If the lamp burner caps on your S4s are pre 1997, they will continue to destroy sockets and lamp pins. The pre 97 units have no
spring clip to secure the lamp in tight. When the lamp moves around, it makes it so that the pins don't make a solid connection to the
socket and arcing starts. Once the arcing begins, it will continue to get worse and as someone else mentioned, both the
socket and the lamp become damaged, and will damage anything that they come in contact with.
ETC has two retrofit kits available. The one replaces just the inner metal assembly and has the lamp clip. It lists for $10, but our
PRG rep sells them for $8. This
unit does not appear on the public
ETC parts list. A dealer with any smarts should be able to supply it. If not
Production Advantage has them. The second
unit, replaces the inner metal,
socket,
wire and fiberglass sleeve. I believe the list price is around $30. You should be able to get it for $25. When you consider the price of HPL575 lamps, it only takes getting a full life out of the
filament on several lamps, and the retrokit has paid for it's self.
I volunteer at a
community theatre as the
master electrician. We
purchase most of out Source 4s off ebay, and look for the ones that are very low price because they need some work. I then spend a little time fixing the units. Many of the units that we buy, and almost all of the ones that were present at my arrival, are pre 97. In order to not require a big expenditure, we
purchase a couple of retrofit kits everytime we
purchase gel for a show. I put a
mark on the cap with a silver
sharpie, to let me know which ones have been modified. This summer I was able to identify the last seven, that had not been modified. The kits are ordered, and next week I will finish them all. A total of 33 units have been modified over the last 3 years.
Get to know your Source 4s in detail, the parts are available for any repair, and they will last forever.