Karl. This is not meant so sound like disagreement. Just trying to get a
full grasp on benefits vs draw backs. Ok We we are using a tungsten
bulb in line (soon to be illegal or expensive in the US.) How well
will
this work with other types of bulbs?
I would suggest only resistive load bulbs like the tungsten lights. Most of
the others that come to mind have circuits in them that behave
inappropriately for the purpose. Sounds like the US is going the path we
went down of banning old style globes but here floodlights (100Wand higher),
heat lamps and special purpose bulbs like those found in ovens, fridges anb
such are still legal. In the EU I understand tungsten globes were banned
too, but a clever person started selling them as 'small room heaters' .. of
course here our legislators clutched their chests and immediately sought to
prevent this workaround .. stupid really, the rush here to be all green
pushed us to use the stupidly expensive compact fluorescents, you guys will
probably have good LEDs before any bans come into place
other then being limited by very low
watts.
Second not having much generator experience. Do I need to worry about
spikes that can damage the packs to want this resistor set up?
no, that's the beauty of it :) Your generator isn't 'pushing' power, your
flashes are 'drawing' - the threat is drawing too much too fast for the
generator... capacitors suck =D 'resisting' the draw won't hurt the flashes
one bit, it's perfectly fine for them and probably better in the long run,
the bit that can take damage in this scenario without protection is the
generator. So by putting a resistive load of a low wattage in-line you're
creating a current limitter which prevents the flashes drawing too fast.
Tungsten also has a limited but functional ability to smooth the load, as
current and resistance are affected by the temperature of the globe in a
good way.
What
type of light fixture are you using that works inline of a heavy gauge
extension cable. Im not keen on cutting one open until I have lots of
info. They are kind of pricey.
I would make up a box with a lead passing through a grommet on one side and
a wall plug on the other side, with an edison socket (we use bayonet mount
globes in Oz) mounted either inside or out and wire it internally, that way
it's just a few parts. part sources I couldn't suggest, I tend to save junk
and salvage bits as needed.. but actually, thinking about it - if you had an
a cheap or old table lamp or such, you can get the socket and a plug from
that, then you just need a female socket like a wall plug froma hardware
store. see below for mangled description for wiring this*
Also you won't need a heavy extension, by way of example we use 240 volts
here and our smallest, cheapest extension cables are 10 amps, for 2400 watts
maximum. But presume I set up such a cable with the intention of using only
up to a 100W globe, the maximum current I would use would be 0.4 amps so the
wiring really only need be rated to that (I'd still give myself an overhead,
but clearly 10 amp is excessive). now if I only put a 20 watt pilot globe
in my lamp box, I'd be limiting the current to a mere 0.08 amps!
this can help with calcs:
http://www.supercircuits.com/resources/tools/volts-watts-amps-converter
*
actually dear readers, unless you're familiar and experienced with mains
power PLEASE do not fiddle about with this unless you know what you're doing
or are happy with being zapped. I rarely get zapped but I'm one of those
people that doesn't drop dead when I get a belt, just burns and some
charring. Not everyone is as badly wired as me and normal folk are not
supposed to survive electrocution.
I'm not sure if you guys always have earth wires in your AC leads, we do for
most things and I tend to like keeping them for obvious reasons! Presuming
you do, just make sure the earth is intact on the plug to the body of the
box (connect it to any metal chassis or part of the box that fingers may
touch) and then out to the wall plug on the other side of the box
take your table lamp or shed light or cheapie outdoor floodlight and leaving
the plug (male) end alone, cut one wire close to the bulb socket (call the
cut ends A and B) - leaving a short lead that you will attach to one outlet
on the wall socket (A). the long length (B) that remains attached to the
wall plug is now connected to the other outlet of the wall plug. that's
pretty much it! As you can see power comes out the wall plug, goes into the
bulb and out to a wall socket, the other lead completes the circuit when you
have a bulb inserted and something plugged in to your wallplug. All you
need now is to stick it in a box.
If you box it then run the lead with the plug through a grommet (so you
don't sever the wires against the box), mount the bulb socket and wall plate
to the box - check everything is insulated, secured and earthed then have
your least favourite relative try it out.
