tungsten-halogen quartz safety

[Matt Dennie]

I was recently loaned a decent amount of mole-richerdson lights and one of them is a mickey-mole. It uses a halogen bulb and I was wondering about the safety of that. I have heard that halogen bulbs need to be shielded with UV glass, and the light I have is just open faced.

[Mathew Rudenberg]

I was recently loaned a decent amount of mole-richerdson lights and one of them is a mickey-mole. It uses a halogen bulb and I was wondering about the safety of that. I have heard that halogen bulbs need to be shielded with UV glass, and the light I have is just open faced.

 

While Halogen lamps do put out some UV, I think you're confusing them with HMI globes which put out a dangerous amount.

 

A standard incandescent lamp emits about 75 micro watts per lumen(µW/lm) of UV, and unshielded halogen emits 100- 200 µW/lm. Daylight, meanwhile, emits 300 - 600 µW/lm.

 

Chances are the only way you'll get burned is if you touch the light without gloves. don't do it.

 

Often there's safety mesh so if a globe does blow it doesn't spray hot glass over the talent.

[Matt Dennie]

Ok, thanks. I used to use halogen work lights before I got this equipment and they had the safety glass, that's why I was concerned. I'm glad I don't have to worry about giving people skin cancer. :)

[Chris Keth]

No worries about causing cancer. The other reason is that a mickey will, generally speaking, probably not directly light people. If they light people, it will usually be through diffusion or from far away as a mock streetlamp or something like that.

[timHealy]

If there is no safety mesh in your open face light you can easily just throw in a full single if you are concerned about safety. Though not terribly common, all bulb types explode once in a while.

 

Best

 

Tim

[John Sprung]

Though not terribly common, all bulb types explode once in a while.

 

The way halogens explode is if the filament breaks and they start arcing. I've had that happen when a stand fell over. The light goes way up in color temperature and gets brighter. Pressure builds up inside the bulb until it bursts with an anemic pop, scattering a few particles maybe two or three feet. If you ever get an arcing tungsten, best to just step away from it and wait a few seconds for it to pop. That'll be safer than handling the pressurized globe after it cools.

 

The other old quartz rule is, of course, never get fingerprints or any kind of schmutz on the globe, as it'll absorb heat and melt the quartz.

 

 

 

 

-- J.S.

[JD Hartman]

Make your own safety screens using: http: //farm-and-pet.hardwarestore.com/112-622-hardware-cloth.aspx 1/2" mesh hardware cloth purchased locally, tin snips or aviation snips, cut to fit your accessory holder, negligable light loss.

[J. Lamar King IMPOSTOR]

The worst problem with open face lights is when they are pointed up and a bug gets too close. The heat stuns it and it then falls to it's crispy death. If it lands on the globe it smokes quite a bit and smells like hell. It's a little Icarus story that plays out every night on set. Don't fly to close to the sun!

Edited February 28, 2011 by J. Lamar King