dmxtothemax Posted May 3, 2009 Share Posted May 3, 2009 It's happened to myself too. Switched the rig on in the theatre for the drees run. Almighty bang. Glass showered on the orchestra, and everyone got quite a fright, however the lamp continued to work. Infact it took me a couple of attempts to find the lamp that had popped. I never did find out conclusively why it kept working, although the only damage was a single crack all the way round the length of the lamp. It may have been some grease or more likely wear and tear from some extra focusing the night before. Regards, Daz if it was a par can lamp, the actual filament of the lamp has its own seperate glass envelope, and this is mounted inside the par reflecter glass, so if it is only the par reflector glass broken, the lamp within could indead continue to function, how ever the danger of hot glass falling on to people below is very high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swampman Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 Further cause of "catastrophic" failure is temperature difference. Note the instructions on kitchen glassware about hot and cold liquids and surfaces. In any structure there will be tensions and heat expansion will also vary these tensions to the fracture point. Cold rain dripping into hot PAR is a favourite ! If a gig set up has possibly been wetted and there are no electrical earth leaks a SLOW glow warming of the lamps is recommended. Like pouring boiling jam/water/coffee into glassware: better if pre-heated and on a non heat conductive surface... i.e. not stone or metal like in PAR fittings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanner Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 Someone toched the blub....bulb goes boom after a while...people go ahhh...you freak out... thats to sum it up no reason to freak that a blub blew...you should freak if you put the blub in and it exploded and killled someone other wise its just someone touched it :huh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 Someone toched the blub....bulb goes boom after a while...other wise its just someone touched it err, no. PAR lamps have an outer glass envelope that is OK to handle (or I've been doing something very wrong for 20+ years) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themadhippy Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 Someone toched the blub....bulb goes boom after a while...people go ahhh...you freak out..erm we're talking about pars here,were,unless the outer lens is damaged,its impossible to touch the inner envelope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jammie300 Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 Here's one from Ynot's theatre that went quite well so it seemshttp://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l50/jammie300/30042009034-1.jpg Its has yellowed the glass and has blown out the envelope Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomHoward Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 I replaced one of those 118mm Halogen lamps where it appeared that the filament had actually melted through the glass, but appeared to be unbroken. I've no idea how but I didn't power it up to find out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob_Beech Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 Someone toched the blub....bulb goes boom after a while...people go ahhh...you freak out... thats to sum it up no reason to freak that a blub blew...you should freak if you put the blub in and it exploded and killled someone other wise its just someone touched it Keyboardosis. Cured fairly harmlessly by unplugging the keyboard. It's very contagious so if you value the life of others I suggest the treatment is started immediately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon T Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 another thing to note, when replacing a lamp and putting the inner ring that keeps the lamp in place, it does not need to be tight on the lamp < I have had lamps pop quite often like this, nicely fitted on top with a bit of movement wont do it any harm! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElectroKinetic Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 Grease on the lamp from someone not installing the lamp correctly? Just a guess... Was the lamp new/old? I've seen that happen when the bulb was mishandled as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tb1979 Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 Not sure whether the done thing on this forum is to re-use old relevant threads or start new ones if they're ancient. So sorry if I'm committing a faux pas by replying to this one! I have read with interest various threads on here about exploding PAR lamps. Some PAR lanterns are supplied with safety mesh - it seems, inevitably, to be the much more expensive ones. However, these seem to be in the minority, and most PAR lanterns I have seen on sale at cheaper prices seem to have no mesh. Many people's accounts of PAR explosions include glass flying out, even where mesh is installed. Should I be concerned at buying a PAR lantern with no mesh, or are they not that much use anyway? I'd be interested in any pointers that people can give me on this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyro_gearloose Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 Yes, you should be concerned about buying Parcans without the mesh installed. In my experience it is quite rare for a Parcan lamp to explode or break up when it dies, but it can happen. If the lens breaks up it will fall out of the front of the lamp onto anything or anyone that happens to be underneath it. While you won't be able to stop all of the glass from falling out if the fragments are very small, you will stop the larger, heavier parts from doing any damage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tb1979 Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 Thank you - that would be my thought too. But then you see items like this: Linky - cheap and tempting for people to buy. It looks like there is no mesh - or am I being dozy and there is something I have missed? Do all PAR cans have mesh somewhere in them? [EDIT] actually, I am a moron. I just clicked on the picture in the listing and found a more detailed shot clearly showing a mesh hidden inside the can. I'll get me coat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashley R Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 Thank you - that would be my thought too. But then you see items like this: Linky - cheap and tempting for people to buy. It acctually seems like this Par can has 2 sets of grills inside one which is fairly coarse and a much finer one. so it should stop the magoriety of the glass if a lamp does happen to fail. Ive had a few Cheap lamps Blow in weriod and wonderful ways. Once a nice crack formed on one side of the reflector we hard a slight pop but when we checked all the cans were still working. Being concerned something had happened brought the Rig down and inspected all the cans (16) and found it finally. and then again with a different Lamp and can the whole lens on the lamp had seperated from the back half. this time though it seems like it has broken the filament. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronknights Posted May 24, 2010 Share Posted May 24, 2010 I've seen this twice in the last few years. It's always happened with cheapy omnilux lamps. I stick to GE lamps now! Fortunately both times the venues were empty, if the timing had been worse one event would have blasted some school kids, the other covered the dance floor at the club at the top or the gerkin with glass... Either way I wouldn't have fancied the chat with the clients! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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