Practical Desk Lamp and Wall Lights

[Davetp]

Hello, I am working on a new show and we have ran into a small problem, we have just realized that we need to wire our desk lamp to run off of one of our Zero88 Alpha Packs or Another 15amp socket on the stage. Is it ok just to unwire a 13amp plug and change it for a 15amp one? if so what lamps should we use in the desk lamp and wall lights?

 

[Les]

I'm in the US, so things are electrically a little different, but there should be no issue in changing the desk lamp's connector to fit the dimmer. You can either replace the connector on the lamp cord itself, or build a pigtail adapter to make the transition.

If the practical lighting is purely aesthetic and doesn't need to provide any actual usable light, you can pretty much lamp them with whatever will fit and reads well from the audience. That might put you in the 25w-60w range, but some experimentation will probably be necessary. Use standard household incandescent lamps – don't bother with LED or compact fluorescent lamps.

 

[Davetp]

That is great, Thank You.

 

[kicknargel]

On the other hand, if you're controlling it via dimmer, might as well err on the side of a brighter bulb, because you can always dim it down.

 

[jonliles]

On the other hand, if you're controlling it via dimmer, might as well err on the side of a brighter bulb, because you can always dim it down.

Just make sure the lamp socket will accept a brighter lamp. Don't exceed the rating of the socket.

 

[Les]

On the other hand, if you're controlling it via dimmer, might as well err on the side of a brighter bulb, because you can always dim it down.

Totally valid approach. I usually use the lowest wattage I can get away with in order to avoid amber drift as much as possible.

Eh who am I kidding. I usually throw in whatever I have lying around. But in theory...