Xenon Protective Gear -- What do you use?

[Frank Angel]

We have been using Tyvek jackets for protection when handling Xenon bulbs, but really, only because that's what the original installer supplied. Thing is, after many years, they are now worn and need replacing. I always thought their protective propertied were questionable, at least my instinct is that shards of quartz at explosive speeds would rip right thu that material like a knife thru warm butter. Hence, I have always worn a leather jacket on top of that paper-thin Tyvek thing and an athletic cup and suggested the other fellows do also (you can imagine how the ones who refuse to wear any protective gear laugh at that suggestion. From our own late, great John Pytlak: "The last thing the projectionist saw was the exploding xenon bulb."

What do you guys use and do you have a source for it? Thanks.

[Sean McKinnon]

Osram sells a kit that comes with the appropriate gear. Any Osram dealer should be able to get you one.

[Marcel Birgelen]

Usually just the recommended stuff like a face shield (one made from some real plexiglass, not the paper-thin stuff those COVID-19 things are made of), a welders jacket and some protective gloves.

The problem is, it's sometimes difficult to get a good feel for some of the finer work when wearing those thick, protective gloves.

I've seen what an exploded bulb can do, luckily, I never had one explode on me while handling it, although it sometimes feels a bit like playing the bomb squad when you're exchanging one that's has like twice the amount of warranty hours on it...

[Randy Stankey]

Xenons are dangerous if they explode but they aren't nuclear bombs.

A heavy jacket such as a Carhartt work coat like construction workers often wear is sufficient to protect the wearer against flying shrapnel from an exploding xenon. A pair of leather work gloves such as "White Mule" brand construction gloves would be good enough to protect the hands.

The thing that concerns me the most is the possibility of damage to the face and eyes from flying glass which can be as sharp as razor blades. I suggest wearing fully enclosed eye goggles plus a full-face shield. Like Marcel says, use a shield like the kind that machinists or shop workers wear, not the cheapo ones that you see people wearing, today.

The reason for wearing double face protection is because, if you wear a shield alone, particles of flying glass can blow under the shield and still get into the eyes. I had an accident where wearing double protection saved my ass. I got splashed with industrial strength sulfuric acid (96% pure) while moving a 55 gal. drum of the stuff. The acid splashed upward, hitting me on the neck and face. The face shield saved me from most of it but, had I not been wearing goggles and a shield, I would have most certainly gotten a few drops in the eyes, too.

I think safety is important. Don't get me wrong when I say that I think that many people blow things out of proportion.
I have worked in places that are on both ends of the safety spectrum. I worked in a shop that was full of cyanide and acids where people didn't seem to give a rat's ass about safety and, now, I work in a place where a cup full of 99% isopropyl alcohol is treated like nuclear waste. I'm glad that my current employer takes safety seriously but it's frustrating when people get all up in the air about relatively mundane stuff.

In my opinion, the crux of safety is knowledge. People need to know what substances they work with, what their properties are and what the real hazards are. Then they need to take safety precautions according to the risks. Not taking enough precaution and a person could get hurt or killed. Taking too much precaution makes a person feel frustrated and fatigued to the point where they stop thinking about safety.

In a former job, I had to shovel out bins from a wastewater treatment filter press full of dried sludge made up of chemical waste.
If I had to wear all of the recommended safety gear... Face shield, goggles, arm-length rubber gloves, knee boots, respirator mask and a full apron... I probably would never have gotten anything done. That shop got up to 100 degrees in the summer. I would have passed out from heat exhaustion before I got half way done.

My point here is to take safety seriously but not too seriously. Know the risks, act accordingly but don't go overboard.

For the kinds of xenon lamps you find in most theaters, a heavy jacket, leather gloves and good face protection is sufficient.

While you are actually handling the lamp, wear full protection. Once you get the lamp safely fastened in place, you can take off the gloves while you tighten the bolts and connections but STILL wear the face protection.

[Emiel de Jong]

In the theatre I worked we used a face shield from Osram and leather gloves that also protected the wrists. I think what Randy says about double face protection makes perfectly sense, when I have to exchange lamps in the future (which in my home setup can take a very long time untill it is needed again...)I will think of that. Some colleague projectionist and hobbyists I know treated lamp change in a much more relaxed way: just laying the old lamp on the working table, or adjusting the inner mechanism of the lamp house with lamp burning and without any protection: this person was afterwards very proud of the sunburn he got this way: it was covering exactly half of his face. Of course nothing ever happened...
I used to make some of these lamps safe for display purposes by ticking the filling tip off the glass with a screwdriver: the lamp in it's hard plastic explosion cover, with a hole drilled in it for the screwdriver to go through, and then I wore that face shield, the gloves and also a thick winter coat. Half of the number of lamps immediately exploded, but the glass always stayed nicely in the explosion cover. Still I would never attempt that without the other protection... Here is a picture of a lamp which developed a beautiful cracking pattern after that procedure and as far as i know is still in one piece now:

shards.JPG

[Marcel Birgelen]

Wearing some good protective goggles as an extra isn't a bad idea. Getting stuff in the eyes and causing irreparable damage that way is probably the biggest hazard.

While most xenon bulbs will not explode like a hand grenade, you never know where the odd shard of glass may end up. If it hits unprotected flesh, it can cause a nasty wound but nothing you won't recover from, maybe with a scar to tell the tale, but your eyes truly are the weakest and most irreplaceable spots that need protection.

Some exploded bulbs end up with only some cracked glass like the one pictured above or some blackened spots on the inside, but others manage to significantly damage the lamp house.

[Carsten Kurz]

I think the typical motorbike shop should be able to supply suitable stuff at reasonable cost locally. E.g. finger gloves with long gauntlets, inexpensive protection jackets with an extended collar, etc. Suitable face shields should be available from stores supplying chainsaw equipment. When adjusting a burning bulb, I guess it's best to wear good sunglasses under the face protection.

[Randy Stankey]

Hey, by the way... Don't just discard old xenon lamps! They can be worth money at the scrapyard!

Wrap the lamp up in several layers of burlap bags and smash them with a hammer or, better, take the clamshell off, put it back in its original box and use a large screwdriver and hammer to pierce the box and break the lamp. The box or burlap bag will contain any flying debris. (Need I tell you to use your safety gear?!)

Wearing gloves... Pull out the electrodes and keep them in a bucket until you collect a bunch of them. The same goes for the stainless steel. Break off all the glass and cement and stuff so you have just the metal.

Once you have collected up enough, take it to your local scrapyard or recycling dealer. You can walk away with a nice chunk of change!

Last I looked, tungsten electrodes brought $2.00 or $3.00 per lb. at the recycling dealer and clean stainless brought $1.00.

When I worked at Cinemark, I saved up the scrap metal from dead xenons in a 5 gal. bucket and, when I took them in, walked away with $50.00 or more!

[Martin McCaffery]

Reminds me of the old carbon arc days when projectionists would save the drippings. Not sure how many of them brought them to the scrap yard. I've been in booths were there were multiple buckets of drippings.

[Randy Stankey]

I used to see stickers inside film cans that said, "Save your drippings for the Will Rogers Children's Hospitals," or something to that effect.

[Frank Angel]

Randy, that's exactly it. The Will Roger's Memorial Hospital was opened as a place for industry folk (mostly vaudeville entertainers at first) to come for free health care, primarily those who were suffering with tuberculosis which was a scourge in the early 20s & 30s. It focused on research and education about the disease. It had a bi-yearly drive (maybe even more often) when theatres ran trailers produced by National Screen Service and often starred big name "A" talent to beg for donations. They had ushers pass the hat during the intermission right after the trailer ran.

I believe it was National Screen Service that spearheaded the drive to collect the copper drippings; each theatre collected them and sent them back to NSS with the trailers they returned each week. And while it may not seem like much, when you collect copper from 4000 or 5000 theatres across the country, I guess it adds up to enough copper to pay at least some of the Hospital bills. I think the hospital is still in operation but of course there are no copper drippings from copper-clad carbons any more, and I haven't seen promos for Will Rogers Hospital to solicit donations playing in theatres any more...I mean before covid. The hospital used to be somewhere upstate rural NY; they pioneered the idea that TB shouldn't be treated by keeping patients confined, but TB patients responded much better when put in a fresh, clean air environment. I have no idea that's still their location.

Interesting that all segments of the industry back then seemed to have a sense of community and solidified around this worthy project...looking out for one another other to the point of running a hospital for the industry. Sure is a different time; a different industry.

[Marco Giustini]

I used to make some of these lamps safe for display purposes by ticking the filling tip off the glass with a screwdriver: the lamp in it's hard plastic explosion cover, with a hole drilled in it for the screwdriver to go through, and then I wore that face shield, the gloves and also a thick winter coat. Half of the number of lamps immediately exploded, but the glass always stayed nicely in the explosion cover. Still I would never attempt that without the other protection... Here is a picture of a lamp which developed a beautiful cracking pattern after that procedure and as far as i know is still in one piece now:

shards.JPG

Watch out, I've had one of those plastic protection covers explode as well when the lamp inside it exploded. I think this is why Osram moved to the cloths.

[Dave Macaulay]

I confess to being careless on safety with smallish low hour lamps but always have eye coverings. For Imax 15kW plus lamps the whole kit is standard, same with really high hour lamps or when one is obviously in bad shape ie blackened envelope.
The internal pressure is not grenade level with a cold lamp, but damned close in a lit one. Metal film projector reflectors get scary scars, and a digital lamphouse will just have a pile of bits from its glass reflectors. I have had the lit 15kW lamp blow while standing beside an Imax projector... that definitely gets your attention.
I was told that the quartz is transparent to x-rays so finding imbetted shards is challenging.
Scap dealers may refuse lamp electrodes due to the thorium content but some will buy them.

[Randy Stankey]

TIG welding electrodes are made of thoriated tungsten, just the same as xenon lamp electrodes.

While I am sure there are differences in the recipe used to make them, they should be 90% similar.
If a scrapyard accepts TIG welder stubs for recycling, there is no reason they shouldn’t take xenon lamp parts.

I have never had any question taking xenon scraps to the scrapyard. I tell the guy it’s tungsten. He zaps it with an X-ray gun and says “yup” then weighs it all up. He hands me a ticket and points me to the cashier’s office. Half the time, I don’t even have to get out of the car. I just pop the trunk and the guy takes it.

[Jesse Crooks]

I use a heavy leather welding jacket that extends below the waist, leather gauntlets (I opted for goatskin for better dexterity, but of course there's some tradeoff in protection), and a 3M polycarbonate face shield (the ratcheting style for a better fit). I put the gauntlets on before the jacket for better wrist protection. I always wear heavy canvas work pants and leather work boots. We supply the main gear, but I've found that I have to specify heavy pants that cover your ankles for new projectionists... I once had someone show up to a lamp change training wearing capris! For the same reason, I wouldn't recommend using a Carhartt jacket. Most of them have a short cut to leave room for a tool belt. Welding jackets are longer and won't leave your waist exposed.

Christie also sells a lamp change safety kit. I believe they the jacket they sell is kevlar-lined.