Mole-Richardson Company designs, manufactures, sells and rents lighting and power distribution equipment for the Motion Picture, Television, Video, and Still Photographic industries. Since its founding in 1927, Mole-Richardson Company has been dedicated to design and build the finest quality equipment for the entertainment industry.
My carbon arc story is that as an apprentice in the printing industry, we used them for exposing photographic plates. We had a bathtub-like reflector with 4 pairs of rods and if you turned it on and one of the pairs didn't 'strike', my boss said to "Put one hand behind your back so you don't get electrocuted and tap the back end of the rod with your finger". That would make it catch. Did that for 2 years, also lit cigarettes from the end of the rod just after turning off while it was still glowing. There was no shield, it just looked like a half size enamel bathtub on it's side and the rods stuck out above and below with a huge transformer underneath. The "Good Old Days" that almost killed me.
Good explanation!! Thanks a Lot! This carbon arc was used in Cinema too a many years ago, this a Hi-Tech , after Xenon, now a think the Hi-Tech LED contemporaneous.
We didn't have that but had an arc spotlight in college. They only let this one certain senior run it. And like here, he always wore gloves. Looking back on it, I think they chose him because he was expendable.
Once upon a time, I was a projectionist at our local theater. Carbon arc projectors. Selenium rectifier stacks fed by three phase 208 volt AC. Two projectors and the movie was on rolls of film about 20 minutes per roll. If I had everything going good, I'd have 10 minutes or so every now and then when I would sit by an open window on a short stool and yell at my friends who were out dragging main street. A couple (several?) times I snuck my girlfriend into the booth and we would make out 😜😋❤ (poor girl...I really liked her a LOT, but she not so much. She's been divorced a couple times and I've been married once and I treat my only wife like the prized jewel that she is). But I had to be real quick on my projector changes so that we wouldn't get caught. One night the bouncer/usher lady, who was a good friend, she came up into the booth and caught us red handed!! She told me to get my girl out quick because the owner was coming up to chat about my schedule!! AHHHHHHH....such good memories!!
I am used to seeing the antiaircraft spotlights being used to promote new businesses in the 70s and 80s. Those were some large carbon arc lights! With enough power to disorient pilots on bombing runs. Same principles as your stage lights, just a bigger mirror and set of rods.
Ok. Its 3:10 a.m. here in Alabama. I have no idea why this video was recommended. But it was cool. I learned about something that I had never considered. But im still not sleepy and some normal people actually consider this time to get up and make breakfast.
You don't use cables as a Handle to Rotate or Pivot this unit, as there are clearly marked Handles for this purpose. This is what happens as people age they become de-qualified to operate (safely)...
From Randy in Chattanooga, Tennessee: I have operated the Strong Futura series lamp houses, and I loved them. I have also operated the old Peerless Magnarc lamp houses with the old lamp type rectifiers. Ran across your channel by accident, but now I’m about to be a subscriber. Keep up the good work.
Wished he had shown the carbon rods new....how do you change them out ? How long do they last ? I am a welder and very familiar with carbon arc gouging
1:43 That is a huge safety mistake. Work on any electrical device is only to be undertaken after it is isolated from mains voltage. First you play around the insides, then you plug it in. Always. No matter what it is.
I remember using CA super troopers even as late as the early 2000s. Nothing could touch them on big outdoor festivals, especially during the lighter hours. Wouldn't surprise me if there's still some kicking about...
Those cables are marked red and white for a reason. You obviously don't know what you are doing, or you would have known that. That is why you got the polarity wrong. Good thing this old military spotlight has all those safety features. You probably would have killed yourself.
Carbon ark was used for many things. Searchlights, Lighthouses. Carbon arke was even used in welding. Which, I once used. Poorley, I have to admit. It wasn't easy to manage the carbon rods and the welding rods at the same time. And the heat that it produced was unbearable. Thanks, Grandfather.
