Mercury Light Bulbs
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Topic: Mercury Light Bulbs
Posted By: pauliebonn
Subject: Mercury Light Bulbs
Date Posted: 4/15/05 at 4:57am
|
I am in need of a 400w Mercry light bulb for one of our work lights on our stage. Does anybody know the "least" expensive way to find one? |
Replies:
Posted By: Gaafa
Date Posted: 4/15/05 at 4:06pm
|
You mean that is not against the law = of course! Try an Industrial Salvage Yard or what ever they may be called over there! They would have stocks of disposed lighting equipment, as they do here, This is our source normally for Mercury Vapor globes. However it can be a bit of a pig ?n a poke, as most are used & second hand, with no warranty. In most respects it is cheaper in the long run, to purchase thru your local friendly Electrician or lamp supplier. ------------- Joe Western Gondawandaland turn right @ Perth. Hear the light & see the sound. Toi Toi Toi Chookas {{"chook [chicken] it is"} May you always play to a full house} |
Posted By: pauliebonn
Date Posted: 4/16/05 at 2:51am
| Thanksfor the info. |
Posted By: dougb
Date Posted: 4/17/05 at 1:21pm
| Electric utilities used them for street lights and might still have some hanging around - most have moved on to High Pressure Sodium because it uses far less electricity to run. |
Posted By: pauliebonn
Date Posted: 4/18/05 at 5:50am
| Is there a main difference? I mean, if the bulb that I had before was a mercury, do I need to stick with the mercury, or will a haologen bulb work just as well. |
Posted By: Russell W
Date Posted: 4/18/05 at 6:30am
|
Hi Pauliebonn, For starters, I'm no sparkie (Electrician). I do sound. However, as I understand things: mercury vapor lamps give a pale blue-purple tint to the light; sodium vapor lamps give a bright yellow-orange tint to the light; and, halogen lamps give a fairly bright white light. Some of these lamps may require a particular ballast (for power correction). [GAFFA, can you correct me on these matters, if necessary, please?] It may not be as simple as just changing the lamp (globe). The whole assembly (and ballast, where fitted) may need changing... Cheers from Oz. ------------- "Without music, the soul is silent. Without education, the world is dark." -- Melia Peavey, 1997 (Director, Peavey Electronics Corporation) |
Posted By: dougb
Date Posted: 4/18/05 at 11:15am
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The ballasts are different for various lamps (Mercury vapor (blue) or
Sodium (yellow) or Metal Halide (normal)). Halogen lamps do not
require a ballast. Mercury vapor, Metal halide and sodium take
several minutes to come to full output while Halogen come on
immediately. For the most part the ballasted lamps can not be dimmed (much). The advantage of the ballasted lamps is their efficiency so if you need a lot of light from a fixture and need it on for many hours a day (like a streetlight) and can wait five minutes or so before they reach full brilliance they make sense. On the other hand, if you need to light a smaller area and just use them a few hours at a time, I would change over to Halogen lamps. If you are using any of them indoors, make sure the fixture is rated for indoor use. If I was lighting a warehouse or garage I would consider a ballasted lamp. For work lights on stage I use 400 watt Halogen lamps. They may not last as long as ballasted lamps (1,500 hours vs 10,000 hours) but at 3 or 4 hours a day they last long enough and they are available at any hardware store. |
Posted By: pauliebonn
Date Posted: 4/19/05 at 6:31am
| Thanks for the help folks. I am glad I asked. |
Posted By: Gaafa
Date Posted: 4/20/05 at 2:06pm
|
I appologise in advance Pauliebonn! For taking your topic on a slight tangent! I was thinking on the colour aspect of the various types of lamps & their colours, as commented on by Russel & Dougb. When I was a young bloke of 12 or their about & got to play with different types of bubbles [globes] in theatre. One effect I was impressed with, which I?m attempting to remember, is the Smioloff effect, [unsure of the spelling!] or named something similar? This was used in the Musical ?My Fair Lady? in the Ascot scene. The cast was dressed in black & white costumes, then the sodium lamps were switched on, to give a yellowish hue to the white of the costumes, at the end of the scene - very effective! I was going to use this some 20 years ago for another show - unfortunately it never came about, for various reasons, I can?t remember the details now! Back on topic, I would tend to go along with the others, & suggest you change out your Mercury lamps for halogen, because of the colour the others put out, especially on the stage work area. Industrially these work because of reasons of costs & maintenance, But I prefer to use either incandescent or halogen, when on the stage, as their is no hue changes of light, other than what would be applied during ?show mode? & enhanced by taking out the colours of the spectrum not required with gels. I hope this may help - if you were contemplating replacement of the work lights? ------------- Joe Western Gondawandaland turn right @ Perth. Hear the light & see the sound. Toi Toi Toi Chookas {{"chook [chicken] it is"} May you always play to a full house} |
Posted By: pauliebonn
Date Posted: 4/24/05 at 12:19pm
| Chanhging the bulbs to halogen would be cheaper...do they take as long (does anybody know) to warm up as the mercury bulbs did? |
Posted By: dougb
Date Posted: 4/25/05 at 11:00am
|
Halogen lamps come on immediately. They are really just
incandescent lamps that run VERY hot and provide a lot of light for
their wattage. Although you can find "halogen" lamps that screw
into a regular fixture the true halogen lamps are a different shape
(they have contacts on each end of the lamp) and require their own
fixture. Since they run so hot, you need to make sure they are
installed properly and are rated for indoor use. As far as I have
seen, they come in various wattages from 100 watts to 1,000
watts. As I remember (someone correct me if I am wrong), the
lamps are different lengths so they are not interchangable in fixtures,
ie. a 500 watt lamp will only fit a 500 watt fixture. Our stage is 30' wide and 16' deep and we get good coverage from two 500 watt fixtures on the first bar in front of the stage. |
Posted By: pauliebonn
Date Posted: 5/03/05 at 12:44am
| Thanks for the help. I now have to wait for our tech. director to come back from vacation, and we will see what will be able to fit into our fixture. |