Exploding Lights of Death

[Micaso]

If one has lights that may or may not have bulbs which have been handled by the oily hands of teenagers and wants to prevent the loss of said bulbs, how does one clean of the residue. I think I've heard ethanol somewhere, but I can't remember for sure.

[SoulJacker]

One is unsure of ones problem. One should learn to put ones point across more precisely.

Apart from the above minor quibbles, excellent stuff.

[titaniumdoughnut]

exploding lights of death? i've had flaming lights of carpet burn! it's easy, put a gel in front of a light so bright that it starts smoking. then turn it off. a couple seconds later it will burst into flame anyway. watch it fall to the carpet. stamp. repeat. i did this at a cable tv station, lots of fun.

sorry, i don't know how to clean lights though... windex?

[miker]

just use a scrim and wait for the pop

but probably anything alchohol based would do the trick. except drinks of course.

and next time, ask everyone to rubber-up when poking around with redheads or blondes, etc ..

[sn-films]

Micaso
That's a fantastic question!

For those that don't know, oil from your fingers can actually shorten the lifespan of a light bulb. I think it has to do with the fact that when the light heats up, the oil burns off causing the bulb to burn hotter, or something. This really isn't an issue with household bulbs, but when you start talking about higher wattage lamps like halogens or HMI fresnels, this can become a problem. The installation instructions usually recommend that you wear gloves when installing these bulbs.

Anyway, Micaso, at a guess I'd say that any type of alcohol would work. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful. If you find the official answer, I'd love to hear it.

[Micaso]

Well, we decided just to go ahead and shoot. We had the foresight to use the skrims and did indeed wait for the pop. Only one has so far so I think we're good. Thanks for the advice. I'll keep my eyes open for actual instructions on cleaning.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ August 02, 2003 03:02 PM: Message edited by: Micaso ]</font>