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Author Topic: Projector bulb disposal? Alastair Comrie Film Handler Posts: 28 From: Auckland, New Zealand Registered: May 2007 posted 01-08-2008 04:00 PM                     Cool, you should rig up something to do all of them at once...  |  IP: Logged Peter David Bruce Expert Film Handler Posts: 187 From: East Anglia -England Registered: Aug 2007 posted 01-08-2008 04:04 PM                    and like, get some dominoes involved!? sounds like a good idea!  |  IP: Logged Ron Davis Film Handler Posts: 23 From: Morgantown WV, USA Registered: Jan 2007 posted 01-08-2008 04:19 PM                        Hmmm... good advice, one and all... I wonder if some of these methods could work for problem co-workers... ;-) Thanks all!  |  IP: Logged Peter David Bruce Expert Film Handler Posts: 187 From: East Anglia -England Registered: Aug 2007 posted 01-08-2008 05:01 PM                    weve got a suicide spot on the roof..... or murder... whatever you want to use it for. you(or they) will land just outside the doors to mcdonalds.  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 01-08-2008 06:14 PM                     quote: Peter David Bruce does it really make a bang sound? Course, you aint heard anything loud and with concussion results til your standing next to a console and the 6k bulb inside the console decides to let go during a run without warning. Ears rang for quite the while. Cleanup was horrible, yet it didn't hurt the mirror too bad-just scraped it here and there. Not like when a smaller bulb lets go and mutilates the mirror to where it has to be replaced. The entire complex heard that explosion thinking that someone shot a .44mag in the building. Even the police was called just in case of a shooting in the complex. ..was a bit of fun that night. - Monte  |  IP: Logged Jeremy Weigel Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1062 From: Edmond, OK, USA Registered: Mar 2007 posted 01-09-2008 02:02 AM                     I just leave them in their protective enclosure and drop them off the roof into an empty dumpster.  |  IP: Logged Peter David Bruce Expert Film Handler Posts: 187 From: East Anglia -England Registered: Aug 2007 posted 01-09-2008 02:18 AM                    what can cause them to just blow up of their own accord?  |  IP: Logged Dick Vaughan Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1032 From: Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK Registered: Jul 2000 posted 01-09-2008 02:29 AM                        The TLS device is called "The Terminator" and it is a sealed steel box with a spring loaded plunger with a hardened tip. Put the xenon, up to 7kw, inside close the lid and hit the plunger with a hammer. The noise is still very loud and if you do this in a confined space like a booth entrance lobby then ear defenders are advised. And yes they are developing one for up to 15kW lamps called " Terminator 2" !!  |  IP: Logged James Westbrook Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1133 From: Lubbock, Texas, Usa Registered: Mar 2006 posted 01-09-2008 02:37 AM                     Some kind of internal failure in the bulb can cause them to explode. I know the reason bulbs get changed when they are "due", even if the light output is good, is fear of the bulb eventually failing by exploding and taking out the cold mirror and dinging the hell out of the "salad bowl" reflector. Even a 1600 watt one can sound like a shot gun being fired. A former manager of mine had one blow up on him at a drive-in and he thought he was being shot at.(he said.)  |  IP: Logged Stephen Furley Film God Posts: 3059 From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England Registered: May 2002 posted 01-09-2008 02:56 AM                     The increased risk of explosion with old lamps is caused by devitrification of the quartz from which the bulb is made. The same problem affects other types of lamps which operate under high pressure, mainly various tpes of high pressure mercury and metal halide lamps, though in most of these the pressure is not so high. Most of these lamp should be operated in enclosed fixtures, though there are some types of metal halide ones intended for open fixtures. Even tungsten halogen incandescant lamps operate above atmospheric pressure, and so can explode. All types of sodium lamps operate below atmospheric pressure, and so there is no risk of explosion. Of course, a lamp could still be accidently broken while operating, dropping hot ragments, with risk of injury or fire. Handle all types of lamps with care.  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 01-09-2008 03:31 AM                     But the nastiest bulb to explode are those danged fool LTI monsters, esp.the Helios variety. Why so nasty is due to to the increased cold pressure these bulbs contain and the thicker quartz envelopes to contain this higher pressure. The combination of the two gives excellent results on an explosion.  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 01-09-2008 07:49 AM                        If your theatre has a lift (elevator), here's a suggestion. My preferred technique involved the use of a three-storey lift shaft, late at night or early in the morning, when no customers or other staff were in the building. 1. Take lift car to top floor, and isolate power supply to lift. 2. Release automatic door latch on the floor below, then chuck xenon bulb down the shaft. Listen for satisfying bang. 3. Take stairs to basement floor, release lift door latch at basement level, climb into bottom of lift shaft with dustpan/brush/hoover and clear up the remains. As the shaft is concrete-lined and there's no motor or switchgear at the bottom end, it's completely safe: though I did jump well clear of the open first floor door just after dropping the bulb!  |  IP: Logged Stephen Furley Film God Posts: 3059 From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England Registered: May 2002 posted 01-09-2008 05:01 PM                     quote: Leo Enticknap 2. Release automatic door I doubt that most people would be allowed to do this; certainly if I were to interfere with a lift in any way, other than normal use of it, I would expect to find myself very rapidly out of a job. Our department has taken responsibility for various things in recent years, most recently the telephone system, but there's no way that we would ever be allowed to touch the lifts, that's strictly a job for the lift engineers, and I believe there are a couple of College staff who have been appropriatly trained, and can open doors to release people trapped in a failed lift. Opening the doors on a floor below the cars would be an absolute no no to anybody except the engineers.  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 01-09-2008 05:20 PM                        The automatic door release was just a hook with a solenoid on one end. The allen key type thing you inserted in the release catch simply lifted the hook and enabled you to push the two door panels apart, thereby gaining access to the shaft. I did the 'how to get people out of the lift if it breaks down' course, which basically said that once you've isolated the master power supply, the car isn't going anywhere. Cutting it releases a mechanism that is 'held off' by the presence of a power supply, which locks the counterweight (and therefore the car) in place wherever it happens to be in the shaft. The only power left after that is from the (four-wheeled) car battery which sits on top of the (lift) car and powers its emergency light and the phone. Point totally taken that you don't want to be climbing into lift shafts without the appropriate training and authorisation first, though. But I had done it and I did have it.  |  IP: Logged Eric Robinson Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 538 From: Santa Rosa, CA Registered: Jan 2005 posted 01-10-2008 02:39 AM                     I look after many multiplexes with many bulbs which need disposing. I created a bulb explosion chamber to get rid of the old bulbs. The bulb explosion chamber, whilst it sounds quite sophisticated, is composed of simple parts. 1) Aluminum trashcan with lid 2) Bungee cord 3) Large piece of metal, I used a large metal tow hook 4) Thin cable about 30 feet 5) Eyehook Instructions: Drill a small hole in the aluminum trashcan lid. Thread the thin cable through the lid and attach the heavy piece of metal. Attach the eyehook to the ceiling just above the aluminum trashcan. Run the cable up from the trash can lid up through the eyehook and down and out to the edge of the room. Put a defective bulb (unprotected) in the bottom of the trash can in the center. Put the lid on the trash can while maintaining enough pull on the cable to keep the heavy weight up touching the bottom of the lid. After mounting lid, use bungee cord to strap lid down securely. Walk to the edge of the room while holding the cable attached to the heavy metal weight. Let go of the cable and listen for a good crash bang sound. Marvel at the dents left in the sides of the aluminum trashcan from the explosion. Leave the exploded contents in the trash can, because .... its a trash can. All done!  |  IP: Logged

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