Mac 500 advice appreciated

[JamesP]

Hi there

 

I hope some people can help me with a few questions regarding Mac 500s.

 

Basically I've been offered 6 of the units. They've been well used over a 6-7 year period, but have never been moved and are therefore in good cosmetic condition.

 

Now, 3 of the units apparently work well, the other 3 have minor problems (the guy was talking about gobo/colour errors, and they sometimes stop moving in a certain direction, although happily continue when moving the other way). They units have apparently been services reasonably regularly (every 8 months I think). I think they're gonna need new bulbs too.

 

Now, what would be a fair price for the 6, bearing in mind that 3 need attention and they probably all need a decent service and bulbs.

 

Also, what would be the lowest priced reasonable quality winch stands that could take 5-6 of these units on truss, and how much am I likely going to have to pay for these stands, the truss and clamps to mount the lights. I work in a bad constantly changing venue so I need a solution that's easy to lock/unlock.

 

Do you guys think 5-6 of these at the back of a stage is sufficient (with par cans at the front) for a complete lighting solution, or would I still be wanting to use pinspots etc.?

 

Regarding servicing, what's the most expensive thing that can go wrong on these. The all basically work (barring the problems I mentioned above), but I'd be gutted to buy them then realise I need to spend thousands on spare parts/servicing.

 

What's the general reliability of these units like, and what kind of things can usually go wrong? Also, how do people think they compare with the new brands/models on the market (Mac 550, Robe etc.).

 

Again, any advice would be very appreciated. Sorry for all the questions, but I've only got a certain amount of $$$ and I'd hate to buy a lemon.

 

Cheers

[ianl]

Hi there

 

Also, what would be the lowest priced reasonable quality winch stands that could take 5-6 of these units on truss,

6 x Mac 500 @ 30kg = 180kg

20ft trilite or litebeam truss 20kg and that would be a squeeze but I wouldnt want a longer span at that loading

some cable say 10kg

 

so total about 210kg

 

good quality winch stand such as a manfrotto (£350 ish)maximum load 30kg

 

I would suggest that winch stands are not the way forward in your case

[Big Dave]

A Manfrotto Wincher stand will take a load of approx 150kg - I can't remember the exact loading without looking it up so don't quote me on that but they do cost nearly £1000 per stand

 

Edit. Looked up the loading - its 188Kg

[sam.henderson]

I've used Mac 500's quite alsot and wuite like them generalfly as a unit though they can sometimes be annoying.

 

As for problems with moving in a certain direction that sounds a bit dodge to me!! After all what if you operating them live and then one just stops! As for colour problems does this just mean problems with one of the colour wheels (the mac 500 has 2).

 

You will need to investigate exactly whats wrong with them before making an offer- perhaps if you could find out and post it on here it would be easier to help you price them.

 

Sam

[vinny baby]

repair could be costly, I would contact martin and get a quote, for new parts. If your not exsperienced with moving lights I would recomend geting a martin rep to fix them, this will also more than likey be costly.

 

like the others have mentioned you will need some heavey duty lifting gear.

 

you could always just fly 4 units, and mount two on stage floor, will give you more layers, and more variation, it also cuts down the weight of your grid or truss.

 

I have just invested in a couple of lifting towers, because of the weight I need to fly, and flying from above isnt an option in some of the venues I play.

 

only bug there is is that the towers have out riggers, and take up quite a bit of floor space.

 

http://216.71.107.24/WEB%20STANDS/ALP3.JPG

 

this is the tower/stand that I bought 2 off, they were just over a £1000 each!! but worth it. I got mine from Terralec

 

vince

[JamesP]

Hey guys

 

Thanks for the advice it's really appreciated.

 

I spoke to Martin, and they said the problem sound fairly minor and should be fixable without spending too much $$$.

 

What about pricing, what would you say is a good price to pay for both the ones in good working order and the ones that need attention.

 

I'm thinking I maybe consider Mac 250s instead. I'm worried both about rigging them (I really didn't want to pay £1000 a stand!), and power consumption.

 

Any other ideas?

[Shaun Foster]

Mac 250's weigh over 20Kg's each so you will still end up with over 150Kg's altogether, which would probably require the same stands.

[peter]

Mac500s seem to be going for about £1.2k each, ex hire. I'd say somewhere around £5k - £6k for the lot, although that might be slightly on the conservative side.

 

Re: the worst thing that can happen... probably the lamp shattering inside the unit. This can ruin the dichroics, reflectors, gobos, motors and looms. Ouch!

[JamesP]

Is it worth worrying about the fact that the units are 6-7 years old, or does it basically not matter as long as they work?

 

(Again thanks)

[sam.henderson]

I'm thinking I maybe consider Mac 250s instead.  I'm worried both about rigging them (I really didn't want to pay £1000 a stand!), and power consumption.

 

Any other ideas?

I wwould try and stear clear of Mac 250's and Go for 500's if you can afford to. It will be the best in the long run.

 

I prefer Mac 500's becuase theyy are just Brighter than the 250's and seam a bit more 'chnuky' if you know what I mean.

 

I do know lots of people however who really like 250's and have never had a problem with them.

 

Sam

[gareth]

I prefer Mac 500's becuase theyy are just Brighter than the 250's and seam a bit more 'chnuky' if you know what I mean.

Yes, they're brighter and "chnukier" (sic). But they're also much heavier, physically larger, consume more power and (in mode 4) take up 3 extra DMX channels. All of which might be a factor when considering which units to purchase, so simply saying "Mac500's are better than Mac250's" isn't necessarily valid.

[sam.henderson]

Yes, they're brighter and "chnukier" (sic). But they're also much heavier, physically larger, consume more power and (in mode 4) take up 3 extra DMX channels. All of which might be a factor when considering which units to purchase, so simply saying "Mac500's are better than Mac250's" isn't necessarily valid.

Yes but they do have several superior features to the Mac 250.

 

They have way more colour mixing options (up to 100 mixable colours) where as the 250 has only 11(ish).

 

They have 6 more Gobos

 

They also have a Motorised Iris (which the 250 doesn't have)

 

You are right in the fact that they take up an extra 3 channels (250; 13 Chan, 500; 16 Chan) though.

 

I suppose you would choose them for different situations however I still do think the 500 is a generaly better Lantern.

 

Sam

[sam.henderson]

Just to add to my last post; You an see a video and get the full spec of both the Martin Mac 250 and the Martin Mac 500 on the Martin Website. Click on the links below to go directly to the specified area;

 

MAC 250- Product Spec and Videos

 

MAC 500- Product Spec and Videos

 

Sam

[gareth]

If 'better' is defined purely by a unit's feature set and how it performs against a competitor, then the VL2000 spot is way better than either of them!

 

However, there are lots of other factors that come into play when selecting a fixture for a particular application - where/how it's intended to be rigged (size and weight become factors), the availability of power in its intended location of use, etc.

 

All this isn't exactly relevant to the original question, though - which concerned the wisdom of buying half a dozen Mac500s in what sounds like a rather dubious condition. I think the advice of having them checked over by a Martin service agent is good - the problems might be something simple (dirty sensors, missing magnets, etc.) or they might be something more deep-rooted which would cost a lot to solve.

[MartinT]

Do you guys think 5-6 of these at the back of a stage is sufficient (with par cans at the front) for a complete lighting solution, or would I still be wanting to use pinspots etc.?

That depends on the effect your looking for, the size of your stage and the trim height of the pipe. With a standard lens (17 degrees) you need more than 8meters trim, more is preferable, you can fit the wide lens - but in my experience that's not too successful.

 

I'd be tempted to put 4 at the back and two at the front.

 

Mixing them with pars - be careful as you only have 6 and it's easy to wash out the beams with other lights, especially when using the saturated colours and gobos.

 

The problems you have don't sound too bad, as stated above just bad sensors or magnets, at the worst a worn drive gear. all easy and cheap to repair

 

 

Power consumption shouldn't be more than 4 amps each after striking so you shouldn't have problems there.