PAR 38 Light Cans Question

[Richie]

Hi folks,

We'll be adding thunder and lightning effects to our out door haunt for the first time this Halloween and thought using some Par 38's would be a good idea. I don't believe they are rated for outdoor use, but we'd cover them during rain anyway. My wife found a link below, that seems to sell them at a really low price. Any opinions on this brand?

http://www.bulbamerica.com/products/14836

We are still looking for an FX unit to actually produce the thunder. I wanted something that actually plugs into a stereo or CD players audio output rather than use a microphone. Thanks.

[Frighteners Entertainment]

If you're handy and have access to 5 gal paint buckets, you could make some very inexpensive lights for outdoors.
Mine are hung into the trees, left them up from last yr.
And worked great again this yr.

[Richie]

Hi Jeff,

Do you have a proceedure for making them? I wanted to pay special attention to not having any light bleed through the plastic bucket.

[Frighteners Entertainment]

I'm going to see if I had taken any pictures from when I did this.
Maybe put together a how to.

I used black buckets

[Sickie Ickie]

I'd be nervous about melting and fire (?)

[Frighteners Entertainment]

I'd be nervous about melting and fire (?)
Not at all, well if you want a 500watt bulb, then maybe?

[Otaku]

Remember that lightning flashes cover a lot of area. Par cans may focus the flashes too much to look realistic. I'm using a HauntMaster Products TLF unit with two 250 watt photoflood bulbs (one white, one blue) mounted in 10" clamp lights. They light up the entire front of the house. I highly recommend the TLF, though the CD that shipped with mine was poorly edited. I also advise using the photoflood bulbs. You can get them at photography stores for a few bucks each, and they're extremely bright, much more so than standard floodlight bulbs of the same wattage.

[Richie]

Remember that lightning flashes cover a lot of area. Par cans may focus the flashes too much to look realistic. I'm using a HauntMaster Products TLF unit with two 250 watt photoflood bulbs (one white, one blue) mounted in 10" clamp lights.

Hi Otaku,

I'm glad you brought up that point about the Par's possibly being to focused. I was actually wondering about that one. Using the photo floods in the clamp light fixture sounds like a great idea. I assume the photo flood lights are not actually outdoor lights. The Hauntmaster TLF seems to fit what I was looking for, being able to connect directly to a sound source without the need for a microphone. Unless something else that might be better comes along, I'll order one when they are back in stock. Thanks.

[Frighteners Entertainment]

A definite on the photo bulbs!
If you construct your paint bucket properly, you would be able to adjust the amount "spot lighting" you want to use and still be able to hide the light from on lookers.

[krough]

I use 250 watt halogen construction lights and an I-zombie ST-2401, The benefit of this is that the normal delay of the halogen isn't present since the I-zombie keeps a small amount of current in the circuit all the time and keeps the bulb hot.
I keep the lights clamped up under the eves of the house and 500 watts seem to be about enough.
Also the halogen construction lights are fairly inexpensive

[Frighteners Entertainment]

That would be a good color to use as well.
Where did you find thes bad boys?

[krough]

Home Depot usually has them, they have a clamp on one end or a hook option, they are bright yellow (I paint them black). The bulb area is covered by a black steel wire cage.

[Frighteners Entertainment]

for some reason I was thinking (metal halide)...doh! Kind of a bluish white color. Do they seem to give much of a yellow glow?

[krough]

I don't think so, its much whiter than a incandescent bulb.

[Frighteners Entertainment]

I used a smaller halogen (just slightly ,more white then an incandescent bulb) light a few yrs ago 03? It was from a desktop arm light. Mounted it inside of a 5 gal paint bucket, did a pretty good job of lighting the front of the crypt that yr.
I ran the cable to the front gates, so when the button was pushed for the doors to open the thunder and lighting went off.

[slimy]

I, too, used the photo bulb in a clamp light inclosure. It looks like a regular incandescent bulb, but the 'heat up' time is almost non existant. They are rated at 250 watts a piece. I bought two, but wound up using only one. I think they cost me $6 each.

I had the crappy thunder thing that shows up at halloween time with the microphone. It worked fine. Left it outside during crazy wind and rain. It was rated for 500 watts, so I could have used two bulbs. Just liked the look of one bulb.

Long post to say I second the photo bulb thing.

[Richie]

Hey Krough,

That thunder & lightning controller ST-2401 by I-zombie was actually the one I picked recently to purchase. It was after reading another thread on this board these controllers are being over-thinked, it made me wonder if I really needed something that has multiple channels and $200.00. I may opt for the single channel version, which costs a bit less.

Thanks everyone for all the great responses.

[krough]

The only reason I went for the stereo version was so I could set one channel for the reverse of the other channel and use it to dim the inside lights when the outside lights flashed. That being said the single channel version would have been just fine for me as well.
I think its a good product. I know several people that have purchased them and they have all been happy with them.

[Richie]

Thanks Krough for the information. Glad to hear that either version is a quality product.