Stu Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 Hello Everyone, Just doing some maintience on our SL stock and I've come across a couple of gremlins which have got me perplexed. Some of the lamp holders are stiff when turning anti-clockwise to change lamps. Some in fact can't be turned without adjusting the peak control in order to loosen up the lampholder and a couple are still so stiff you need to put some considerable welly into turning the damn things. Is there anything that can be done to sort this out? Possibly a small dab of a high temp lubricant or similar in order to get things moving again? And secondly... 2 of our units 360º 'lockoffs' won't lock off. The actual knob tightens right up, but on both does nothing to stop the lantern continuing to turn. Any ideas on how I could fix this? Sorry to bother the board with this, but the online SL manual is useless (a third of a A4 bit of paper) and my service e-mail to Strand from 2 months ago seems to have gone ignored.... Any help will be most gratefully received.Cheers,Stu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 Dunno about your first query but as to the second - have you tried taking off the yoke and checking the runners inside? If they've got broken, there might not be anything to push against, if that makes sense. Just a thought which you've probably tried. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James C Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 Hi Stu - the first issue is one I've had as well - had wondered about lubricating it, but couldn't quite work out where to do so that would help. haven't had a problem with the lockoff for the rotating carriage, though. My main beef (apart from the lamp-changing issue - Any evidence of scorching on the lamp-tray, by the way?) with SL's is how delicate the focus knobs are. A butterfly flaps its wings in Hong Kong, and anything plastic falls of the lantern! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 can't be of any further help for the second, but as regards the lamp holder ...I've had the self same problem, and the only way to release them is to play with the peak control. IIRC, when the lamp base is about 1/2 way through it's range is when there is the least resistance to removing it. And yes, somtimes welly is the only thing that can help. another thing I've recently had trouble with is lenses falling out. anyone know a suitable adhesive for getting them back in place again? mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted September 15, 2004 Author Share Posted September 15, 2004 have you tried taking off the yoke and checking the runners inside? If they've got broken, there might not be anything to push against, if that makes sense.This is what it's turned out to be. The resin coloured runners on both of them have cracked where the lock off pushes up against them - a result of possible overtightening on the focus and maybe the plastic becoming brittle due to heat. (apart from the lamp-changing issue - Any evidence of scorching on the lamp-tray, by the way?)Nope nothing that I can see. with SL's is how delicate the focus knobs are. A butterfly flaps its wings in Hong Kong, and anything plastic falls of the lantern!Never had a problem with this. Yet! (Touch wood) I've had the self same problem, and the only way to release them is to play with the peak control. IIRC, when the lamp base is about 1/2 way through it's range is when there is the least resistance to removing it. And yes, somtimes welly is the only thing that can help.Yes the whole playing with the peak control to loosen the lamp burner is what I've always had to do. Despite the manual telling you something completely different! But the welly always makes it shift, in the end anyway. Interesting observation for today is all the SL's I have to do any sort of work on is the 23/50s - I think this is because they get moved about more than our 15/32s and probably end up getting bashed more than they should. Cheers once againStu PS. Still be interested if anyone has tried lubricating the lamp holder for ease of use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 My main beef with SL's is how delicate the focus knobs are. A butterfly flaps its wings in Hong Kong, and anything plastic falls of the lantern!I'm with you on that one, James. They're OK if the lanterns live in one venue and are treated respectfully. But you put them in a touring situation, where the lanterns get more physical abuse as a matter of course, and the focus knobs won't last long. I speak from experience ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 Stu Posted Today, 03:59 PM QUOTE(TeeJay @ 14 Sep 2004, 09:41 PM)have you tried taking off the yoke and checking the runners inside? If they've got broken, there might not be anything to push against, if that makes sense. This is what it's turned out to be. The resin coloured runners on both of them have cracked where the lock off pushes up against them - a result of possible overtightening on the focus and maybe the plastic becoming brittle due to heat. Guess what we've been finding on our maintenance this year! :) Got a whole bunch of plastic bags with resin runners in them. The other problem we've been having is that the outer insulation has come away from the lamp holder for an easy PAT fail. And it's no fun at all trying to loosen screws that were tightened at the factory by gorilla's. Tomorrow I will mostly be ... staring forlornly at the seemingly endless pile of SLs still to be checked. I'm sure they have taken on traffic cone-like properties and are multiplying overnight :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted September 15, 2004 Author Share Posted September 15, 2004 The other problem we've been having is that the outer insulation has come away from the lamp holder for an easy PAT fail. And it's no fun at all trying to loosen screws that were tightened at the factory by gorilla's.Surprise suprise. A problem I am having too. Now I have been battling with every tool I have to no avail on getting those bloody screws out. What method did you use in the end, just to save me time in working it out myself? Every option considered, with special consideration going to semtexing the whole lot.... Stu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard_cooper Posted September 16, 2004 Share Posted September 16, 2004 The other problem we've been having is that the outer insulation has come away from the lamp holder for an easy PAT fail. And it's no fun at all trying to loosen screws that were tightened at the factory by gorilla's. Surprise suprise. A problem I am having too. Now I have been battling with every tool I have to no avail on getting those bloody screws out. What method did you use in the end, just to save me time in working it out myself? Every option considered, with special consideration going to semtexing the whole lot.... Stu <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I wish I could find a good solution. Some of the screws come out but are unusable as they bring a lot of the thread with them! Some had already been tried, and had no usable head left, so I had to drill the head off and use vice grips to remove the rest of the screw. I had to do 24 of these a while ago, it took forever. I tried all sorts of methods, a word of warning though, the very back part that the screws go through is quite fragile, so when you've got to the end of your teather, don't belt it as it will shatter. I was left with three of the 24 needing spare parts after some last gasp attempts to remove them...... In fact Strand are not my favorite company at the moment, problems with SLs, a 520 with repeated minor problems, LD90s with an apatite for alternistors (although this seems to have stopped recently), and a newish batch of quartet Fs that have gone up to the roof, and now for some reason all of the focus mechanisms have jammed...... Rant over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo Posted September 16, 2004 Share Posted September 16, 2004 Some of the lamp holders are stiff when turning anti-clockwise to change lamps. Some in fact can't be turned without adjusting the peak control in order to loosen up the lampholder and a couple are still so stiff you need to put some considerable welly into turning the damn things. Is there anything that can be done to sort this out? Possibly a small dab of a high temp lubricant or similar in order to get things moving again?<{POST_SNAPBACK}>Last time I hired SLs, I found the only way to get the lamps out was to loosen the screw at the back a turn or so. It's the one on the side of the pointy-bit at the back - it seems to hold the internal clip tightly closed, and it was far too tight on every one I changed the lamp of. (Sorry about the rather vague terms - it's a few months since I used one so I can't quite visualise the lantern) As for extracting the screws -They are POSI-drive machine screws, and rather soft ones at that.If you use a Phillips screwdriver you will destroy the head.(One thing that really p****s me off is when people use phillips drivers on posi screws and then find it strange when they knacker it.) A #2 Posidrive screwdriver and a set of mole grips should do it, although it isn't exactly the easiest job in the world as you've already found out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Posted September 16, 2004 Share Posted September 16, 2004 The problem with the resin runners breaking is a design fault and they start to fail after about 5 years. When you tighten the lock-off, it bends these runners, which is what grips the yoke. Eventually these suffer fatigue and snap, or you just bore a hole through them. Strand are aware of this fault and will send you new runners if you call them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted September 16, 2004 Author Share Posted September 16, 2004 It's the one on the side of the pointy-bit at the back - it seems to hold the internal clip tightly closed, and it was far too tight on every one I changed the lamp of.Yes this screw should be at least 8mm out. It's on the right hand side of the back when looking at the lampbase. They are POSI-drive machine screws, and rather soft ones at that.A #2 Posidrive screwdriver and a set of mole grips should do it, although it isn't exactly the easiest job in the world as you've already found out!Thanks for that. Still not easy even with a Posidrive screwdriver! Strand are aware of this fault and will send you new runners if you call them.Thanks for this Martin. I will have to ask them about this when I can get round to calling their service department next week. Stu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryson Posted September 16, 2004 Share Posted September 16, 2004 The screws on the back of an SL come out a dream if you use a posi head on an Impact Driver. But they're not cheap. Your problem with the lamp bases - do you have the little screw in the side all the way out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted September 16, 2004 Author Share Posted September 16, 2004 The screws on the back of an SL come out a dream if you use a posi head on an Impact Driver. But they're not cheap.Just looked on Screwfix. Your dead right they aren't cheap! Your problem with the lamp bases - do you have the little screw in the side all the way out?Yes I do, should of mentioned that in my last post. Obviously this makes life alot easier but they are sometimes still a bit stiff... Stu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiefy Posted September 20, 2004 Share Posted September 20, 2004 Quick note, never replace the screws on an SL with normal machine screws as these will heat up and cool down and eventually weld themself into position for ever! The reason Strand spares especially screws are so expensive is they are designed and coated with a special magic heat resistant substance known only to Strand! (I know, I've asked them!!)As to the problem of removing the lamp burner, Strand SL's come with a screw sticking out of the rear used in education applications for locking the burner assembly into the lamp, this should be removed from the fixture and put into a special box labeled 'silly screws that Strand supply' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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