Daisy Chain Fluorescents

[Dan Crowder]

Hello Cinematographers!!

 

I've been waiting for a reason to post!! I love reading the boards here.

 

I have a challenge ahead in the next few days.

I'm shooting 500T Fujifilm on S16mm in an apartment hallway.

We're putting up a cardboard wall 6" - 12" away from the wall with holes, like a huge cookie.

I'd like to set up 4' fluorescent bulbs along the wall behind the cardboard.

 

this was the inspiration http://www.iaacblog.com/2008term01/course0...ser-cut-dje.jpg

 

Someone mentioned using speakerwire to daisy-chain the bulbs together.

Anyone know how I'd go about this?

 

I understand simple electrical circuits, but you can explain as layman as you want.

I'm a sponge.

 

Thanks!

 

if this helps explain here ya go http://2wayswitch.com/wiring-diagram-fluorescent-light/

[JD Hartman]

From the link, what you want to do is to be able mount the lamps remote from the ballast. Correct? Yes it's possible, but not with speaker wire, the insulation is suitable for low voltage (<24v) only. I'm not sure what you mean by daisy chain, because a ballast is only designed to ignite and drive a specific number of lamps. With the proper wire type (ballast's wire will be marked) and temperature rating, you can safely mount the lamps away from the individual ballast. How far, I couldn't tell you. Time for you to experiment and report back.

[Phil Bradshaw]

I custom lit a large refrigerator using individual T12 florescent sockets wired to an electronic ballast rated for the appropriate wattage and load. I used zip cord (lamp cord) and #12 THHN. The wire was small enough that the art department could easily cover it, or I just taped it. If you want to get fancy, you can individually wire switches in line with each bulb to turn them on and off. You can use Kino bulbs or Philips makes Alto (3500K) and Colortone (5500K) bulbs.

[Richard Andrewski]

Zip cord should work just fine as its actually whats used on many remote ballast situations like Kino 4 foot fixtures where there are two sockets. Ideally if you could find 600v rated zip cord that would be the best but its pretty rare so you may have to settle for 300v rated.

 

Also, how long the cords can be is totally a function of how well your ballast would drive the line so you may have to experiment to get it to work with whichever ballast you end up using.

Edited March 29, 2009 by Richard Andrewski