Battery-powered light bulb

[masterelectrician2112]

Hi all,

For a production of Back to the 80s at my school, we are planning to have six 2'x2'x2' cubes that are faced with frosted plexiglass on the front and would move around the stage for various scenes. We would like to backlight the plexi as well, but the light must be wireless (i.e battery-powered) for the sake of not having wires all over the stage in such a major dance musical. Control would be local (probably just a regular switch on the back of the cube). Heat venting from a bulb would not be an issue as we are planning on leaving the back of the cube open. So basically, I need to find a way to power a light that has enough output to cause a noticeable glow on the plexiglass, and this light must be powered from batteries (no more than 18v, ideally). Will I have to use an inverter or is there another way? My budget is fairly low, but I want to consider the possibilities, so all suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

 

[techieman33]

I think a battery powered camping lantern would probably do the trick.

 

[SHARYNF]

I use those rgb color tape lights, they come with an ac power but they run off 12 volts, I just made up a cable to go from a small motorcycle battery to the controller, works great
Sharyn

 

[Grog12]

An RV A lamp and 6 D sized batteries workes every time.

 

[icewolf08]

Hi all,

For a production of Back to the 80s at my school, we are planning to have six 2'x2'x2' cubes that are faced with frosted plexiglass on the front and would move around the stage for various scenes. We would like to backlight the plexi as well, but the light must be wireless (i.e battery-powered) for the sake of not having wires all over the stage in such a major dance musical. Control would be local (probably just a regular switch on the back of the cube). Heat venting from a bulb would not be an issue as we are planning on leaving the back of the cube open. So basically, I need to find a way to power a light that has enough output to cause a noticeable glow on the plexiglass, and this light must be powered from batteries (no more than 18v, ideally). Will I have to use an inverter or is there another way? My budget is fairly low, but I want to consider the possibilities, so all suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

We do this kind of thing all the time. If you need a long run time you will need more than just C or D batteries. We usually use 12v, 10 or 20 amp/hour sealed lead acid batteries. We get them from Grainger, but most industrial suppliers should have them. If we just need regular light bulbs, as mentioned, most hardware stores carry A shape medium screw base 12v RV/Marine lamps. These can also be purchased from places like Grainger. You will also need a battery charger for the batteries. I try to size my batteries so that they can go at least two performances between charges.

You could rig this all up with a regular light switch, or you could use wireless dimmers like those found at theatrewireless.com. We typically use wireless dimmers as theygive great control, but they are not cheap. They do have an educational discount, though you may still find them expensive.

 

[BillESC]

Blizzard's PUCK RGBA UnPlugged would be the ticket.

With a MAP price of $ 239.99 per fixture, you can add wireless DMX control and do some exciting things if desired.

http://blizzardlighting.com/index.php/the-puck-unplugged-rgba

 

[masterelectrician2112]

If you need a long run time you will need more than just C or D batteries. We usually use 12v, 10 or 20 amp/hour sealed lead acid batteries. If we just need regular light bulbs, as mentioned, most hardware stores carry A shape medium screw base 12v RV/Marine lamps.

Since this is probably a one-time thing, how long would 2 6v lantern batteries in series delivering 12v give me enough amperage to run a 20w MR16 bulb? I tried to do these calculations myself, but I am really not sure if I'm right.

You could rig this all up with a regular light switch, or you could use wireless dimmers like those found at theatrewireless.com. We typically use wireless dimmers as theygive great control, but they are not cheap. They do have an educational discount, though you may still find them expensive.

I was planning on using a regular switch to keep the price down, but I would have loved to use wireless dimmers in a perfect world with unlimited budget.

Thanks again.

 

[icewolf08]

Since this is probably a one-time thing, how long would 2 6v lantern batteries in series delivering 12v give me enough amperage to run a 20w MR16 bulb? I tried to do these calculations myself, but I am really not sure if I'm right.

Well, in order to do the calculations, you need to know the amount of time that the lamp needs to be on, and what the capacity of the lantern batteries is. You would then need to take into account how long the run of your show is, how often you would have to replace the batteries, how much those batteries would cost versus buying a rechargeable battery.