I was sent over to this forum by someone on a different forum who thought I might be able to get some good help over here. This is going to be a long post, but please bear with me.
Hi, I am a young artist (25) and I am in the conceptual stages of a piece I want to make, but have a few questions that require the aid of some knowledgeable electricians. Hopefully I can present my project and get some answers without too much confusion.
What I am looking to do is find a way to suspend a tube light (fluorescent, LED, whatever I can use or works best) in space using string. The problem, is that I want it to be lit, but not have to be attached to any sort of huge fixture like the ones on my ceiling that typically get long tubes put into.
Is there a way to power a tube lightbulb, (florescent, LED, or otherwise) without it being attached to a fixture, and without some crazy wiring that would need to be done.
For reference, I have a picture of the general idea that I am trying to convey:
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
So, I need to know - is there a way to power an LED Tube light (or even a Fluorescent, I just assume it would be easier with LED) without a huge ballast using some kind of battery, or even a regular plug for a socket on a wall?
If so, how?
I should also note, in case this matters, that I would be covering the tube with a colored light gel to color the tube a very specific color.
So I guess to rephrase the question in a more effective way, I'll start here. I included a drawing of what I am shooting for here in the end with 2 possible solutions (unless something better comes up) One solution on the left is to plug the light into a wall. Second solution on the left is to plug it into some sort of battery. There may be other solutions (ie smaller batteries, or whatever). What I want to do is suspend these 2 fluorescent or LED tubes at different degree's of angles from the ceiling (which is why there cannot be a large ballast mount). I want them to be about the size of a regular fluorescent tube (same in circumference around and about 36" in length). I have also found a link to something that may work, so I'm wondering if this will spark any better ideas.**broken link removed**
I'm wondering if something like that, that can be plugged into a wall (these can only use a cigarette lighter adapter can be slid down into a frosted tube.
Maybe this new info will spark some more ideas - and thanks for all the help I've been given so far. Here is the drawing:
**broken link removed**
With the help of some others, this is what I know so far.
Fluorescent - cheapest, but needs wiring, wiring could be part of the installation to hold the lights up, but I would need to hide power somewhere (I don't even know what kind of "power" we are talking about).
LED's - could be run off batteries maybe, or off of an AC outlet maybe, or even a DC power supply - so plenty of options. It has also been suggested to maybe purchase LED strips and send them down into my own frosted tube and essentially create my own LED tube.
It sounds like LED is the way to go right now, but I still don't know how to go about this project. Any help or opinions are surely appreciated!
Hi, I am a young artist (25) and I am in the conceptual stages of a piece I want to make, but have a few questions that require the aid of some knowledgeable electricians. Hopefully I can present my project and get some answers without too much confusion.
What I am looking to do is find a way to suspend a tube light (fluorescent, LED, whatever I can use or works best) in space using string. The problem, is that I want it to be lit, but not have to be attached to any sort of huge fixture like the ones on my ceiling that typically get long tubes put into.
Is there a way to power a tube lightbulb, (florescent, LED, or otherwise) without it being attached to a fixture, and without some crazy wiring that would need to be done.
For reference, I have a picture of the general idea that I am trying to convey:
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
So, I need to know - is there a way to power an LED Tube light (or even a Fluorescent, I just assume it would be easier with LED) without a huge ballast using some kind of battery, or even a regular plug for a socket on a wall?
If so, how?
I should also note, in case this matters, that I would be covering the tube with a colored light gel to color the tube a very specific color.
So I guess to rephrase the question in a more effective way, I'll start here. I included a drawing of what I am shooting for here in the end with 2 possible solutions (unless something better comes up) One solution on the left is to plug the light into a wall. Second solution on the left is to plug it into some sort of battery. There may be other solutions (ie smaller batteries, or whatever). What I want to do is suspend these 2 fluorescent or LED tubes at different degree's of angles from the ceiling (which is why there cannot be a large ballast mount). I want them to be about the size of a regular fluorescent tube (same in circumference around and about 36" in length). I have also found a link to something that may work, so I'm wondering if this will spark any better ideas.**broken link removed**
I'm wondering if something like that, that can be plugged into a wall (these can only use a cigarette lighter adapter can be slid down into a frosted tube.
Maybe this new info will spark some more ideas - and thanks for all the help I've been given so far. Here is the drawing:
**broken link removed**
With the help of some others, this is what I know so far.
Fluorescent - cheapest, but needs wiring, wiring could be part of the installation to hold the lights up, but I would need to hide power somewhere (I don't even know what kind of "power" we are talking about).
LED's - could be run off batteries maybe, or off of an AC outlet maybe, or even a DC power supply - so plenty of options. It has also been suggested to maybe purchase LED strips and send them down into my own frosted tube and essentially create my own LED tube.
It sounds like LED is the way to go right now, but I still don't know how to go about this project. Any help or opinions are surely appreciated!