LEDagent
Flashlight Enthusiast
Hi there fellow CPF members!
I dance for a local Philippine dance company in San Diego called PASACAT. I've been dancing with them for about a year and a half. If you were to tell me a year and a half ago that i would be a dancer, i wouldn't believe you. Well..here i am...a dancer. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Anyway, our dance coordinator has come to me and asked me to make some lighting fixtures for one of our dances. The dance is called Pandango Sa Ilaw Oasiwas, directly translated it means "Dance of the lights." It is one of my favorite dances...i'm sure you can figure out why.
The dance involves the dancers to balance glowing drinking glasses. Traditionally they are lit by candles inside the glases, but with strict staging rules, we can't use fire. So we use battery operated lighting. Right now, we've been using light fixtures made 10 years ago using 1 9V battery and 2 Christmas lights per glass.
Over the years, constant use and abuse has taken there toll on the light fixtures. The wiring on some units have become frayed, sticky from all the tape holding them together, and or on the verge of failure. The bulbs are easy to find, but with different Christmas light designs out there, they aren't that accessible at times...only around Christmas time, when people usually throw away there old lights. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Ever since joining the the dance team, i've always said, in the back of my mind, that i would someday make new light fixtures for them. Something a little bit more reliable and economical. The Christmas lights aren't very reliable, no matter how many times i change the bulbs. It seems as if the 9V is too much. THey seem to get VERY hot after a 6-10 minute dance and they always seem to blow out after a few times in use...and ALWAYS before a show. I'm guessing that we are grossly overdriving the bulbs or the bulbs just suck. The 9V batteries don't last very long either, and they do get expensive. I guess the bulbs are high drain and the batteries can't handle the drain. I would use a resistor, but from what i've heard, resistors only waste the energy and turn it into heat. If i want things to be reliable, i'm guessing heat is the last thing i want. When we replace one battery we usually have to replace the other 8 fixtures that we have. At 8 dollars for 4 batteries...it gets expensive for a non-profit organisation.
I want to make a fixture where the bulb and battery are better matched and can stand the constant on/off and abuse for at least 2 or 3 years. I wanted to use LEDs but 1) i'm no good at soldering and 2) it is expensive. At 10-15 dollars a pop for Luxeons and 1-3 dollars for 5mm quality LEDs, i'm going to end up spending over 100 dollars to make just 10 units. Also, i need side-emitting LEDs because that is exactly how the Christmas lights work. The light needs to be dispersed all around to light up the glasses.
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Here is what i need. at least 16 light fixtures that can use easily replaceable bulbs and batteries. The light output needs to be as bright as one Christmas light bulb. (I think a nice candle flame is brighter.)
Here are some options :
1) Use the same 9V battery but a different bulb setup.
it can run with or without a resistor but can last at least 40-45 minutes. (That should be good for a couple of performances)
2) Use AA batteries.
I can find a battery holder for 2 AA batteries and solder a nice bulb fixture with a small rocker switch. This design seems to be the easiest and most economical because there are a lot of lighting instruments that run off of 2 cells. I've seen a nice Radio Shack flashlight that uses a standard incandescent flanged bulb. It looks like a Maglight but it is brighter with the right bulb setup. AA cells can be found anywhere in a pinch and i can stock up on the bulbs at any Radio Shack or Brink & Mortar electronic shop.
3) Use 1 C-size battery.
This would be a nice setup because the battery is about the same size as one 9V or 2AA batteries. But i don't know if i can find the right bulb bright enoegh to run off of 1.5 volts and can last. It is a little heavy and finding a bulb that can run on 1.5 volts is a little harder than the 2AA setup.
* I did manage to find a bulb at the Radio Shack website with an input voltage of 1.2V with a draw of 250mA. But i dont' know how bright it is.
Pictures of the current light setup will come shortly. Let me snap them real quick and upload them.
I dance for a local Philippine dance company in San Diego called PASACAT. I've been dancing with them for about a year and a half. If you were to tell me a year and a half ago that i would be a dancer, i wouldn't believe you. Well..here i am...a dancer. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Anyway, our dance coordinator has come to me and asked me to make some lighting fixtures for one of our dances. The dance is called Pandango Sa Ilaw Oasiwas, directly translated it means "Dance of the lights." It is one of my favorite dances...i'm sure you can figure out why.
The dance involves the dancers to balance glowing drinking glasses. Traditionally they are lit by candles inside the glases, but with strict staging rules, we can't use fire. So we use battery operated lighting. Right now, we've been using light fixtures made 10 years ago using 1 9V battery and 2 Christmas lights per glass.
Over the years, constant use and abuse has taken there toll on the light fixtures. The wiring on some units have become frayed, sticky from all the tape holding them together, and or on the verge of failure. The bulbs are easy to find, but with different Christmas light designs out there, they aren't that accessible at times...only around Christmas time, when people usually throw away there old lights. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Ever since joining the the dance team, i've always said, in the back of my mind, that i would someday make new light fixtures for them. Something a little bit more reliable and economical. The Christmas lights aren't very reliable, no matter how many times i change the bulbs. It seems as if the 9V is too much. THey seem to get VERY hot after a 6-10 minute dance and they always seem to blow out after a few times in use...and ALWAYS before a show. I'm guessing that we are grossly overdriving the bulbs or the bulbs just suck. The 9V batteries don't last very long either, and they do get expensive. I guess the bulbs are high drain and the batteries can't handle the drain. I would use a resistor, but from what i've heard, resistors only waste the energy and turn it into heat. If i want things to be reliable, i'm guessing heat is the last thing i want. When we replace one battery we usually have to replace the other 8 fixtures that we have. At 8 dollars for 4 batteries...it gets expensive for a non-profit organisation.
I want to make a fixture where the bulb and battery are better matched and can stand the constant on/off and abuse for at least 2 or 3 years. I wanted to use LEDs but 1) i'm no good at soldering and 2) it is expensive. At 10-15 dollars a pop for Luxeons and 1-3 dollars for 5mm quality LEDs, i'm going to end up spending over 100 dollars to make just 10 units. Also, i need side-emitting LEDs because that is exactly how the Christmas lights work. The light needs to be dispersed all around to light up the glasses.
-------------
Here is what i need. at least 16 light fixtures that can use easily replaceable bulbs and batteries. The light output needs to be as bright as one Christmas light bulb. (I think a nice candle flame is brighter.)
Here are some options :
1) Use the same 9V battery but a different bulb setup.
it can run with or without a resistor but can last at least 40-45 minutes. (That should be good for a couple of performances)
2) Use AA batteries.
I can find a battery holder for 2 AA batteries and solder a nice bulb fixture with a small rocker switch. This design seems to be the easiest and most economical because there are a lot of lighting instruments that run off of 2 cells. I've seen a nice Radio Shack flashlight that uses a standard incandescent flanged bulb. It looks like a Maglight but it is brighter with the right bulb setup. AA cells can be found anywhere in a pinch and i can stock up on the bulbs at any Radio Shack or Brink & Mortar electronic shop.
3) Use 1 C-size battery.
This would be a nice setup because the battery is about the same size as one 9V or 2AA batteries. But i don't know if i can find the right bulb bright enoegh to run off of 1.5 volts and can last. It is a little heavy and finding a bulb that can run on 1.5 volts is a little harder than the 2AA setup.
* I did manage to find a bulb at the Radio Shack website with an input voltage of 1.2V with a draw of 250mA. But i dont' know how bright it is.
Pictures of the current light setup will come shortly. Let me snap them real quick and upload them.
