Has anyone tried a 250 watt modeling lamp in an AB800?
The standard lamp for the AB800 is 150 watt and anything higher is not recommended .. but I am wondering if anyone has tried higher wattages and if so were there any problems?
I'm not sure a larger bulb will fit inside the ring of the flash tube, or behind a honeycomb grid. The recommended 150W only barely fits behind the honeycomb grid.
Not to mention that the circuit that drives the modeling lamp will probably be overloaded and damaged by almost doubling the load. Why do you think they don't recommend larger lamps?
cwebster wrote:
I'm not sure a larger bulb will fit inside the ring of the flash tube, or behind a honeycomb grid. The recommended 150W only barely fits behind the honeycomb grid.
Not to mention that the circuit that drives the modeling lamp will probably be overloaded and damaged by almost doubling the load. Why do you think they don't recommend larger lamps?
<Chas>
The modeling lamp circuit isn't the issue. Heat dissipation is. You will damage the flash operating the lamp at 250w in a softbox. You might be able to get away with it in an open reflector
I was pretty sure the issue is heat and not circuit before I asked but what kind of heat related damage can you expect with a 250 watt versus 150 watt? .. is there that great a heat difference to actually damage the flash?
A 250 watt is used in the Einsteins and I guess some of the same modifiers are commonly used as well .. does an Einstein have better dissipating abilities?
yes there is mike and even the new einstein has heat problems with the 250w modeling bulb and it was designed for the hotter bulb. My AB lights get VERY HOT with a 150w bulb in a softbox. I wouldn't want to try 250 for very long.
I called buff's support and asked them about 250 and was told not to do it. Unfortunately, in a gridded beauty dish, 150w doesn't cut it.
jzucker wrote:
yes there is mike and even the new einstein has heat problems with the 250w modeling bulb and it was designed for the hotter bulb. My AB lights get VERY HOT with a 150w bulb in a softbox. I wouldn't want to try 250 for very long.
I called buff's support and asked them about 250 and was told not to do it. Unfortunately, in a gridded beauty dish, 150w doesn't cut it.
Thanks .. while I haven't noticed any heat issues with my 800's and 150's I don't usually run them for long periods of time either.
But yes, 150 watts in a gridded dish is a bit dim at most distances even when not tracked. And I partially use the modeling lamps to bring pupils down a bit as well and more wattage would help with that.
