Cyc lights are fairly standard in design. I would not all together say it's a crap
instrument. At least not initially until I ripped the thing apart and saw how it was wired, what brand of lamp
base it used and how it’s cooling vents were structured. I have vast experience with
fixture design and things like that, what in your experience has
led you to form the opinion that these instruments are crap just because they are burning
gel. Please review them for others considering the fixtures with an open mind. Are they worth their in-expensive price or what specifically sets them apart from other fixtures?
I would not consider buying it where I work now, but my budgets are by far different than your school's no doubt. I have two versions of
Altman, one from Moonlight and one of
Colortran. I have also
play tested one from
Strand and one from L&E in replacing the above. I at one time also personally owned 5 banks of my own
cyc light in addition to having experience with other than the above
RSC lamped versions of
cyc lights. There is no ideal or perfect
cyc light on the market or I will have bought into it because I have a blank check
book for replacing something like 50 of our
current cyc fixtures insead of rewiring all of them which is one of my on going tasks.
If I were in your TD's situation and had the choice between some
cyc lights and no
cyc lights, I might seriously consider using even American DJ crap. There is so much you can do with a
cyc light it’s use is amazingly important. Your school has
cyc lights now and can afford other things because they saved money on them. $179.00 Each is very cheap, less than a S-4
Leko, that is a good value. A bird in the
hand type of thing, you did not have any before these so what’s the difficulty? Currently you have a problem, what is it not a challenge for you as a tech person to solve? Simple as that. Think before you complain about them too much, instead turn lemons into lemon aid and fix them. Also the TD is always right, if you think he is wrong you must have misunderstood him. It’s a rule in life you will almost never find an exception to.
Figure out how to solve problems and you will be so much more useful as a tech person than someone that grumbles about everything. You will also learn some valubable things in the process. Learn this
fixture and all others will be simple to also solve similar problems with. And all
Cyc lights have the burning
gel problems at times, how you solve this problem will help you next time you run into the problem.
I realize this is somewhat harsh, but it's time to
roll up your sleeves and figure out the solution a tech person rather than hold up your nose. I was just grumbling about some crappy snow machines on Friday. The difference between me grumbling about them and it would seem you grumbling about these
cyc units is that when I grumbled about them my boss knew I was both blowing off steam and making a
point that we need to look into replacing them. Once I finished raising the cost of constantly fixing them verses newer and quieter ones, I was done complaining about them. He also knew that I was going to solve the
current problems with them no matter how much I disliked the fixtures and so I did. In other words, you have them, there is a problem, solve it. Making the best of what you have and something out of nothing is the
mark of a theater person,
stomping your
foot and not dealing with it is the
mark of a primidona. Which do you want to be?
Here is what I would look into for fixing them to start you out:
American DJ’s recommended lamp is the FCL which is a
clear 4.11/16" x 500w
RSC lamp. That's the easy part to change. This is a open faced non-lensed
unit there is no reason to us a
point source lamp in it. Instead
switch to a 500w FDN or better yet the long life equivalent FCZ lamp in it’s place. This will provide the same amount of
power just disperse the source of light to a wider area which will be slightly cooler on the
gel because it’s coming from a more dispersed source. It will also look better on the
cyc or what you light in being softer.
Another option is to go with a Q350T3CL/Ultra-C, FDF/HIR, Q350T3/HIR, or Q500/350WM lamp. With the exception of the FDF/HIR lamp that’s higher output but shorter life, and the Q500/350WM that’s 130v, the other two have just about the same life output and
color temperature as a FCL lamp but for lower wattage. Actually they have a slightly higher
color temperature. This lamp is the equivolent of the difference between a EHG and FLK lamp in a
Leko. Less wattage, more
power. Because it’s less wattage it might run just a
bit cooler. The IR-Film coated lamps are not available in frosted but can be of use. Otherwise if the 500w lamps are too powerful and usually on a
dimmer the Frosted 300w EHZ lamp is highly recommended to reduce amber
shift and will run cooler. I
stock them for the more theatrical events.
This is a four
channel bank. Such fixtures run hot especially in the center where there is not a cool side panel as opposed to hot lamp adjacent to it. Given it’s four channels, I might attempt to cool down the center of the
unit by making one of the center positions my non-gelled work light
circuit if using it. You might even attempt 300
watt lamps for the work light circuits. There is no
gel in it and I presume there are a few
cyc lights on
stage, perhaps the 300w work light in combination with other
cyc light lamps will be sufficient.
Otherwise I would install my lighter colors/lower transmission gels in the center slots. As has been theorized in other places, the higher the transmission ratio, the less wattage you need to balance it with lower transmission ratio gels. In other words, you might be able to use a 300w lamp in the center of the
fixture with say amber or green
gel and leave the 500w red/blue lamps towards the edges. This can be done even more in depth than that in matching color. I list 4.11/16" lamps down to 50 watts with about 25 to 50 watts between them up to 1,050w at 120v. Take a yellow with a 88% transmission and another with a 4%. A 500w and 200w lamp given the gels will provide about the same luminous output. Put the lower wattage lamp in the center and the heat in the center balances to that of the lamps on the end of the
fixture which are probably not burning
thru gel as fast. Experimentation with balancing your lamps with it's transmission can be of value in installing the lower wattage/cooler lamps towards the center of the
fixture.
As for slitting your
gel, it cuts down on the amount of color coming out of your
fixture. In other words with that or pouncing it more white light gets
thru and it makes a deep color less intense. Because of that you have to go with a deeper color yet to compensate for it or dim the lights so the amber
shift dims it further. Full
intensity and no holes in your
gel - especially if it can have a higher transmission ratio is a better option given proper lamps and ventilation of the
fixture. As has been discussed before on the subject of
gel burning out, companies such as
Lee produce
heat shield that can be used to reflect away from the
gel some of the IR in the light causing it to break down. You can try adding
heat shield to it but without a space between it and the
gel the
heat shield is not going to be very effective. Heat shields need a slight space between it and your
gel. Because these fixtures have what looks like bent leaf
gel frames it will be more difficult to add a spacer to them unless you were to
purchase or have made for you a second set of them which were added to the origional set of
gel frames with a spacer such as a 1/4"
nut between them. That minimum of a 1/4"
air gap is the key to
heat shield working. You can also look into adding some space between the
gel and the
fixture if the frame holder is large enough. This will allow more stray white light to
escape but also allow more heat to
escape the
fixture when the
gel is sealing that open
face.
A final solution to your problem would be to attempt to cool down the fixtures more so they can be run at full
intensity with what
gel and lamps you have in them. Fixtures with more than three banks often have problems with retaining too much heat. You have 2,000 watts in an enclosed space that’s a hot
fixture and going to tend to bake things if not ventilated well. - At least I hope it’s only 500w lamps because for a
stage there is not much need for 1,000
watt lamps in such a blending/
wash fixture. The
fixture is getting hot and there is nowhere easy for the heat to
escape. Could be that the fixtures are being used in the wrong position so the heat coming off them is going into places and not escaping easily, or it could just be because there is not adequate ventilation in the
fixture and you might add more. Perhaps a few vent holes added somewhere not structural and to the body, even a fan added to the
fixture so it runs cooler by pushing the heat out from behind the reflectors. Such re engineering will require the TD to figure out and certify but can be the solution. I hate the
Colortran 6-cell
cyc units we have but they definitely run cooler than that of the
Altman units. Such fixtures have over twice the ventilation as the
Altman. They are less rugged but operate cooler. Open up holes or introduce forced cooling behind the
reflector and there will be less heat going towards the
gel.
Hope the above helps to offer some options to think about in solving the problem on your new equipment. No, it’s not the greatest of fixtures probably but given the choice between some
cyc lights and no
cyc lights, I would go for the former myself. Study them and learn from them than offer the solution as a tech person instead of writing them off. Believe me you won’t always have such good equipment to work with. Wait until you have a 20' bank of 80 year old strips that has to change pipes or has a short. Than you will have something that is giving you real problems.