Problem with Counterfeit LEE filters

[lightjocky]

I have had a problem with a particular LEE filter this week

 

we replaced all of our gels in our drama room over the weekend and did a quick focus

about 60 lights (I hate cutting gels now!!!)

 

Anyway I powered up the rig on full and went up to focus

I could smell burning once up the ladders and see thick smoke above many lights

I immediately ran down and turned everything off

 

then performed a check on all gear to find out what was going on and couldn't find and problems

 

I than re powered everything and watched !!!

 

All of my brand new BLUE LEE filters were burning threw and within about 30 seconds they had all burnt and melted!

 

ONLY BLUE !

 

whats going on ??

 

all of the gel is LEE ! and we got it all from the same stage lighting place

 

has this ever happened before for anyone ? could it be a dodgy batch

 

 

THE light used was only an acclaim Fresnel at 650watts each hardly a 2k light

 

thank you

 

lightjocky

[3pens]

Was it a particularly dark shade of blue?

 

The higher the colour saturation the less effective the transmission of light through the colour media. Hence heat is trapped behind the filter causing it to burn out quickly. When buying deep saturated colours look at the Lee filters HT range or buy some Lee 'heat shield' to put behind your gel.

 

Smoke is quite common when colour burns out.

 

regards,

 

3pens

[niclights]

Narrow angle beams on profiles can burn through dark gels in tens of minutes, but there is no way this should happen on 650W fresnels, regardless of colour or HT etc. Speak to your supplier.

[3pens]

Narrow angle beams on profiles can burn through dark gels in tens of minutes, but there is no way this should happen on 650W fresnels, regardless of colour or HT etc. Speak to your supplier.

 

True but I have seen Gel burn through alot quicker than tens of minutes especially on PAR 64's OK so they were 'mids' in a dance venue so the angle they were focused at did not enable effective heat escape. But it could be a dodgy batch especially if its not that dark a blue.

 

You might also want to check that the gel is sitting in its frame properly a fold could/crease trap more heat.

[AndrewR]

I have had gel resting against the lens in an Acclaim before, burnt through very quickly. But not that bad!

 

Send some of the gel back to Lee directly, they should be more than happy to tell you what the problem is!

[daemon]

I'd also suggest making sure that you haven't taken the 650w Fresnels to full flood. That can be an amazingly quick way to burn through dark colour, I've seen it happen with Acclaim's. Even only a small way back from full flood will save the gel from burning exceptionally quickly.

[David A]

Daeman is exactly right, any money your acclaims are on full flood, a cheat way to solve the problem is to attach yoir gel to the barndoors with foldback clips [paper clips] this moves the gel further away and increases the area.

[Stutwo]

This does sound strange, I've never had a 650w burn through any gel that quickly. Worth contacting LEE themselves I would think.

[tokm]

Sounds like a bad batch of gel.. I've seen similar happen before on another blue.. 141.. would just burn out in a minute, and as some will know 141 isn't particularly deep.

 

As others have said, contact your supplier, sounds like some heat protection part of the gel wasn't added to the mix or something.

 

Tom

[gareth]

I'd agree with what others have said - I'll bet that you've got your fresnels focussed at full flood, and that the Lee colour you bought isn't HT (and that it's probably quite a dark blue). Try backing the lanterns off a bit from full flood (as has already been said, even only a little can make a difference), and use Lee HT filters or Rosco Supergel next time - they're far more tolerant to heat than 'ordinary' Lee.

[DavidLee]

Another possibility would be to use a double colour frame. Used alone it will stand your gel a bit further away from the lens but ideally you would put a sheet of heat shield medium in the inner slot.

 

Rosco used to sell such a frame - I remember seeing it on their website several times - however I can't find any mention of it in the current catalogue nor on-line. Possibly you need to find the magic product name to search for. Tried "double colo(u)r-frame" and "double filter-holder" in Google with no luck!

 

David

[Kelite]

What gel in particular was this? (name & #)

[DavidLee]

What gel in particular was this? (name & #)

I'll put half a crown on it being 119!

 

If so then the answer is 119 HT

 

David

[lightjocky]

thanks for the response so far

the fresnels were on full power the gell was dark blue 119 HT

 

I will be contacting lee on monday not had time this week

 

thanks jamie

[mac500]

You haven't said if its spotted right down or not. Another option is some heat shield (L269) inbetween the lens and the colour.