Automated Fixtures Best fixtures for harsh environments

[LavaASU]

We have several shows coming up that will be outdoors in 90+ degree weather in dusty fields. Out of previous similar shows I've had VL (2500s... 3ks behaved), robe, and elation lights act up presumably from the heat. I will NEVER have elations on an outdoor show again as I had most of them dead/seriously acting up by the end. I had VL3ks on one show that did well. I only need 1200W units on one of the shows, plus the only glass gobo thing is a big issue.

What are your experiences (good or bad) on fixtures in heat/dust? Suggestions on what to look for and what to avoid with a 10' pole?

Specific fixtures I'm looking for experience with are (though totally open to suggestions):
mac2k
mac700
Alpha700

 

[Footer]

Your in the Arizona desert, call your rental house and ask. They should know better then anyone. Phoenix is in a world if its own when it comes to scorching sun and dust.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[porkchop]

Clay Paky fixtures are made to run dirty (and as a result at higher than intended temperatures). If you pay much attention to my yammerings you'll know I swear by Paky's. There one downfall is if moisture develops inside the light. The fans built in the lights do pretty good job of preventing condensation in the light, but if you're on a generator and have to power down at night you might have issues in the morning if you're in a humid climate. I've never used these outside, but I imagine if it rains water will get into the lights too. Usually it's just the options getting messed up, but it can (and does) damage the driver cards. If this show is in AZ you should have no problems unless it rains, and I imagine an outdoor show would have some precautions in place for rain no matter the equipment so I would strongly advise you go with the Alpha 1200 or the newer (and according to my co-workers just as bright) 700 series lights. If you intend on doing onsite maintenance I don't recommend the Alpha 575 series as they are awkward to work on and one simple slip can break thousands of dollars in glass.

On the other hand Mac 2k's tend to like attention, in my experience Macs are a higher maintenance fixture. The fixes are often times very simple and cheap, but it's still down time. If you're not the one doing the maintenance on the fixtures that means having to have more spares on hand and more shipping lights back to the rental house. They are also much more common in the US and I would expect much cheaper to rent. That's between you, your bean counters, and the rental house.

I've never worked on a Mac700, but if I know Martin they don't tend to break their trends very often.

 

[LavaASU]

Clay Paky fixtures are made to run dirty (and as a result at higher than intended temperatures). If you pay much attention to my yammerings you'll know I swear by Paky's. There one downfall is if moisture develops inside the light. The fans built in the lights do pretty good job of preventing condensation in the light, but if you're on a generator and have to power down at night you might have issues in the morning if you're in a humid climate. I've never used these outside, but I imagine if it rains water will get into the lights too. Usually it's just the options getting messed up, but it can (and does) damage the driver cards. If this show is in AZ you should have no problems unless it rains, and I imagine an outdoor show would have some precautions in place for rain no matter the equipment so I would strongly advise you go with the Alpha 1200 or the newer (and according to my co-workers just as bright) 700 series lights. If you intend on doing onsite maintenance I don't recommend the Alpha 575 series as they are awkward to work on and one simple slip can break thousands of dollars in glass.

On the other hand Mac 2k's tend to like attention, in my experience Macs are a higher maintenance fixture. The fixes are often times very simple and cheap, but it's still down time. If you're not the one doing the maintenance on the fixtures that means having to have more spares on hand and more shipping lights back to the rental house. They are also much more common in the US and I would expect much cheaper to rent. That's between you, your bean counters, and the rental house.

I've never worked on a Mac700, but if I know Martin they don't tend to break their trends very often.

Rain actually is rarely a problem here due to the desert. I've honestly never had an outdoor show with rain and movers (well I think there's been light sprinkles on some of mine, but not enough to do anything). Nor do I want to.

Onsite maintenance is not in the plans by any means (I don't have the staff nor time for that on any of these gigs). About the most I will generally do with rental fixtures is check connections/sensors/easy stuff without any real disassembly. Well that and occasionally manually home wheels-- for some reason had about half the rig not be able to find home on gobo wheel once and shop said they haven't done it before or since (never figured that one out... though I heard they had the same issue inexplicably appear and disappear like 2 months later for one show). Otherwise the shop gets to send someone or another fixture.

I will definitely look in to the clay pakys. Working through the show is definitely what I'm after!

 

[LavaASU]

Your in the Arizona desert, call your rental house and ask. They should know better then anyone. Phoenix is in a world if its own when it comes to scorching sun and dust.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

The consensus seems to be whatever the rental house I called happens to have available at the time! Every type of fixture I've had in the past some shop has said will do great outdoors in the heat-- and they are dead 15 min into show (or preshow, or halfway through, or whatever).

 

[Pie4Weebl]

The consensus seems to be whatever the rental house I called happens to have available at the time! Every type of fixture I've had in the past some shop has said will do great outdoors in the heat-- and they are dead 15 min into show (or preshow, or halfway through, or whatever).

What I've learned helps is for gigs like that, lamp everything on for focus, and then kill it till a little bit before the show, make sure all the fan speeds are set to high too.

 

[macwhiz]

How about the Clay Paky Igloo?