my halogen light tower on wheels

AndrewBigA

AndrewBigA

New member
Dear AF,

not sure if this is in the right section, if not someone can move it.
this is the result of making home depot runs in the middle of doing a full correction bc the cheap halogen light stand broke. i mean, who likes going there anyways? all those cheap screws & plastic pieces always break. so i got sick & tired of that & came up with this. ive been using it for over a year now & i love it.
each bulb is 500W halogen. now instead of twisting plastic to get the right height where you want to shine the car, all i do is press buttons & im done!!
bottom 500W light is about 1 foot off the ground.
lower pair are 3ft off the ground
middle pair are 4.5ft off the ground
top pair of lights are 6ft off the ground
this sure beats duct taping a halogen light to a ladder dont it? i remember those days,very scary!
it can handle 2000W without tripping the circuit breaker.
screw fell out or something broke? no problem! buy a single halogen unit for about $6 bucks & replace the fixture or take the hardware that you need.
i have a half dozen single light units for spare parts.
this things is awsome!!

31-15.jpg

30-15.jpg

fried after using for over an hour straight under 2500W!
smelled something funky but i didnt pass gass, it was the plastic that was melting! note to self, never again on 2500! :rofl
hopeully i can inspire some of you to build something similar, something better, something more sturdy.
ill admit, she leans backwords a bit but what more can i ask for?
she works & gets the job done!!
i figured i would share this with all of you since i have been asked many times "what the heck is that?" now you all know.

yours truly,

Big A :drool:
 
I like the tower. Time too step up the gauge of wire.:) You may even need to step up the outlet wiring too with that beast! Now I know why there's no snow in New York.
 
Very nice.... couple questions: What is the pole made from and the size? How is it attached to the base? Any problems with stability?
 
2500 watts is almost 21 amps. no wonder the cord fried. that's way too much draw on a single circuit. most outlets are only 15A or 20A at the most. you should only be using 4 of the lamps at a time maximum, with at least a 12ga extension cord. you're lucky it was the plug that melted and not the outlet or wiring, that could be disasterous if your shop burnt down. if you do run multiple lights its a good idea to use different outlets, just be sure they are on different circuits or that defeats the purpose.
 
This is how fires in walls start. It takes just one weak connection and then fire scarecrow!

A 100W bulb puts out around 1500 to 1700 lumens. A 500W puts out 10,000 lumens so for 5x the power you get nearly 10x the light.
 
Concours.John said:
I like the tower. Time too step up the gauge of wire.:) You may even need to step up the outlet wiring too with that beast! Now I know why there's no snow in New York.
Click to expand...
i have 20 amp & 30 amps. i never use it on 2500 anymore but 2000 yes all of the time for hoods, roofs & trunks. nothing ever blew on 2000. i obviously plug the polisher into a seperate line.

detailchick said:
I bet the lights keep you toasty warm in the winter too ?:burn::bigups
Click to expand...
yes i do sweat under there lol.

Todd Helme said:
Very cool but we NEED pictures of that thing igniting the paint work with brilliant lumens!
Click to expand...
the light tower is in all of my writeups. would you like to see a portrait pic of me under 2000W & no swirls? LOL :rofl

screamng said:
Very nice.... couple questions: What is the pole made from and the size? How is it attached to the base? Any problems with stability?
Click to expand...
2.5" pvc X 6.5ft tall. thats a trash can base with wheels, i think for a 55 gallon pail. the pvc screws into a metal thing with threads. the metal thing is bolted to the base lol. there is a 2x3 piece of wood with a metal thing thats supposed to help keep the thing straight but she leans backwords a lil lol.

DHCrocks said:
2500 watts is almost 21 amps. no wonder the cord fried. that's way too much draw on a single circuit. most outlets are only 15A or 20A at the most. you should only be using 4 of the lamps at a time maximum, with at least a 12ga extension cord. you're lucky it was the plug that melted and not the outlet or wiring, that could be disasterous if your shop burnt down. if you do run multiple lights its a good idea to use different outlets, just be sure they are on different circuits or that defeats the purpose.
Click to expand...
i have 20 amps & 30 amps. i dont use 2500 anymore & 2000 has never fried anything. the polisher is on a dif line.

zoomzoom mazda5 said:
Big A, you need some help from a electrician who can solve your problem.
Click to expand...
whats an electrician going to do for me lol? i had my friend do the wiring. it aint perfect but ive only had 1 problem with this thing. thats when she melted on 2500.

Rocket said:
Nice idea but be careful with all that light. That's drawing a lot of amps.
Click to expand...
been using it with zero issues since the 2500 melted the cord.
this saves a little bit of time with setting up the lights for the height you want. i click a few buttons & shine the area i am working on.
 
Just swap them out for LED heads and you will be good to go (although this would be a very expensive swap)

Creative non the less :winner:
 
Holy shnikies that's alot of light. Being the paranoid person I am I have 2 separate lines in my home garage. One is for my receptacles and the others lights. I put a plug off the lighting circuit just to be on the safe side just for my halogens or work lights. There are only 4 8' T8 strips and a couple outdoor lights on that line; when I'm working on vehicles I don't even have them on with the halogens. Never can be too safe, not to mention the fluorescent lights mess with me.
 
lol i figured this would bring a bit of attention. but seriously, i use 1000w most of the time, the same power as all of those pieces of junk that you get from home depot that break after a few times being used.

yes there are 7 total 500w lights but as stated before & i dont want to repeat myself...it blew once on 2500, never on 2000 the end.

i love my light tower & it works.

:bigups
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top