JD Hartman

My mistake. You could look at some of them at www.mcmaster.com , enter honeycomb in the search box. Not the cheapest industrial supplier, but it's a start.

Back on topic.

With things being so slow here and the bad economy, etc., why do I still see film production going to Eastern Europe? It is just the cheaper production costs? Unless it's some specific location that can't be cheaply replicated, I'd think that production people (in the U.S.) would rather work for less than money, than not work at all. Most recent crew posting for Hungary promised airfare, food, lodging, no stipend, no frills. Even if you are nineteen and live with your parents, you still have monthy expenses. How can anyone afford to work for four weeks for nothing?

I initially was a litttle confused by you post, but I think Andrew nailed it. All I can add is to look at the websites of the major commercail lighting fixture manufacturers (Progress is one). Check the Thomas Register for others. Maybe visit a lighting showroom that is part of a electrical supply house. What effect are you trying to achieve?

More information (gathered from the location scout) would make it easier to offer possible solutions. What kind of lighting does the resaurant have? What kind of ceilings? Any above that a light could be clamped onto or hung from. What about using a paper lantern? Could it be hung from a boom, off camera? What kind of lights are in the hallways? Can the bulbs be replaced with brighter ones?

Why not use an open frame skinned with your combo of gels that is larger than the size of the lantern?

Has the same look as most Far East/China products. May be fine, but I'd worry about inferior castings cracking at the worst possible moment.

Alloy would only be an issue with machining or welding, you're doing neither. Look at the maluminum available at www.mcmaster.com and drill down through the searches until you hit the 5/8 or.625 o.d. aluminum tubing. I don't recall with alloy, probably 6061 which is usually the cheapest. While you are there you can also order plastic plugs for the tubing to give your grip arms a factory finished look.

Yes it's aluminum and strong enough. Mole-Richardson used aluminum for their grip arms.

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.

No offense intended, but if your asking this question, you not qualified. Repairing electrical problems in equipment is not something learned through an internet BBS. I had a problem with a guy who was a spark/lamp operator or electric, but couldn't wire an Edison.

The reality is that most schools, I'll stick my neck out and say most, do a poor job of teaching lighting or grip. Their too busy cramming in screen writing, directing, loading, camera operating, editing, etc. When a student crew goes out, it's usually with the most basic of light kits and grip equipment. That's all most schools have anyway. Forget about HMIs, unless they are rented out of their own pocket. Some graduates will never have seen or used equipment like meat axes, wall sleds, bazookas, wall spreaders, cinevators, mombo-combos or even basic grip stuff like nets and flags either. Not every can be a producer or director. Schools seem to overlook that. Pick a job and work at being good at it. If you want to be a grip or gaffer, Uva's grip book is a good place to start and a good reference. Knowing what the hardware is and knowing how to use it safely, creatively and resourcefully are world apart. That can't be gotten from school or any book.

I was looking to order Harry Box's book this weekend, but am now wondering if it covers UK electrical practice. Does anyone have any ideas, or does the book deal with things in a universal way?

 

Incidentally, if anyone has an old copy they'd like to sell id be more than grateful and can promise it a good home. Technical books dont come cheap over here... just one more reason why i can understand the way Phil feels about this country.

Yes, it does deal with things like current capacity of conductors and voltage drop in a universal way. The formula(s) for things like circular mills of a conductor and Ohm's law apply in the USA or "across the pond" equally. I believe it deals with electrical distribution in the UK as well.

These guys in the Southern USA have cello: http://www.advantagegrip.com/

It's not an answer, but why are you fixated on Stainless? What alloy did you price out? 303 , 410? The more Nickle in the Stainless, the more expensive per pound. I bought .625 Al tube with a .065 wall from McMaster-Carr for a little more than $1.25 per foot. And of all the industrial suppliers, they are among the highest priced.

The door slit:

The fog worked ok with the 650, but with the 2k it was a little ridiculous, it looked like someone just hot boxed the room. The dust was too quick to dissipate.

Based on the equipment available, the Fresnels are the best choice. If the 2K seemed to powerful for the door slit, did you try dropping in a double scrim or using some N.D.? Does the stage your shooting on have any lighting equipment at all? A leko with it's multiple lens train would give the sharpest image in this instance.

You can create the "beam" with either of the fresnels, but you won't have a visible shaft of light unless there is something, dust, smoke, etc. to illuminate and reflect some of the light. A leko with an iris would also work well for this application.

You could have tented the window and still had a subdued source outside, cut further by the blinds and curtains. If that wasn't possible and the room was large enough the light from the window could be setup out of the frame for the shot.

In general florescent lights don't like the cold. Did it seem like the tubes took a while to reach full brightness. I can't comment on Kino's electronic ballasts, but most floro ballasts will have problems with low temperatures. Reliable operation at low temperature requires a different design.

Only the Kino seemed to be flickering? Could be a bad tube. If the generator voltage was low, light from any Tungsten fixtures would have looked a warm on the monitor. Flicker is caused by power frequency not voltage.

Should be fine, but why use the more expensive 60a bates, when a 20a bates is about half or less in price? Not familiar with that specific connector (Altman), is is labeled as 220v. This could cause confusion later.

"till I threw a 2K on it and wham, melted at the terminals on both end. ", that's the key point. It sounds as if it wasn't the wire conductors, or the insulation on them, it was a loose or oxidized connection on the cap or body (male or female connector). More resistance, drawing more current, producing more heat.

"So you can be just fine most of the day, and then the sun comes out and your cords start frying, or worse just the jacket melts off, and makes a cart or c-stand hot." What?? If air temperature was even a minute factor, every shoot in NYC in the summer time would be having massive failures.

Here is a typical cable manufacturers spec.

SEOW Cable and STW Cable are composed of bare, annealed flexible copper. Color coded TPE thermoplastic rubber assembled round with fillers as needed. A separator is applied over the assembly. Black oil resistant TPE thermoplastic rubber Jacket. SEOW Cable and STW Cable have a temperature range of 105 °C to -50°C. or 221 F to -98

Just because it's done on locations does not make it the right thing to do, or OK to tell someone else to do it especially when it comes to electrical things. That is my honest opinion, and in this specific case, it comes speaking as someone whose own 2Ks have melted 12ga cord after less than an hour.. I would not recommend it.

A 2K will pull 16.7 amps, and one a longer run such as yours you'll want to have the proper gauge cord anyway.

I again do not recommend it. What's better; buying the right cord or risking major damage... If anything you'll have 10ga cord or two for your own usage.

I don't think I told him to do it, or advocated the practice in any way. I just stated the facts. If you re-read my post, I provided the facts which indicate that for the current draw of the fixture, the length of the cable and acceptable voltage drop (3%), 10 gauge is necessary. I don't know what type of cable your stinger was constructed from, but I've never melted a stinger. If 15a is the rated capacity of the wire and it self-destructed after being used at a slightly higher load, something else had to have contributed to the overheating of the wire. Loose wire connections in the stinger cap and body, oxidation on the blades or even plugging into a receptacle that doesn't grip tightly anymore.

I find the information and your question confusing. You're running the 2k(s) off of 220vac? The are lamped with 220v globes? Why do you want to put a 60a bates on the fixture whip? Just because you have them? A 20a bates conector for be sufficient for the amperage draw.

Richard, what is it that the "kino look-alikes" have reflective barndoors? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of a barndoor, cutting unwanted light? I've seen these lights used with the barn door panels removed and reversed.

How long is it ok to run a 2k off a 15A stinger before the cord may start to get damaged? How long do I need to let the 15A cord rest/cooldown after turning it off befor firing it up again? Will be using 2x50' stingers for the run to the head. Working in the USA with 20A circuit @125V AC

The reality is that on a set or location somewhere, it is being done every day, without damage or personal injury. Is this a 12ga. cord (stinger), or is it a orange extension cord? The stinger will be carrying at least 16.66 amps, exceeding the working rating. The cord may become warm, but even carrying only fifteen amperes the cord will become warm over time. Will it be permanently damaged, catch fire, melt down, explode in a shower of molten copper, maiming cast and crew? No.

A larger issue is the length, excessive voltage drop will cause a drop in color temperature. In your case voltage drop will exceed the accepted 3%. If color temp. is an issue, use a 10ga cord.

Study your Harry Box Set Technicians book. It's all in there, if you don't have one buy it. This is all very basic stuff if you're going to be a Spark.