Patching Lowel RIFA diffuser?

M

mcbob

Veteran
So some of the rips on mine are getting out of control. Any thoughts on a viable way to patch it vs. coughing up $80 for a full replacement?
 
How old & worn out is it that the rips are "out of control?" $80 for a brand new one doesn't seem that bad, it's not like they're expendable. They last a while if you take care of them. I've heard that if you roll them up instead of folding them for storage that it puts less wear on the fabric, I don't own any and haven't worked in a rental environment but it makes sense to me.
 
There are areas where those dollars are better spent, if I can manage it. Owned it 7 years, always rolled, that's the way it goes... I know the convenience economics of just buying a new one, but since the frame is still good, and I'll have time during holiday season, if there are any feasible glues/tapes/etc... heck, fallback solution is to buy a 39x72 Photoflex diffusion fabric panel for $30 and sew it in place of the Lowel diffusion (and have extra for later).

Surely somebody's patched one of these with something more elegant than packing tape.
 
Try J-lar tape. It's optically clear. We use it to repair the gel strings in color scrollers so it holds up to heat as well.
 
The edges of J-lar will eventually get dirt under them rendering it rather unsightly, only a temporary solution. It's time to buy a new diffuser!
 
Keep in mind that if you're using a hot light with much wattage, you may need something more heat resistant than ripstop nylon if you DIY it. Product description:

A State of the art, woven glass fabric, heat-resistant 21 x 21" (53 x 53 cm) front diffuser provides sufficient illumination with soft shadows.

Most soft boxes that use plain ripstop are rated for strobe modeling lights - my speedotrons use 250w and that's about the brightest I've seen.

I've made custom scrims for 2k lights by purchasing hot air balloon fabric, which yellowed significantly after a year or so.

If you don't have access to "woven glass state of the art fabric", you might reconsider and just buy a new diffuser?

I've had good success having custom scrim jim fabrics sewn, even made a big space light for a 400 watt HID - you can save a ton of cash that way, but you gotta keep heat in mind!
 
My 88 is 8 years old now, always rolled it up, still got a 2inch cut in the fabric, but it does´t really cast a shadow or hot spot, so I just leave it.
The 88 is 1000watts and due to construction the heat is generated inside the Rifa, so I suppose its hotter than an Arri with an attached Chimera
and it could melt the tape used to repair a cut/tear.
mcbob, please post your experience with the repair tape, right now I would probably just buy a replacement if the cut gets bigger...
 
I will, it's on order... and yes, if all else fails, order a new diffuser, I will.



apologies on the unintentional Yoda voice.
 
Got the J-Lar tape (2" wide roll) early this week and finally got around to patching it today. Taped the diffuser on the inside along the worst tears... actually a lot more of them than I thought.

So far it's held up well with the 500W halogen light burning for 3 hours.
 
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