Replacing patt 23s

[dave1022]

Currently in school we use 8 patt 23s as general spots on the (only) in stage bar we have in school. Over the years they've has mostly been for events such as music concerts (the ones with swing bands and orchestras etc.) and speech evenings. For the most recent drama production we decided to take down all of our in school lights, and hire literally everything in (including power distribution). I'm putting them back up this week, and they seem to be getting a bit past it.

 

Also my school is moving towards doing more than one big drama production over the year. Next year there's going to be a student produced play, a lower school play and an upper school play. Obviously we won't have the money to hire for all three shows, so we've been thinking about upgrading some of our lights to reduce our dependence on hiring out.

 

So, what would people recommend to replace patt 23s? They would be mostly used for 'white light' events, but we would really like the scope to use them in productions too. Power available is 5A.

[Paul J Need]

You need to ask whether you need a profile or a more general lighting unit. Prices will be much greater if you opt to replace the P23's with a more up to date profile.

 

Something like a an Acclaim fresnel will be brighter and about half the price of a profile (Acclaim zoom spot for example)

 

How often will you need needing to project gobo's?

How often will you need a hard edged shuttered or focused beam?

Will a fresnel be suitable for the lighting you need within the space?

 

Hope this helps - more questions than answers I know. but that's how I work ;o)

[Dj Dunc]

If you do get rid of the Patt 23's and you're going to sling em, Ill take them off your hands and pay for carriage.

 

Cheers

[Unfathomable]

You need to ask whether you need a profile or a more general lighting unit. Prices will be much greater if you opt to replace the P23's with a more up to date profile.

 

Something like a an Acclaim fresnel will be brighter and about half the price of a profile (Acclaim zoom spot for example)

 

+1 for the acclaim fres. We use alot of these in the schools around the theatre, and they are great for smaller spaces, provided you don't need hard edge etc. They go to a very small beam angle for a fres. but will also do wide.

[Munro]

I agree to the above.

 

Selecon Acclaim Fresnels are great for schools, as are the Acclaim PCs, that said, I'm not a fan of Acclaim Profiles as they tend to be a bit annoying, in that they jam a lot! Well, at least all mine do.

 

Dimming wise, I'd go for Zero88 BetaPack 3s. We have 4 of those in our drama studio, and we have never had any problems.

 

 

Hope this helps.

[dave1022]

How often will you need needing to project gobo's?

How often will you need a hard edged shuttered or focused beam?

Will a fresnel be suitable for the lighting you need within the space?

 

Very seldom, if at all

It's not often we'd use a hard edged beam I don't think

 

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, I'll have a search around here for Acclaim Fresnels

[pritch]

I admit the Patt 23 isn't great by modern standards, but are you sure they're ready for the bin?

 

Have you given them a good clean? What lamps do they have in them? I've since instances where schools still have the old-style lamps rather than P28 base halogens.

 

Dimming wise, I'd go for Zero88 BetaPack 3s. We have 4 of those in our drama studio, and we have never had any problems.

 

Did the OP mention dimming?

[dave1022]

They've been cleaned, and they have the p28 halogens in them. The thing is my school are gradually looking at upgrading all our lights at some point, and since some of the 23s are starting to fall apart and they're the oldest lights we've got, we figured it would be best to replace them first.

 

And we're fine for dimmers thanks

[Munro]

hire literally everything in (including power distribution).

 

I presumed your dimmers, patchbay could also be a bit ancient.

 

As this is not the case I will edit my original post.

[Andrew C]

The thing is my school are gradually looking at upgrading all our lights at some point, and since some of the 23s are starting to fall apart and they're the oldest lights we've got,

HOLD THE PHONE!

 

We really need to know what else you've got if we are going to give meaningful advice here. I was under the impression that the 23s were all you had, hence the suggestion to change to fresnels. If you have fresnels already, then you may be better served by sticking to 8 new profiles. Aclaims are fine, the axial version better if for no other reason than you can't remove the framing shutters.

[dave1022]

hire literally everything in (including power distribution).

I presumed your dimmers, patchbay could also be a bit ancient.

 

The only reason we hired is cause we didn't think that 24x5A would be enough to run 8 source4s, 6 juniors, 8 cycs and 8 source4 pars. 24x5A is all we need for everything else at the moment though

 

The thing is my school are gradually looking at upgrading all our lights at some point, and since some of the 23s are starting to fall apart and they're the oldest lights we've got,

HOLD THE PHONE!

 

We really need to know what else you've got if we are going to give meaningful advice here.

 

8 x patt23

2 x patt60

2 x patt137

4 x 17/36 minuettes

4 x 16/30 preludes

8 x generic parcans (that rarely get used at the moment)

[Andrew C]

From that list, yes you do need fresnels. I'd go for the Acclaims myself.

 

The 60s and 137s could go in a bin, or be recycled as houselights if the venue is equipped with striplights or anything equally nasty.

[paulears]

I suspect that for smaller spaces, Fresnels are just the most useful things. My very first job was a small 100 seat studio space and we had 16 Fresnels and 4 profiles and I really can't think that I'd choose anything different now. In smaller spaces, especially those used for education, beams that blend are much more convenient - Even with those 4 profiles, years ago, I remember trying to make them soft, to use as extra Fresnels. I don't remember ever wishing for more profiles.

[Munro]

I remember trying to make them soft, to use as extra Fresnels. I don't remember ever wishing for more profiles.

 

That's quite an interesting thing to say. But, thinking about it, it is true, our drama studio has two acclaim profiles, and 12 pcs, and 8 fres. But I have softened them up several times to act as an extra fres/pcs.

[themadhippy]

An off the wall suggestion,a pc and some #119