UV Lightbox Questions

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Originally Posted by sanking

I am going to assume that you also grounded all of the lights together with the green ground wire, and that you have this going to the outlet? If not, I would highly recommend you do this, both for more consistent start-up and for safety reasons.

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Oh yes Sandy... this has been done. I have now returned from the depot, cut my sheet metal to fit and run a wire from it to the ground as well. Works like a charm.

Thank you everyone! Now I want a bigger one... :)

Bill

PS. Don... come on over when ready, the second one is always better.

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Originally Posted by billschwab

Oh yes Sandy... this has been done. I have now returned from the depot, cut my sheet metal to fit and run a wire from it to the ground as well. Works like a charm.

Thank you everyone! Now I want a bigger one... :)

Bill

PS. Don... come on over when ready, the second one is always better.

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Another simple solution for this is to run a bare heavy guage copper wire accross the top of the tubes connected to the ballast(s) ground. I've made three units this way and it works great!

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Originally Posted by donbga

Another simple solution for this is to run a bare heavy guage copper wire accross the top of the tubes connected to the ballast(s) ground. I've made three units this way and it works great!

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Thanks Don! I actually tried that with the ground wire I had cut to attach to the reflector before installing the metal figuring it might work as well. It did work great. I will keep it in mind for the next one I build.

Bill

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Originally Posted by donbga

Another simple solution for this is to run a bare heavy guage copper wire accross the top of the tubes connected to the ballast(s) ground. I've made three units this way and it works great!

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Ah Yep! That's how mine is done...12x 20W BLB, 3 Fulham Workhorse -Electronic Ballast. Comes on and stays on with the flick of a switch, have not seen any changes in output - unless it is really cold, then it takes about a min to warm up (it's in my garage) and is not a problem right now (cold that is ;) )

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Originally Posted by billschwab

Oh yes Sandy... this has been done. I have now returned from the depot, cut my sheet metal to fit and run a wire from it to the ground as well. Works like a charm.

Thank you everyone! Now I want a bigger one... :)

Bill

PS. Don... come on over when ready, the second one is always better.

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Better go ahead and build the bigger one now before you forget all the things you just learned. I built two smaller units before finally realizing that it would be an enriching experienice to have a unit made from 48" tubes.

Sandy

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Originally Posted by sanking

Better go ahead and build the bigger one now before you forget all the things you just learned. I built two smaller units before finally realizing that it would be an enriching experienice to have a unit made from 48" tubes.

Sandy

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Sandy,

Where do you get paper long enough to use that size UV printer?

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Originally Posted by sanking

...before finally realizing that it would be an enriching experienice to have a unit made from 48" tubes.

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My thoughts exactly.
:)

B.

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Originally Posted by donbga

Sandy,

Where do you get paper long enough to use that size UV printer?

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Don,

I am not actually using the large UV printer to make huge prints. The main advantage is that it allows me to expose several prints at the same time. With the 48" length, for example, I can easily expose three or four fairly large prints at once. This is important for me since with my carbon printing I make thick tissue that require very long exposures, on the order of 15-30 minutes. Being able to expose three to five prints at the same time is tremendous saving of time and energy.

Sandy

What are the over all dimensions of a box that size, Sandy? Damn thing has to be really freaking big, if I am visualizing it right.

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Originally Posted by sanking

Don,

I am not actually using the large UV printer to make big prints. The main advantage is that it allows me to expose several prints at the same time. With the 48" length, for example, I can easily expose three or four fairly larege prints at the same time. This is important for me since with my carbon printing I make thick tissue that require very long exposures. Being able to expose three to five prints at the same time is tremendous saving of time and energy.

Sandy

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That makes sense in your case.

My interest is to make long panos from stitched digital negs. Pictorico is supposed to be releasing 13 inch OHP in rolls this year and I want to print some images about 36 inches long. I'll look at paper suppliers for sizes. I pretty sure some papers come in 40-42" sheets.