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This topic comprises 4 pages: 1 2 3 4
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Author
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Topic: Use Your Safety Gear
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Dave Williams
Wet nipple scene
![](http://www.film-tech.com/ubbmembers/299c.jpg)
Posts: 1836
From: Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Registered: Jan 2000
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posted 02-05-2000 01:46 PM
On Christmas eve of just this last year, I had a 2000W Xenon explode just two seconds after it lit up. When these things go up when they are lit they have much more explosive force then when they are cool.The force created a shock wave that threw me back four feet into the wall. The sheetrock crumbled when I hit it. The sound of it was so loud the Police next door came over. They found me in the booth but I was out cold. I came to after about five minutes or so. It took six hours to repair and overhaul the lamphouse. But the damndest thing, the reflector was UNDAMAGED. Everything else was toast. It was like a stick of dynamite. If it wasnt for the fact that the lamphouse was well constructed I am sure I would have been killed. And this was just lighting it. During the overhaul I found that this same lamphouse had an explosion in the past, as there were pieces of reflector and bulb everywhere. And from that it caused damage to the electrical systems that was never repaired, causing the system to short out and overload the bulb, and the second explosion. SO WARNING, make sure your lamphouses are well maintained, INCLUDING THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS. The bulbs can explode if they get overloaded or shorted. The lamphouse is often overlooked as are the electrical components. YES I AM OK NOW. Just a concussion. Very little brane damaje. (hehe) ------------------ "If it's not worth doing, I have allready been there and done it"
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Stefan Scholz
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 223
From: Schoenberg, Germany
Registered: Sep 1999
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posted 02-06-2000 03:26 AM
The only bulb explosion I can remember were with ORC bulbs, some years ago, just after striking. It was quite loud, but besides a shattered reflector everything else was left oK. The mirror broke into pieces, and as this theatre didn't have a replacement, we epoxy glued the pieces together. It ran for nearly a year before they bought a replacement. Just after they had recognized, that it wasn't totally in focus, and therefore some IR light rays had grilled their lenses... The reason for the bulb explosion was simple, they used a "unique foil seal technology", that gives contact via tungsten foils to the electrodes. If theese foils do not have a very tight contact to the electrode contactor, as sometimes happens, the little spot that has contact will overheat (Heat energy = Resistance * Amps), and overstress the glass structure punctually. This is probably the same reason, why the 350 Watts bulb in that Eiki blew up, as the Toshiba bulbs used the same technology.Tungsram bulbs from Tchechoslovakia were known to explode quite often (Called Exploram from some techs), as well as Soviet or other cheap sources.
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Chris Erwin
Expert Film Handler
![](http://www.film-tech.com/ubbmembers/176.jpg)
Posts: 195
From: Olive Hill,KY
Registered: Oct 1999
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posted 02-06-2000 10:52 AM
When I help the manager change our 4000 watt xexon, it looks as if we are going into combat. Both with heavy aprons, full face shields (like the the kind for sand-blasting) and thick gloves.Does it sound too extreme? After reading the above,I don't think so. I'd rather look pretty silly for a few minutes (hey,no ones around anyhow) than be blinded for a lifetime. --Chris P.S. It's always a good idea to have someone near by (out of harm's way) when you're changing one of these. In case the worse happens,someone can call for help. Does anybody else follow this measure?
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Stefan Scholz
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 223
From: Schoenberg, Germany
Registered: Sep 1999
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posted 02-06-2000 01:27 PM
We "recycle" by giving them to a frek, building light effects for concerts, raves etc. Most people call him Dr. Xenon, as he knows such a lot about it... All he wants to know, how far he could overload a bulb, before it explodes.Serious, he is a specialist, and knows how to handle bulbs, and never had an explosion in 5 years, using worn theatre bulbs.
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