Altman 75Q fixtures rented as 2Kw Fresnels?
This past week I walked by a bunch of Altman 75Q fixtures rented as if 2K Fresnel fixtures. Rented by staff for more 2Kw fixtures for a show and not realized by anyone before my walk by that the 75Q wasn’t rated for 2Kw in lamp type. That’s perhaps the difference between experience and college and having worked a few shows thus experience with college but not as much field experience. (Granted I don't want to advance in my career - got a good retriing from position and ain't moving.. but at some point those workin with me or above me at some level need a pay grade experience and training.) The fixtures even got past my wife in re-prepping the rentals for use on the show by way of wiring or lamp problems not a huge problem. She is fairly anal in inspection but if it’s of different gear than she is used to knows nothing about it persay. I was not asked or informed about this rental gear I passed by one day as ready for a show didn't get asked about it in prep so perhaps it was all good as for a rental good and if even unusual.
Mentioned in passing by that they were only rated for 1Kw lamps and that I think caused some sort of a panic with those prepping them for the show. This comment seemed with those prepping the show in knowing they were to be 2Kw fixtures. But your wife re-prepped them and said they were in ok condition. (For Wife as the head of conventional fixture prep and repair; ok means nothing electrically or performance wise unsafe or to bare minimum acceptable to the level of a rental we often get even if not up to our standards for gear. Will it work for the show or what level of repair is needed for the gear sufficient to make it function sufficiently including cleaning out cob webs?)
Wife while she has mastered her craft for sustaining and even improving tech for our inventory, doesn’t mean she knows beans about a 75Q fixture as rented. She expected those that rented the fixture rented a 2K Fresnel as required for the show rented the corrct gear. Person that rented the fixtures from our company for the show no doubt didn’t know beans about a 75Q either - though he should have. Nope a 75Q Fresnel ain’t rated for 2Kw. Can it be done... sure, heck given they provided a 1Kw spare lamp for their rental fixtures I blew off the dust on one of my 2Kw spares for that concept in going to I have for the show. (Gonna charge them up the nose for that lamp if they need it in not even providing the proper spare lamp.)
Final question for me was would the 75Q work for this show with 2Kw lamps - not a tour a one off or at least not world tour in length. Very important question to those prepping the gear for the show. Seemingly a make or break the gear prepped for the show question in it going out the door on time or costing hundreds of dollars to correct this problem - really many hundreds of dollars extra to correct it at the last minute.
Assuming Wifie did her normal inspection of any gear with flash light and angled mirror in inspecting the lamp base and wiring of it, and there was nothing persay overtly wrong.. Such a fixture could stand a few hours with a 2Kw lamp I judged. Assuming much but a 1Kw rated 75Q could survive a show with a 2Kw lamp in it. Even gave the show an extra lamp socket just in case. Ok, it’s a short tour and hopefully they won’t be using these fixtures much, but in the end, it ain’t our fixtures in renting them as if 2Kw and if found to be a problem would cost just as much to correct it later as now in leaving the same day I was informed about it.
In the end in renting gear from others from one source, not much different than some HMI 575w PAR’s we rented a week before which were sent to us with the bulk of them as snowballed bad/dim lamps.... yep, these are all ready for a show if prepped and color matched at all. Not! in them even working on testing of the rented gear. This thus us re-prepping all rented gear for shows rented we don’t have enough gear for. Spare lamps for the rental were also crap = even more snowballed than the lamps removed, do these spares sent even work? Had to overnight delivery in more spare lamps to even get the show up and running with lamps that would function, much less color match in all on a pipe putting out the same output. Spares sent the next day were also 2/3 snowball and a few useful or even new. No spare lamps at this point, just attempting to leave the shop with a pipe of fixtures in having the same output and color temperature for now at least.
MSD 575 lamps, got just under a hundred of them in all forms of age following a past fixture upgrade removal, and by way of lamps in stock sufficiently in stock sufficient for the show in and provided sufficient spares and lamps as needed for the show. Difference being that I’m now paying for the lamps for other peoples fixtures and providing the spares for the lamps. I’ll never see those lamps again unless paid for before the show leaves. (Thanks for prepping our gear for us... certainly we will take a few dollars off the rental.. type stuff.) Normally when we rent fixtures to other companies they are color balanced and lamps replaced as needed in this and the spares are only new and especially not a snowball “bad lamp” to start with as per a spare provided.
Following a past week of getting up and running a past weeks rental of HMI PAR 64 fixtures with really bad lamps from one company, to another company even if not rated for a 2Kw lamp, these rented fixtures didn’t seem in as bad of functioning condition. Short tour.. Yea, they will be great... If you need another, I have another 8" Fresnel, though antique due in any day now that I really could wire up for a 2Kw lamp in time for renting to the tour... Didn’t help in their choice to go with what they had in leaving on time and going out with the proper gear and leaving late with thousands of dollars lost in doing so.
Mo-Green don’t mean Mo-Green if it needs more time in renting the gear to prep and more work on our part. The rental managers is job to pay cheap for rental but assure it don’t cost more in the long run just as buying Star Cans verses Pro Can’s for touring purposes.
Rented 75Q’s as if a 2Kw Fresnel, I blame our guy more than some small guy at a stage and studio rental/resale company for saying he could do it in not understanding what he was renting over the profit margin = his sales quota. Could be an actor on the phone to our guy that rented the gear. Yea, problem with their lack of experience guy renting the gear... more for me about our pro guy in renting it. Guys at the rented from shop also in fitting a 2Kw lamp into a 1Kw fixture but given I don’t train or supervise them not for me to say.
75Q fixtures are not rated for 2Kw lamps. In the end given it was a one off rental and would cost a lot of money to correct this mistake... not our fixtures and the vendor rented them as 2Kw. The fixtures were sufficiently prepped in surviving a 2Kw lamp for a short time. ME for the shop as it were... fine... go with it but noted problems with it.
This past week I walked by a bunch of Altman 75Q fixtures rented as if 2K Fresnel fixtures. Rented by staff for more 2Kw fixtures for a show and not realized by anyone before my walk by that the 75Q wasn’t rated for 2Kw in lamp type. That’s perhaps the difference between experience and college and having worked a few shows thus experience with college but not as much field experience. (Granted I don't want to advance in my career - got a good retriing from position and ain't moving.. but at some point those workin with me or above me at some level need a pay grade experience and training.) The fixtures even got past my wife in re-prepping the rentals for use on the show by way of wiring or lamp problems not a huge problem. She is fairly anal in inspection but if it’s of different gear than she is used to knows nothing about it persay. I was not asked or informed about this rental gear I passed by one day as ready for a show didn't get asked about it in prep so perhaps it was all good as for a rental good and if even unusual.
Mentioned in passing by that they were only rated for 1Kw lamps and that I think caused some sort of a panic with those prepping them for the show. This comment seemed with those prepping the show in knowing they were to be 2Kw fixtures. But your wife re-prepped them and said they were in ok condition. (For Wife as the head of conventional fixture prep and repair; ok means nothing electrically or performance wise unsafe or to bare minimum acceptable to the level of a rental we often get even if not up to our standards for gear. Will it work for the show or what level of repair is needed for the gear sufficient to make it function sufficiently including cleaning out cob webs?)
Wife while she has mastered her craft for sustaining and even improving tech for our inventory, doesn’t mean she knows beans about a 75Q fixture as rented. She expected those that rented the fixture rented a 2K Fresnel as required for the show rented the corrct gear. Person that rented the fixtures from our company for the show no doubt didn’t know beans about a 75Q either - though he should have. Nope a 75Q Fresnel ain’t rated for 2Kw. Can it be done... sure, heck given they provided a 1Kw spare lamp for their rental fixtures I blew off the dust on one of my 2Kw spares for that concept in going to I have for the show. (Gonna charge them up the nose for that lamp if they need it in not even providing the proper spare lamp.)
Final question for me was would the 75Q work for this show with 2Kw lamps - not a tour a one off or at least not world tour in length. Very important question to those prepping the gear for the show. Seemingly a make or break the gear prepped for the show question in it going out the door on time or costing hundreds of dollars to correct this problem - really many hundreds of dollars extra to correct it at the last minute.
Assuming Wifie did her normal inspection of any gear with flash light and angled mirror in inspecting the lamp base and wiring of it, and there was nothing persay overtly wrong.. Such a fixture could stand a few hours with a 2Kw lamp I judged. Assuming much but a 1Kw rated 75Q could survive a show with a 2Kw lamp in it. Even gave the show an extra lamp socket just in case. Ok, it’s a short tour and hopefully they won’t be using these fixtures much, but in the end, it ain’t our fixtures in renting them as if 2Kw and if found to be a problem would cost just as much to correct it later as now in leaving the same day I was informed about it.
In the end in renting gear from others from one source, not much different than some HMI 575w PAR’s we rented a week before which were sent to us with the bulk of them as snowballed bad/dim lamps.... yep, these are all ready for a show if prepped and color matched at all. Not! in them even working on testing of the rented gear. This thus us re-prepping all rented gear for shows rented we don’t have enough gear for. Spare lamps for the rental were also crap = even more snowballed than the lamps removed, do these spares sent even work? Had to overnight delivery in more spare lamps to even get the show up and running with lamps that would function, much less color match in all on a pipe putting out the same output. Spares sent the next day were also 2/3 snowball and a few useful or even new. No spare lamps at this point, just attempting to leave the shop with a pipe of fixtures in having the same output and color temperature for now at least.
MSD 575 lamps, got just under a hundred of them in all forms of age following a past fixture upgrade removal, and by way of lamps in stock sufficiently in stock sufficient for the show in and provided sufficient spares and lamps as needed for the show. Difference being that I’m now paying for the lamps for other peoples fixtures and providing the spares for the lamps. I’ll never see those lamps again unless paid for before the show leaves. (Thanks for prepping our gear for us... certainly we will take a few dollars off the rental.. type stuff.) Normally when we rent fixtures to other companies they are color balanced and lamps replaced as needed in this and the spares are only new and especially not a snowball “bad lamp” to start with as per a spare provided.
Following a past week of getting up and running a past weeks rental of HMI PAR 64 fixtures with really bad lamps from one company, to another company even if not rated for a 2Kw lamp, these rented fixtures didn’t seem in as bad of functioning condition. Short tour.. Yea, they will be great... If you need another, I have another 8" Fresnel, though antique due in any day now that I really could wire up for a 2Kw lamp in time for renting to the tour... Didn’t help in their choice to go with what they had in leaving on time and going out with the proper gear and leaving late with thousands of dollars lost in doing so.
Mo-Green don’t mean Mo-Green if it needs more time in renting the gear to prep and more work on our part. The rental managers is job to pay cheap for rental but assure it don’t cost more in the long run just as buying Star Cans verses Pro Can’s for touring purposes.
Rented 75Q’s as if a 2Kw Fresnel, I blame our guy more than some small guy at a stage and studio rental/resale company for saying he could do it in not understanding what he was renting over the profit margin = his sales quota. Could be an actor on the phone to our guy that rented the gear. Yea, problem with their lack of experience guy renting the gear... more for me about our pro guy in renting it. Guys at the rented from shop also in fitting a 2Kw lamp into a 1Kw fixture but given I don’t train or supervise them not for me to say.
75Q fixtures are not rated for 2Kw lamps. In the end given it was a one off rental and would cost a lot of money to correct this mistake... not our fixtures and the vendor rented them as 2Kw. The fixtures were sufficiently prepped in surviving a 2Kw lamp for a short time. ME for the shop as it were... fine... go with it but noted problems with it.
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