Moving Head domes & protection

[djgra79]

There has been a lot of talk about moving head lights from the recent Sydney Mini, and as such recent chatter in, erm, chat, has focused around how to be able to weatherproof these fixtures, without compromising the light output.
I thought I'd start this thread for everyone to post their online finds, hints or tips they may have, so that we have a central place to find this info.

I'll kick things off with a $3 plastic clear bowl from Kmart (unpaid plug!)
At 25cm in diameter it is large enough to allow my mini moving heads (similar to these) to be able to operate. However it isn't quite deep enough to be able to cover the light lens when the beam faces flat and low. Clear table cloth might be able to fill this void, but you'd also need to create a frame of some type for it to sit on.

Room to move
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25cm diameter
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Bowl starts at 17cm height in order to clear the top of the fixture in operation, overall 30cm in height.
Bare in mind the fixture should be kept off the ground, so overall height would need to include whatever base the fixture would sit on.
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Quick video of the lights in action

View: https://youtu.be/0WedxL9qLhs


There are many other professional options such as blow up domes with built in fan cooling/inflation, but can vary greatly in price. Another option is to create a coro box with clear plastic tablecloth on the sides required to let light through (one of my original thoughts until I thought of the above bowl option.)

Looking forward to seeing everyone's feedback and thoughts on this topic.
Aaaaaaaaand GO!

 

[lithgowlights]

Thanks Graham, looks interesting

 

[OzAz]

Thanks for kicking this off Graham.

I found this site today http://tempest.biz/products.php?lang=en&pid=2 whilst their products are expensive ($2k for the cheap one!) I noticed they have very good manuals and drawings for their products. These might aid DIYers on how to build something cheaper. For instance check out the manual for the Twister (for small moving heads) http://tempest.biz/admin/media/files/MovingLightEnclosures/Twister Manual_e.pdf

 

[djgra79]

Here's my take on a coro / corflute box. This is the present box I made up to cover my controller & PSU enclosures. Laying on it's side with the bottom facing towards the house (if this was placed in middle of yard) this would provide a wide opening the could easily cover most of the front of the house. All it would need is a sheet of clear tablecloth and the box would be water proof. However, temperature would get warm in there, particularly during Australian Summer, and these lights, even though are LED, still generate a little bit of heat from fans to keep them cool, so some type of ventilation would be recommended.
PS this box dimensions as shown below are 60cm w x 40cm h x 35cm d

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You'll notice that at 5mm thick, the light shines right through should you sequence these away from facing forward.
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View: https://youtu.be/Dk5aSHTLbos

 

[Heath-LightsOnTapley]

thanks OzAz, bookmarked!

 

[JonD]

HI All
Just a couple of quick points that I'm sure you maybe aware of but thought id share with you all.
I used to work in the commercial lighting industry and back in the good old days when moving heads where just starting to come out we used to use glass fish tanks turned upside down this gave you a solid clear full 360 dome that was water tight. we used to use a metal base on them with rubber feet under them to lift the box off the ground and to allow for the air flow that was supplied via 2x 12v fans one blowing in the other out. this was very crucial as most lights back then had discharge lamps and became very hot, although we now use led these still require a but of ventilation otherwise they too will over heat.
one thing to look for however with what ever you use is condensation this can be a killer for any type of lighting.
One product i have used in the past for a more permanent option in venues was security camera domes these can be found on eBay quite cheaply give you a full view and most can be mounted in various ways. also many have ventilation built in to them and also water tight power and data grommets. and for the smaller led moving heads like the ones above they are a perfect size.
just remember the big thing is ventilation, i have a Martin Mac250+ sitting in my garage that was destroyed by a commercial dome that had a faulty fan and over a period of 4 days it burnt out 90% of the internals of the light and rendered it useless.

 

[Heath-LightsOnTapley]

One product i have used in the past for a more permanent option in venues was security camera domes these can be found on eBay quite cheaply give you a full view and most can be mounted in various ways. also many have ventilation built in to them and also water tight power and data grommets. and for the smaller led moving heads like the ones above they are a perfect size.

Jon, do you have any links of the security camera domes you have bought? I can only find ones that are far too small. thanks.

 

[Lishfish]

HI All
Just a couple of quick points that I'm sure you maybe aware of but thought id share with you all.
I used to work in the commercial lighting industry and back in the good old days when moving heads where just starting to come out we used to use glass fish tanks turned upside down this gave you a solid clear full 360 dome that was water tight.

I was gonna mention the use of fishbowls until I read down further. Or even the use of those big vases maybe?
Just did a quick search on kmart and found this: http://www.kmart.com.au/product/large-fish-bowl-vase/123742.
Found this also for those in SA: http://www.cheapaschips.com/product...ft-spot/product/fish-bowl-vase-clear-25x20cm/
Would the above even be tall enough?