12 volt lighting set up

[Susan Wright]

I am thinking of investing in a 12 volt lighting set up and need help. Anyone have one and what are your experiences and what is your set up? Costs? any help and info greatly appreciated.

Susan W

[Bert Weiss]

I am thinking of investing in a 12 volt lighting set up and need help. Anyone have one and what are your experiences and what is your set up? Costs? any help and info greatly appreciated.

Susan W

Susan

I think that there is nothing better. The bad news is that a good transformer is expensive. Make sure that your transformer has a reset or a cheap fuse when shorted out. My booth uses a 500 watt transformer. I put 2 50 watt bulbs on each wall of my 10 x 10 and a few more 20's and 35's for my lights. This is a bright setup. I am able to set up a cable run around my booth that is attached to the trusses that make up the booth. You can be creative about how to rig your lights.

In my home I just bought and installed some cheapies. The cheapie setup is 5 20 watt bulbs. The light is nice in the room, but I wouldn't call it bright. The 50's have more punch.

I'll post a picture taken by Tony Smith on the picture board

Bert

[Marty]

Bert- Is it really cheaper? Or is it merely necessary when shows limit your wattage? I usually pay for 2K watts= 35 to 40 50watt spots. Your transformer cost? And how heavy/big? Marty

[Susan Wright]

What type of battery is your power source. Deep cycle marine? Where did you get the set up? Thinking of two batteries, one to charge and one to use plus light set up. Looking forward to more details, Thanks

Susan W

[Bert Weiss]

Bert- Is it really cheaper? Or is it merely necessary when shows limit your wattage? I usually pay for 2K watts= 35 to 40 50watt spots. Your transformer cost? And how heavy/big? Marty

Marty

I use a 500 watt transformer and then use between 400 and 500 watts of low voltage lights. I don't remember exactly what it cost, but I think it was around $350 for the transformer, $25 dollars for each lighting head, a few bucks each for the MR 16 bulbs. I have no idea what the cable wire cost It is uninsulated nickel plated copper with a kevlar core rated for a 500 watt cable lighting system. The transformer is a heavy little thing. The shows I do have a 1000 watt hookup as the standard base fee.

What I do to make this system work for me is this: I have cables run in my living room that stay there. The transformer lives in a closet abutting the living room and it plugs in to a switched outlet. I take down the lighting heads which are held on to the wires with O rings and remove the transformer wires. This way I can take the system with me to use it for shows and have it at home the other 49 weeks of the year. The booth has it's own wires that come up and down.

A reasonable alternative is to get a 4' lighting track and put low voltage heads on it. Home depot sells these units pretty cheaply. The tracks are probably easier to mount on a conventional booth setup. Considering what the electrical guys charge for lighting rental, I think you can about buy a system for the same money.

Susan

12 volt lights that I use don't run on batteries, they use a transformer plugged in to 110 AC. I imagine that maybe they can work on a battery, but you'd have to have some kind of voltage regulator or the light will bounce around.

I had friends once who lived off the grid in a house with no AC power. My friend installed a second battery in his car, which kept it charged up. At night he would pull up to the house and attach some jumper cables that were wired in to the house. His 12 volts would run old headlights that he got out of the junkyard. (The high beams still work on lights after the low beam has burnt out.)

Bert

[Victoria Nelson]

An inexpensive setup we use for a seasonal-monthly outdoor night markets/show.... MAy through Dec.
Last year we used a small car battery to run 2 x 40 watt 12 volt lights to illuminate ceiling type lamps shades. We used a second car battery to run 3 x 25 watt dichroic lights. The lights were attacted to clips and strung in a series along the over head frame of our market stall, then down along the upright poles to the battery which we kept in a large plastic bucket. Large alligator type clips are used to attach electrial wire to battery. No expensive transformers.
These lights generate heat so keep away from any cloth coverings. They lasted the entire 4 hours of the night market. And this was a clunky 4 yr old battery. Suggest that you do not use the battery from the car you drive to the show/market!
We have acquired a deep cell marine battery that we will take to the next market. I'm hoping to just use the 1 battery to light the whole deal!