Practicals and dimmer loads

[mutley]

The way I've always done it is to have the practical, and a proper stage lantern on the same channel. You simply point the lantern at the practical at an appropriate angle, (avoiding a shadow of the practical itself!) so it just looks like the glow you get from a normal bedside lamp, etc.

This avoids the requirement for dummy loads which have no "useful output". Since the set is normally brighter than you would ever get from the practical light anyway (you wouldn't expect a 60W domestic light bulb to light the stage!), the extra lantern on it makes it look a bit more realistic, since it appears that the light intensity is brighter nearest the practical.

[Oovis]

In 21 years I've never found a single load lamp per practical to be a problem, even on shows which ran for a couple of years each.

Surely this would depend on what dimmers you are using! Most good quality dimmers (even going back a few years - Tempus/Permus etc) can cope with loads down to 30 or 40W and still be completely stable and reliable. Cheaper ones (eg. the early Act 6 I quoted) are only designed to work reliably down to 100W. You may 'get away' with lower, but it starts getting iffy! Much older dimmers (eg. Mini II) would be very dodgy at this sort of power level, as I have found!

Ben.

I think you misunderstood my reply, by the tone of yours. However, that aside, for information the Permus manual defines a low load as below 100W.

 

The dimmer curve of our Permus racks is much more stable with a load lamp for stuff like fans, single birdies and practical lamps.

 

Edit: grammar

[The Gaffa]

ETC Sensors & Smart racks can manage down to 40w without a dummy load.

 

However I usually place a lamp on the same channel for the practical, tight focused and ether gate or shutter it down to avoid spill.

[Biskit]

for information the Permus manual defines a low load as below 100W.

 

Hmm that's interesting as I was sure Permus dimmer modules were identical to Tempus, which I've seen quoted as 40W minimum. Perhaps 100W is the lowest adviseable, but the device will actually just hang on down to 40W. Or perhaps Strand just took a bit of a guess, as there's probably no definate definable cut-off point in reality.

 

I guess, to the OP, 'try it and see' is the only approach, as on paper, it could go either way.

 

Oovis - no 'sharp tongue' was intended, apologies if it came accross that way!

 

Ben.