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Topic: Carbon Vs Xenon

Richard Fowler
Film God

Posts: 2392
From: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA
Registered: Jun 2001

posted 04-24-2004 09:13 AM

When Kneisley was making xenon conversion kits their sales literature displayed the cost savings on carbon and electric...the end result showed a payback in less than two years.....today with more competition, xenon is even more less expensive. I have had cracked mirrors from leaking carbon arc jaw water jackets.

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John T. Hendrickson, Jr
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 889
From: Freehold, NJ, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 06-15-2004 08:03 PM

I will be firing up the Peerless Magnarcs one last time at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank NJ on June 21 at 8PM for a private screening of "The Notebook" for our subscribers.

Film-techers in the area are invited. Just mention my name at the door and come on up to the booth.

The Basie took delivery today on two L-5000 lamphouses from Big Sky Industries, along with N3X150 rectifiers. Conversion will take place in July while the theatre undergoes a complete seat replacement with new Irwin seats.

The end of an era. We will remain a changeover house as the XL's (circa 1955) keep on ticking.

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Stephen Furley
Film God

Posts: 3059
From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England
Registered: May 2002

posted 06-16-2004 02:24 PM

A sad day John. What was the reason for converting in the end; lack of decent carbons, cost?

About three quarters of the places I knew that were running carbon three years ago have either converted or closed since then. I think the very last regular users may well go within the next year or two. I doubt if there will be anywhere, even occasional users, in five years. To the best of my knowledge, we're now down to just one regular public cinema in England still on carbons.

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John T. Hendrickson, Jr
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 889
From: Freehold, NJ, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 06-16-2004 04:20 PM

Right on Stephen. The difficulty of getting decent carbons was one reason, along with the fact that a benefactor offered to foot the bill for conversion.

Second problem was finding folks who know how to run carbon arcs. I work the Basie as a volunteer for the sheer love of being able to take a step back in time. Thus far, no one else has come forward to assist in running this booth. I run the booth operations at a nearby multiplex full time, and I don't have a whole lot of time (or for that matter patience) to train newbies to run arcs and changeovers.

I can't be in both places at once, and I'm not getting any younger, either, even though the Basie is a special venue theater that has live performances and concerts and does not run film that often.

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Joshua Waaland
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 800
From: Cleveland, Ohio
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 06-23-2004 08:53 PM

Okay. Time to resurrect an old thread. I have been reading this thread trying to learn about carbons so I can run the Peerless type G's I just bought. I read a post by Warren that said he put his carbon rods on top of a warm rack to keep them dry.

I work for a company that makes automated welding equipment. Many of you may already know this, but carbon arc rods are used in the welding industry to back gouge steel plates. If you have made a mistake welding something you can use a back gouger with a carbon rod to remove the material. It makes a herendous sound. Anyhow we have sold electrode ovens for years to welders to put their welding rods in to keep the moisture out. The more moist the rods the more porous the weld. We even sell little carry around paks called Ted-Paks that dispense one electrode at a time and they keep moisture out.

We just recently branched out and got our first sample of carbon rods in from China. We are going to start selling them. (Finally my career and hobby intersect, Yeah!) [Big Grin]

They are different than projection rods in that they have a hole through the center of them. Do you guys think that putting carbon rods in an oven at a low temperature would harm them? It may help the moisture issue for those that still use them of course. If you are interested in seeing the ovens they can be seen here.

http://www.gullco.com/products/ovens/ovens.htm

Josh

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Warren Smyth
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 158
From: Auckland ,New Zealand
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 06-24-2004 11:15 PM

quote:
do you guys think that putting carbon rods in an oven at low temperature would harm them?

No, it's unlikely to to cause any harm Joshua afterall, the carbon gets pretty hot when burning in the lamphouse - 6,000 degees C at the tip in fact. As I said, it's a good idea to have just a few in the lamphouse next to the side door ready to be used. This aids a quick change and helps dry out carbons prior to use, as the lamphouse is a good oven.

It often kept my tea warm as well, untill I got a moment to eat it in the days of two projector changeovers.

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