Mounting & Protecting Moving Heads on Roof

[XtremeEntertainment]

Hey everyone,

I’ve recently bought 6x 250W moving heads and 2x 6W lasers for my setup. I somewhat have an idea of how I’m going to mount them on my roof. I was thinking of welding a frame that 2 2m flat trusses would attach to but I’d love to hear how others have done it.

I’ve seen the enclosures on the market to protect them from the weather, but they’re a bit pricey for what they are in my opinion, and I’ve already blown a fair bit of my budget on the lights themselves.

I decided to go with non-waterproof moving heads because they have better features (faster movements, etc.) but now I need to figure out how to protect them from rain without breaking the bank.

Has anyone here mounted moving heads on their roof? How did you secure them? And if you’ve used non-waterproof fixtures, what did you do to keep them safe from the weather? I’m open to DIY solutions, but if necessary, I’ll bite the bullet and get covers. Just want to explore all options first.

Appreciate any advice!

 

[thewanderingpine]

I think @Jase has a behind the scenes video with some drone footage of his heads and his mounting approach (and the domes he used).
I went with waterproof ones & have a unique/lazy mount point (they are sitting on a brick pillar) - so can’t help too much.

 

[Kent]

What sort of roof do you have (tiled, etc)? I have a couple of MH to play with and possibly use this year. I was considering using the brackets typically used for solar panel mounting rails, the build a platform off those. I've only just plugged one in for a few mins to confirm it powers up, so the mounting plans are still in flux and subject to change.

I also went for waterproof, so won't have anything of value to add there.

<edit>this sort of thing - https://down-my.img.susercontent.com/file/my-11134207-7qul6-ljv8h4x58qoq2a</edit>

 

[XtremeEntertainment]

What sort of roof do you have (tiled, etc)? I have a couple of MH to play with and possibly use this year. I was considering using the brackets typically used for solar panel mounting rails, the build a platform off those. I've only just plugged one in for a few mins to confirm it powers up, so the mounting plans are still in flux and subject to change.

I also went for waterproof, so won't have anything of value to add there.

<edit>this sort of thing - https://down-my.img.susercontent.com/file/my-11134207-7qul6-ljv8h4x58qoq2a</edit>

I have a tiled roof, I had a photo that I was shown which is what I based my inspo off, I’ll attach it here, don’t know whose roof it is but I thought it’s probably better to use an actual truss up there since the trusses are designed to hold MH. I feel like I would have better security within myself knowing they are mounted up securely on a proper truss after spending around 6 thousand on them.

 

[Domestos]

I was in the same boat as you, and ended up building a couple of enclosures myself. See thread - https://auschristmaslighting.com/threads/moving-head-spotlights.7212/page-5#post-121918.

My Use-case was to build an enclosure that was water proof, and weather proof. It had to keep the MH dry but also protect it from potential hail.

What I found in the end was that the money spend on building the water / weatherproof domes along with the MH's added up to more or less the same price as a waterproof MH.

Not to mention the fact that I now had to haul more heavy stuff onto my roof (Double Storey House) which posed more danger. I also found that the Australian Summer Sun did it work on the MH's plastics, and actually melted the sides facing the sun during the day. So even though they were protected form water and hail, the Sun did it's fair share of damage.

Back then there was limited availability of alternatives on Aliexpress, however I found this listing today which may be worth exploring further depending on your use-case.

Couple of things to consider:

1. How heavy are the lights, and how easy will it be to get them on the roof, and down again.
   1. I found it almost impossible to carry a 25kg MH up a ladder, and safely put it on my roof by myself.
   2. You will have to do this 6 times for each MH, and possibly 6 more times for the enclosure.
   3. If you have somebody to help you then this doesn't matter, but if like me you are alone it is something to consider.
2. How long will they be on the roof.
   1. If they will only be on the roof for a short period of time, you can work around the weather.
   2. It they will be on the roof for a long period, will there be somebody to protect them from rain 24/7?
3. How likely are you to get dew or other moisture during the night / early mornings on your roof?
   1. If your MH's aren't covered this moisture could pose some additional challenges.

I mounted my lights on my roof only for 1 season as the effort to get them on my roof, vs the joy of having them up there ended up not being worth my while.

I build a pretty straightforward horizontal platform using old pallet wood, and found the weight of the wood, the box and the MH's kept everything nice and firm. Thus I didn't have to move any tiles, or install any additional mounting brackets.

The following season I ended up replacing my standard MH's with Waterproof ones and never looked back again. I am placing them on a makeshift table and cover them with a heavy duty outdoor speaker cover every night to protect them from the sun.

 

[XtremeEntertainment]

I was in the same boat as you, and ended up building a couple of enclosures myself. See thread - https://auschristmaslighting.com/threads/moving-head-spotlights.7212/page-5#post-121918.

My Use-case was to build an enclosure that was water proof, and weather proof. It had to keep the MH dry but also protect it from potential hail.

What I found in the end was that the money spend on building the water / weatherproof domes along with the MH's added up to more or less the same price as a waterproof MH.

Not to mention the fact that I now had to haul more heavy stuff onto my roof (Double Storey House) which posed more danger. I also found that the Australian Summer Sun did it work on the MH's plastics, and actually melted the sides facing the sun during the day. So even though they were protected form water and hail, the Sun did it's fair share of damage.

Back then there was limited availability of alternatives on Aliexpress, however I found this listing today which may be worth exploring further depending on your use-case.

Couple of things to consider:

1. How heavy are the lights, and how easy will it be to get them on the roof, and down again.
   1. I found it almost impossible to carry a 25kg MH up a ladder, and safely put it on my roof by myself.
   2. You will have to do this 6 times for each MH, and possibly 6 more times for the enclosure.
   3. If you have somebody to help you then this doesn't matter, but if like me you are alone it is something to consider.
2. How long will they be on the roof.
   1. If they will only be on the roof for a short period of time, you can work around the weather.
   2. It they will be on the roof for a long period, will there be somebody to protect them from rain 24/7?
3. How likely are you to get dew or other moisture during the night / early mornings on your roof?
   1. If your MH's aren't covered this moisture could pose some additional challenges.

I mounted my lights on my roof only for 1 season as the effort to get them on my roof, vs the joy of having them up there ended up not being worth my while.

I build a pretty straightforward horizontal platform using old pallet wood, and found the weight of the wood, the box and the MH's kept everything nice and firm. Thus I didn't have to move any tiles, or install any additional mounting brackets.

The following season I ended up replacing my standard MH's with Waterproof ones and never looked back again. I am placing them on a makeshift table and cover them with a heavy duty outdoor speaker cover every night to protect them from the sun.

Thanks for your info about this topic. I find it interesting and will definitely look into something like that. Thank god I will have another person or two helping me put them up there.

As much as I should've brought waterproof moving heads. The holiday season won't be there only use which is why I opted for the current ones I am getting.

The sun is definitely a killer which has been on my mind so it's good to know how they actually hold up in our crazy weather.

I'll probably end up updating this post as I go on my journey once the lights come but thank you for all the info as it definitely gives me more ideas to play with.