The Legendary Golden Scan "3"
At the end of 2022, has found myself restoring one, or maybe, the most popular scanner model from ClayPaky, the Golden Scan "3"!
Golden Scan "3", was the first model which accommodated the new optical system, which has been the same for all the following models.
They feature 4 classic rotating gobos, the 7 primary colours, which can be multiplied by the two colour correction filters, offering a total of 24 colour combinations.
A heavy frost filter and a static 4Facet prism, add to the effect abilities of the "3"
Their Origins
The thing I always wished to know about the fixtures I am getting, is their past, their story. For most fixtures, I know partial moments of their "carrier" in the past, but for these Golden Scans, I was so excited to learn their timeline, from day one!
Two of the Golden Scans worked for more than 20 years in the legendary Studio Zeta, in Caravaggio, a city near Bergamo, Claypaky's base in Italy.
Studio Zeta was shut down in 2010, and most of the sound and light equipment was bought from the owner's friend. The Studio Zeta building was demolished in 2015, and in its place, now there is a supermarket.
The scanners were bought from their previous owner in 2020, and before they were working on the 8 dancefloor disco Mamamia in Senigallia, together for two summer seasons, with 100 ClayPaky fixtures such as Golden Scan 1, 2, 3, Golden Spot, Stage Color, MiniScan, Alpha Wash, Superscan Zoom, and Tiger CC 575. Later on, the owner wanted to reduce power, so he sell this equipment.
Another Italian collector got lots of that equipment, and these three Golden Scan "3" ended up in my collection, making them the most 'historic' lights I have! The sense of knowing where they have been, adds to the feeling of restoring and having them here. I always wished I knew every detail from the past regarding the lights I got from abroad.
For the third GS3, we only know that it came from Austria, and not any other detail.
Golden Scan "3" in their first working place, in Studio Zeta. The photo was taken from Bergamo.corriere.it
Golden Scans at multi-dancefloor Disco Mamamia, in Senigallia. The photo was taken from angelipierre.it
The Arrival
At the beginning of December 2022, the 3 scanners arrived, very well protected. They were pretty 'tired', showing marks of their heavy work through the years.
During their last years of operation, they worked in an open-air place, so parts of the housing had been damaged from exposure to rain/humidity.
I was impressed once more to see that internally, the fixtures were pretty original. Meaning that even the motors didn't look like that have been replaced in the past.
One of the Studio Zeta scanners is the oldest ClayPaky fixture I have until nowadays, as it was built in 1992, the thing was obvious from the PCB year manufacture, the old ballast type, the metal gobo rotation gear, and the fact that there was no holder for the extra gobos inside the fixture. Another detail about the older version fixture is that the ClayPaky logo and model, are printed in different spacing on the front cover.
Damage Assessment
The back panel PCB, the one with the DMX receiver and circuits for analogue control, were full of dust. I wondered how many years has been, since the last cleaning. On the contrary, the stepper motor driver's PCB was in a good condition, but with so much oil on it. The second scanner, the oldest one had thermal damage. I guess that there was a short circuit, which overheated and damaged the rectifying diodes. On that PCB, an external rectifying bridge had been installed and DC voltage had connected directly to the PCB.
Thermal fatigue and damage, probably from oil as well, on the area of the rectifying diodes.
The connection and the rectifying bridge were installed behind the ballast.
While most of the internal of the three fixtures, were in very good condition, apart from the dirt, dust, and oil from the gobo wheel and iris gear lubrication, there were parts of the chassis, mainly the mirror head, the back and front covers, which were corroded from water.
The scanners were installed in outdoor places in the last years of their career, in a vertical position, either with the mirror head up or down, hence most of the corrosion was found on these specific parts.
Chassis Restoration
These Golden Scans required the most attention and time before they could be back in shape. It was for me, the best time I had to strip out the old paint, the thing I was trying to avoid, as I was afraid that I wouldn't do good work since these parts have a lot of corners, and hard spots to reach. But there was no other choice.
Since I had to do only hand work, I got some new tools for detailing paint removal. It took a lot of time and patience, but I manage to remove the paint from the most difficult housing parts, the front and back panels/covers, and the mirror head parts.
Paint removal, a lot of brushing, two or even three times, until the metal was completely stripped of its old paint, and they are ready to be repainted again.
Another challenging part was the front cover with the air vents and the logo/model marking. Since I didn't want to interfere with these marks, I had to cover them before repainting. Happily, there was no significant damage on the metal below them, and the visual result is very decent.
Electronics & Mechanical effects restoration
As I usually do with very dirty PCBs, the next step was to wash thoroughly and immediately dry the PCBs, to remove the oil/grease and dirt. The motor drivers, controllers and microprocessor, were cleaned carefully with isopropyl alcohol.
For all the boards, the electrolytic capacitors, and voltage regulator were replaced, and new rectifying diodes were installed on the PCB with the temperature damage. Thankfully the copper lines were not damaged, and the board works perfectly fine.
Gobo holder, after and before removing the grease.
Prepared modules for the second Golden Scan 3.
The oldest Golden Scan gobo wheel, with the metal gear, is noisier in comparison with the newer, red-plastic one. The iris gear remains the same in these scanners, and in future models, it has been replaced with the connection arm for the stepper motor connection, which provided even faster opening & closing iris speeds.
A second chance
Knowing their story, thrills me even more, to have these Golden Scans "3" in my collection! They have extreme luminosity, the known clear projections ClayPaky optics provide, they are smooth and fast, and they still could have a place above the dance floors and stages! Now they have a second chance in life, with their former glory preserved!
-Elias-
 Golden Scan "3" HMI 575 |  Golden Scan "3" HMI 575 |
|---|---|
 Golden Scan "3" HMI 575 |  Golden Scan "3" HMI 575 |
 Golden Scan "3" HMI 575"Serial Number: 70".I wonder, is this the 70th Golden Scan created? |  Golden Scan "3" HMI 575 |
 Golden Scan "3" HMI 575 |  Golden Scan "3" HMI 575 |
 Golden Scan "3" HMI 575 |  Golden Scan "3" HMI 575 |
 The older GS3, built in 1992 |  Re-cabled internal of the second restoration |
 GS3 on its new place |  Installing the effect modules. |
 The oldest GS3 in action |  Oldest GS3 in action |