That Was Fun, Let's Not Do It Again

[waynehoskins]

I have a light in the shop labeled "bad, dancer kicked it off stage during LA show"....
Well it is well labeled, i am just not to happy about it......

I thought it was funny. And useful. It doesn't tell you about what particular item(s) inside it is in need of repair or replacement, but it tells you about the nature of what caused the damage. And since this is a road or rental unit, the guy who finds it dead offstage doesn't have much chance to open it up and check it out (especially if it's a mover). The note for the bench tech (that the dancer kicked it off stage) tells the guy that it needs to be opened up and checked out from front to back (especially if it's a mover, which I'd guess it to be).

If I'm out doing a show, I don't care much exactly why a light doesn't work. I just care that it doesn't work, and that to get the show up I had to use one of the spares because this one doesn't work. If I have time, I'll open the thing up to find out why it doesn't work, and sometimes even try to fix it. "NFG, fell from the truss" means something different than "NFG out of the box".

 

[LightingPenguin]

. "NFG, fell from the truss".

If your fixture fell from a truss, I imagine it would be in a few pieces. That is, depending on from how high up it fell. But I do believe that would be an obvious NFG

 

[philhaney]

"NFG out of the box".

If I have one of those I write "BOOB" on the toe tag ("Bad Out Of Box").

 

[w3st0n21]

ok, question. if you have something that is bad why not just throw it away? if u dont know who labled it, then test it (unless it will blow up) and if it is bad then throw it away.

 

[philhaney]

ok, question. if you have something that is bad why not just throw it away? if u dont know who labled it, then test it (unless it will blow up) and if it is bad then throw it away.

1. If it's a BOOB, I can send it back and get a replacement.

2. It is usually cheaper to repair most equipment (to a point).

 

[waynehoskins]

ok, question. if you have something that is bad why not just throw it away? if u dont know who labled it, then test it (unless it will blow up) and if it is bad then throw it away.

It's only a short-term thing. If I have a bad light, I want to fix it. But if I don't have time now (because I'm cueing the show), or if someone else like a bench tech handles repairs, I would mark it as bad, to be fixed shortly but not immediately.

Or if I'm out doing a gig, I can't fix it now; it has to wait until we're back at the shop.

Or in the case of a video switcher I have, we took it to a gig; its power supply broke. I know exactly what's wrong and what needs to happen, but it's been four months and still I haven't fixed it. The tub is sitting on my office floor with a note that reads "check out". I know exactly what's wrong with it, and I'm going to fix it eventually, but I just haven't done it yet. And why fix instead of throw away? To fix it will cost me, oh, in this case, under a nickel. And probably a half hour of time. To replace it with a new unit would take between four and five figures.

 

[derekleffew]

...if you have something that is bad why not just throw it away? ...

Hardly the proper sentiment, particularly in today's earth-friendly atmosphere. Anything (except consumables) can be repaired--it's just a matter of weighing the cost of repairs against cost of replacement.

 

[LightingPenguin]

Also, if its a mover and its NFG, I can almost guarantee its cheaper to repair it than to buy an completely new mover. Most theatres dont have the budget to simply chuck everything. And even if they did, why would you? Its such a waste of almost good equipment

 

[photoatdv]

Can whatever theatre is just throwing away everything that doesn't work perfectly please send it to me?

 

[waynehoskins]

Can whatever theatre is just throwing away everything that doesn't work perfectly please send in to me?

Ooh, count me in too!

 

[Esoteric]

Me too!

Mike

 

[philhaney]

Can whatever theatre is just throwing away everything that doesn't work perfectly please send it to me?

Add me to your list, too!

 

[Van]

Can whatever theatre is just throwing away everything that doesn't work perfectly please send it to me?

My brain doesn't work too perfectly sometimes.... I could put it in a box and ship it to you.....

 

[zuixro]

At work this summer I was cleaning out some shelves. I found a piece of paper that said "Smoked beyond repair" and had a date on it from 2001. (it had been a while since the shelves had been cleaned) That note made it's way around the shop. Spent a little bit of time on the fork lift. Some time on a (fully functional) sub woofer. Even a mic rig for a while. It kind of became a joke.

 

[photoatdv]

Well after I said that, I found out my drama teacher told the tech dept teacher to throw away the trouperette followspot because the fan doesn't work and he didn't want to buy a new ($20) fan...

Never fear one of our pro guys to the rescue... he's going to explain the logic of that and add the fan to one of our orders .