MR-16 Gel Frame Clips

[ship]

a few years ago I saw some gel frame clips made out of like a 16ga spring steel yet have not seen such a thing since to clip directly to the lamp in holding a lens or gel.

Working on a lamp bar assembly for a friend at home and I'm using MR-16 based lamps and needed to gel them.

At first I took up the 14 ga. solid copper wire as used to replace a missing clip at the above club but it was very labor intensive. This even after in doing the first one from scratch the second one was no less labor intensive. Sure if anyone knows who makes a MR-16 clipped gel frame clip I want to know, and or beyond this, if you have an actual clip to copy it could be done but from scratch it was really difficult at best.

So I did the second one in confirming that concept of it not being the solution.

Than after contacting my various suppliers in them also not having a solution for clipping a gel directly to the lamp I came up with my own solution.

STarted with a sheet steel of fairly thin gauge. Chose a 1.3/4" Green Lee type hole punch and lined out on the steel a 4" circle. Next drilled and punched the plate after cutting. After that I cut away 7/8 of material off from the sides of the now 1/8" ID ring to the gel frame clip. This was radial at all angles from center. I also kept at least a 1/16" gap between each of these now fold down areas in cutting.

Centered the lamp on the plate, clamped it to the table and folded up those radial clips they now became. Did another visit with the sheet metal sheers or realistically the electricians scizzors so as to trim off extra and or once bent to form cut away extra marterial in keeping the 1/16" gap between folds. Finished up the folding and I was able to get onto a MR-16 lamp gel frame clip for the fixtures. Works well, photos enclosed as two concepts in attaching a lens or gel to a MR-16 lamp.

Hope it helps - not very difficult to do at least the clip as opposed to solid wire.

[mbandgeek]

I made a homebrew par can out of PVC pipe and a lamp base. I just used pipe clamps and some of the conduit hanging strap. This design worked well. It would have been better if i actually had gel frames.

[Footer]

Originally Posted by mbandgeek

I made a homebrew par can out of PVC pipe and a lamp base. I just used pipe clamps and some of the conduit hanging strap. This design worked well. It would have been better if i actually had gel frames.

PVC is... a choice. Worried about it melting a bit. What ever happened to the good old coffee can light?

[derekleffew]

Originally Posted by Footer4321

...What ever happened to the good old coffee can light?

Can't even find a coffee can anymore. Almost all pre-ground coffee comes in either plastic or cardboard "cans".

[ship]

I'm not so much of a fan of PVC for a lighting fixture - poision in the air if melted. Remember a version of a pinspot that was plastic at one point but that was only a 30w/6v lamp as opposed to these 1000w if not larger lamps used on a lamp bar. Plus the whole spirit of the code kind of thing. The fixtures used were of a good design, just re-wired for a higher temperature and already have good ventelation plus engineering for what they are. Coffee can... got some really old pinspot shells that I mounted a bean can to so as to have a snout to, removed the transformer and went with a R-30 150w lamps on medium screw base, than gel frame clips to the can. Worked out good, I call them my powder puff fixtures.

Still for this project, I had some old three light PAR 20 ceiling mount fixtures hanging about for years. (Unfortunately the baffles for them either broke or were totally inefficient so as not to use them for holding the gel.) Last time I used them was individually as floor base under audience lighting back... like 15 years ago. Good fixtures, just re-wired them for powering up and the heat of a 100w JDR/MR16 E-26 lamp.

All works well - this even considering the frame of the bar was box steel from a futon that was welded up. Really thin gauge but for each fixture bolted to it, I cut 1/2" Sch.40 pipe as a spacer and inserted it into the box steel.

This served two purposes. First by code, most lamp bars that have bolts inserted into the wireway are against code - supposted to have a division between the wire path and fixture mount that these spacers maintain. Second because of the thinness of the futon box steel, the spacers allowed me to sufficiently crank down on the bolt without it compromising the steel.

Anyway so now I'm just fighting the gel frames on the 100w/120v MR-16 lamps. Must have been like a 20 or at most a 50w MR-16 lamp I last remember doing gel frame clips for with actual gel in. These 100w lamps quickly burned thru the saturated gel. Tonight I tried as opposed to Lee High Temp, Rosco and or Lee HT. with UV lenses, and I also removed the double gel / frosted gel in front of the HT w/o lens. All for the most part burned thru.

Thinking my only solution is to buy actual Juno Light or other track light roundels specifically made for a MR-16 lamp. Not so worried about lamp life given cooling out the front will be reduced - it's rock and roll, but gotta now find a way to gel the lamp. Otherwise I'll have to go back and mount gel frames of some sort to the fixtures that I would prefer not to do. Obvious first question with my supplier on the track light color filters will be if plastic or glass which would be a big consideration in if they will melt thru.

Also noted on with the gel frame clip test that if using a glass lens, one needs more support in the clip to retain it or it might pop off in transport. As opposed to like a 4" dia. circle, it might be better to have longer fingers in bringing it to like a 6" or 1.7/8" finger as a rough figure. This and perhaps consider stainless steel for the flashing given it's ability to retain shape better if it don't break.

Just side notes in the works at the moment if of help.

[derekleffew]

Originally Posted by ship

I'm not so much of a fan of PVC for a lighting fixture - poison in the air if melted. ...

I take it you're not a fan of the Unipar then? I think they're kind of a fun fixture, not for theatre, but maybe for an architectural install.

[ship]

Craig Leerman on ProSound - Lighting play tested the UniPar a few years ago and was a fan of them. Based on that judgement, while I have not played with them I am a fan of them as a concept, just never play tested them.

That's different. First this was a stuff out of my garage project and MR-16 lamps used, and second, on the Unipar, a UL-Listed lighting fixture. Big differences in plastics used between what is used for such a thing and some PVC pipe in my opinion. Even if the PVC pipe does it, one would find it hard to find an electrical inspector to approve of such a use or application.

QUOTE=derekleffew;88730]I take it you're not a fan of the Unipar then? I think they're kind of a fun fixture, not for theatre, but maybe for an architectural install.[/QUOTE]