PAR Can Alternatives ?

[Alexlite]

Are there any alternatives to PAR cans as for general lighting that is cheap and cheerful and can be flashed?

 

Looking for a cheap way to burst some light into a nightclub garden that I can attatch to my dimmer or a stand-alone chaser?

 

Outdoor mini floodlights are dirt cheap (and waterproof which is ideal), but I dont think the tubes can withstand recurruring flash!

[djandydee]

Way back many moons ago and a few zillion gallons of water under the Bann Bridge, I used ordinary d0mest1c 500w floods on my set-up. They had a very slow response time as expected but never gave up when flashed. Some of them are still on their original lamps and that was the early 90's! Granted, they don't get used very much....occasional uplighting of a tree or house or church, but with a piece of gel cut to size and a small blob of silicon in each corner of the glass to hold it there they are a cheep solution to an outdoor problem

 

HTH

 

Andrew

[Ynot]

Hmmm...

 

Are there alternatives?

Well, yes - quite a few.

 

Are there any as cheap and efficient as a par can for broad-strokes coverage?

Not really.

 

Will domestic floods do the job - again, not really. Despite some having limited success, they're not really made to hold gel, and there's very minimal control over the flood nature of the lamp.

However, as they tend to use pretty much the same lamps as many theatre floods, flashing (in theory) isn't a major problem, EXCEPT that they do tend to run a bit hotter than the stage options, having a far smaller enclosure, so that may well affect the 'flashability'...

[Sound In Gloucestershire]

what about IP rated led parcans?

[mutley]

As Ynot says, standard d0mestic 500W floods are more difficult to gel, but as long as the gel does not touch the glass, it should last for a while. I've had a similar situation, and I found one way to do it, is to use high temp gel, cut it slightly bigger than the glass and stick scroller tape (or other high temp tape - masking tape if you're desperate) along the side edges, on both sides of the gel, to reinforce them before using a typical office hole punch to put two holes in the side edges. Use a thin wire (like the earth wire from 1.5mm T+E) to wrap around the light fitting to hold the gel in front. Make sure there's an air gap between the gel and the glass, and it should work fine ......for a while.

 

The better solution would be coloured glass, but you're probably looking at over £10 a piece.

 

As for flashing them, even if the lamp only lasts one evening, who cares when you can buy them for 33p each from CPC!?

[dmxtothemax]

you can get smaller versions of the par cans these are designed for par 30 or par 38 lamps.

when it comes to flashing, incandesant lamps like par 30/38 work well.

how long they last depends on the quality of the lamps, the market is full of cheaply

made chinese lamps these days so quality suffers, use good quality lamps like G.E.

[Brian]

... the market is full of cheaplymade chinese lamps these days so quality suffers...

The market is also full of 230v lamps which suffer a much shortened life when run at 240v.

[Sound In Gloucestershire]

do we run at 240v in the UK??

[springgrove]

As Ynot says, standard d0mestic 500W floods are more difficult to gel, but as long as the gel does not touch the glass, it should last for a while.

As for flashing them, even if the lamp only lasts one evening, who cares when you can buy them for 33p each from CPC!?

I've found that the sort of mesh sold in garden centres is very good for improvising gelframes.

 

If you are going to set up a chase on a desk, why not fade them up rather than switching them on, or have them on a low 'pre-warm' - might be more effective anyway. The 500W ones take a bit of time to respond anyway.

 

Nigel

[Trunker]

do we run at 240v in the UK??

 

If you take into account the +10%/-4% tolerence, yes, many places may well run at 240 or slightly higher!

[the kid]

For gelling look here.

[Brian]

do we run at 240v in the UK??

Er, yes. 245v here today.

[lightsource]

As Ynot says, standard d0mestic 500W floods are more difficult to gel, but as long as the gel does not touch the glass, it should last for a while.

 

 

To be honest, I've used the d0mestic 500w outdoor lanterns as blinders, for a good few years now, and still haven't suffered a lamp failure, and they're flashed quite heavily. Note also, that 300w lamps are also available.

 

As far as gelling goes, I've always intended to give this a try.....but haven't yet got round to doing it :P

 

Cut a piece of aluminium to the size required.

 

Drill 4 holes into the lantern surround, and thread them for M3 (by threading the holes, you don't need a nut, so that won't affect the rubber seal)

 

Screw in 4x metal (M3 thread) PCB spacers.

 

Drill the aluminium panel for the other end of the PCB spacers, and attach.

 

In theory, that should give a stable gel frame, at whatever distance (length) you choose the PCB spacers to be.

 

I hope that makes sense!

 

Edit to add.....

 

It also helps to cut a big rectangle in the aluminium frame, so the light can actually get out!

[swampman]

The use of linear halogen floods is a possibility; I regularly use my "car park lights" for outdoor meetings (church events , political meetings, sports announcements etc) . You can even add barn doors (custom made) on to certain models of them.

However: the quality of aluminium (or recycled junk) that makes the housing determines the possibility of any holes/threading/ataching you can do.

The glass will shatter if splashed or bent/distorted or has burnt gel on it and is usually irreplaceable (Do NOT use without the protective glass because of the danger of UV or broken fragments of a bursting bulb) .

The use of chicken wire mesh is not successful for long periods since it will absorb heat and burn the gel - best left as a protection for the glass and tension the gel adequately.

Just came across the availbility of CFL ballast kits that attach to the K7 pinches today, up to the equivalent of 300w halogen! However I had already replaced a 1.5kw linear with a 28w PL lamp and ballast last year with surprising success - the glass had broken and normal window glass would not have taken the heat so creativity: will consider doing it with other ex service gear to avoid "friends of the night" who are hungrily lurking around warehouses nowadays.

[adam2]

do we run at 240v in the UK??

 

The nominal or declared voltage in the UK is 230 volts, and has been for some years.

However the actual measured voltage is still in practice 240 volts most of the time in most places (see the whats your voltage thread)

 

In past, mainland Europe was 220 volt, and the UK was 240 volt.

Our European masters wished to have a standard voltage throughout the EU, however actually altering every transformer would be too expensive, therefore the harmonisation was achieved by widening the permitted voltage tolerance in order that both 220 volt and 240 volt supplies could be called 230.

 

If 230 volt lamps are used on a supply that in practice is still 240 volts or more, then they will have a very short life, but be brighter.

 

If 240 volt lamps are used on supply that is actually 220 volts, as found in parts of Europe, then they will have a greatly extended life, but be dimmer.