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Topic: Alchohol swab

Ken Lackner
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1907
From: Atlanta, GA, USA
Registered: Sep 2001

posted 07-04-2002 12:39 PM

I like how Christie gives you an alchohol swab with each xenon bulb in case the bulb is touched. Can I buy these at a local store? What type of store? And does it matter what kind of alchohol I use? (I don't know what kind is on those Christie swabs, but I've always been told to use denatured alchohol.)

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This one time, at projection camp, I cleaned a xenon bulb with alchohol, and it was SOOOO funny!

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Ian Price
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1714
From: Denver, CO
Registered: Jun 99

posted 07-04-2002 02:45 PM

I never knew that!

I have been installing Christie lamps for 10+ years and I never knew that they gave you an Alchohol Swab in each lamp box. I didn't belive it when I read this post and went to look in a box. There it was in the little Zip Lock bag in the box. In all my years I never touched the lamp glass so I never needed to wipe off fingerprints.

I know I am one of the least observant people I know, but damn! Well I guess that is my new thing to learn today.

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Ken Lackner
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1907
From: Atlanta, GA, USA
Registered: Sep 2001

posted 07-04-2002 04:15 PM

What? You didn't believe little old me? I'm hurt!

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Paul G. Thompson
The Weenie Man

Posts: 4718
From: Mount Vernon WA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 07-04-2002 06:51 PM

Ken, maybe they give that swab to wipe something else when the damn thing blows up.

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Richard Fowler
Film God

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

posted 07-04-2002 08:38 PM

Actually it is a tiny ballistic jacket in case your tech is Austin Power's "Mini Me"

.....a few weeks ago I did some projection / tech training for 60 people and this was one of the items we mentioned.
Richard Fowler
TVP-Theatre & Video Products Inc. www.tvpmiami.com

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Jeffry L. Johnson
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 809
From: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 07-05-2002 12:27 AM

TexPad 801

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Philippe Laude
Film Handler

Posts: 79
From: Longueville, Belgium
Registered: Jul 99

posted 07-05-2002 01:03 AM

Ken,
you could use isopropylic alcohol.

Philippe

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Paul G. Thompson
The Weenie Man

Posts: 4718
From: Mount Vernon WA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 07-05-2002 01:15 AM

Ken, I use isopropyl alcohol and distilled water (and plenty of it) to clean a suspected contaminated bulb. If I accidently touch a xenon bulb, I'll give the whole bulb a bath....seems to me one clean spot on a dirty bulb can cause almost just as much of a problem as a dirty spot on a clean bulb. As we all know, uneven thermal stress in critical areas of glass is not a very good idea.

Don't use tap water. It has too many impurities that are left behind when it dries. If you don't have distilled water available, just a couple of bottles of Isypropyl will do....

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 07-05-2002 02:16 AM

We have IPA (isopropyl alcohol, not India pale ale unfortunately

) swabs which come in sealed paper wrappers in our first aid boxes. I promptly remove these because the idea of using a corrosive chemical to treat a wound is just plain stupid, not to mention the fact that (i) some people are allergic to IPA and (ii) the use of any medicines or chemicals, apart from water and saline solution in eye washes, is illegal in first aid at work here.

If you're going to use the stuff on any significant scale, it would probably be a lot cheaper to buy a bottle of IPA and a packet of lint-free (i.e. non-abrasive) cloths than individual, wrapped swabs. As you're not using them for first aid, they don't need to be clinically sterile.

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Paul G. Thompson
The Weenie Man

Posts: 4718
From: Mount Vernon WA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 07-05-2002 02:21 AM

....and don't use the same wipe twice. Just like cleaning a floor or a window. You can't clean a window with a dirty rag. Nor can you clean a floor with water that is dirtier than the floor.

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 07-05-2002 03:07 AM

...and yet you CAN clean film with "dirty media pads"!

(I didn't mean to take away from your serious and good advice, Paul. I just hear that a lot from hard-headed people who won't give some new things a chance. Ya gotta admit though, it's funny to watch people's reactions when it is proven to them.)

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Ken Lackner
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1907
From: Atlanta, GA, USA
Registered: Sep 2001

posted 07-05-2002 11:10 AM

quote:
If you're going to use the stuff on any significant scale, it would probably be a lot cheaper to buy a bottle of IPA and a packet of lint-free (i.e. non-abrasive) cloths than individual, wrapped swabs. As you're not using them for first aid, they don't need to be clinically sterile.

I'm not going to be using them on a significant scale. Just to clean a bulb if it is touched. Speaking of first aid, I didn't even think of that. Although they don't need to be clinically sterile, would those work?

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Paul G. Thompson
The Weenie Man

Posts: 4718
From: Mount Vernon WA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 07-05-2002 11:52 AM

Brad:

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 07-06-2002 06:17 AM

Ken - can't see any reason why they wouldn't work. As they are sterile, you'd be sure that there's absolutely nothing in the sealed pouch except the cloth and the IPA.

You would have to make sure that the cloth is lint-free, though, or else it might scratch the surface of the bulb.

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Justin McLeod
Film Handler

Posts: 93
From: Oklahoma City, OK, USA
Registered: Jun 2002

posted 07-08-2002 05:06 PM

I wear thin white cotton gloves when I install a new christie bulb. That way im shure not to get any finger prints on it

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