Pulse Par 16 Can

[Humey]

Im not overly confident with lighting but I came across some mini Par Cans atthe school I work in...I believe that they are these;

 

http://cpc.farnell.com/1/1/47846-lantern-p...v-bk-pulse.html

 

They are mounted on a piece of wood with what looks like some sort of transformer. This was obviously done by a previous technician.

 

Could anybody shed any light on what these are, and what the possible explanation of the transformer??

 

Please excuse me, I am trying to learn more about lighting...

[Dj Dunc]

The transformer will be there as they are low voltage birdies. They use 12v rather than the usual 240v, and thus need a transformer. As to the wood, its probably just a base to stand them on.

 

Dunc

[collism]

Well CPC provide more information here:

http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/level5/module.j...=cpc/491804.xml

 

The reason that a transformer is needed is because the lamp used in these fixtures is only rated at 12 volts - obviously the 230V from the mains supply needs to be 'stepped down' to 12v and this is achieved by the transformer.

 

This also means that the fixtures are probably not dimmable.

[musht]

Do a search on here for `birdie` and PAR16 , so called as in golf one below PAR is a birdie.

 

Subject has come up recently with difference between mains and Low Voltage , transformer fed, birdies.

 

Trafo does not mean not dimmable, just bit more care.

 

Some electronic trafos, large matchbox mars bar size, are not dimmable, most are and say so on the trafo, if it dosent, it isn`t...

 

Wound trafos , heavy wound items will dim on most theatre style dimmers, run quite a number plugged into Showtec Multidims, little dom3stic wallplate dimmers will normally die eventually.

[Humey]

I tested these birdies out today and found that the 15A plug is too small, physically, to fit into the sockets FOH. I didnt realise there were two sizes?!

[SoLiEn]

sure its not a 5a plug instead of 15a? both have rounded pins.

[DoctorStar]

I guess that if the plugs have round pins and don't fit into a 15A socket you may have 5A plug tops.

 

BW

 

DocStar

[Davethsparky]

There are four sizes of those round pin plugs, 2A, 5A, 15A, 30A. 5A were quite common in stage lighting some years ago.

[Humey]

I need to buy more transformers to wire up these for use in the next show. Can anyone help me out with which transformers to buy, im getting confused! Also, does it matter if the plug is 5A or should I wire a 15A plug on?

[musht]

Any of the electronic ones here would be fine:

 

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Lig...mers/index.html

 

Your local electrical wholesaler should be able to help as well, probably looking at 50W max lamp and dimmable. Non dimmable almost unheard of nowadays.

 

The LV cable to the lamp is kept short, mains in can be any length you need with type of plug that is most convenient.