Dimmers and Switchers Built in to a Surge Protector?

R

Robertofish

Active member
For those of you following some of my recent posts I have figured out a lighting system that will work, because a lot of the lighting systems that were recommended were overkill for the size of the room and everything else, so I found basic work lights that I can hang up that will work just fine and have already tested it and it looks great! My only concern is I will be running the surge protector to power all of the lights for the system which there are 8 we may add more later, on the wall, so the surge protector is on the wall and all the lights are plugged into it, my question is this,

Is there a way, to get a surge protector(a new one if I have to) or some way to basically make it so each light is dimmable and switchable on and off, are their surge protectors like that, that you can put it on the wall and operate which lights are on and off and which ones are dimmed from a far? We shouldnt need this but I just want to make sure all of our bases are covered for sure!

Thanks!
 
For basic work lights, surge protectors are an unnecessary complication. In this case, they will help protect the bulbs from a surge. But unless you are in a high-lightning area or drunks are hitting power poles all the time, this is a very rare event. I assume we are talking about cheap 300-500watt type lamps. So the use of surge protection has questionable value to me.
 
Paul F said:
For basic work lights, surge protectors are an unnecessary complication. In this case, they will help protect the bulbs from a surge. But unless you are in a high-lightning area or drunks are hitting power poles all the time, this is a very rare event. I assume we are talking about cheap 300-500watt type lamps. So the use of surge protection has questionable value to me.
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I figured the reason for the surge protector was probably just to get enough outlets in one place.

To answer your question, the device you need is a dimmer pack and a DMX controller for it.
 
If you want to protect from surges, the only way to do it is to plug the DMX dimmer rack itself into a surge protector on its input. That could be tricky because many of them are three phase, but I'm sure they exist but they could be expensive.
I would certainly not try to put advanced surge protectors after the dimmer on any of the controlled outputs, it would likely interfere with the operation. Dimmers will have circuit breakers or fuses on every output anyway so you aren't completely without protection.
 
You can put a Harbor Freight Router Controller http://www.harborfreight.com/router-speed-control-43060.html between the cord of each light and a stinger that you run to the socket on the surge protector. If you are using regular incandescent work lights all you need really is a power strip rated to your total light output to plug into and not necessarily a surge protector. The Router Controller is just a rheostat that work great as a dimmer, up to 1000 watts.
 
AndrewGentle said:
If you want to protect from surges, the only way to do it is to plug the DMX dimmer rack itself into a surge protector on its input. That could be tricky because many of them are three phase, but I'm sure they exist but they could be expensive.
I would certainly not try to put advanced surge protectors after the dimmer on any of the controlled outputs, it would likely interfere with the operation. Dimmers will have circuit breakers or fuses on every output anyway so you aren't completely without protection.
Click to expand...

They make some leprechaun packs that are 5 channel 20amp or maybe even 40amp. They can hang in the air and then you can just run dmx back down to your board.

While a dimmer board with dmx would be the most elegant and robust solution, if you opted to hang work lights it seems like you're more into quick and dirty (not a bad thing).

If that's the case though, more stingers and just put them all on dimmers as suggested above. After doing this though I'm sure you'll realize how nice a board would be, as its very difficult to dim more than two lights a time. Having more than a couple preset looks would be very difficult as well.
 
David G. Smith said:
You can put a Harbor Freight Router Controller http://www.harborfreight.com/router-speed-control-43060.html between the cord of each light and a stinger that you run to the socket on the surge protector. If you are using regular incandescent work lights all you need really is a power strip rated to your total light output to plug into and not necessarily a surge protector. The Router Controller is just a rheostat that work great as a dimmer, up to 1000 watts.
Click to expand...

I bought one of these for each of my lights. Whenever I do a lighting setup, I put one between the
light and the wall. They cost like $20 each. Last time I worked with a 'big' crew that flew in from
the 'big city' somewhere, there whole crew was taking pictures of my Router Controllers with their
iPhones as they had never heard of such a thing and wanted them for their own lighting setup.
 
alaskacameradude said:
I bought one of these for each of my lights. Whenever I do a lighting setup, I put one between the
light and the wall. They cost like $20 each. Last time I worked with a 'big' crew that flew in from
the 'big city' somewhere, there whole crew was taking pictures of my Router Controllers with their
iPhones as they had never heard of such a thing and wanted them for their own lighting setup.
Click to expand...

Yep, I put one on every incandescent light I use, even if just to have the extra distal switch. They are fused, so I got a box of extra fuses just in case. I have a Harbor Freight store about 3 miles from my house and have bought some stuff from them that is pure crap, but these router controllers have worked out really well for me so far.
 
Robertofish said:
For those of you following some of my recent posts I have figured out a lighting system that will work, because a lot of the lighting systems that were recommended were overkill for the size of the room and everything else, so I found basic work lights that I can hang up that will work just fine and have already tested it and it looks great! My only concern is I will be running the surge protector to power all of the lights for the system which there are 8 we may add more later, on the wall, so the surge protector is on the wall and all the lights are plugged into it, my question is this,

Is there a way, to get a surge protector(a new one if I have to) or some way to basically make it so each light is dimmable and switchable on and off, are their surge protectors like that, that you can put it on the wall and operate which lights are on and off and which ones are dimmed from a far? We shouldnt need this but I just want to make sure all of our bases are covered for sure!

Thanks!
Click to expand...



Yes, have been following your threads, but don't understand a lot of your reasoning.

You start off with all this talk about wanting to purchase only the best pro gear, and having unlimited funds, and then end up buying work light you are now trying to rig into being fully functioning studio lights?
 
AndrewGentle said:
If you want to protect from surges, the only way to do it is to plug the DMX dimmer rack itself into a surge protector on its input. That could be tricky because many of them are three phase, but I'm sure they exist but they could be expensive.
I would certainly not try to put advanced surge protectors after the dimmer on any of the controlled outputs, it would likely interfere with the operation. Dimmers will have circuit breakers or fuses on every output anyway so you aren't completely without protection.
Click to expand...

Having done lots of theatre installations, we've never done surge protection on dimmer racks, or lamps. Usually a UPS / surge protector on the control board but thats about it.
 
I suspect the thing he means is the gizmo budget DJs use - a 19" 1U rack with loads of sockets on the rear, and loads of switches ont he front so they can turn on and off their kit from one panel - it's an easy way to distribute power to pieces of kit that need remote switching - and many have a surge protector to stop the clicks switching the mains power can produce. I don't think it's really a proper surge protector.
 
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