Conventional Fixtures Best Seat, lamp insertion tool

[zmb]

Lamp foam (or plastic wrap for EVR lamps) works and is the most convinent option.

 

[masterelectrician2112]

Still, to me it just seems criminal to charge $10-$15 for that kind of a piece of plastic! I just feel like people are getting ripped off here! That's a good idea though. Never knew they existed until I read this post.

 

[SteveB]

Still, to me it just seems criminal to charge $10-$15 for that kind of a piece of plastic! I just feel like people are getting ripped off here! That's a good idea though. Never knew they existed until I read this post.

Before I used a Best Seat, I had never given much consideration to solving the small problem of S4 lamps being tough to seat (without getting grease on the glass). Like about everyone else I would try to have a paper towel or piece of plastic handy to prevent bulb contamination, but I had little control over how my crew went about the process, especially if I wasn't monitoring. When I saw the Best Seat in the Pro Adv catalog, I purchased 2, as $20 is not a huge amount of money to try a tool(s) that might have a practical value. And 'ya know what ?, it worked really well, so money well spent, in my mind.

Do I think it's a rip-off ?, nope. It's priced about right for a simple device that makes life easier. It's probably about the right price to give some profit to the manufacturer and dealer (ProAdv) and I like to see companies make a bit of profit as it keeps them in business, with Production Advantage being one of the companies in this business I want to help keep up and running.

I had not once considered that it's probably a piece of PVC, so could I make my own ?, yeah, probably, but then I have to go see if I have the right diameter PVC around, which being in the stage lighting business is doubtful, so a trip to HD is needed and that's always not fun. Then haul it back to the theater and cut into appropriate lengths and test. And after all that, I'd rather call ProAdv and order a bunch more, cause again, $10 is NOT A LOT OF MONEY ! and with all the time spent going to HD, etc... It'll cost more in labor then buying new.

Another tool that could readily be home made is a GamChek Jr.. It's fairly easy to go buy the home Edison version, gut the parts and install into a 2P&G connector. And the GamChek is $50 so a lot of money saved if you make your own, except that my time is valuable and I'm not wasting it making home made tools.

If you think it's a blatant rip-off and that the manufacturer makes $9.99 profit on everyone sold, go read the threads on the gel book manufacturing and how expensive it is to make stuff and get the product out to the users. It was an eye opener for me.

 

[Les]

A note to all the users saying they just use the foam lamp packing material:

That's great, but it doesn't do the job of the Best Seat. The Best Seat is designed to seat the lamp by putting pressure on the heat sink rather than the envelope. Using the foam sheet still puts pressure on the envelope.

Keeping the envelope uncontaminated is the Best Seat's secondary job.

 

[zuixro]

A note to all the users saying they just use the foam lamp packing material:

That's great, but it doesn't do the job of the Best Seat. The Best Seat is designed to seat the lamp by putting pressure on the heat sink rather than the envelope. Using the foam sheet still puts pressure on the envelope.

Keeping the envelope uncontaminated is the Best Seat's secondary job.

I use the foam and I push from the heatsink. I peel back the foam until the heatsink is exposed, then push against the heatsink to seat it.

Still, I think I might make one out of PVC and see how I like it.

 

[DanAyers]

Still, to me it just seems criminal to charge $10-$15 for that kind of a piece of plastic! I just feel like people are getting ripped off here! That's a good idea though. Never knew they existed until I read this post.

True you're paying for materials, but you're also paying for the idea of this in the first place.

You're paying for marketing, accounting, warehouse space/inventory, the pretty little label, ...

...the price is fair.

 

[DELO72]

BTN changer, what you have not switched to the BTH?

Ship, you're my hero.

BTH 575W 115V lamp for 6" & 8" fresnels is the GREATEST lamp invention in the past 2 years! (Mind you, I'm biased....)


You know....Only one lamp manufacturer purposely wraps its stage lamps in foam so you don't have to risk touching the envelope!

Les is right though. The Pro Adv. Best Seat tool is a great item that prevents putting torque on the envelope as you seat the lamp. Think of it this way- if it wasn't needed, then they wouldn't have invented it. There are some older sockets out there with really tight fits, and that tool can be a life/lamp saver. I can't tell you the number of lamps that have come back where people thought it was the envelope that was faulty as they kept snapping, only to later discover the socket was super tight and causing them to put too much pressure as they inserted the lamp. This tool would have prevented that.

 

[Tex]

I can't tell you the number of lamps that have come back where people thought it was the envelope that was faulty as they kept snapping, only to later discover the socket was super tight and causing them to put too much pressure as they inserted the lamp. This tool would have prevented that.

Wow.
It has never crossed my mind to put pressure on the envelope when inserting an HPL. There's so much room to push on the heat sink...

 

[zmb]

If you have good enough fingers, you can pick the HPL lamp out of the plastic tray and seat in the lamp socket just by using the base and not bother with touching the envelope with anything

 

[gafftapegreenia]

I bought one when this thread began, and I have truly never used it.

 

[venuetech]

I just take a C-wrench, Sideways, adjusted to to land on the ears of the base, use that to apply pressure to seat the lamp.