Conventional Fixtures Strand SL Coolbeams

[DELO72]

Socket; the base is part of the lamp.
Are you saying you've NEVER had to replace a TP22 or TP22H socket? If yes, I'd say you haven't been in the industry long enough.

Perhaps not fully seating the G9.5 pins is the primary cause, but not the only one. How exactly do you clean the socket's contacts once corrosion and arcing has begun?

"Cleaning" a socket is a misnomer I have since learned. You are scraping away carbon build-up on the contact. When you scrape away at the metal, you are removing a layer and increasing the gap between the contact and the lamp pin, thereby increasing the chance of future arcing.... Basically you are causing the socket to be even worse next time, and have more risk of arcing failure with each cleaning. Once they arc-- replace the socket or you are just asking for more trouble and will be burning through lamps all the time.

And hey-- I "cleaned" (read- scraped with a file) sockets all the time in my previous jobs, but now that I am involved with the factories that make them and have learned from the experts in the factory and the quality lab.... (OSRAM Sylvania is one of the two largest suppliers of Entertainment sockets in the industry).

The OSRAM sockets (TP22 and TP220, and TP22H for the Source Fours) all have a new design as of 6-7 years ago with an improved contact design and high-temp nickel backer spring so they have far less chance of initial arcing if the lamp is seated properly.


Cheers,

Mark

 

[Mapletech]

Hi there, so this is probably a pretty old dead thread at this point. But I've been trying to figure out a socket replacement situation with my cool beams and I feel like I'm banging my head against the wall. My new replacement sockets are smoking and I can't figure out why! I thought it was tiny trace remnants of wd-40 from my cap disassembly process but I cleaned them again and still they smoke. Looks like maybe its the new socket's white wire insulation sleeve as its seems to be turning slightly brown after several testings. But I'm only using 575W GLA bulbs .... I didn't think the heat would be an issue? Its hasn't been before!

As far as I can tell its the same sockets I've always been buying in the past : Osram 69006 TP-22XL.
Now Of course that Osram socket is not what the caps were originally outfitted with (The original sockets had porcelain heatsink bases) And @derekleffew , I liked your advice about getting a bender and wirth socket with a porcelain base BUT I can't find anyone who sells something like that with a porcelain base anymore. (I asked my Local theatre gear supplier for replacement sockets for this and they sent me sylvania S4 sockets that look like they're for mini candelabra bulbs ... )

I'd have loved to get that sweet looking TP-220 XL Socket with heat sink built in to handle the extra heat... but @DELO72 explained in another thread that its already discontinued. (Mark DeLorenzo you seem like a brilliant and wonderful guy and you would be my hero if you had any advice, especially about the wire sleeving)

Any advice from anyone would be amazing! Thank you.

ALSO So Much thanks to everyone who has posted in this thread before! Over the last 6 years with your advice (and with some help from an old wise tech I knew) I've been gradually replacing the dead sockets in the caps of my venue's inventory (which is unfortunately mostly Strand cool beams).


P.S. In case it helps explain my situation here's a bit of info on my process and troubleshooting:
All the caps I fixed this year smoke when I test them out. They start smoking after being on at full for about 15 minutes, and it gets more and more smoky as I leave it on. By the time it gets to 20 or 25 minutes, it seems like just way too much so I just turn them off.

Now a lot of these caps needed a good shot of WD40 to encourage them to open. And this year I wasn't as intense about cleaning the wd40 off as I usually am, I just cleaned them thoroughly with cloths and I let them sit for months after that. So when I went to test them recently and they smoked. My first Guess was it was tiny remints of wd40 burning off. So I took everything apart cleaned and scrubbed it with alcohol and even soap and water (on the cap hardware.. not the socket!) Dried it all, waited a few days. I had also replaced a lot of the original screws with new ones in better shape, but just to be safe I swapped back to all the original screws. Then tested them again. Still smoking. Hard to tell where the smoke is coming from exactly. But after several testings I can see the new socket's white wire insulation sleeve is turning slightly brown. When I compare it to other sockets that have been in lights for 20 years, the old lights socket's wires still have pristine white cable sleeves.

 

[DELO72]

>>(Mark DeLorenzo you seem like a brilliant and wonderful guy and you would be my hero if you had any advice, especially about the wire sleeving)

aww... flattery will get you everywhere. The 69006 wire (which hasn't changed in over a decade) uses UL rated SF2 insulation, which is silicon rubber covered in a fiberglass jacket. It's rated for 600V and 200C. That 200C seems a little low to me, but not if you are only lamping them at 575W with GLA lamps. Definitely not appropriate for 750W lamps or higher. Is it a larger section of the insulation that is showing as now brown, or only a spot where it is potentially making contact with a metal part of the lamp housing? I'm wondering if perhaps a certain area of the inside of the lamp housing where the socket is, is getting very hot and making direct contact with the wire from the socket before it exists the fixture, and that contact point is causing the smoke/hot spot?

Some ideas I'll throw out- 1) if not already in use, you could buy some fiberglass sleeving material, and see if that helps for the area inside the base cap. for example- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00W3HY2PC/?tag=controlbooth-20

or 2) You could try finding a dealer who has some of our 69627 sockets. Which is TP22XL 40in length (so 4" longer), still 16AWG (same as 69006), but with UL5446 wire insulation, which is a Fiberglass/Resin material that's rated for 600V, 300C. We haven't sold those in quite some time though. You may find someone like a Bulbtronics or Barbizon that might have some on their shelf from a while back however as we sell that one in bulk (100pc cases) only. I can't seem to find a history of sales of this specific socket however (in recent time), so... that may be a red herring. Hmm....

If I think of anything else I'll toss out more thoughts/Ideas. I originally suspected it was WD40 or oil/residue somewhere that was burning off. I wonder if the wire insulation itself happened to have some residue on it, that is burning off? hmm....

Good luck!

Best regards,
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spi---err, OSRAM lamp/socket person.

Mark

 

[Mapletech]

Is it a larger section of the insulation that is showing as now brown, or only a spot where it is potentially making contact with a metal part of the lamp housing? I'm wondering if perhaps a certain area of the inside of the lamp housing where the socket is, is getting very hot and making direct contact with the wire from the socket before it exists the fixture, and that contact point is causing the smoke/hot spot?

Thanks Mark!! (or should I say Peter Parker? hehe ) You are the best!
And FYI It looks like the whole exterior of the fiberglass jacket is turning brown on the area inside the cap. So no its not just at one small spot.
Ah I hadn’t thought of the wd40 getting onto the sleeves! I've got a few more of the 69006's I haven't used yet so I'll try swapping those in on lamps I’ve scrubbed 100% clean and see if that fixes it. Otherwise I'll go hunting for those 69627's or some of the extra fiberglass sleeving.

Thanks for your super fast help and detailed explanation!