Lighting problems

Hi everyone,

 

I finally decided to use my new lighting set up today, and of course, I found out that it doesn't work. I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong, or if I have a defective product. Of course, I didn't check the light bulb when I bought it, so now it's too late to return it.

 

I'm using an E27 ceramic socket light reflector and trying to use this bulb:

 

http://www.inspironphoto.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6_36&products_id=443

 

I'm trying to use the fluorescent bulb because when I used a traditional bulb (sold to me at the time I bought the reflector), it wasn't bright enough.

 

The fluorescent bulb doesn't work at all, but my old traditional bulb works fine. Is it likely that there's a problem with the bulb?

 

You might recall that I tried going to my local photo place and asking about fluorescent bulbs there, and the guy at the store looked at me like I had two heads. Am I just completely out to lunch?

 

Edit to add picture of my set up, pretty simple:

P1030890 by PrettyCranium, on Flickr

So sorry to hear you are having problems with the setup. I know how frustrating it is to get ready to have some fun then have something go wrong.

 

Since the regular original bulb works it sounds like the socket should be fine. According to the link you provided that bulb should work fine on an E27 socket.

 

Do you see, or hear, anything odd about the bulb? I've had some room lights like those that went bad on me. The point where the glass connected to the base of the light itself was loose. I could feel it move around in the socket and I also heard a slight grinding sound.

 

I'd like to say just get another bulb to test it out with but at $35 CAD they aren't too cheap. Unfortunately I know very little about electronics to wonder if there is some other type of test you can do with the bulb. Hopefully someone else has a suggestion.

Thanks. That's what I thought. I wish I could just go buy one at the local photo store, but they didn't have any. Now even if I order another one, I'll have to wait for it to be delivered. I guess I should have checked it when I first got it, sigh.

 

Nothing seems loose or abnormal about the bulb itself, it looks, feels and sounds fine. I left it on for a couple of minutes, thinking that it might need to "warm up" to get going, and the base of it was warm when I removed it.

 

I'm going to have to try to take pictures tomorrow with the incandescent bulb, but I was really unhappy with how dim that was.

 

Inspiron photo's website also says that I would have to pay to ship the item back, so it ends up costing money to return anyways.

Might have something to do with the ballast charge on the fluorescent bulb. That or I may just be trippin.

Might have something to do with the ballast charge on the fluorescent bulb. That or I may just be trippin.

 

What is the ballast charge? I would appreciate your help!

Might have something to do with the ballast charge on the fluorescent bulb. That or I may just be trippin.

 

What is the ballast charge? I would appreciate your help!

 

Unlike with Incandescent bulbs which ignite and operate at roughly the same voltage/wattage rating, a Fluorescent bulb requires a much higher voltage/wattage/power frequency input to heat the cathodes and "ignite"/turn on the bulb than it requires for sustained operation. Here's a link to a description of how they work: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_ballast

 

If the flash module you're using is not designed to operate a fluorescent bulb, it may be that it's not equipped with a ballast module for that purpose.

 

A lot of built-in and self-contained flash units utilize a xenon gas electron tube variant of an arc-lamp, which in these cases has the ballast built-in.

 

In the case of most flash units, the flash unit pre-charges the ballast unit so that when the unit receives the signal from the camera to fire, the response is nearly instant.

 

tl;dr version:

 

Would you mind posting the model number and manufacturer of your flash unit so I could help out with some research?

 

Would you mind posting the model number and manufacturer of your flash unit so I could help out with some research?

 

I'm pretty sure her setup is continuous lighting and not a flash. The bulb is an E27 base compact fluorescent. The ballast is built into the bulb and it fits into a standard incandescent light socket. I'm assuming her lamp is also a standard E27 base, which basically mean it's two wires from the socket to the base to provide 120V 60 Hz AC power.

 

If her lamp is a flash unit, well that would be bad for this bulb.

 

Would you mind posting the model number and manufacturer of your flash unit so I could help out with some research?

 

I'm pretty sure her setup is continuous lighting and not a flash. The bulb is an E27 base compact fluorescent. The ballast is built into the bulb and it fits into a standard incandescent light socket. I'm assuming her lamp is also a standard E27 base, which basically mean it's two wires from the socket to the base to provide 120V 60 Hz AC power.

 

If her lamp is a flash unit, well that would be bad for this bulb.

 

Scripple is right, it's continuous lighting, not flash. Thanks for the info, though.

 

Would you mind posting the model number and manufacturer of your flash unit so I could help out with some research?

 

I'm pretty sure her setup is continuous lighting and not a flash. The bulb is an E27 base compact fluorescent. The ballast is built into the bulb and it fits into a standard incandescent light socket. I'm assuming her lamp is also a standard E27 base, which basically mean it's two wires from the socket to the base to provide 120V 60 Hz AC power.

 

If her lamp is a flash unit, well that would be bad for this bulb.

 

Scripple is right, it's continuous lighting, not flash. Thanks for the info, though.

 

Ah cool, my mistake there lol. For whatever reason, I thought it was a flash, but continuous lighting makes a lot more sense. In that case, it's possible that the ballast in the bulb is bad, especially if the bulb it came with worked fine.

Have You tried the new bulb in another lamp?

Because I ran into similar problem - the base of this fluorescent photo bulb is much wider than the base of a traditional bulb. And because of that it doesn't go deep enough into the socket to make electrical contact, the lamp collides with the base.

I had to bend a little the insides of the socket. But in other lamp it worked just fine.

Have You tried the new bulb in another lamp?

Because I ran into similar problem - the base of this fluorescent photo bulb is much wider than the base of a traditional bulb. And because of that it doesn't go deep enough into the socket to make electrical contact, the lamp collides with the base.

I had to bend a little the insides of the socket. But in other lamp it worked just fine.

 

Interesting! I haven't tried it in another lamp, but will try it today and see what happens. It's true that this bulb is a massive mega-bulb.

Replying to myself to say: it doesn't work in any lamp. Sigh.

Your bulb is blown then. Lol

Your bulb is blown then. Lol

 

Yup, it is. Sigh.

Your bulb is blown then. Lol

 

Yup, it is. Sigh.

 

At least you know it isn't your equipment that is broken!

Well at least your bulb is blown.

 

Guess what happen to my equipment. I have a pair of Elinchrom D-Lite 4 and one of them decided to give up on remote triggering >_>

 

The test flash works but not the remote triggering. I just sent it for servicing. Ouch. It's gonna cost a lot

 

Also along it also I sent a faulty modelling lamp as well. so you can say I am dealing a lot more stuff than just a simple broken lamp!