Moving lights

MileCreations

MileCreations

There's one thing that has really confused me with lights. After being on, I'm told you should wait a bit of time before moving them because while the globe is hot/warm it is more fragile. So my question is, how are you meant to set up lighting without actually moving them? I mean after turning them on you might discover that it's not the ideal position. So then you turn it off and move it to a better location.

Twice I've done this, waited a significant amount of time before moving them, and then the globes have popped! I did it about a year ago with professional lighting gear. I did it just today with some crappy work lights. Both times I wasn't moving the light while it was turned on and I had waited several minutes before moving.

Ultimately I'm asking how do you set up lights without blowing them 50% of the time?
 
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It depends on the lights you're using, and can also depend on how you're moving them. Some fixtures don't like being pointed at certain angles, for example.
Personally, I've never found moving lights around to be an issue - are you moving them on a stand, or just the head itself?
It's not necessarily always good practice to turn lights off - some HMIs for example it's better to keep on.
 
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jax_rox said:
It depends on the lights you're using, and can also depend on how you're moving them. Some fixtures don't like being pointed at certain angles, for example.
Personally, I've never found moving lights around to be an issue - are you moving them on a stand, or just the head itself?
It's not necessarily always good practice to turn lights off - some HMIs for example it's better to keep on.
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I'm moving the full stand in both these situations.

Ok interesting point that last one
 
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Open face lights tend to blow quite easily - so if you're using open face lights, just make sure you have a bunch of spare globes around. I've had redheads blow out of nowhere, or simply with the slight movement of the C-stand it was on. Also, open face lights tend to blow easier when up high, I've found.

Haven't had similar issues with fresnels or HMIs. HMIs can take quite a while to warm up, so it can be better to leave them on.
Large HMIs are also a lot heavier, so I guess you could argue they're more stable when you move them, though I don't find HMIs being moved large distances.
Tungsten lights it can be better to turn off when moving, and turn off before bringing the stand down or moving it. Kinos are generally no issue.
 
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the bulbs age, the glowing material inside becomes more brittle.. a bulb that blows when moved was only a few weeks away from blowing anyway.. you cant prove me wrong.. its impossible.. (but I did just make it up!)
 
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I've posted this several times before.

Incandescent fixtures use a lamp containing a metal filament. As we all know, high-wattage quartz lamps generate tremendous heat. While the filament is glowing, it is much more fragile than in its cool state (just like any metal, which is why blacksmiths heat their work). If the instrument is jostled while the filament is in this state, it is far more prone to fracturing. Gaffers and electricians usually try to be extra gentle when adjusting a hot instrument.

My solution, learned from years of theatrical lighting, is to connect every lighting fixture through a dimmer. When I want to move the instrument, I dim it down about 90%, so there is still some light output but the filament isn't quite so fragile.

I also use the dimmers to power up and power down the lights. Most of the time, when a bulb blows out, it happens when you hit the 'on' switch and send a spike of juice through the cold filament. The sudden temperature changes eventually cause it to snap. Same goes for turning it off.

Instead, I use the dimmer to pre-heat the filament at about 10%, then gently ramp it up to full brightness. It's a bit of extra effort that probably isn't worthwhile on a big budget shoot where time is money. But I love the fact that my lamps last many times longer than normal.

For example, I have a Mole Junior 2K I bought 10 years ago. Used it on many a shoot - including my last feature - and am still using the globe it came with! I have two spares, still brand new in their boxes.

HMI's and Kinos are far less vulnerable because their globes do not contain filaments.
 
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Very theatre-esque, 'warming up' your lights :)

Generally, the cost to put a dimmer on every light, and the extra time waiting for it to warm up is not necessarily worth the cost of a $20 replacement globe, for me anyway - but then I'm not using my own lighting equipment, and I never Direct/DP so I'm at the mercy of the 1st AD for time, rather than myself :P
On top of that, I find myself rarely using open face lights anymore. Locations tend to be dominated by HMIs and kinos, often because you're battling with daylight spill. I do use tungsten lights, but more often Fresnels than anything else - they just look heaps better and are much more controllable, plus they seem to have a bit more longevity than open-face lights. That said, I've seen fresnel globes literally explode after spending too long aimed at a certain angle.
 
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jax_rox said:
Generally, the cost to put a dimmer on every light, and the extra time waiting for it to warm up is not necessarily worth the cost of a $20 replacement globe, for me anyway
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Yeah, it's definitely a "to each his own" kind of thing. I build all my own dimmer packs so the cost there is minimal, and I don't "wait around" for them to warm up. Even if you don't preheat them, just ramping up instead of jolting adds hours of bulb life. Plus, 9 times out of 10 there are gels and/or diffusion and/or nets and/or flags that also are needed on the instrument. By the time those are rigged the filaments are plenty warm. Just my thing. Use or disregard at your whim.

jax_rox said:
Locations tend to be dominated by HMIs and kinos, often because you're battling with daylight spill.
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Hey, don't get me wrong, I'll take HMIs and Kinos over tungsten any day of the week (and twice on Sundays). But not all of us have that luxury. :cool:
 
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MileCreations said:
I discovered that my second 'blown' light incident the globe had somehow slipped out of place and so it wasn't blown at all :) Phew!
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This happened to me just yesterday actually - the globe came loose in a fresnel, seemingly from banging around in the back of a car..

I should add that it's good practice to turn lights off and let them cool down before packing them away (or even taking them off a stand). That goes for most warm lights (i.e. Kinos/LEDs are fine to take straight off but you should let tungsten lights and HMIs cool down).
 
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jax_rox said:
I should add that it's good practice to turn lights off and let them cool down before packing them away (or even taking them off a stand). That goes for most warm lights (i.e. Kinos/LEDs are fine to take straight off but you should let tungsten lights and HMIs cool down).
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Yeah, not sure if I mentioned it but I do do this whenever I am using lights now
 
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