Conventional Fixtures Cleaning Source Fours... Worth it?

[len]

You clean your house, don't you? You clean your car out once in a while? Clean your equipment!

 

[renegadeblack]

Not too much of a difference, but I was working at a school other than my own and when we fired up some Shakespeares, I'd swear that there was R02 on them.

 

[KeeperoftheKeys]

As has been pointed out several times it is definitely worth it in my experience, it (cleaning the lens/reflector) will change the output back from something that's approaching L206 to regular OW (Open White) of the fixture temperature....

Another reason to institute regular cleaning (I would say annual or at most bi-annual) in a school is that if you do it when the new students come in you can use a maintenance round to get them familiar with the equipment....

Just wondering though we always do the hotspotting of the fixture during focus based on the needs, are there any other advantages other than seeing that all fixtures output are more or less the same and knowing everything is set to a preferred preset to doing that during "benching"?

Edit: added clarification of "it".
Also don't clean in a closed space (at least if you are using alcohol based cleaning materials) for a prolonged period unless you were anyhow planning to get high (and damage your "grey matter" [in the words of Hercule Poirot/Agatha Christie] in the process).

 

[Sayen]

If you are in a school, work this into the training program. Once a year take down as many lights as you have students. Teach the anatomy of the light while showing care and cleaning, and have everyone clean their fixture along with whoever is leading the demonstration. Put a small colored drop of paint on the yoke of each S-4, and use a different color each year. This year was green, so next year we'll pull lights that aren't green and code them differently. We might not get to all of the lights in one year, but we do get them cleaned on a busy schedule while teaching students where knobs and shutters and lenses are.

 

[derekleffew]

Excellent training opportunity. No one should be allowed to focus until they've dissected various fixtures and know their anatomy. The last thing one wants is to have to say "The knob on the bottom in the middle," instead of "Barrel rotation knob."