crazyblake
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2018
- Messages
- 1
Hi there
I'm in the UK, and many years ago I did nightclub lighting.
I managed to get a ballast, igniter and new HMI 575 lamp
from a fitting, and kept them for years to maybe do a big searchlight/ pencil beacon project.
I've run the set of bits, and it works. I have an old 15 inch military airfield searchlight that it will fit in.
The /GS lamp is a universal orientation lamp, so that's handy, and I guess I'll have to do a fan cooling system.
Two questions- the old searchlight is glass fronted, but I've no idea whether this is enough on its own to block UV.
I can get UV blocking perspex to put on as well, I suppose...
Also, the magnetic ballast presumably has a power factor of way less than 1 ( no capacitor in the original lamp),
and the lamp current in the specs is 7A, so running this in the future off an inverter so I can use batteries may be a bit tricky...
Would an electronic ballast ( if one is available anywhere) make the drawn current when on 230V or the inverter a bit smaller
and easier for the inverter to handle, and drop the battery current?
( I still have a Philips lamp that's a 400w ( tin halide?) and it had a power factor of .39, and,
unsurprisingly, had a 4mm cable! My mate plugged two into a single 13A extension lead at a gig, and after a while I noticed
that the cable was hot and like jello......he couldn't get his head round it, since he 'obviously' only had a load of 800w! )
Thanks
Blake
I'm in the UK, and many years ago I did nightclub lighting.
I managed to get a ballast, igniter and new HMI 575 lamp
from a fitting, and kept them for years to maybe do a big searchlight/ pencil beacon project.
I've run the set of bits, and it works. I have an old 15 inch military airfield searchlight that it will fit in.
The /GS lamp is a universal orientation lamp, so that's handy, and I guess I'll have to do a fan cooling system.
Two questions- the old searchlight is glass fronted, but I've no idea whether this is enough on its own to block UV.
I can get UV blocking perspex to put on as well, I suppose...
Also, the magnetic ballast presumably has a power factor of way less than 1 ( no capacitor in the original lamp),
and the lamp current in the specs is 7A, so running this in the future off an inverter so I can use batteries may be a bit tricky...
Would an electronic ballast ( if one is available anywhere) make the drawn current when on 230V or the inverter a bit smaller
and easier for the inverter to handle, and drop the battery current?
( I still have a Philips lamp that's a 400w ( tin halide?) and it had a power factor of .39, and,
unsurprisingly, had a 4mm cable! My mate plugged two into a single 13A extension lead at a gig, and after a while I noticed
that the cable was hot and like jello......he couldn't get his head round it, since he 'obviously' only had a load of 800w! )
Thanks
Blake