Converting a 250 watt halogen into a hid bulb

[DynamoTom]

Hello guys,

Is it possible to change a standard 250 watt halogen bulb into a HID Bulb?

What are your thoughts on this and Is it possible to do?

Cheers,

Tom

[A1DL]

Is it possible to change a standard 250 watt halogen bulb into a HID Bulb?



I assume you're talking about lamps (bulbs grow, lamps glow).

The process would be prohibitively expensive. One lamp contains an inert gas, the other an ionised gas. The process of removing and replacing the gases could be undertaken in a controlled laboratory environment, however you would need to check the other properties of the lamp were suitable for operation at different temperatures. It would certainly be cheaper to purchase an commercially manufactured HID lamp.

[Chris1984]

You also need to take into account the other items associated with using a discharge bulb.
You would need to install a ballast and igniter as well as a load of new wiring to go with it.
It would be far simpler to purchase a new fixture that does the same thing but uses a discharge bulb.

As for he whole thing on this forum about bulbs growing in the ground and lamps glowing - being a professional lampie i can assure you that in the professional world we call them bulbs or bubbles - a lamp is the turm user for a generic fixture.

[djgordyp]

To expand this topic slightly. Something I have been wondering about lately, and may be cheaper than the above. How hard would it be to convert a fixture to run on led's.

[wensleydale]

To expand this topic slightly. Something I have been wondering about lately, and may be cheaper than the above. How hard would it be to convert a fixture to run on led's.

hard i imagine.

why not just buy an led fixture- the amount of time and hassle plus cost of materials has got to be a lot more than just buying the led fixture, which is likely to be better anyway as it is designed to be an led fixture.

[djgordyp]

hard i imagine.

why not just buy an led fixture- the amount of time and hassle plus cost of materials has got to be a lot more than just buying the led fixture, which is likely to be better anyway as it is designed to be an led fixture.

That's that idea out the window then lol.
Probably not even worth the time involved let alone the expense.

[A1DL]

a lamp is the turm user for a generic fixture.

in a domestic environment, agreed... likewise, bulbs glow as well as grow in a domestic environment.

however, in a professional environment, the term used to describe a generic fixture is a luminaire or lantern, not a lamp

[Chris1984]

in a domestic environment, agreed... likewise, bulbs glow as well as grow in a domestic environment.

however, in a professional environment, the term used to describe a generic fixture is a luminaire or lantern, not a lamp

Agreed but, the term 'hanging lamps on bars' and 'lampie' are so because we call the generics lamps - i guess its personal preference.
But 9 time out of 10 in the pro lighting world a generic is referred to as a lamp, and that light contain Bulbs or bubbles.
Not trying to be pedantic just wondered why everyone here says bulbs grow?!

[DJ Jules]

To expand this topic slightly. Something I have been wondering about lately, and may be cheaper than the above. How hard would it be to convert a fixture to run on led's.

You're not the only one to think about doing this (and it's easier than converting to Discharge because you can buy 12v LED's which will happily run from the existing electronics inside a 100w Halogen fixture).

See link below for my notes to date:

http://www.forum.mobilediscodirectory.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=20040

I haven't managed to do it successfully yet, the major challenges are still:

1. Finding an LED with a single light source and sufficient output (the cheaper LED's with multiple little LED's in them (like I used in the thread above) don't work because you can actually see the individual lights in a focused fixture.

2. Finding reflectors/lenses to suit - pretty much key to getting the light going where you want it - LED's have a very wide viewing angle, which means a lot of the light ends up inside the fixture, not coming out the front!

3. Cooling - the high power LED's get hot, and unlike Halogen fixtures, will be destroyed if they get too hot. The fan's built into Dynamo's, etc are ok, but you need a nice big heatsink on the back of the LED to allow the fan to do it's job. In a non-cooled fixture you'd need to add a heatsink with a dedicated fan (the best and cheapest fit I've found for the job so far are the heatsinks and fans from computer CPU's or GPU's).

Julian

[A1DL]

But 9 time out of 10 in the pro lighting world a generic is referred to as a lamp, and that light contain Bulbs or bubbles.


In what part of the professional lighting world is that, then?

It's certainly not the case in Events or Theatre.

[Dynamic Entertainment]

In what part of the professional lighting world is that, then?

It's certainly not the case in Events or Theatre.

Or the street lighting engineering profession either.

When i started with highways i got a proper bollocking for calling a column a post (post is what goes through the letterbox you know ;) ) and a lamp, an bulb.

In street lighting, the place where the lamp sits is either refered to as the fixture (makes sense really) or the column head (again, fairly sensible)

[Chris1984]

In what part of the professional lighting world is that, then?

It's certainly not the case in Events or Theatre.

as you have stated on this forum previously you are not a lampie you are a sound man, now i am a lampie and have been all over the world lighting all kinds of shows and the terms 'hanging lamps on bars' is used all over the place.

You are right in the sense that a bulb should be called a lamp and the lamp goes into the lamp holder but all i am saying is that the term lamp can be used to describe a generic fixture.

I wasn't trying to pick an argument nor start a completely off topic conversation i was just stating that outside of the disco world things can and do get called a variety of things.

I mere stated that the do get called bubbles as well as bulbs and that you can call a generic fixture a lamp.
Admittedly not all people do it but i can assure you on the gigs i have works i have 9 times out of 10 heard some on say it.

Now you could argue that every time somebody calls a fixture a light they are wrong! I was merely pointing out something.

But hey what do i know its only my job to light things from exhibitions, theatre, corporate events, parties to several thousand person conferences. - what do i know?

[flatliners]

you say tomatoe i say tomatoe