Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Ward Leonard dimmer parts

This is topic Ward Leonard dimmer parts in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Ken Layton (Member # 133) on 05-21-2004, 05:20 PM:

For those with older theaters using these classic dimmers, I found a source of parts. It's this company:

Vara-Light / Dimatronics, Inc.
6207 Commercial Road
Crystal Lake, ILL. 60014
Phone: (815) 455-4400

They mention they are THE source for all Ward-Leonard, Hub, and Vara-Light dimmers and stock thousands of parts for other makes as well.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 05-21-2004, 08:50 PM:

Thanks, Ken! Good to know that someone sells those parts. I spent quite a bit of time turning up dead ends for W-L parts about five years ago.

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 05-21-2004, 09:18 PM:

I have parts for most of the WL autoransformer systems and all there electronics ones in stock

Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 05-22-2004, 08:31 AM:

Funny, I just found out the same thing... I need to interface an older WL 76-37 "Motorlite" motorized dimmer to a new pulse-only automation, and found Dimatronics who supplied a schematic.

It seems that many of the companies that made autotransformer or reostat dimmers have either closed or sold off that division. While searching, I found this story about Radio City MH:
http://articles.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HEM/is_2000_Oct/ai_68323877

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 05-22-2004, 08:58 AM:

WL was the source to Kleigl, Century and Ariel Davis for autotransformers and resistance plates and those companies had issues with WL competeing with them with there line of Electronic Dimmers
Skirpan was an engineer at WL who invented the first stable SCR type dimmer back in the early 60's that used a Magnetic Amplifier to control a pair of SCR's By the early 70's Solitrol dimmers were becoming very common in large installations and in the US the loss of the component business to others caused WL to shut down the dimming division
It stayed in operation in Canada eventually being sold to Richmond Hill Labs that was an early video switcher company that was doing most of the canadian broadcast facilities and offering the dimming completed the package
They were liquidaded in the late 70's with Bruce Whitehead (who had been the canadian engineer with WL) buying the parts and drawings
Currently I have most of it now all uncatalogued and piled up in boxes in the barn but I know there is at least 20 of the solitrol corntrol cards