Yep, I concour exactually with your method in general. Spots are for all extensive purposes just large
zoom Lekos, it's not that difficult to maintain them and very lucurative for the company doing so. To do it yourself take your time and look at everything, just make sure before you adjust any one part of it, you
mark where it was before you adjusted it or you can very easily
throw off it's focus.
Grease I use is White Lithium on the rails or Teflon oil, than graphite or Teflon if I'm willing to deal with some
smoke on the
iris from the Teflon
vehicle burning off and coating the
lens. The
iris itself gets extra attention because it will frequently burn up fastest. You can sand it down with some chrocus cloth should it be white or black with oxidation, after making sure the
denatured alcohol and a lint free whipe does not take it away, but at that
point if you are sanding, you might be best off replacing it. Plus to clean the crud off it properly you have to take apart the
iris which is a pain to put back together. If it's crusty and warped, replace it.
Next look at the choppers, they sometimes will fall out of alignment or warp. Can be an easy adjustment with some tinkering but otherwise it's something also to replace even if it otherwise looks fine.
Next quandry for me is set screws. Black oxide as a coating on alloy steel is good up until the
point it gets moist, than it frequently will rust and sieze into the screw hole. Extreme heat will also rust them solid in place sometimes even worse than zinc screws will sieze. Can't oil them or they will come loose, can't
thread locker them or it's going to make it worse. Do a observation without removal of the set screws and all parts for signs of corrosion and perhaps do a test of some appropriate set screws to see if they have siezed into the hole. If you don't have to adjust the screw I would note but leave it, if not and it strippes the head you do have a problem that is hard to solve.
Free operation of all parts without snags and hang
ups, locking and releasing of the color frames, or does it show wear and need Dremmel tool adjustment to make it lock or become replaced. Wiring a must to check as with
bench focus.
Bench focus the sucker especially at it's most used range to get back the sharpness of beam and
edge. Adjust accordingly but not before you use a metal scriber tool to engrave what settings were on the
fixture before you touched it.
Check all screws for tightness especially those that move. Plus check for rust all around. Note. Dust Bunnies = rust. Scrape than paint anything rusted or it's coming back after the scum is removed. Look for missing screws and parts that are able to wiggle, nothing should wiggle this would mean a missing or loose screw usually. Oil or grease the squeeks and look for wear on parts.
But after all of this, do not be afraid to
send the spot to the factory or a very qualified service station for anything that does not seem right. All it takes on some spots is to
drop it once and the
reflector is out of round or it's
lens train goes out of focus. All manufacturers of follow spots except those built off shore will do a factory inspection of the spot for a reasonable price. Their name is on the
line. If you notice anything you cannot reasonably fix
send it to the factory unless you have a major lighting company in your area and I mean one of the top ten in the industry. Optics and hard stuff on spots is easy to fake but hard to get done right. The manufactureres will do it right and want their equipment back to service. Their name is on the
line.
I can fake my way
thru a
Altman 1000 but when it comes to the
Lycian M2 or 1290, even though I am #2 in the shop for their repair, even I admit I'm hack with them. I
send them to the manufacturer if it's something I cant solve also.
Read the
manual if possible before
hand and contact the manufacturer and explain your story. As with them maintaining their fixtures the support staff on a big ticket item like a follow spot will unlike light board manufacturers be very helpful to you. Both in stuff to check and in telling you how if not sending you data sheets and manuals. They want both you to buy your next one from them and as a customer for you to like their service and support.
Call the spot manufacturer and talk to someone in person before you start. It will be well worth it. Than yes go for it, it's at very least a good training exercise to learn from, but only if you are going to do your honest best at it. This is not a right of passage, if you are after a stepping stone as a tech person avoid teching what you are not ready for. Instead this is a learning experience you will learn more from only if you give full attention to as long as you are ready for the major tech part of it.
Have fun and take your time, but don't brag at it, it's a duty and trust thing but not something that should be generally known to others or they might be tempted to tinker with the expensive
Leko, than really screw it up.
Look at it's beam now. It either needs to look the same or better. If it's worse, tinker away to improve but accept responsibility and you must now ensure the thing gets fixed if you can't figure it out. Follow spots while not overly difficult in general are a mature responsibility to tech and not something to be trusted on just anyone. It won't hurt your career if you can't define the set screw of the
zoom rod is a 8-32 on a X type spot. Just a question of the person all have strengths. Feel honored you are trusted with the spot but of course don't get a tech god head or you are in for a fall. But Follow spot, if you have the go, go for it, good stepping stone.
