Modifying Kino Flo Plug Ends

[Max Field]

So I have absolutely loved my pair of Kino Flo 4banks since I got them last year.

There is one thing I absolutely despise about them, and that is the connectors on the wire which gets the fixture to the ballast.

 

 

It's just not intuitive at all. Like 15 tiny pins needs to be aligned, it's tricky to match them up, you need to apply a significant amount of force even when the pins are lined up, and then the screw seems to twist in the opposite direction of what I'm used to.

Every shoot it's the biggest pain in the ass and sometimes takes an entire 5 minutes to assemble when I'm in a dark area.

 

1. Wondering if anyone else hates these as much as I do?

2. Would hiring a guy to modify the ends of these cables be possible? Would it result in disaster?

 

Thanks for any and all input.

Edited May 18, 2018 by Macks Fiiod

[Phil Rhodes]

I'm not sure there's a better solution that's affordable and electrically safe. Fluorescents use high voltages.

 

When I made my homebuilt flos, I made sure the ballasts were internal for this exact reason. They are considerably less powerful than kinos, but equally the kino ballasts are in a big heavy steel case that is overkill if you're not throwing them on a giant lighting truck every day. With mine, all you need is one lightweight photography stand, the light add a mains cable. Some modern LEDs have similar issues, requiring an armload of stuff to operate - mains lead, power supply, intermediate cable and the head, just as with a kino. Some even have another intermediate control box. It's crazy.

 

I suspect all you can do is strap the ballasts on the back of the lights and leave them there, but it'll be heavy.

 

P

[Max Field]

I'm not sure there's a better solution that's affordable and electrically safe.

P

Would an experienced lighting/electrician guy be able to figure out the answer to that?

[Phil Rhodes]

Probably. I'm reasonably confident in that conclusion, if it helps.

[Adrian Sierkowski]

you could also try just using some florescent paint on the cable once it's lined up to give you a bit of alignment market on the ballast and the head.

[Ed Conley]

can it be done- yes.

 

will it be expensive- yes.

 

It will be proprietary so if your ballast goes down your entire kino goes down since you can't rent just a ballast that would work on your new pinned kino.

 

 

Might as well just convert to Quasar tubes but that is $$$ too.

[Adrian Sierkowski]

Quasars, however, would probably be cheaper and much more forward thinking / faster in the long run.

I suppose, though you could also make a spud-cable, some kind of easy adapter attached to little pig tails on the end.

[Matthew Parnell]

The male plugs have two flat edges and two rounded edges.

 

On the female there is a raised Kino Flo on the mould of the plug.

 

On the heads-

The Kino Flo on the mould will line up with the middle of one of the round sections. Narrowing it down to two options to try (much like usb you always get it wrong first time)

 

On the ballast-

When plugging in the ballast rounded sections go top and bottom, kinoflo on the mould will be at the top

 

White paint pen marks can help to line them up as well if that doesnt help.

Edited May 20, 2018 by Matthew Parnell

[Ed Conley]

Yup- all of ours are marked with an arrow.