worklight

[venuetech]

I am looking for a compact 500w fixture suitable for use as an every day work light.
I have been using the typical portable halogen T3 fixtures commonly available at the hardware store. I add a decent yoke and C-clamp. But these toast the socket contacts after one or two lamps, perhaps due to the straight down burn position.
ideas?

 

[gafftapegreenia]

How much do you want to spend per fixture? L&E makes a number of suitable units, all for a few hundred a piece.

 

[wolf825]

I am looking for a compact 500w fixture suitable for use as an every day work light.
I have been using the typical portable halogen T3 fixtures commonly available at the hardware store. I add a decent yoke and C-clamp. But these toast the socket contacts after one or two lamps, perhaps due to the straight down burn position.
ideas?

I hear ya on this one. We did the T3 styles...and others....hated them all.

For simplicity and durability--I would suggest a basic PAR Can for worklight (A real par can--not a S4 Par)... A PAR56 or PAR64 Can with a 500w med or wide flood should do just fine for 500w worklite needs..

You should get more usable hours out of the par sealed beam lamp and it will be a lot more forgiving for those instant turn-on's then a T3 halogen usually is....and you will not have to be as irked over socket burn out issues. We switched gradually last summer all 10 of our over stage pipe worklights over to Par64 1k's last summer because we were having the same socket and high burn out issues from all other worklights we tried for the same reasons you mention--sockets mostly but burn out replacement was also really being a pain.. So we just went simple. This was after we spent $$$$ and tried several different models of work lights over the past few years....from the generic retrofitted Home Depot & Grainger varietys to the Altman Q lites to the L&E 575w worklite and the 1k minifloods. Every one of them had socket issues or just failed and kept burning out....and we got sick of it every week or two replacing yet another lamp or fixing another socket almost monthly. This went on for years.

After nearly a year now I can honestly say the Pars have been a huge improvement for our needs... Far far far less replacement needs...and so far no maintenance issue for sockets... So if you can make the room I would go with a Par can... Sometimes the simplest solution just tends to work out to be the best...


-w

 

[gafftapegreenia]

I should have added that while I'm still using two 14" scoops lamped @ 500 watts for main work light, if I were buying new tomorow, I'd replace my two Scoops with four Source 4 PAR's with XWFL lenses and HPL 375x (long life) lamps. I believe it was Gafftaper who did this method, and honestly, while I still like my scoops, in terms of SPACE, the PAR is a better solution.

 

[soundlight]

At my college for worklight we had scoops on the first electric and PAR56 cans (cheapo whatever brand) up on the rails pointing down on to the stage. Worked great. Both kinds of fixtures were able to just puke lots and lots of light out the front.

I have heard of similar issues with the T3 style worklights multiple times, don't know why that is for sure. Could be because all of the heat is kept in the back of the fixture since those fixtures are usually pointed straight out or up or only slightly down, never really pointed very far down as to keep the heat inside the reflector.

 

[cdub260]

Are you looking for something like this? I've been using a pair of these as my down stage worklights for a few years now and have had no problems.

$74.75 at Grainger.

Other suppliers will probably have them cheaper.