Rainbow Floods...ASSEMBLED!!

[edvas69]

I have been building a few of Pondudes rainbow floods and have been very impressed with the colour and light output that these give for under US$15. I have found the perfect cover (with the help of AussiePhil ) for these floods. The covers are from the Horizon Range of 150 watt flood lights that can be bought from Bunnings for AU$10 (not sure where in the US you would find the same flood). The flood casing is perfect for the rainbow floods and simple to build.


1: First open the cover of the light and remove all the internal bits from the from the flood, including the reflector, base, wiring and terminal block until you have an empty flood casing.
2: Then solder a short wiring tail directly to the bottom of the board as shown in the picture. Do not solder on the RJ sockets when building the flood board
3: Test the flood board works
4: Place the board into the flood casing, feeding the wire through the hole to the terminal box as shown in the picture
5: Fit the board into the flood casing ensuring it is level and centred and it should wedge into the casing into a perfect position.
6: Use non corrosive silicon to hold the flood board into position
7: Leave for a week to allow the silicone to cure
8: Close up the cover. I used some silicon gel around the gasket to help minimise any chance of water ingress
9: The light is now ready to be connected to any DC controlling board like the tiger 48 or LOR DC board, or even the rainbow brain

The result was easier and better than i had expected as the casing is the perfect fit for these floods and are not difficult to build







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[Keith Adams]

I can't tell, are those screws in the back or just dimples? If screws are you attaching your wiring to them? and is there a cover over them?

[Darryl Lambert]

TJ Hvasta wrote:

the portable worklight housings from Mouser look like a very good idea..

Would you be able to post a link?

Maybe I'm blind but I spent at least a 1/2 hour looking and couldn't find it.

[Randy]

So is this the Nothern $7.99 fixture people have been using for mounting two RFs?

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200309783_200309783

I looked at Home Depot and they want $15 for one that is big enough to handle two RFs...

Thanks, Randy

[zman]

If you are only going to mount one RF in a fixture, Home Depot has a 250W light for $7.99. Not a great price, but a more compact unit overall. This is how I went.

[Randy]

I saw that fixture this morning. But it's either buy 4 larger ones to house two RFs each, or 8 of the smaller ones (and figure out where to store them). So I'm leaning towards 4 of the larger ones....

Randy

[Keith Adams]

They also have 1 called a 4 in 1 that gives you the option of a stake. I am hoping Pondude can find an enclosure that allows us to use the rj45 jacks so I don't have to spend extra trying to waterproof them externally. I saw some like the HD 4 in 1's on ebay for 6.00. I may have to resort to them if he can't find one.

[rgardner518]

Keith Adams wrote:

They also have 1 called a 4 in 1 that gives you the option of a stake. I am hoping Pondude can find an enclosure that allows us to use the rj45 jacks so I don't have to spend extra trying to waterproof them externally. I saw some like the HD 4 in 1's on ebay for 6.00. I may have to resort to them if he can't find one.

Where did you find that? The only one I found was for 9.99

http://cgi.ebay.com/Utilitech-4-1-250-W-Watt-worklight-Multi-purpose-/320552900218?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aa271167a

[Keith Adams]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370392088977&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

[rgardner518]

Keith Adams wrote:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370392088977&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

You have to look at the shipping! they want $14 for shipping! So for one at $6, plus $14 shipping, that's $20! The one I found was $9.99, with free shipping! So I can buy two from this seller below, for the price your paying, for one!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Utilitech-4-1-250-W-Watt-worklight-Multi-purpose-/320552900218?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aa271167a

[Keith Adams]

I was thinking about multiple units like 10 or so. Then it would be cheaper. 75 vs 100.

[rgardner518]

Keith Adams wrote:

I was thinking about multiple units like 10 or so. Then it would be cheaper. 75 vs 100.

That seller is charging $53 for 10, Plus $60 for the lights, and your over $100!$113 to exact! Mine is still under $100!

On the listing there is a section where it says "shipping and payments" you will see where it says one. IF you enter 10, in there and then click get rates, you will see what I mean! Its not $14 for, as many as you want! lol,

[Keith Adams]

The site was calculating 36 dollars and some change to my house plus 60 for the lights. I looked at those external ethernet connectors and has anybody ordered from Sparco? My internet explorer was warning me about it. Like they haven't upgraded their security certificate or something like that.

[terrypowerz]

If you wait long enough, Tim F. will figure out how to put it in a generic tupperware box and REALLY save $$

[Keith Adams]

Holy cow. At first when I tested these in the daylight I was thinking they aren't as bright as I expected. But I checked them again in the dark and I could almost hear a chorus singing Hallelujah!

[Ponddude]

Alright, I'm back after a long weekend. I just spent over and hour responding to everyones emails, PMs and posts on the various boards. If I didn't respond to you, sorry, please shoot me another email and I will respond!!

I wanted to ask everyone what they are willing to spend on an enclosure from me? I have contacted several different poly-houses and these are not going to be cheap. For the waterproof enclosure, with some sort of clear window and fully customized for the Rainbow Flood, it looks like we are going to be in the neighborhood for $30+ per case. Most enclosure companies are not interested in small quantities, so unless I order over 10,000 units, these stay extremely expensive. I even went to a few contacts I had overseas and surprisingly the prices went up. I just heard back this morning from a very promising company in Japan and the setup fee alone for the enclosures was $3,000.

I personally would just continue to use the enclosures that everyone is currently using. However, I am willing to purchase these enclosures, but I would need a firm commitment for at least 100 units, hopefully more. You folks decide.

Now, I have another question. Would anyone be interested in a complete white flood? There would be no RGB abilities, these lights would use only white LEDs. The boards would cost $20.75, simply because of the additional cost of the white LEDs. This could very easily be done. What is the interest on these?

Hope everyone had a good holiday weekend!!

[Keith Adams]

It looks like the small enclosures pictured here earlier in the thread along with the RJ45-ECS waterproof ethernet also earlier in the thread would provide the best bang for the buck for these excellent floods.

[rstately]

Ponddude wrote:

Now, I have another question. Would anyone be interested in a complete white flood? There would be no RGB abilities, these lights would use only white LEDs. The boards would cost $20.75, simply because of the additional cost of the white LEDs. This could very easily be done. What is the interest on these?

Hope everyone had a good holiday weekend!!

Hi Greg,
I am happy with the enclosures I'm finding now, and wiring to the board without the plug.
I am interested in an all white flood, but as long as it's cool white, but not to blue. I would buy at least 5 right now, maybe more later?
Still very interested in the rainbow spot.

Thanks, Ron

[rgardner518]

Ponddude wrote:

Alright, I'm back after a long weekend. I just spent over and hour responding to everyones emails, PMs and posts on the various boards. If I didn't respond to you, sorry, please shoot me another email and I will respond!!

I wanted to ask everyone what they are willing to spend on an enclosure from me? I have contacted several different poly-houses and these are not going to be cheap. For the waterproof enclosure, with some sort of clear window and fully customized for the Rainbow Flood, it looks like we are going to be in the neighborhood for $30+ per case. Most enclosure companies are not interested in small quantities, so unless I order over 10,000 units, these stay extremely expensive. I even went to a few contacts I had overseas and surprisingly the prices went up. I just heard back this morning from a very promising company in Japan and the setup fee alone for the enclosures was $3,000.

I personally would just continue to use the enclosures that everyone is currently using. However, I am willing to purchase these enclosures, but I would need a firm commitment for at least 100 units, hopefully more. You folks decide.

Now, I have another question. Would anyone be interested in a complete white flood? There would be no RGB abilities, these lights would use only white LEDs. The boards would cost $20.75, simply because of the additional cost of the white LEDs. This could very easily be done. What is the interest on these?

Hope everyone had a good holiday weekend!!

I agree! Don't waste your money on the enclosures! As for white, I thought the RGB does that now! So I'd say its a waste too! Thats just my option!

[Bill Hoffman]

I just got done soldering 4 more Rainbow Floods, with a little twist. I decided to do them without resistors. What I think I'm going to do is make all of my double RF's without resistors, then use a v-drive constant current board and control them with idmx. All of my single RF's will stay the same and will be controlled by LOR.

Why am I doing this? Well, first of all I love the Rainbow Flood, so I didn't want to get away from that. I have a lot of them to do, and I really didn't want to get into the expense of buying a lot of v-drives. Plus, I've already got most of the singles built, and they will be used to uplight individual trees. I don't need as many double RF's, because I'm using them as house/garage color washes, and since I just started learning dmx this will give me a good starter project. Also, I'm really interested in how much difference the constant current will make, in brightness and in longevity. I've talked to people, a lot smarter than I will ever be, about led's and I keep getting conflicting opinions. So I decided to get the led's off their anode's, and put them through the test. Constant current against fixed current. Now if some of these people are right, in both of these methods, the led's will last well past my life time, so I may have to let my daughter give you the results. lol :shock: But I will keep you updated on general performance between the two methods. Let the games begin, and may the best current win! :dude:




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