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Topic: A Bad Situation

Dustin Mitchell
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1865
From: Mondovi, WI, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 07-30-2001 04:16 PM

The other day I was looking for some listening devices for the hearing impaired (they resemble headphones). Ours were not in the best shape due to heavy use, and I knew we'd gotten a bunch from a closed theatre about a year ago. So as I was searching through boxes, I came across one that had one of the transmitters on top (I know that's probably not the right term, its the thing that 'broadcasts' the signal to the headphones in the auditorium). Figuring that the headphones were probably under that, I picked it up only to have my jaw drop in shock. Sitting in that box were ten xenon bulbs, along with various office supplies. Four of the bulbs were in the protective cases but not their boxes. The other six, and this I can not believe, WERE WRAPED IN NEWSPAPER!! Not even that much newspaper, about 3 layers thin. How these bulbs survived the trip from Appleton to Eau Claire in the back of a 24 foot Ryder van I don't know, but somehow they miracuously did. I of course immediately disposed of all ten bulbs, not knowing how many hours they had on them and not knowing if their rough treatment had damaged them in any way. Looking again, I could clearly see the box they were in was unmarked. Oh the horror if someone had stuck their hand down inside that box rumaging for something and one of those newspaper wrapped bulbs had exploded!

Moral of this story, never trust anyone, and don't leave boxes laying around your theatre if you don't know whats in them.

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Evans A Criswell
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1579
From: Huntsville, AL, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 07-30-2001 05:15 PM

I think it's very important for any theatre manager to know what's in every area of a theatre. This example shows that a serious safety hazard was present, hidden in a box. If you look at a box and do not know what is in it, then it is time to check it out. It is also important to give your theatre a good searching over occasionally when none of the other staff are around to make sure nothing inappropriate is being stashed anywhere by staff members. I know of one instance where some staff members at one theatre had drug problems and were using drugs in the booth. Protect yourself and do occasional thorough checks of every inch of your theatre. Doing so may save your job or, in the example above, prevent an injury.

This advice applies to anyone, anywhere. Know what is in your domain where you work. If there is a box in your office, it is wise to know what is in it. A good example from my workplace: if a computer is sitting under a desk running, you'd better know what it is doing (we had one once where someone had a warez site running, with no keyboard or monitor attached, under the sysadmin's desk, with just a network connection, and the sysadmin didn't know it until the police showed up and confiscated it!).

Better safe than sorry! It never hurts to be too careful. If your employees bring anything into the theatre, know exactly what is being brought in and where it is stored.

------------------
Evans A Criswell
Huntsville-Decatur Movie Theatre Info Site

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Andy Muirhead
Master Film Handler

Posts: 323
From: Galashiels, Scotland
Registered: Dec 2000

posted 07-30-2001 06:30 PM

I've worked with xenon bulbs practically every day for the last 7-8 years. I've changed them cold and changed them hot (wearing all the right gear). I've NEVER seen one explode. Don't get me wrong, i'm not bragging, i'd just like to know what happens when they do. I've had a few explode on my shift, but i was never in any of the projection rooms at the time (they have taken a few mirrors with them though!).

So, got any xenon bulb explosions stories? I'd love to hear what happens when these UXB's go off!

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Jan Kisluk
Film Handler

Posts: 7
From: Conway, NH, USA
Registered: May 2001

posted 07-30-2001 11:29 PM

When a bulb explodes there is a really (and I do mean REALLY)loud bang. Then you realize that there is very fine glass all over the place. In my case it was my back. I was standing on a stool working on a brain wrap on the top tier of a 5-deck platter when the bulb in the lamp house behind me exploded. It sounds like a shot gun blast. Kind of felt like it too. My body blocked the platters and so saved the films. There was a gap of about an inch between the lamphouse and the projector. That is where all the glass came out of. I was about three feet away and did not get cut but they had to vacuum me off.

Another projectionist at one of our theatres recently experienced the same thing but this time it took out the reflector. Chunks of reflector flew thru the shutter and took out projector gears. Not something to wish for on your shift.

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Christopher Duvall
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 500
From: Denver, CO
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 07-31-2001 02:23 AM

I like to throw Xenon Bulbs off the roof at moving vehicles at high speeds.

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Alan Plester
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 209
From: great yarmouth england
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 07-31-2001 02:57 AM

When bulbs blow, you think that you have just gone deaf, especially when in a confined booth and you pick up glass for ever. Worst case I had the misfortune to endure was a very busy saturday night, the bulb blew, and I replaced the lamp house with the standby unit, got the show going and started to replace the blown unit.Having just finished re lamping and tidying up what happened, B A N G G G , the standby unit blew, almost said a few choice words.

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John Pytlak
Film God

Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 07-31-2001 07:07 AM

Some links to xenon lamp information on the web:
http://osat.grc.nasa.gov/GSM/GSM-26.htm
http://web.mit.edu/afs/athena.mit.edu/org/s/safety/apg/06/6-12.html
http://www.ltilamps.com/Media/xe_tech_article.pdf
http://www.pti-nj.com/obb_lamps.html
http://www.cinemaequip.com/tech4.shtml
http://navitar.com/av/xenon/xengen.htm
http://www.oriel.com/netcat/VolumeIII/pdfs/v39arc.pdf

Dustin said: "I of course immediately disposed of all ten bulbs, not knowing how many hours they had on them and not knowing if their rough treatment had damaged them in any way."

Probably the safest thing to do, although I suspect any shipping trauma would have caused the lamps to expode at the time of the damage. If the lamps appeared to be in good condition, they were probably usable. I would have installed each lamp in a spare lamphouse and tested it for a few hours and several ignitions. If the lamp ignited reliably, gave steady light output, and showed no other signs of risky operation (blackened envelope, discolored electrodes, vitrified quartz), I would try to estimate the hours from the electrode wear, and use the lamp.

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 07-31-2001 07:30 AM

I've only had one go in 20 years and it was a brand new Osram that had just been installed. It blew on first ignition. The mirror was covered by Osram on this one. Others have blown, but not when I've been around them.
Mark @ GTS

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Aaron Mehocic
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 804
From: New Castle, PA, USA
Registered: Jun 99

posted 08-01-2001 10:48 AM

Dustin Said:

"Moral of this story, never trust anyone, and don't leave boxes laying around your theatre if you don't know whats in them."

Fact is we train our operators to NEVER trust anybody, including his/her co-workers. Case-in-point: Joe Blow works the 11:00-6:00 shift and laces projector #1 but nobody shows all afternoon. I come in to relieve him and start this machine (that he laced) for the 7:00 show. 15 minutes into the movie I got one helleva brain wrap because he forgot to turn on the feed-out switch on the platter motor. Who is at fault? I AM AT FAULT BEACAUSE I TRUSTED THE PREVIOUS PROJECTIONIST!

Moving on to bulb explosions, I had one blow while I was changing it. It was an ORC that for some odd reason wouldn't slide out of the connection to a Strong lamphouse. I practicaly had the allen screw that holds the bulb in place totally off, so it wasn't that. Like a fool I didn't have on the proper safty equipment, but luckily I wasn't hurt. Believe me when I say I where everything associated with bulb safty now. For the complete story, go to the post "Use Your Safety Gear" in the Film Handler's forum, then click "page 2", scrowl down until you see my name.

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