FLOAT LIGHTING WORKSHOP
Krewe
of Olympus – Texas, Inc.
Presented by Gary McCoy
I am not an electrician.
I simply know what has
worked for me in the past.
I do not guarantee any of these methods will work for you and
neither the Krewe nor the Pride Committee can be held liable for anything you
do with this information.
All of what I know has
been through talking with people, and carefully trying ideas to see if they
will work.
Three basics to keep in mind when planning for
lighting and electrical devices:
Watts / Volts = Amps
Household
voltage varies from 110 to 120. It is
suggested to use 120v when calculating.
Example: 330 watt device divided by 120 = 2.75 amps.
2) Total
power and wattage requirements
As you are designing your float for lights and any other electrical components, you must be sure your wiring can handle the amps, and keep in mind the size generator you will need to power everything. The only way to do this is to be able add up the amperage.
3) Plan
for long-term use
Because the electrical part of a float can become expensive, you might want to buy and build for future floats and/or other uses.
Types of bulbs:
¨
Household bulbs
¨
Flood and spots
¨
Fluorescent
¨
Mini Christmas lights
(0.5 watts)
¨
C-7 Christmas
lights (7 watts)
¨
C-9 Christmas
lights (9 watts)
Bulbs:
¨
Clear - Gives more
light.
¨
Frosted - If you
want to diffuse the light, the frosted is a better choice.
Colors:
¨
Color bulbs
¨
Light gels – can
get at theatrical stores, Southern Importers
¨ Plastic table cloth (Arne’s) – use as color filter or use white with colored lights behind it.
Ways to use lights:
¨
Direct light on
object or person
¨
More dramatic
lighting, shining upward or downwards on object
¨
Behind opaque
screen
¨
Behind cut outs of
shapes or words. [foam core a good
material to work with for this.]
¨
Outline with small
Christmas lights, either chasing or solid burn.
¨
Many, many other
ways to use lights, only limit is imagination.
Sockets: plastic or ceramic
Screw-on
type. Works great with extension cords
for a string of lights.
Heat: Heat
build up is a problem when you have light bulbs in an enclosed area. You need to have venting to dissipate the
heat.
Useful Technical Information:
A set of 50 mini Christmas lights pulls about .2 amps (24 watts), so
on a 20 amp/2400 watt generator, you can use 5,000 lights.
A set of 25 C-7 Christmas lights pull about 1 amp (120 watts), so on
a 20 amp/2400 watt generator, you can light about 250 lights.
Light
controls would include controller boxes.
These usually have several pre-programmed patterns. They usually also have controls to vary the
timing on the light patterns.
You
must be aware of how many watts or amps these devices can safely handle. In other words, how many lights can you
safely run.
Amplifier, PA systems,
electrical instruments
The amperage that the
device pulls should be marked on the back of the case (usually on a silver
label), and must be taken into consideration for the total amperage load. [Wattage on these devices is usually not
input load, but output load], so to use the amperage rating. The label should read something like AC120
(or VAC120 or 120V~) 60 Hz 330W 440VA.
In this case, the wattage is 330.
The 440VA is not amps, but voltamps.
Using the formula; dividing wattage by 120 (volts), this would be 2.75
amps. Another tag might say 120V~0.6A,
which would indicate that the device pulls .6 amps (or .6 x 120 = 72 watts).
Fog machines:
You should look to see
how much fog can be outputted at a time, and how long the machine needs to
recharge itself after shooting fog.
If you want to pipe and
direct the flow of fog, you need to be aware that the fog coming out of the
machine is hot. Therefore, if you use
flexible tubing, you will need to first attach a length of pvc pipe to the
machine. PVC can handle the heat much
better, and the fog should have cooled down enough to avoid melting the
flexible tubing. (This one was learned
last year with the Krewe dragon. One of
our members ended up in the dragon head keeping the hose connected to the fog
machine.)
You must be aware of
what amperage wiring can handle.
Different kinds of
wiring to be used:
¨
Extension cords
(household or heavy duty outdoor, and even heavier duty cords)
¨
Romex brand wiring
(the wiring used for wiring a house):
v 14 gauge wire is rated at 15 Amps
v 12 gauge wire is rated at 20 Amps
v 10 gauge wire is rated at 30 Amps
If you used Romex wiring
on the float, you must also be aware of what amperage the outlets and switches
can handle. The typical residential
ones are rated at 15 Amps each.
If are using a lot of amps, may consider multiple generators [because the initial wiring coming out of the generator would have to be way too heavy to carry such a current] Other option is to buy a power panel with fuses to carry the load out of the generator. There is a special plug on generators for these devices.
You may also be able to use an inverter pack to power regular lights from a car battery. [Radio Shack has had them for around $100; 140W, which will carry 300 lights.]
Start up/Turning lights on:
Remember, lights pull more amperage when they initially light up, so, for example, even though one string of C-7 lights is only 120W, or 1 amp, they will require more power when they are initially turned on. Therefore, ALWAYS get a generator that puts out more amperage than you need.
Don’t overload circuits
Always have at least one
fire extinguisher on the float
Be careful if it rains
to avoid being electrocuted.
Be sure all wiring is
taped down or out of the way so that people do not trip over it, hurting
themselves, and damaging equipment.
May 6, 2000