Mole-Richardson Baby smells like urine when powered up/why?

Tim O'Connor · October 21, 2007

I came across a still photographer who was selling a lot of his stuff including the odd

non flash unit that he had. I was excited to buy a Mole-Richardson 1000w Baby

for $90.00 with barn doors and a lamp to boot! I turned it on and it worked great.

It's in near perfect condition. Brand new with barn doors it would cost $700.00 or

more.

However, once I had it and had it on for more than a couple of minutes; it smelled...

exactly like walking down a back alley... like urine. I let it run for a couple of hours

today and it still seemed to be exuding that odor.

It had apparently been sitting in this guy's garage so maybe a cat or something

kept hitting it but I don't see any indication of any residue of any kind. I'm going

to give it a more thorough cleaning but has anybody ever come across anything like

this?

At this point, I would be leery of using it on most sets.

Hal Smith · October 22, 2007

It had apparently been sitting in this guy's garage so maybe a cat or something
kept hitting it but I don't see any indication of any residue of any kind. I'm going

to give it a more thorough cleaning but has anybody ever come across anything like

this?

Try disassembling it and soaking it in a 25% or so bleach solution. I'd pull the lamp burner (that's what the old timers call the socket assembly) and wiring out first. Incidently, if the wiring is about 1/4" thick, fuzzy, and white, it's asbestos wiring. Replacing it with modern high temperature wiring wouldn't be a bad idea.

Tim O'Connor · October 22, 2007

Try disassembling it and soaking it in a 25% or so bleach solution. I'd pull the lamp burner (that's what the old timers call the socket assembly) and wiring out first. Incidently, if the wiring is about 1/4" thick, fuzzy, and white, it's asbestos wiring. Replacing it with modern high temperature wiring wouldn't be a bad idea.

Excellent, thanks!