Undergrad Seeking Help Ordering Correct Lamps

[jlewis16]

Hey there,
I'm an undergrad at a student run theater, and I'm in desperate need for some advice. Our club has really let our lighting department go in terms of maintence and upkeep of our fixtures, so I'm trying to sort through a number of issues.
These are our fixtures - can someone please tell me what type of lamp I should order for each that is cheap/good quality? If I haven't provided enough information about the fixtures (like model number, etcetera) to help answer this question, please let me know and I'll take a second look at our inventory.

- Altman Fresnel 1KAF, Maximum 1000W
- ETC Par EA Model, 750W HPL Series
- Altman Source 4 360Q, Maximum 750W (the label says "EHD/EHG type lamps only" ?)
- ETC Source 4 Ellipsoidal Series, Maximum 750W HPL
- ETC Source 4 Junior (25-50 Degree Zoom) , Maximum 575W HPL

We've been using GE BTL 500W Medium Prefocus in all of our fixtures, including the S4's, which I'm pretty sure need HPL 575? Also, our budget is somewhat limited, so any of the lamps I purchase need to be between $15-$20 each. Any help with this is much appreciated!!!

 

[TDN]

For your ETC fixtures, you may want to lamp them all with the same. You'll save some money in the long run, as you can get quantity discounts as you order a couple dozen at a time. But that means using all 575 watt lamps to include the S4 juniors. I don't know what your throw distances are and how many instruments you have, but it's so much easier to just grab a lamp out of one big box than to have separate piles for each instrument. Obviously, this doesn't help you with your Altmans, but it might simplify your life and inventory. It also prevents people from trying to put a 750 lamp in a 575 unit.

Another thing to think about is long life lamps vs short life lamps. The cost is the same, but the long life (in theory) last about 4-5 times longer. BUT they are not as bright- I've figured that a 750 long life is about as bright as a 575 regular. The long life versions have an X in the title, like this one here. LINK

I don't know what part of the country you are in, but you might have a supplier like Barbizon with a store near you who might be able to help you out. Or look at StageSpot, ProductionAdvantageonline, any of the theatrical suppliers will be happy to take a call from you and help you figure out what kind of lamps you need. Production advantage has a chart which lists each type of lamp you can use with each fixture here: http://www.productionadvantageonline.com/Content/lampref.htm

 

[derekleffew]

... We've been using GE BTL 500W Medium Prefocus in all of our fixtures, including the S4's, ...

No you haven't (with success anyway). The only fixture with a medium prefocus socket is the Altman Fresnel.

As said above, you need to decide what's most important to you, lamp life or intensity. For simplicity's sake, I've recommended standard-life, 575W lamps for all of the below.

- Altman Fresnel 1KAF, Maximum 1000W BTH
- ETC Par EA Model, 750W HPL Series HPL575
- Altman Source 4 360Q,1 Maximum 750W (the label says "EHD/EHG type lamps only" ?)2 GLC
- ETC Source 4 Ellipsoidal Series, Maximum 750W HPL HPL575
- ETC Source 4 Junior (25-50 Degree Zoom) , Maximum 575W HPL HPL575

All of the above are 115V, ~3200K, ~300 hours, and available from many manufacturers retailing at $15-$20. Osram/Sylvania, Phillips, and Ushio all should be within a dollar or two of one another. The price difference among vendors is primarily due to how many they sell, which affects their wholesale cost, thus it's best for the end consumer to buy from a high-volume dealer. Beware of eBay and Amazon sellers offering no-name generic far-east lamps.

1 "- Altman Source 4 360Q," Source 4 (Source Four) is a trademark of ETC, thus this is akin to saying "Ford Camaro Mustang."
2 Label says that because the GLC (and others in the GLx family), which has the same filament structure and similar performance to the HPL, had not yet been invented.

... Our club has really let our lighting department go in terms of maintenance and upkeep of our fixtures, so I'm trying to sort through a number of issues. ...

Perhaps this article will help: http://www.controlbooth.com/wiki/?title=Collaborative-Articles:Lighting-Fixture-Maintenance&highlight=maintenance of lighting fixtures .

 

[jlewis16]

No you haven't (with success anyway). The only fixture with a medium prefocus socket is the Altman Fresnel.

As said above, you need to decide what's most important to you, lamp life or intensity. For simplicity's sake, I've recommended standard-life, 575W lamps for all of the below.

- Altman Fresnel 1KAF, Maximum 1000W BTH
- ETC Par EA Model, 750W HPL Series HPL575
- Altman Source 4 360Q,1 Maximum 750W (the label says "EHD/EHG type lamps only" ?)2 GLC
- ETC Source 4 Ellipsoidal Series, Maximum 750W HPL HPL575
- ETC Source 4 Junior (25-50 Degree Zoom) , Maximum 575W HPL HPL575

All of the above are 115V, ~3200K, ~300 hours, and available from many manufacturers retailing at $15-$20. Osram/Sylvania, Phillips, and Ushio all should be within a dollar or two of one another. The price difference among vendors is primarily due to how many they sell, which affects their wholesale cost, thus it's best for the end consumer to buy from a high-volume dealer. Beware of eBay and Amazon sellers offering no-name generic far-east lamps.

1 "- Altman Source 4 360Q," Source 4 (Source Four) is a trademark of ETC, thus this is akin to saying "Ford Camaro Mustang."
2 Label says that because the GLC (and others in the GLx family), which has the same filament structure and similar performance to the HPL, had not yet been invented.

Perhaps this article will help: http://www.controlbooth.com/wiki/?title=Collaborative-Articles:Lighting-Fixture-Maintenance&highlight=maintenance of lighting fixtures .

Thank you so much!!! I have just one question - will the 360Q work with the HPL575's? I'd like to reduce the number of different lamps I buy, just to avoid later confusion with anyone else handling the fixtures.

Thanks again, I'll post on here if I run in to any trouble but I think we'll be all set!

 

[venuetech]

- Altman Source 4 360Q, Maximum 750W (the label says "EHD/EHG type lamps only" ?)

It is just "altman 360Q" Source 4 is a specific manufacturers product name (etc)
No the HPL lamp will not work in this fixture

 

[danTt]

It is just "altman 360Q" Source 4 is a specific manufacturers product name (etc)
No the HPL lamp will not work in this fixture

Well... if you wanted to invest the work to replace the sockets in all of your 360qs, it could. See http://www.altmanltg.com/hpl-fixture-options.htm . I don't think it's worth the effort though, it's easy enough to keep two stocks of lamps.

 

[DELO72]

No you haven't (with success anyway). The only fixture with a medium prefocus socket is the Altman Fresnel.

As said above, you need to decide what's most important to you, lamp life or intensity. For simplicity's sake, I've recommended standard-life, 575W lamps for all of the below.

- Altman Fresnel 1KAF, Maximum 1000W BTH
- ETC Par EA Model, 750W HPL Series HPL575
- Altman Source 4 360Q,1 Maximum 750W (the label says "EHD/EHG type lamps only" ?)2 GLC
- ETC Source 4 Ellipsoidal Series, Maximum 750W HPL HPL575
- ETC Source 4 Junior (25-50 Degree Zoom) , Maximum 575W HPL HPL575

All of the above are 115V, ~3200K, ~300 hours, and available from many manufacturers retailing at $15-$20. Osram/Sylvania, Phillips, and Ushio all should be within a dollar or two of one another. The price difference among vendors is primarily due to how many they sell, which affects their wholesale cost, thus it's best for the end consumer to buy from a high-volume dealer. Beware of eBay and Amazon sellers offering no-name generic far-east lamps.

1 "- Altman Source 4 360Q," Source 4 (Source Four) is a trademark of ETC, thus this is akin to saying "Ford Camaro Mustang."
2 Label says that because the GLC (and others in the GLx family), which has the same filament structure and similar performance to the HPL, had not yet been invented.

Perhaps this article will help: http://www.controlbooth.com/wiki/?title=Collaborative-Articles:Lighting-Fixture-Maintenance&highlight=maintenance of lighting fixtures .

Great advice here as always from Derek. If you wanted to go with 750W- the GLC becomes a GLD. I suggest always going with the short life, highest output ones because you can always dim them and double the life, but you can't go past Full intensity on the board and get higher brightness out of a long-life lamp (Unless you have a console that's been tweaked by the guys in Spinal Tap, where it goes to 11.) So shorter life lamps give you ALL the options you could ever want in my opinion.