Redhead ianiro rewire or.....

A

andy01

New member
Hi,

I've going to pick up a few Ianiro redhead lights which need a little attention over the weekend. I love redheads, but the heat they produce can be a menace.

I've had 'copy' redhead lights before, and I've rewired them straight off the bat. So that's not a problem.

I've had a thought, before I rewire them. I was thinking of wiring in a new bulb holder so I could fit something like (BELOW). I thought about LED's but they look complicated, again for heat dissipation.

I don't see why it won't work, however the length of the bulbs. I'm unsure if they fit, and if the bulbs will produce enough light for filming purposes.

Anyone got any thoughts?
Cheers
Andy

www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/980325-REG/impact_sf_32_120_spiral_fluorescent_lamp_32w_120v.html
 
Well, the page says 2000 lumens of output, which is about a tenth of your typical 800W tungsten bulb.
 
yeah in terms of wiring you could use an e27 socket I believe. You need to watch the depth of the socket with these CFL bulbs however. Some sockets have a larger lip above the socket threads that is fine for an incandescent bulb with a narrower neck but CFL's have a ballast in the base that is much wider.

However wgtwo is right, these CFL bulbs are far less output than any Halogen bulb you would find in a redhead. I 1k i believe is rated around 28000LM while you will be lucky to get 2000 out of a CLF.
You can try larger bulbs like this one here but it still wont compete with the halogen.

You will also need to worry about color temp. Halogen bulbs will be down in the 3000k range and the CFL bulbs come in a variety of color temps but most high output bulbs are daylight or ~5500k.
Last thing to keep in mind is the size of the bulb. Larger surface area bulbs output more lumens in the CFL world. So you can get 45W rated 5500k CFLs at Home depot (i think its like $11 for 4) and they will have good color temp and be fairly bright, but not as bright as say the AZLO 45w 5500k bulbs which have a larger surface area

I personally like to use the CFL bulbs because they are cool like you said but also low power draw so i can really run a lot of them on household circuits when shooting on locations. 2 to 3 800w halogens can trip a breaker in an older home
 
The linear lamps in redheads also give the beam slight ovalness which is handy, these compact fluorescents are pretty horrible things, and of course, not LEDs. I've actually got a couple of umbrellas that use these and they are nice and soft, BUT need using very close in because they're so dim.

All that said - the Ianiro redheads are excellent and I really regret selling mine. The fibreglass lamp house stays so much cooler than metal ones!
 
Man, been through all of this.

For spirals, my rule of thumb is 3-4x the wattage will give tungsten equivalent. And green spikes can be there, but a lot of the larger flo's I've tried have a weird yellow cast that need minus green AND CTB to cure. You need a huge one for much usefulness. I've given up on the things and use Biax flo's for soft daylight - with chinese quads going for under $300, kind of a no brainer for 1k of daylight.

The Alzo bulb-ballast is no more, that was handy for retrofitting but a soft big globe. Rocked for china balls though, i still have 2 of those ballasts.

What I've really dug lately? The Cool Lights 5200k CDM bulb they sell in their CDM fresnel. 150 watts, about 600-750 tungsten equivalent, needs no gel or **maybe** 1.8 minus green. $35 or so??

Takes a G12 base (under $10). Their ballast is $399 though... but there's a small grow/aquarium ballast on Amazon for $49 that strikes it beautifully. In the next few weeks I'll have a housing solution for the ballast (maybe $40 or less) and post some pics. I converted a fresnel and - yum. 750-ish daylight fresnel that pulls 150 watts, is only 150-watts hot, for under $200 including the (used theatrical) fixture. I'll have at least 2 by xmas, did a 6" and thinking a 3" would be handy.

That bulb requires UV shielding though, so for a redhead a UV gel would be absolutely necessary.

Also found a 6500k mogul aquarium bulb, 400 watts and needs 1/2 CTO which isn't a really thick gel and it's dead-nuts daylight with great CRI. Ready-made ballast was about $60 used, and man - it's a bad MF in a photoflex starlite rig, which are all over ebay used. Got 2 of those going now.
 
I'm not sure you would be happy with the results for the trouble...

The fixture is designed to have a filament at the focus point of the reflector. Compared to a CFL, that filament is tiny and very intense. If you dropped in a CFL in it's place, only a small fraction of the fluorescent tube would be in the reflector's focus point. I think because of that, the reflector will not really throw the CFL's output in a useful way. Or at least compared to what you're used to with a tungsten bulb.

But hey, I can say I am a little curious about how it would work out regardless.

Cheers,
Craig
 
Michael Carter said:
Takes a G12 base (under $10). Their ballast is $399 though... but there's a small grow/aquarium ballast on Amazon for $49 that strikes it beautifully. In the next few weeks I'll have a housing solution for the ballast (maybe $40 or less) and post some pics. I converted a fresnel and - yum. 750-ish daylight fresnel that pulls 150 watts, is only 150-watts hot, for under $200 including the (used theatrical) fixture. I'll have at least 2 by xmas, did a 6" and thinking a 3" would be handy.

That bulb requires UV shielding though, so for a redhead a UV gel would be absolutely necessary.

Also found a 6500k mogul aquarium bulb, 400 watts and needs 1/2 CTO which isn't a really thick gel and it's dead-nuts daylight with great CRI. Ready-made ballast was about $60 used, and man - it's a bad MF in a photoflex starlite rig, which are all over ebay used. Got 2 of those going now.
Click to expand...

Looking forward to a follow up on this- your results sound very promising.
 
wgtwo said:
How do these compare to Divas?
Click to expand...

I've got a range of the things - some of my duals are very lightweight/rickety - but I can hang those from a ceiling grid with x-clamps.

Overlal, look for units with a real-steel yoke vs. lollipops or goosenecks or what look like umbrella adapters.

The bulbs are another story, all of my cheapies run a little yellow. No prob if that's all the lights you use, just WB. I've found they need 1/4 CTB and 1/8 minus green to get correct.

I assumed I'd get Kino tubes when the lamps started to blow, but these damn biax bulbs last years!
 
Michael Carter said:
Man, been through all of this.

For spirals, my rule of thumb is 3-4x the wattage will give tungsten equivalent. And green spikes can be there, but a lot of the larger flo's I've tried have a weird yellow cast that need minus green AND CTB to cure. You need a huge one for much usefulness. I've given up on the things and use Biax flo's for soft daylight - with chinese quads going for under $300, kind of a no brainer for 1k of daylight.

The Alzo bulb-ballast is no more, that was handy for retrofitting but a soft big globe. Rocked for china balls though, i still have 2 of those ballasts.

What I've really dug lately? The Cool Lights 5200k CDM bulb they sell in their CDM fresnel. 150 watts, about 600-750 tungsten equivalent, needs no gel or **maybe** 1.8 minus green. $35 or so??

Takes a G12 base (under $10). Their ballast is $399 though... but there's a small grow/aquarium ballast on Amazon for $49 that strikes it beautifully. In the next few weeks I'll have a housing solution for the ballast (maybe $40 or less) and post some pics. I converted a fresnel and - yum. 750-ish daylight fresnel that pulls 150 watts, is only 150-watts hot, for under $200 including the (used theatrical) fixture. I'll have at least 2 by xmas, did a 6" and thinking a 3" would be handy.

That bulb requires UV shielding though, so for a redhead a UV gel would be absolutely necessary.

Also found a 6500k mogul aquarium bulb, 400 watts and needs 1/2 CTO which isn't a really thick gel and it's dead-nuts daylight with great CRI. Ready-made ballast was about $60 used, and man - it's a bad MF in a photoflex starlite rig, which are all over ebay used. Got 2 of those going now.
Click to expand...


Hey guys,

Sorry I haven't replied. I've been sorting through all the lights, checking for condition/damage etc. I'm missing about 5 inline switches, 3 barn doors, 2 light reflectors, and one bulb holder. I've also got a photon beard 2k blonde, that looks complete and apparently was working.

I've about 14 redheads in total, half are ianiro's and the half are strand redheads. I've priced the parts, (in the UK) It's going to cost approx 110 per light to get them back to 100 % original redheads. Since I'm only missing a few parts off a couple of lights. It won't cost much to get them back to their originality unless i find more lights for parts.

I have to thank you all, for your replies.

Michael, I've looked into those bulbs you've mentioned. They look very tempting. I need to have a think. ;-)
 
I''ve managed to find some time, and I've stripped them down.

Three of the lamp heads, have been burnt quite badly. It looks to be bad earthing, those lamps were only earthed via the reflector dish, it looks like the screws to the reflector dish were burnt as well as the metal ring inside the redhead lamp (where the barndoors hang)
I'm going to use these three to repair the rest, as all the others have been earthed on the inside of the yoke within the redhead. There doesn't seem to be any burnt areas on these lamps.

So i've got to say, if anyone of you use redheads in a non commerical environment, I'd recommend getting them checked out....saying that these came from a university ;-| Non of these redheads are copies by the way, the more modern lamp heads look to have more updated earthing/connectors.

I've read on here that a few people use heat insulated rubber wire. I can only find this. Not sure if there is a specific electrical shop that supplies the correct grade wire. Or if anyone has a link to anything UK based?

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Electrical/d190/Cable/sd2730/3+Core+Flex+Rubber+3183TRS/p80794

Thanks
Andy
 
paulears said:
http://www.stage-electrics.co.uk/shop/sales/cable/power/product.aspx?code=605-4230
This is the kind of stuff you want - silicone rubber, high temperature stuff. The theatrical suppliers sell it in 1.5mm2 and 2.5mm2 versions - the smaller version is fine for redheads. You might also want the fibreglass sleeving too - as the silicone is prone to cracking, and the sleeving gives it a bit of protection.
Click to expand...

Hi Paulears,

Thanks for the link, it put me on the road to a solution. I found a local theatre supplier who sells it, so I save a little on postage ;-)
 
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