Conventional Fixtures Identifying old fixtures (Capitol f'spot, PAR38 cans)

[echnaret]

At my church, I have an old spotlight and a half dozen par 38's that I'm wondering if anyone could identify/give an approximate age to.

Spot:
The back of the spot says "Capitol / New York City." It uses a giant bulb that I'm pretty sure has never been changed (it gets used maybe once or twice every couple years). It's fairly dim, and is barely able to show up on a stage covered with Par56 front light. I'm praying that the bulb never goes out, because I'm not sure how easy/expensive it would be to replace.


Par 38 Cans:
These have a typical medium screw base; I found them with bulbs ranging from a 60w A19 household bulb to a 300w BR40 lamp. They originally had a black and red wire attached to a 2P (no ground pin) plug. I wasn't sure if it was asbestos, so I replaced them all with slightly less sketchy zip cord.


If anyone knows the make/model/age of any of these, I'd love to know. Thanks.

Edit: I'm guessing from the various stickers around the theatre that everything was installed by the Hub Electric Company. I'm not sure if that helps at all with the par cans.

 

[Sony]

I'm pretty sure I had replacement lamps in stock for that followspot up until a few weeks ago....I may have tossed them. We don't have that followspot anymore but we had one so we had a couple lamps for it. I can't remember for the life of me what model that followspot was. I'm pretty sure you can still find the lamps as they do have an ANSI code, they are a beastly lamp though. I may have thrown out the lamps thinking I would never need them now that we have two brand new Robert Juliat Topaze spots.

 

[derekleffew]

The incandescent lamp for your Capitol spotlight is still available, likely either the 1000W DPW, or 1500W DTJ.

One vendor:

BulbConnection.com - $39.00 DTJ Replacement Lamp

See this thread http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/question-day/21460-name-followspot-capitol-1001-a.html. Your spotlight is none of those discussed, but looks like it could be an older version of a Mark III. Perhaps it's a Mark I or Mark II. Was probably built in the 1960s/early '70s. Yes, it's not very bright or efficient by today's standards, but a replacement fixture would cost upwards of $1500.

As for the PAR38 cans, it could have been any number of manufacturers, and doesn't really matter, as what few parts there are are generally available at your local hardware store.

 

[Les]

Those are some funky pars! I see they have those concentric ring louvers installed. I've never seen anything like that in a par 38 fixture, but that, along with the bullet-shape of the can appears as though it had architectural design intentions.

 

[derekleffew]

... along with the bullet-shape of the can appears as though it had architectural design intentions.

Indeed the bullet can was quite popular in the early 1960s through the 1970s.

Wedgwood Tulsa: Retro Light Fixtures pt.2

My parents' house still has several.

 

[echnaret]

Those are some funky pars! I see they have those concentric ring louvers installed. I've never seen anything like that in a par 38 fixture, but that, along with the bullet-shape of the can appears as though it had architectural design intentions.

I've seen concentric rings listed online (City Theatrical sells a 2" version which is supposedly comparable to a 6" top hat), though I've never seen them in use. All mine are currently sitting in a box in a corner (they brought down the light output too much for my taste). When I first "took over" the tech for the space, they were 6 of them on the front of house Unistrut, and a mixture of incandescent and fluorescent lighting onstage. I'm curious if there are more hidden somewhere, that I haven't discovered yet.

Anyways, two questions about the followspots: First, does anyone know if there are halogen retrofit-type bulbs I could use that might be brighter? Second, the tilt knobs have 40-ish year old leather "washers" between the knob and the yolk that I want to replace. Do you know of anything suitable I could use? Thanks.

 

[jonliles]

the tilt knobs have 40-ish year old leather "washers" between the knob and the yolk that I want to replace. Do you know of anything suitable I could use? Thanks.

I'd get another piece of leather. Works great and last (obviously) a long time.

 

[gordonmcleod]

Years ago when i was working for Lumitrol in toronto we retrofitted a lot of those with a ellipsoidal reflector used in the Altman Q1000 followspot i believe and a FEL lamp and got a lot more light out of them for far less than repaceing the entire instrument

 

[Les]

Years ago when i was working for Lumitrol in toronto we retrofitted a lot of those with a ellipsoidal reflector used in the Altman Q1000 followspot i believe and a FEL lamp and got a lot more light out of them for far less than repaceing the entire instrument

I've done that too, actually. You can basically retrofit in the socket and reflector of an Altman 360Q ellipsoidal also. [Lots of parts, disguised as old instruments, are readily available on ebay].

If this spot has the 4 1/2" stepped lens between the lamp and the iris [ edit: yes it does ], you may need to remove it for best results. I believe that lens was intended to do what the ellipsoidal reflector essentially does -- concentrate the beam of light before it reaches the gate. If you leave the lens you will basically create a redundant optical system, possibly resulting in a projected image of that lens.

If you do the retrofit, keep the old parts just in case you ever want to go back.

 

[echnaret]

I'd get another piece of leather. Works great and last (obviously) a long time.

Any idea where I could get more?

I'll have to look into the retrofit idea. As I doubt I'll be able to get enough money to buy a new spot, doing something like that is probably the next best thing.

 

[jonliles]

Leather Sources: Hobby Shop, Craft Stores, Fabric Store, Saddle Maker, Shoe Maker / Smith, An old pair of work boots, a boy scout troop, etc...The list of sources goes on and on (and that is before a google search).

Bottom line, you are making a shim out of leather. Sometimes, you may need two or more peices. You can glue them together with contact cement or have a shoe smith sew them together. Try to find thick pieces of lether - no leather used in furniture or coats.

It is a big sqare shim with a notch in the middle to go over the pivot point.