Old lanterns

[Rach]

Hi could anyone help me?

 

I am working at a school and they have some really good lighting equipment but the only thing that lets it down is the actual lanterns there really old and some don't focus although they do actually work - the school is not prepared to buy a whole new stock while they still have these lanterns.

 

Does anyone know any names of companies that would buy these lanterns if I had them cleaned up a bit!? I heard that some people do like the antique lanterns! :)

 

if anyone has any answers that would be great!

 

Rach

[david.elsbury]

Maybe ebay? However I very much doubt that a) the school would be okay with selling kit on ebay, and b) that what you get 2nd hand for an old lantern will come close to the money required for the new ones. What lanterns are we talking here, and what exactly is wrong with them? For example if they are old Strands you could maybe get lamp replacement kits to use newer, brighter lamps, and maybe replace reflectors?

 

David

[Stutwo]

Double and triple check the school would actually let you sell them. It's rare to find a school that would let you do such a thing. Once in a stock book, these things are clung onto irrelevant of condition.

[PDD]

Double and triple check the school would actually let you sell them. It's rare to find a school that would let you do such a thing. Once in a stock book, these things are clung onto irrelevant of condition.

Good advice, but not necessarily true. Depends on management. I had no problems selling off some of our old/faulty lantern stock privately, then the cash went a little way towards buying new kit. It's a difficult decision though - if the school are not prepared to buy a whole new stock, are they happy to replace those you're intentionally getting rid of them? Or will you be left with even fewer lanterns? (Actually, that's more-or-less what I've contradicted above, so I'm going to shut up now... *ahem*)

 

As has been mentioned, tell us what the lanterns are, then somebody can probably give you a guide as to potential value. This is also a good place to sell (see the Classifieds forum), which I've used a few times with no problems.

 

(p.s. Would you like access to the STSG forum?)

[Rach]

The lanterns are Patt 123 Fresnels, Patt 23 PCs, Patt 223 Fresnels

 

I think if we were gonna sell them we would want to keep some of the ones that arn't too faulty! just as some extra stock.

 

if we can get some money from selling some of them then thats gonna make the school happier buying new ones.

even if they don't sell them they do already have an idea of the lanterns they want to add to the stock, but if we can sell some of the old we can get more of the new!

[Fletch]

It might be worth looking at the costs of getting these serviced (I know this is possible, but I'm not sure who actually does it) - I, and possibly many others, consider these very good lanterns (well P123s and P223s anyway). OK, so they are a little old, but many new lanterns aren't any better, apart from being black!

[david.elsbury]

You could try someone like Stage Electrics or your local supplier, or even maybe hire company, to get servicing done. Check and see if the school has already got an account established with somebody.

[J Pearce]

Take them down, clean them, paint the outside black and fit new halogen lamps to them.

 

Nothing wrong with any of those lanterns, many pro theatres still use 223s and more than a few still use 123s.

The Patt 23s are poor compared to modern profiles, but fresnel design hasn't changed much since the 123 and 223 were made (particularly at the budget end).

 

Perhaps find some newer profiles to complement your fresnels.

[GridGirl]

Don't sell the 223s - you'd be far better off getting conversion kits for the newer lamps and fixing the lanterns up; I still prefer a 223/743 over any other fresnel I've ever come across. We're still using 123s and 223s in our rig - while they're not the entirety of the rig, they still make up a very valuable proportion of our lantern stock. I reckon you'd be better off spending a bit of dosh getting them fixed and working properly, as there's nothing fundamentally wrong with them. Also, what is a Patt 23 PC?! Do you mean a profile?

[Andrew C]

If it were me (and it has been in the past) I would definitely keep and upgrade the 123 and 223s. There are few better Fresnels on the market today! There are conversion kits available to enable current bi-pin lamps to be used, rather than P28 based types.

[lamps galore]

I'm going to add my support for the option of keeping and upgrading your 123's and 223's!

 

Great lanterns that keep on going!

 

Do you know any technicians local to your area that would be willing to do some servicing for a fee? That could be a cheaper option than going to your local hire/supply company...

 

I tend to do yearly maintenance on the lantern stock of my local college, no reason why someone local couldn't spend a couple of days sorting it all out - bear in mind costs of conversion kits, and new lamps - that's the only thing that throws me, every time I turn up, a quarter of all lanterns are in a pile in a corner... reason? they don't work... Why? no one thought to change the lamp... :)

[Don Allen]

Hello rachel

 

If you go to the Strand Archive http://www.strandarchive.co.uk/lanterns/index.html and have a look at the specifications of the Strand lights that you have (it is a good learning exercise for your students !) and do a comparison with what you might be advised to buy, you will find that the Patt123 and Patt223 are better performing lights than their newer counterparts !

 

I will advise you to keep all of your lights because they are all good value for money. You do not seem to have any of the poor performers such as the Patt 45.

 

There have been no new developments in fresnels for a long time. If you look at the specifications for your Patt123 and Patt223 you will find that they have larger reflectors and larger lenses that the newer fresnels people may encourage you to upgrade to. These features mean more light reaching the stage for the old Strand fresnels so in a way they are "greener" than the newer fresnels.

 

On the other hand profiles have seen some excellent developments such as the selecon Acclaim Axial 600 watt zoom pfofile that puts out more light than some older 2000 watt profiles.

 

However your old Patt23 are still usefull. Are they patt23 or Minim23 ? a look at the Strand archives will let you know. The older patt23 are very efficient profiles for their age as the lamp is almost fully surrounded by the rear and front reflectors so most of the light exits the fixture/luminaire. The Minim range is another story, the first series was not very efficient as they were too small so had a tiny lens. The second series was a bit larger so a bit more efficient.

 

Get three quotes when you get any work done to make sure you are getting value for money.

 

When the Patt123 and Patt23 were designed, they used a tungsten lamp, the T1 which was not very efficient and had a P28S prefocus base. Several versions of Tungsten halogen lamps have been brought out that suit the P28S base range and provide much brighter output. Initially these new lamps were expensive because of the P28S base so a lot of people converted their early Strand lights to GY9.5 bases but the prices of P28S base Tungsten halogen lamps have come down to match their GY9.5 cousins so it may not be necessary to pay for the conversions.

 

Again another exercise for your students, budgeting for productions and getting value for their dollar.

 

Hope this explains why people are saying hang onto your old lights, as you have good ones.

 

ps do a search on the Blue Room for threads on Bad Lanterns such as CCT30 axial's with FEP lamps, you will learn that there are some lights to get rid of.

 

Once you have a decent rig, you will start adding specials for doorways, windows, gobo projection etc and this is where the patt23 will become usefull as you won't have to buy an profiles to do these jobs.

[Johnno]

Our school has eight Pat 23s that form the backbone of the FOH lighting, and two Pat 223s on stage. One day we might replace them, hopefully with something that runs cooler, but for now they're fine even if probably dimmer than affordable replacements. I had to renovate them all, which didn't take me long or cost much, but then I can do that sort of work. As everyone else here is saying, get them working and keep them if you can. You could ask a local electrician to quote for cable replacement - it's no more involved than wiring an immersion heater - or try one of the theatre specialists, and do the cleaning yourself.

 

Looking round another local school last year I noted that their hall didn't seem to have anything but parcans. Plenty of lumens but no class!

 

Nice thing about P23s - from the side they look like Cybermen's heads. (Memo to Johnno: Get a life.)

[Jivemaster]

Does your establishment have a metalwork or CDT technician who could be persuaded to assist. Someone should be competent and capable to suitably clean and lubricate as required, clean the lenses and mirrors, and check all the focussing slides are free.

 

Look for upgrades to the newer lamps the old P28/T1 lamp is inefficient compared with the P28 and Bi-pin replacements (halogen!)

[Nat_Keiller]

To actually answer the OP...

 

www.usedlighting.co.uk

www.aclighting.com

RB Lighting 020 8 977 9665

www.stage-electrics.co.uk

www.whitelight.ltd.uk

 

You might have varying levels of success with these companies, depending on how much and what condition they are currently in, and probably more importantly how much you actually want in exchange for them...

 

Hope this helps