Alec97 Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 I'm just recalling a few years back when we used to hire the foxie's that when we came to the end of a one week show we found that we couldn't unplug the connector from the ballast no matter how hard we tried, was just funny how it must have welded its pins together somehow ? Has this ever happened to anyone before or was it just me.Also has anyone ever had a par 64 1000 w lamp explode and completely obliterate itself ? only I had two in one show last week they where GE lamps. The one was over the walk way in audience and it showered small pieces of glass that got thought the safety grill the other was side of stage just above the stage managers desk, with this one it blew the par safe out of the back of the can. They where also very loud and it made the stage manager jump and scream like a girl down the cans and made me laugh http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigclive Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Fused together connectors and exploding PAR lamps are not all that uncommon in this industry. Connectors on hire equipment have a very tough and grimy life, and PAR lamps just fail catastrophically from time to time. It's why they have a protective mesh in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
litemog Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Given how many Par lamps I've used in the last 30 years or so, I've only known one explode dramatically. And that was dramatic enough. Very loud bang, glass fell through the wire mesh, through the wire tension grid it was rigged above and onto the stage below - which was full of 15 year schoolgirls, all of whom were barefooted at the time !!! Will never forget the time when I was focussing a patt 743 as top light.. Loud popping sound followed by a pile of glass landing at my feet. Looked up to see aforementioned fresnel sans lens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Pearce Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 I had a bad batch of PAR lamps that kept exploding the front off the back and making Y10 dancers scream mid piece. Thankfully they all popped before the show. It's why PARcans should all have a safety mesh in front of the lamp.As for fused connectors, it happens. You can minimise it by making sure connectors are clean and that they are tightened to the appropriate level (which isn't always as tight as it can go...). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timsabre Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 I've seen quite a few Par lamps explode. Rain is often the cause when used outside but I've seen some go for no apparent reason and they do make a very impressive bang. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris.Morris Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 .... they do make a very impressive bang.an MSR1200 beats them hands down in that league I'd say. As a bonus it provides a handy lesson in Lamp Hours and why you should pay attention to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themadhippy Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 exploding pars,yep but only with 1 batch of sylvania.As for welded contacts,used it to my advantage to get a load of sils replaced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timsabre Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 an MSR1200 beats them hands down in that league I'd say. As a bonus it provides a handy lesson in Lamp Hours and why you should pay attention to them.Yeah once had to repair some miniscans where the lamps had been run past their end of life and exploded, shattering the massive thick condenser lenses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
numberwrong Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 I have used PARs outdoors before. risk assment stated that all PARs must be geled as further protection from possable exploding glass. I've had 3 mystiourous exploding HPL750s in some source 4s. I never got to the bottom of it, at first I thought it was a power serge or broken dimmers. It was most likely to be a bad batch of lamps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmeh2 Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Hi OT, but I've seen the exploding HPL750 issue too, I narrowed it down to metal fatigue in the suspension causing the filament to collapse. This was on a ship and the theatre was directly above the bow thrusters, so every landing and depart they would be subjected to some extreme vibration. It's about the only time I'd ever condoning running a rig with no pre-heat as keeping things warm would just accelerate the issue. I've kept the best example somewhere, the filament contacted the envelope and managed to completely melt through it before going bang. All the bestTimmeh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmills Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 The Selecon Pacific in its 1K variant has a lovely little issue, if run pointed literally straight down the lamps last **seconds**, seems to be one part of the filament sagging onto another (I ran thru a hundred quids worth of new bubbles figuring that one out, worst bit is it was a load lamp for some birdies!). Five degrees or so off vertical and you get normal sort of lamp life. For sheer **BANG** nothing beats short arc xenon when it decides to let go, 30+ATM and unlike a short arc mercury lamp these things have a reasonably large internal volume (You would think it impossible to get a lamp with mounting studs of different sizes into the lamphouse backwards, you would think.....). Regards, Dan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alec97 Posted August 5, 2014 Author Share Posted August 5, 2014 Nice, looks like exploding lamps are all to common in the industry just unlucky that two went within 30 minutes of each other Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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