, but I think the above is enough.

And personally, I wouldn't trust anything said by someone who doesn't know that it's Super TroUper. Link. By the way, that's a CCT Silhouette in the beginning of the video, NOT a Super Trouper™. Still the only song I know about a lighting fixture.
 
Well the spelling error was mine (probably more than one as I'm on the raod and without firefox), but the idea that the cooling fan only cools half the bulb is ludicrus and I knew it. I simply said "I got a guy" (in really I have many right?) and said I'd get back to them tomorrow on it. It's there house, we close in this city tomorrow, so it's up to them what to do about it. I already had to get a guy from my crew to go up to one spot and turn up the intensity beyond 70% so you could actually see the darn thing (asked the house elecrtician he said they wouldn't work beyond were they were set), so I doubt they'll do anything about it, but it does feel good to be right. Thanks Derek, I'll make sure my spot ops let unit's cool before turning them off from now on.
 
...It's their house, we close in this city tomorrow, so it's up to them what to do about it. ...so I doubt they'll do anything about it, but it does feel good to be right. ...
Their house, their fixtures, their rules, their operating procedures; no matter how wrong! Not your concern, as long as the lights work for your show.

A slight hi-jack: There have been many discussions about whether or not to allow a moving light a cool-down period. The consensus seems to be there's a disagreement between the fixture manufacturers and lamp manufacturers on this issue. ship may have addressed this here previously. Yet another reason to rent, rather than purchase, moving lights.
 
How can I pass on a topic of Super Troupers without posting! I can't!

They are still my favorite spots. There are lighter, more agile spots on the market, but If I were an op on a 400 foot throw, nothing feels better then a classic Super Trouper or Gladiator!

I realize this is an old piece

No, the "Old" ones had arc carbons in them! A 20 or 30 year old Trouper is still a young spot! Outside of water damage, dropping off a scaffold, or a direct lightning hit, they don't really even age! Push forward the zoom on a Gladiator that's 200 feet from stage and you are operating the "Death Star" from Star Wars! Nothing like it! ;)
 
I never had that problem with the Super Troupers and Troupers I operated. They all used carbons.
 
Even the "vintage" < not old > Carbon-Arc Super Troupers needed to have the fans run for a good 5-10 minutes post arc shut down.
 
Even the "vintage" < not old > Carbon-Arc Super Troupers needed to have the fans run for a good 5-10 minutes post arc shut down.

My recollection is when you shut down the power to a carbon, you cut AC to the rectifier and everything went off - arc, fans, internal light, etc ... no real need that I could recall for keeping fans running.

Steve B.
 
Even the "vintage" < not old > Carbon-Arc Super Troupers needed to have the fans run for a good 5-10 minutes post arc shut down.
Primarily to keep the glass reflector from cracking, IIRC. The metal reflectors back then were vastly inferior, if memory serves. BillESC?
 
Ahhh... good old memory...

I recall opening - and leaving open the door, to let the reflector cool off.

SB
 
I had a mix of mirrors in mine. When new, the glass ones were great, but they would get pretty pitted up. (little copper drip lets melting into the glass.) The metal on the other hand was pretty indestructible. Even new, they didn't look as perfect as the glass ones, but I did some side by sides, and really couldn't tell looking at the stage which was which.

I remember letting mine cool naturally, as in not opening the door. I was more concerned that the door side cool might unevenly cool the mirror and crack it. The only cracked mirrors I remember were from operators that would have the carbons so maladjusted that the arc would be too deep in the mirror.

The real trick to Supers was to master the art of using the new carbon trims as chopsticks to change the old ones. Done right, you could re-trim in about 30 seconds! The hard part was closing the trim clamps without burning your thumb ;)
 
My recollection is when you shut down the power to a carbon, you cut AC to the rectifier and everything went off - arc, fans, internal light, etc ... no real need that I could recall for keeping fans running.

Steve B.

You didn't need to throw the ballast switch, the ones I have the most hours on had a switch for the carbon motor and the fan was ganged with the ballast.
We'd open the arc, kill the clockwork motor, leave the fan running for ten minutes or so then clean the mirror at the end of each show.

I always loved being able to make it through the first half of the first act of Annie Get Your Gun on one set of carbons. Or my favorite was getting down the exact number of cranks to back off the carbons, so that the clockwork motor would strike the arc right as you'd get your warning for the next cue.
 
...The only cracked mirrors I remember were from operators that would have the carbons so maladjusted that the arc would be too deep in the mirror.
College theatre: two carbon-arc Troupers with glass reflectors. Exhaust fan in the ceiling, not individual vent stacks. Booth A/C tied in with auditorium A/C. Every summer we'd crack at least one reflector, and the LD refused to use metal ones. The Supers in the Basketball Arena didn't have an issue, as the room didn't have A/C!

...The real trick to Supers was to master the art of using the new carbon trims as chopsticks to change the old ones...
Ingenious! I always carried clothespins or two pair of pliers. (I guess that makes me an amateur:(.)

Once again I'll link to my favorite followspot website: Ten Commandments for Spotlight Operators. Another fun site: Modern Followspot Monthly.
 

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