Dimmers?

J

Jackson Miller

Well-known member
Where can I find cheap individual dimmers for 500 watt halogen lights? I see some dimmers for 300 watt lights and some of the 500 watt lights say that they can use these dimmers however even these do not have "three pronged" female pluggins. My lights need to be plugged into a heavy duty extension chord or a wall socket. What can I do to control the brightness of my lamps? I can't spend too much money. I also have a tripod with two lights that are each 500 watts but have the same power chord. Can I find a dimmer that will handle 1000 Watts?

One more question. Where can I find the blue tinted bulbs for the halogen lights that compensate for the yellowy color? How necessary are they?

Thanks a lot in advance. I'm new to lighting.
 
Have I got a deal for you....Use the "search" engine at the top of the page and type in "Dimmers"..Harbor Freight Tools makes a router speed control for up to aprox 1000 watts, and you can buy them for sometimes as little as 10 bucks up to 25 bucks. Visit their website after researching it here, print out price on website and go to a local store in your area so they match the price, or simply order directly from site.. good luck
 
Thank you, thank you, thank you for the dimmer info. I'm going to pick up 3 of those. Still trying to find blue tinted globes.
 
http://www.filmtools.com/bca250wattage.html


I copied the link wrong...but follow this, then click on lighting dept-click on medium base household bulbs. They list them as 4800 kelvin. I always thought they were closer to say 5200, but I guess not. They do work pretty well, but they don't last very long...order several. Look around the net more, you might find blue tinted bulbs, but you can also buy full spectrum CFL's that last hundreds and even thousands of hours...
Just a reminder, most CFL bulbs can not be used with a dimmer. Dimming one of the blue tinted bulbs will also make the bulb burn with a warmer color balance..
 
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Those things are fantastic for the price, I've got a few of them and for less than $10 you can't beat 'em.

But no, this unit wouldn't work in a 220V territory.
 
filmat11 said:
http://www.filmtools.com/bca250wattage.html


I copied the link wrong...but follow this, then click on lighting dept-click on medium base household bulbs. They list them as 4800 kelvin. I always thought they were closer to say 5200, but I guess not. They do work pretty well, but they don't last very long...order several. Look around the net more, you might find blue tinted bulbs, but you can also buy full spectrum CFL's that last hundreds and even thousands of hours...
Just a reminder, most CFL bulbs can not be used with a dimmer. Dimming one of the blue tinted bulbs will also make the bulb burn with a warmer color balance..
Click to expand...

just to add. This is something you need to think about. Dimming a tungsten lighting fixture, will lower the color temperature, making it more orange/red. Be sure to balance them!
 
Dionysos said:
Sorry for bumping an old thread, but well guessed that was better than starting a new one about the same subject :)

I found the dimmer, very nice; http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=43060

But... I live in the Netherlands, so I guess it won't work over here. Does anyone know of European (Dutch) versions?
Click to expand...

Try looking for something similar locally...a "router speed control"...i'm sure you guys have routers over there!

I've been using these for a little while and they are good for the price however, they do get quite warm if used continuously for extended periods...so just be aware of that...I'm thinking of trying to add some kind of heat sink to the back...fins or something?
 
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