I know this subject has been covered before, but i dont recall if i put these images up on here.

Some years back, well before Bill Parsons retired, part of a service i had included a repair to that old Elmo bulb contact. Mine kept blowing bulbs for a past time and Bill pointed out how they arc when the contacts become worn. A quick clean up and adjustment had it fixed but only for a short while before bulbs started lasting no more than a few shows again. When i sent it to Bill, (a number of years ago now), he explained that he was able to do his own modification using the existing bulb housing. By cutting and modifying the whole housing, Bill also made up a new bulb retaining bar or lever, the original bulb connector was cut off and a new, readily available connector was joined back in, this was done in a way that in future, should the need arise, it would be very simply to simply undo the block connector screws and replace the connector with a new one, of which we have several spares. Bill also explained that this wasn't a simple cut and replace, the housing has to be modified carefully so it could still be retained in place with the original lamp housing cover. The bulb holder also had to be set up to focus the light properly.
I have seen some modifications on the other channel that appeared to be quite crude and rough in there design, although i am sure they worked fine, but this one has been done by a real professional and we can rest assured of years of trouble free problems as far as the bulb holder is concerned. These images are not in any particular order, but they show Bills excellent modification. If your looking in Bill, thank you for this, all be it, many years late .

Tom,
This is very interesting to see close-up. The connecting block makes tons of sense. I will post some pics of the unmodified lamp housing on my ST-1200 for comparisons sake. I sure wish Bill was still active today, but he has well-earned a relaxing retirement.

Thank you for taking the time to post pictures Tom! I don't know how it looked before, but he did a very nice mod!

Hello,

Sorry for the delay. We have had intermittent and long internet outages the last 3 days. I have fixed it, more on that later.

Here are the pics for an unmodified Elmo ST1200 HD lamphouse for comparison, as I said I would post a few days ago.







By comparing these to the mods in Tom's post, one can easily see how Mr. Parson's enhancements is a big improvement on things.

Thanks Greg! Otherwise, I would never have gotten the chance to look inside an Elmo to see the difference!

I'd almost forgot what the original looked like, that connector often seems to be the problem but i guess with these machines getting to the age they have, these crappy old connections are going to play up.
On one of my machines some years ago, i could actually see the arcing within the pin connection before the bulb popped.
Bills Modification, using the existing housing, is so much better, The lamp connection and short harness is readily available to buy, but when you see how a professional makes the modification to the whole housing, rather than just the connection, and the way the block is neatly placed and easy to access, it makes much more sense rather than just cut and join in a new connector.
The bulb is also so much easier to take out via that single spring lever, (a bit like the eumigs). Very quick and simple. The original lever style often had to be helped and felt like it was going fold or bend as the bulb would stick.