The
Strand SL series seems to be a good light. Never tried it but I have never heard complaints about it that I remember - that's given they have improved the little cost cutting things that made the last fixtures about dangerous to hang.
Their forerunner to the "SL"
line with the 2215 and 8113 series are fixtures to avoid and watch for in the new fixtures should they have the same problems. If the
lens train has been corrected, great. Good optics, and good
fixture overall with a long standing history of development behind them.
If not, the problem on the last series that the aluminum making up the
lens train was too thin and if the
lens train was not locked down when picked up from the floor, or should it tilt from a locked position with loose
lens train, that
lens train would be just heavy enough to slam into flood position as most fixtures will do.
In this case however, the rivets holding the
gel frame bracket onto the
lens train would completely rip out and remove the
gel frame bracket from the
fixture. Because the lenses were spaced by a large spring and retained by that
gel frame bracket, once the
gel frame bracket went, it would shoot the
gel frame bracket, front
lens, and spring out the front of the
instrument... hmm, seen it happen 3 times, twice with the above description, and one while still in it's shipping box when the box was dinged just right at the
lens train to
send it out of round and rip that
gel frame bracket from the tube. It also had problems with
rivet nuts holding in the
lens train. These are very hard to repairs to make and
Strand is not exactually the easiest company in the world to get parts from, much less to do a warranty on a engineering problem.
Altman 360Q fixtures while they had their own little problems, never had this drastic of a problem, and even with broken or stripped screws, there was always easy ways to keep them functional. The new Shakespeare while it's said to have some discrepencies which I have forgotten about, it might be a good third otion for you also. Overall, it's a good
fixture and rated for the same lamps as the SL
line. Read yesterday's post about lamps from me to see what is the best lamp for both fixtures because the GLC lamp while a
bit more rugged and in theory its
filament should take up a smaller area for a more
point source, there are better lamps out there in that wattage and output range. The Philips GLA is the best long life version, but the GLC isn't as good unless bought for it's more rugged design than that of a FLK.
As for
ETC S-4, if you don't plan on going up to 750w, there should be a lot of the older versions on the market these days with everyone upgrading to the higher wattage. That said, if at some
point you need some of your fixtures to have that higher wattage lamp in them, you can simply replace the
lamp cap. Some lot numbers of the old version will have a keyway pin that needs to be cut off, but other than that, the
fixture is the same, just a different
gauge of
wire in them. Check the reflectors for cracking on their rear when the cap is removed. That's a somewhat common problem to see if the
fixture were abused that will get worse with the crack growing if left in place. Lots of parts on the S-4, glides for the
lens train that fall off,
lens retainers that wear out, screws that strip,
lamp cap assemblies that have their screws sieze up or break, mica behind the lamp
base that crumbles
etc. A good 1/4-20 End tap will solve a lot of problems with the
lamp cap retaining screw becming hard to turn.
In a theater, without the fixtures traveling around the country while in the back of a semi, the problems will be much less common and these fixtures for a theater won't be bad. Check that
lens and look for scorching and widening at the lamp
base. Lamp
base leads for the
fixture are over expensive considering all that it is is a set of heat
wire with a
crimp on it, but it is what it is.
Pull the lamp and put a fresh one in the
fixture. Look to see if it is holding in place, tought to get in or is going to fall out. That's a good sign of abuse and some work that will need to be done to a
fixture to correct it.
Overall, the S-4 with modern lights is about the most popular and common. I would think that there is a reason for that besides that
Altman than
Strand came to market later than
ETC with their products.