Q Re: Elinchrom 600RX Modeling Lamp Changeout

I have to change a modeling lamp in one of my 600RXs and the manual doesn't make it entirely clear as to the method.

If anyone out there has done this, well, how'd you go about it?

Is it a bayonet mount (Turn Before Pull) or do they pull straight out?

TIA...

looking at the pic of a modeling bulb it looks like the bayonet that you mention...kinda like a car bulb...

there are two kinds of modelling lamps. If you have the smaller type then yes you have to push and turn then pull.

The larger ones are screw in/out.

My 600RXs (along with every other Elinchrom strobe I've owned) are all screw-in but perhaps the 110v US version is different.

If you gently push the bulb in, can you see that it's on a spring-loaded fixture? - if so it's a bayonet fitting.

Mine are all the smaller type but I have seen some with the screw-in lamps. They even make an adapter for the screw in type so that they can use the smaller bulbs.
In the manual they even list different bulbs for US and Canada. Not sure why that would be but they do.

Thanks all...

Appreciate it.

Mine are the long screw-in type, and looking at the manual, two out of the three different types of modeling lamps used in the RX600/230V version are screw-in, the odd one out is a push-in. For the 120V version it shows a bayonet fitting.

Hope this helps.

Mine are bayonet style mounts.

Finally screwed up my courage to remove the busted one. Should have the replacement by tomorrow (Wed)

Clean, cotton handkerchief at the ready. No skin oil off me...

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #6274686
Clean, cotton handkerchief at the ready. No skin oil off me...

It's the flash tube that you have to be careful with, the modeling lamp can be handled quite nonchalantly...

Rudi wrote in post #6274982
It's the flash tube that you have to be careful with, the modeling lamp can be handled quite nonchalantly...

Both can develop hot-spots when handled with bare skin which will, at best, reduce their lifespan and, at worst, blow the bulb which can in turn blow the fuse in the head.

Hermes wrote in post #6275049
Both can develop hot-spots when handled with bare skin which will, at best, reduce their lifespan and, at worst, blow the bulb which can in turn blow the fuse in the head.

That's what I was thinking...
Better safe than sorry.

It's always a good idea not to handle halogen bulbs with your bare skin, but AFAIK this has more to do with discolouration more than lifespan. Either way, I have never seen anyone worry about any precautions when changing modeling lights (in my 20+ years in the industry), but everyone is real careful when changing or handling flash bulbs! So, either everyone is really laid back around here, or it's not a big deal, I dunno.

Rudi wrote in post #6275108
It's always a good idea not to handle halogen bulbs with your bare skin, but AFAIK this has more to do with discolouration more than lifespan. Either way, I have never seen anyone worry about any precautions when changing modeling lights (in my 20+ years in the industry), but everyone is real careful when changing or handling flash bulbs! So, either everyone is really laid back around here, or it's not a big deal, I dunno.

In a lot of entry-level and for-hire studio lights, the modelling lamps are cheap incandescent bulbs whereas the flash tubes are hugely expensive and often spares of the latter are not kept in the studio so photographers will often be much more careful with the flash tubes.

High-wattage halogen bulbs are different as the huge amount of heat they output makes them far more susceptible to hot spots (i.e. oil which clings to their surface and boils at huge temperatures when the bulb is switched on, thereby heating and weakening the glass). You get the same problem with hot-lights, car headlamps, e.t.c.

I'm guessing that the photographers you've observed are either using less powerful lamps or simply aren't aware that modelling bulbs can be damaged by direct contact.

I don't disagree with you, Hermes. I know about halogen bulbs and usually handle them with care, but... even the Elinchrom instruction manual makes no mention of any precautions to take with modeling bulbs, so I assume it's not as big a deal as people will make out. If anything, the Swiss are thorough - they would mention it if it was an issue.

Whether it's as big a deal as people make out or not is open to debate - the fact is that the qualified technicians at my local Elinchrom dealer (The Flash Centre, London) and the qualified electrician who rewired my studio both told me that handling halogen bulbs with bare skin can reduce the lifespan of the bulb. I'm not one to second-guess professionals for the sake of saving the 20 seconds spent getting a cloth every few months when a modelling lamp needs to be changed.