Conventional Fixtures Lamp Housing Cleaning????

[Zech]

I have several Lamp Housings that do not work and am wondering if it could be the contact point with the lamp. Is there a way to 'clean' this????

 

[Amiers]

There isn’t, you will have to buy new sockets.

 

[cbrandt]

And a bit further, this is a critical maintenance piece. If you have "several" that look like that, you should examine your entire inventory. They can cause lamps to fail prematurely, and lamps swapped out of those sockets can spread the corrosion/damage to otherwise good sockets.

 

[Van]

Luckily, If you have basic electrical skills you can easily replace these sockets yourself. they are widely available and it makes for a really fun Sunday afternoon. Depending on the model of fixture you may bee a "heyco" tool but probably not. Should just be Snippers, phillips, flat, and some fiberglass e-tape. May have to buy some new teeny-tiny wire nuts as well. It's a great time to check Cord Caps, reflectors, and do a shop focus on everything.

 

[ship]

While I mostly agree with the above, can we start with the beginning? What type of fixture are you servicing?

 

[JonCarter]

Seems like I see many people having similar problems with what look like mini-bi pin lamp sockets (and the lamps that use them.,) Is this a problem with the socket design or with the lamp design? We rarely had such problems (which couldn't be fixed by judicial application of crocus cloth to either or both the socket and the lamp) with medium and mogul prefocus and bi-pin lamps & sockets.

 

[Les]

Is this a problem with the socket design or with the lamp design?

I guess in this case it takes two to tango. Better cooling and heat sinking is better, but I've seen pretty much all popular types of TP-22 sockets fail eventually. The worst were probably the ceramic models from the 90's to early 2000's (not sure of the exact time period). The OP does not appear to have one, but in these sockets, the entire base including screw holes were ceramic, with the lamp retainer being metal/tin. I found that the ceramic could eventually crack in half -- not sure if that led to failures directly, but I doubt it helped matters.

Sockets in regular-to-heavy use anywhere from 10 years and up should be inspected particularly closely (but ideally on every lamp change ever, no matter the age or hours used).

Good lamp replacement etiquette can help things. No doubt that many early socket failures were from incomplete contact from a badly-installed lamp. The failure rate rises when the "perfectly good" lamp from a bad socket is put back in to rotation so it can go on to ruin sockets another day.

Fixture orientation could certainly be a factor. Lens down and similar steep angles, causing more heat to pass over/through the socket.

Anecdotal, but it seems that I replaced sockets more in the first half of my fixtures' lives (1995-2008) than the second. Sockets made in the last 15 years or so may be lasting longer - or maybe I just need to wait a bit longer for the mass casualties to start happening again. Life is indeed easier when you can replace them in large groups; kind of like re-lamping metal halide or fluorescent fixtures.

I think socket life will be extended through care and "observing best practices" through maintenance and general upkeep. But heat, like water, finds a way to affect most things eventually.

 

[Zech]

And a bit further, this is a critical maintenance piece. If you have "several" that look like that, you should examine your entire inventory. They can cause lamps to fail prematurely, and lamps swapped out of those sockets can spread the corrosion/damage to otherwise good sockets.

Yes, thank you! I am new to the world of theater and new to this position and am in the process of trying to figure out why these lamp housings are sitting around on the floor. Is this something that can be prevented or just a matter of time before a socket needs to be replaced. Any and all help/advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Les]

Replace all your bad sockets, don't reuse the lamps that came from those fixtures, and make sure you fully seat lamps when replacing them. With those three things, you should get a good 10-15 years minimum out of a socket.

Oh and I guess a fourth thing would be to make sure your stage lights aren't being used unnecessarily, such as during non-tech rehearsals and as worklights. That really puts a strain on things over time.

 

[Zech]

Replace all your bad sockets, don't reuse the lamps that came from those fixtures, and make sure you fully seat lamps when replacing them. With those three things, you should get a good 10-15 years minimum out of a socket.

Oh and I guess a fourth thing would be to make sure your stage lights aren't being used unnecessarily, such as during non-tech rehearsals and as worklights. That really puts a strain on things over time.

Thank you, this is very helpful.

 

[almorton]

One of the causes of these sort of failures people putting the wrong type of bi-pin lamp into a socket. There are lamps with two pins the same, and lamps with different sized pins. You shouldn't be able to, but once the sockets are a little worn, you can get the wrong lamp in the wrong socket, which leads to a poor connection and overstretching contact material and premature ageing of the socket and lamp. So always makes sure you have the right lamp for the fixture.

 

[ship]

What fixtures are you repairing?
Wire nuts in a stage lighting fixture should be avoided other than for high temp versions and in vary rare conditions. New lamp bases come with long whips and should not be spliced.
Check the ground wire for corrosion or losse - able to fix while installing the new lamp base. Possible to fix or replace.

Also, I just had a bunch of lamp caps to S-4 fixtures brought to me to fix. Two were the 575w version - they are not worth fixing verses upgrade to 750w version for a large venu.

And as one of my boss's told me about the current project... they should just upgrade to the LED lamp cap in now being just as bright now.

 

[DELO72]

A few things can cause that- 1) poorly seated lamps (not inserted all the way, making for a poor electrical connection) can cause arcing between the pins and socket contacts, leading to that carbon build-up over time. That then leads to less electrical contact, leading to more arcing/heat corrosion, leading to even less electrical contact...etc. The problem just escalates. 2) Also dust can get into the socket (dust, sawdust, etc.) and that can cause the issue and start the chain mentioned above. The sockets aren't expensive, and you can buy most of them at wherever you source your lamps.