We have a set of 8 yr old Altman Shakespeares that we’ve never done anything to or with that was more complicated than changing the lamps. Ditto for a set of six-year old Strand ellipsoidals, but not so for our set of 62 six-year old source fours. For the last couple of years, a couple of sockets per six-week run would need to be taken apart, have the three prongs on the lamp contact cup rebent and put back together.
When the problem became 2 bad sockets per performance setting an all-time record of 5 bad sockets for one performance, it really got our attention.
First, why were we suddenly having more problems than before?
Second, why do the source four sockets appear to need more maintenance than other TP22 sockets and has this been everyone else’s experience too?
Third, what can be done to remedy the problem?
Had you asked me a month ago if I had ever encountered a TP22 socket that couldn’t be fixed, I would have said only when one of the prongs on the cup had broken off. Had you asked me a month ago why we were having more problems now than before, I would have said that since the instruments were all purchased at the same time, it wasn’t particularly surprising that they were all having problems at the same time.
But here’s the interesting part. Someone else between April and November decided to replace any bad sockets and not bother trying to repair them and our current problems, although it took a while to realize this, are predominantly with these new (ETC M709) replacement sockets and not so much with the old original sockets, which can still be repaired as described. The design of the replacement sockets has changed to include a wire ring around the top of the cups, which appears to be part of the problem, and although we can repair them, they fail again within one or two performances.
This has led us to begin a number of experiments. We put in an ETC 750 socket (even though we don’t use 750w lamps and rarely run our 500w lamps above 50) to see if we got better results. We opened up a Sylvania TP22 socket and removed the leads and put them in a source four, but they are about 6 inches shorter, which means we had to cut back our cord, which we’d rather not do unless we have to. We opened up a Ushio socket and put both its leads and its porcelain in a source four (a somewhat snug fit since the porcelain is slightly thicker and the cups noticeably longer). We also cut slivers (1/8” x 3/8”) of sheet aluminum and put them between the back of the etc cups and the mica to try to push the cups higher into the porcelain on the assumption that perhaps the pins on the lamps were only making partial contact at their very tips.
It’s too soon for us to have any reliable results yet. Has anyone else been down this road? Has anyone else encountered similar problems?
When the problem became 2 bad sockets per performance setting an all-time record of 5 bad sockets for one performance, it really got our attention.
First, why were we suddenly having more problems than before?
Second, why do the source four sockets appear to need more maintenance than other TP22 sockets and has this been everyone else’s experience too?
Third, what can be done to remedy the problem?
Had you asked me a month ago if I had ever encountered a TP22 socket that couldn’t be fixed, I would have said only when one of the prongs on the cup had broken off. Had you asked me a month ago why we were having more problems now than before, I would have said that since the instruments were all purchased at the same time, it wasn’t particularly surprising that they were all having problems at the same time.
But here’s the interesting part. Someone else between April and November decided to replace any bad sockets and not bother trying to repair them and our current problems, although it took a while to realize this, are predominantly with these new (ETC M709) replacement sockets and not so much with the old original sockets, which can still be repaired as described. The design of the replacement sockets has changed to include a wire ring around the top of the cups, which appears to be part of the problem, and although we can repair them, they fail again within one or two performances.
This has led us to begin a number of experiments. We put in an ETC 750 socket (even though we don’t use 750w lamps and rarely run our 500w lamps above 50) to see if we got better results. We opened up a Sylvania TP22 socket and removed the leads and put them in a source four, but they are about 6 inches shorter, which means we had to cut back our cord, which we’d rather not do unless we have to. We opened up a Ushio socket and put both its leads and its porcelain in a source four (a somewhat snug fit since the porcelain is slightly thicker and the cups noticeably longer). We also cut slivers (1/8” x 3/8”) of sheet aluminum and put them between the back of the etc cups and the mica to try to push the cups higher into the porcelain on the assumption that perhaps the pins on the lamps were only making partial contact at their very tips.
It’s too soon for us to have any reliable results yet. Has anyone else been down this road? Has anyone else encountered similar problems?