How to operate a Carbon Arc

I got to operate a 800 million candle power WW2 searchlight as a kid. Every Christmas eve the church would hire a guy to run his searchlight. To create the North Star. He was very kind to show me how to run the light. I have loved carbon arc lights ever since ❤️

I was a projectionist at a theater in the before time. Had a pair of these working 20-minute reels. Never broke myself of the habit of looking for change-over dots in the corners. Eight seconds. You had eight seconds for the next reel to come up to speed so you could "open the blast doors", and get ready to hit the foot switch to swap shutters, and flip the sound switch at the same time. Then it was on to closing the door on the old reel, shutting down the projector, queue up the next reel, check the rods -- which you did continuously during the film in between making some emergency splices and running off the old reel back onto a new one (rewinding). It was a job. You might have ten minutes for a bathroom break, but if you saw the film starting to "blue", you had to race back and get those rods realigned...quickly. They would shelf easily, but at least you never opened the doors while it was running...mostly never.

I was lucky enough to work on a film in the 90's (Power Rangers The Movie) where Carbon Arc lights where being used. The light from these was like the sun, big powerful good looking light. Sadly it was the last time I saw these amazing lights in action, and nothing since has ever come close to the brute beauty of the light that's generated. Seeing the name Mole Richardson also reminds me of the best studio fans ever developed. Powerful and quiet and again there's nothing like them today.

I have two Mole stories. I came to L.A. in 1979 to do sound for the movies and was scratching my way through low-budget stuff, some commercials and maybe a pick-up day on a feature or two then disaster struck. No, not an earthquake but close...the SAG strike of 1980. That work stoppage really shut the town down. People were losing homes, boats and lots of sleep. Career-wise, I knew my prospects were dim for the summer since all the "A-List" sound people were now available and looking for work. Who was going to hire a rookie like me? I had a friend in those days that was a gaffer/best boy and thought maybe I could drag some lights around since the only work in town was on commercials. He said take a number and get in line but...if you knew how to operate an arc lamp, then you move right to the front of the line. The next day I went to Jerry's deli and got their best tuna sandwich with extra pickles. I then stood right outside the fence in this video and bribed one of the Mole techs to show me that lamp plus lunch was included! One guy [I wish I could remember his name] told me to come back in an hour. I left him the sandwich. Sure enough, he kept his end of the bargain. He showed me the Heavy and the Lite weight head pictured in this video. I became the Arc-Angel for the rest of that summer! I never really had to do lighting again after the strike settled, but I never got in the juicers way ever again either. They really work for a living. Cut to the 1990's, I'm mixing Paramount's "Rules of Engagement" [feature not TV series] when director Billy Friedkin suddenly changed DP's. The "new guy" was the legendary Billy Fraker, ASC! He came over and introduced himself as my new best friend. Look, I only knew him from the countless American Cinematographer articles I had ingested before moving out to L.A. so this was our first handshake but not the last. He told me that over the weekend he was having 728 and 80 [electricians & grips] re-rig the stage. All the humming, buzzing HMI's were gone and everything ran on DC power. Dead quiet. Those arcs put out the cleanest, non-flickering man-made light you've ever-seen! I bet the facilities guys on the lot looked at the work order and saw the request for DC power! Who knows the last time time had fired up those generators. :-) This video sure brings back great memories! Thanks for posting this!

The YouTube algorithm succeeds again. I never would have looked this up, but I did enjoy it.

Now imagine feeding over 10,000 times the amps as this 600 volts of triple phase power and you got yourself an electric arc furnace for converting iron into steel or recycling old steel.

Used a carbon arc projector as a young projectionists assistant back in the day, so reliable and easy to operate and maintain.

What about the van? Most interesting custom made, it seems. And quiet for 1000 amps, What´s the story with it? Is it still around?

I'm a computer geek (I work in IT), and have a fascination with old tube radios and phonos. Yet the algorithm knew I needed to know how to operate a Mole Richardson carbon arc lamp, and I love it! I find film fascinating and have been lucky enough to have service calls at several of the major Los Angeles studios, where I always take the long way out when I'm done.

Man, no kidding on that quality light. As soon as you stepped in front of that lamp it was almost night n day. I really appreciate quality and craft, Ian see why these have fallen out of favour, despite their beautiful characteristics. Thank you for taking the time to share your families story and the technicalities of operating such a machine!

Fascinating!! Equally fascinating is that we have a relative of the INVENTOR not out on his yacht,sipping champagne, but here Teaching us how to use the gear and some history---sharing his knowledge. Thanks M-R, and Mr Parker on a job well done!

That carbon lamp is an absolute beast and so is that tandem axle van. Very cool!

Am I the only one more interested in the tandem van?

Wait until PhotonicInduction gets a hold of one of these...

Worked for Mole in 1983, 1 year in the rental dept. The van used to be red and I remember all those lights, globes, stands and cables. Brings back great memories, Mike Parker gave me the job and i remember Larry as well.

I did a Western in Flagstaff in '86. Two Lighthead Brute arcs and even a Duarc. Great lights; they each have a personality. Actually, each trim has a personality. And they kept the brothers workin'! Each lamp (sometimes two, if close together) needed an operator. I can recall various old-timers showing up to work w/ one pair of heavy leather gloves and one pair of pliers. (Maybe a small flask too) Notice a fold-up handle at each corner of that head. Yup, one man on each corner to lift it. It may look like a giant Midget, but it is truly a Heavy Head. Good times. IATSE 728 - Los Angeles

this was fascinating, I remember driving by the plant many times in the 80's....my dad during WWII was in charge of some little arc lights in the South Pacific, those 800 million candle power babies made by GE and Sperry, we never missed going to a shopping mall or car dealer opening when one was fried up....I wish I had gotten to talk to him more about them.....cheers from Orlando Florida, Paul

This is a terrific historic resource. My career began as HMIs were moving in strongly, and Brutes were no longer on any of the sets I worked on. I was lucky to have a good education on their light, and differences with discharge types. Young folks often ask questions that lead to an explanation of spectra, the black body curve, and CRI. I love to send them here to see this video to see what a Bruite is. Thanks Mole-Richardson for making this available!

Awesome video! thanks for sharing! I have built, restored, maintained and operated the huge 60 inch carbon arc searchlights (GE and Sperry) for 31 years. Always enjoy seeing other carbon arc lights operating :)

In High School, I was a theater projectionist. We used DC Carbon arc in the projectors. In a nearby room was the large rectifiers to make AC into DC from line AC power. Anode and cathode. The projectors had chimneys out thru the roof to carry the resulting smoke. Both projectors had broken mirrors, but I'd keep "repairing" them with metal tape. The carbon rods were copper coated. I kept a few for memories sake, but It's been 20 years since I saw em in a box in the basement. Fun stuff.