Flo ballasts

S

sprocketship

New member
Newbie here.

Sorry if this question has been asked before, but are ALL T8 ballasts supposed to be quiet or just , "quieter" than regular magnetic ballasts?

I'm asking, because I built a flo unit with a T8 fixture and I've only now noticed the buzz.

I don't know if the buzz was there previously and I just didn't notice or if it just started. Dumb, I know...

For what it's worth, although i haven't found any true color T8 lamps, I have been able to find 3000K, 5000K, and 6500K. I figure a little gel should do the trick to balance them. Would anyone know which CTO or CTB to use to balance them?

Lastly, I took footcandle readings lastnight and found that the dual T8 fixture I was using was punching out about 50 Footcandles at a distance of 10 feet, vs. 35 foot candles from a dual T12 fixture.

Thanks for reading. I'd appreciate any insight that you guys have!
 
Hi sprocketship:

Is the ballast magnetic or electronic? I just built a similar kino with two Lights of America Shoplight fixtures that I purchased at Lowes. They have electronic ballasts and will except the T8 or T12 tubes. They run very cool and are very light in weight. Mine don't hum at all and I just finished shooting 8 hours of model home interiors and they worked great. I used the 3000k T8 tubes bounced, to raise the overall light level and for fill, while I used each homes practicals to provide the accent lighting. At this time I like you have not found a source for T8 tubes in 3200k or 5600k but the Plillips Soft White is 3000k and their Natural Sunshine is 5000K. I have read that the T8 bulbs with electronic ballast are more energy efficient and brighter than equivelent T12's but I have not run tests.

A 1/4 CT Blue gel would raise color temp by about 400k or you could do a liitle CC in post if you needed to .

Here's a couple of pics

frame_grab.jpg


Here's a video frame grab with 4100K T8 bulbs with two 75watt ceiling bulbs no cc, I just performed white balance with white card.
I have the 3000k and 5000k bulbs in other fixtures that were already packed for a shoot.

kino_back.jpg


Bogan lightstand, Avenger 3" baby plate bolted to the 2 tube "kino"

kino_front.jpg


Front view of kino. In background you see the lights America ShopLight box and a fourth fixture I am adding to my kit.
 
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I just bought an electronic ballast light from home depot for like 7 bucks. It takes t8 bulbs. I bought some phillips ones that are 6500k. They are almost too cool, but a little color correction can fix it....
 
If you go to an electrical supply house, they will often have a better selection of fluorescent bulbs. I can't remember the model numbers off the top of my head, but I believe Optima and GE both make high CRI tungsten equivalent bulbs (a couple models somewhere in the 3000-3400k range). As for the daylight bulbs, they also make accurate ones for viewing photos, artwork, etc that are relatively available and considerably cheaper than Kino flos. Again, I can't remember the model numbers off the top of my head, and I don't have any links on my work computer, but it didn't take too long to find the original info on the net.

Garrett
 
How sturdy is that light on your stand?

I ask because I need a 16 light kit, and I am deciding if I should go all out and build 2 8-lamp housings with my own custom stands, or 8 2-lamp housings like you have. I think the 8 2-lamp will have more versatillity, but harder to transport.
 
Bobaristheguy said:
How sturdy is that light on your stand?

I ask because I need a 16 light kit, and I am deciding if I should go all out and build 2 8-lamp housings with my own custom stands, or 8 2-lamp housings like you have. I think the 8 2-lamp will have more versatillity, but harder to transport.
Click to expand...

Hi Bobaristheguy: I assume you are asking me about the stands. These are medium level Bogan stands and they work well for the DIY Kino in my pics above and for the Arri Fresnels I have. These DIY Kino's are very light. Actually the Avenger baby plate is close to the weight of the fixture without the tubes. You could easily hang two of these per stand with the proper clamps, or build some type of mount that holds two of the two tube fixtures together with one baby plate mount. The stands are far more expensive than the lights.

As to tubes. I figure that the cost of true color Kino tubes is worth the price since I saved so much on the fixture. But the T8 tubes in the 3000k and 5000k range are working fine for me in most of the work so far. I own a few of the T12 color correct tubes should they be required or desired.

Best regards
 
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instant start of rapid start

instant start of rapid start

scannon said:
Hi sprocketship:
I just built a similar kino with two Lights of America Shoplight fixtures that I purchased at Lowes. They have electronic ballasts and will except the T8 or T12 tubes.
Click to expand...

you using instant start or rapid start ballasts with the lights of America? I bought the same light unit and an instant start ballast and am having trouble figuring out how to wire it!

s
 
The fixtures were already wired with the electronic ballasts and good to go. I just painted the back of the white fixture and mounted the Avenger 3" baby plate.
 
did your baby plate fit comfortably, I have a hard time seeing it in your picture. all I have is a matthews and it seems a little too large.
 
The baby plate is wider than the raised channel on the lamp housing but the Avenger plate has 10 pre-drilled holes (two top, two bottom, two right and two left) that make mounting a snap. I used four 1/4 x 20 1/2" machine screws (two on each side of the plate) to mount the plate centered on the fixture.
 
I just bought those nice-lookin $17 Lights of America flos from Lowes (exactly like Scannon's) but they buzz terribly when compared to the slight hum of my $7 Commercial Electric flos from Home Depot. Both have electronic ballasts, but the Lights of America one has the ballast on the outside, which might explain it having more noise. Gonna go return it and try another flo, and maybe also invest in a more expensive ballast.
 
mdlis- My LoA lights haven't been humming at all -- maybe it was just a bad ballast. I also spent the extra buck fifty for the "stainless steel" looking ones since the insides were already silver. Painted the backs with Plasti-Cote. Someday I'll d/l the pics off my camera and post them. Although they look pretty much the same as everyone else's.
 
Jason
I'll take your word for that and exchange it for another one. I got the stainless steel one too and really like the look of it compared to the other flos, plus from its design there is less light leakage from the top and bottom and seems more directional.
Did you try listening to it in a quiet room and put your ear up to it?
Also, what can Plasti-Cote did you use?
 
If you're not getting enough output out of your Kino Shops... or Shop Flos... then you should go over to the insulation aisle. There you will find silver bubble wrap for insulating a hot water heater... you don't want that, but NEXT to that you will see aluminum tape for it. Get a roll of that... it's $5 and that will add about 50% more output to your fixture. Simply line the inside vertically and it will only take you about 5 minutes to do it.

Also, if the pull-chain switch is bugging you (and it should be) you can get a heavy-duty 15a or 20a toggle switch for $4 and replace the pull chain... it's EASY to do! If you want a small, black plastic rocker switch then go to Radio Shack. This is a simple 2 pole switch which interrupts the black wire (inside the fixture) and you can almost use the same hole the pull chain is in... it might need a little drilling. Back when I first started these things in 2003 it was the pull-chain that I hated more then anything.

If you have a jig saw then it's easy to cut off the extra 1" on both sides of that baby plate as well... then just screw it to the part of the shop light that bulges out on the back... use fender washers inside. That baby plate is stupid heavy and you can take off about 3 ounces (nearly a quarter pound) just by doing that.
 
Thanks for the great tips MattSTL. I just got my sunpackballasts in today and the baby plates should be in soon!! So I need switch, dimmer, eggcrate, anything else?

Thanks,
 
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Matt - Do you have any brand recommendations for aluminum tape, or is all of it a bit hard to work with? I put it on my first flo and it helped, but it somehow managed to stick to the tubes. Which did not help. I ripped it off and painted in the inside with mirror-finish paint, but it's not quite as good.

mdlis- I have not put my ear to the flos, but I have been in a closed room with 4 of them on and heard nothing myself or on tape. I'll give them a closer look when I get home. (OOT until Sunday) I used spray-on, black Plasti-Cote that was at Lowes. I think it was just next to the regular spray paints. Not really sure if it's better than just painting the things flat black, but it feels cool!
 
id... you can't use a dimmer on those flos. Dimming a flo is a big deal. Try it and let us know what happens... it should be fun.

norm... the tape I used had a light blue plastic on it. It was just whatever home depot had at the time. I took the tubes out of the fixture... and that particular LOA fixture you mention has a center "panel" (for lack of a better term) that runs down the entire length of the interior... use a regular screwdriver or something else to pry it up at one end and then you can easily pull it out down the length... this allows you to use fender washers and have some room when bolting the baby plate on... and do your aluminum tape at the same time. The tape I'm mentioning is actually aluminum metal... it feels like aluminum foil with adhesive backing... then just run it down in strips and you can even buff it to a reasonable shine. If you aren't going to mount a baby plate then just tape over everything in the empty fixture. If you ever want to get that center panel out you can just run a knife down the seams.

Yeah those run totally cool... that is one thing I really liked about them.

Oh yeah id... also the switch is totally optional... but I actually had SIX of these lights at one time... and those pull-chain switches suck. As long as you aren't putting these in a paying situation I wouldn't worry about it, but if you need to count on these lights working then I would worry about it. The pull-chain switch on two of my six lights eventually failed... and half of them were physically broke in a short period of time. Eventually I just accepted the switches as a necessity... but if you're just doing an occasional short and stuff like that then it's more a matter of taste.

I just realized that I have a few tungsten Kino True Match tubes left in 4' lengths if any of you guys want them... Let me see how many I have and let me know if you're intersted. I don' t know what shipping would be... but I probably have 10 or more of them still. I'll check storage and let you know.
 
Matt
I already asked Jason this question, but does your Lowes LOA lights hum or buzz? Or did you switch out the ballast? Is there enough room inside for a ballast? Mine does, and I'd really hate to return them because I like the design.
 
mdlis:

I have four of the LOA Shop lights none hum. I have two stainless and two white. I left the stainless as is and painted the outside of the white with a black hammer coat finish. As I said my experience is positive so far. The stainless had the pull chain but the two slightly less expensive white units are always on when pluged in. I have the pull chain models set to on as well. I use a power surge strip to plug the lights in to (several as needed) with their own switch.

These lights are quite functional, I have used a piece of black foam core the width of the fixture and 2 ft in length to create a two foot DIY Kino effect. I velcro this over the light opening to reduce the light spread for highlighting objects from the high rear. Not as good as a fresnel if you need tight lighting but it works well to reduce excessive overspill.

For the money these lights have proven quite adequate. I think MattinSTL has a good idea/experience with the aluminum tape and I am going to give thes a wirl on another light to compare.

S Cannon
 
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