...or any moving head fixture for that matter.

At how many hours do you start expecting things to break, function less correctly, or create more noise (i.e. fans).

Are there any maintenance schedules that need to be followed? If so at what hours and what parts should we be looking at?

I'm going to be a new purchaser and would like to know what to expect.

Thanks!

The DS series, no idea. Lights like Martin and Vari-Lite, they last for thousands of hours. It has a lot to do with how you take care of them as well. They movers I own, I baby. Clean them once a month at least, don't toss around, always give more then enough time to cool down after lamping off, try not to hot strike, etc etc.

Movers are just like anything else, if you take care of them, they will last you many years of service. Beat on them, and not as long. Martins and Vari-Lite especially are made to beat on. The Design Spot series from Elation, no one can really say as they really aren't that 'old' compared to the Mac and VL lines. What I hear however, is nothing but excellent comments about the DS line. Just no hands on experience with them yet. Soon, though, very soon I hope.

I too clean my movers atleast once a month. I blow out the dust, clean the lens, and gobos. I check for breaks or cracks in any of the bands around the gears. and just take care of them.

serraava the ds does hold up to a beating. we were doing a festival, and the sky opened up and started pouring. I didn't worry about my lights too much cuz they were all under the roof. but then the crowd wanted to go into the roof too and decided to knock a DS250 in the process. It fell 5' from the truss stand to the stage, then another 5' from the stage to the floor into the rain where it got really wet. the outer shell cracked on the impact. that was it. Did alot of work with a hairdryer, gaffed the crack as a temporary fix and turned it on fine the next day. I'm not saying that if you drop your light 10' into the rain it will work every time. I think it was mostly luck, i wouldn't expect any mover to hold up after that. but this one did.

You would be surprised then Esteban. I worked on Live 8 in Philly in the summer of '05. 80 Mac 2ks in the air, which was pointless because it was during the day. Unless they were all doing the same thing, you couldn't tell they were there. Anyway, we had a major storm blow through before the show, so bad that it wrecked a Stage Line at Campbell's Field across the river in Camden and canceled that show. We took down all 80 Mac 2ks and flipped them over and water literally poured out of them. Sat them down, and each one fired up after they dried out a bit like nothing had ever happened.

This is common place with Macs and VLs. With stage hands handling them, they get dropped, tossed, bounce around in trucks for years and live in trusses for the lengths of tours. Shows will literally repair the lights in the truss and not take them out unless positively necessary. The go from sub-zero temperatures to insanely hot temperates when the lamps strike, and they do this over and over and over again like it doesn't even happen.

I am glad your DS 250 made it alive and it is a positive note in the DS line, but what happens when it fills up with water and gets dropped the second time?

true. the storm wrecked a stageline!!! wow. that must have been some storm. yeah i have the dvd of live 8. in the day they are pretty much pointless. yeah we have some robe 1200's that have been dropped and been wet plenty of times, and its usually these that are the most reliable like mac and vl. when the ds incident happend it was when they first came out. so i figured it was another little cheap elation light. after that and renting them out to dj and small shows on a weekly basis, i still havn't had any major issues with them

Well, wrecked is probably not the right term. All the tarps and what not protecting the stage failed and water filled the consoles, amps, etc etc. But you get the idea.