Do It Yourself Fiber-optics

Jacey

I have a small waterfall area I would like to illuminate. Does anyone know how involved it would be and expensewise to run fiberoptic strands thru-out the rocks of a 6x15 run disappearing waterfall?

mdshunk

No big deal. National Specialty Lighting has a great fiber optic product that would work well there.

http://www.nslusa.com/galaxy.html

POOLMANinCT

no big deal for such a small job. fibers are basically a "pipe of light" when the runs & end fixtures get more detailed, things get complicated. be sure to "cleanly hot knife" your terminations. illuminator must be well ventilated or you will burn bulbs quickly.

be sure to leave about 18 inches at illuminator terminal, as "hot knife" cuts glaze in time, & need to be recut to restore brilliance.

ray

__________________
......Less with the jaw & More with the paw.....

POOLMANinCT

btw, plan your "loops well" fibers can not be spliced if you screw up, also handle radius turns softly or you may crack a strand.

btw a buddy at the phone company splices fibers with a 200k machine via some sort of explosion.

ray

__________________
......Less with the jaw & More with the paw.....

NightScenes

Check IlluminFX. It's very easy to install.

__________________
Paul R Gosselin, CLVLT 0632
NightScenes Corporation www.night-scenes.com
President, AOLP
www.facebook.com/NightScenes

Jacey

Can I get wholesale pricing, or do I have to be certified or something. I do the waterfalls for a living and most likely will branch out into lighting them as well.

mdshunk

Beats me. Might want to check out the one Paul recommended as well.

mickeyco

I'd like to add one thing, I'm assuming this would apply to this type of fiber optics but I'm not sure, I'm only familiar with the communications type. Use a face shield or at least safety goggles and some gloves if you're cutting this stuff, it splinters and you can get some real nasty slivers that are really hard to find especially if it's in your eye.

NightScenes

No certification needed for this type of lighting. There is no electricity in the water. The light and equipment is located at a distance and the light travels through the fiber optic cables. The illuminFX system plugs in and you just place the ends where you want the light. It's really pretty simple. Check your irrigation supply house or www.terradek.com .

Good luck,

__________________
Paul R Gosselin, CLVLT 0632
NightScenes Corporation www.night-scenes.com
President, AOLP
www.facebook.com/NightScenes

Jacey

Hey Paul~I got IllumninFX to send me their CD..but it is really not very well produced...Powerpoint at its most fundamental..and the instructions to left click the mouse to move it along didn't function on my XP.. And what is at Terredek?..Looked like they handle all kinds of lighting..but what does that have to do with IlluminFX? Do I have to cut and splice and get shards in my face like the last guy mentioned..or is there a precut to the chase so to speak out there?

NightScenes

Terradek is a lighting distributor who sells the illuminFX. You order the illuminator with either a halogen or metal halide lamp and fiber harness separately. The harness can have up to 16 leads or fiber channels. These can range in size depending on what you need. You tell them what lengths you need and they pre fab them for you.

It takes no time at all to install. It's a "plug and play" type of lighting system. I have installed several of these things and I don't think I've ever taken more than an hour to install one.

__________________
Paul R Gosselin, CLVLT 0632
NightScenes Corporation www.night-scenes.com
President, AOLP
www.facebook.com/NightScenes

Tomwilllight

I've installed fiber several times and had no problems by following directions. It is fun to work with and the reduced electrical/water problems make it a plus for any water feature or pool setting.

My guess is the "shattering" problems were a result of using communications grade glass fibers. I've heard you really need to be careful with the glass - you can easily drive a glass fiber under your skin and break if off. That stuff is not what you need in your waterfalls.

Of course, it is always smart to use eye protection!

The fiber I've used is plastic and easily cut with the hot knife - just follow directions that come with the knife. The suggestion that you leave extra fiber at the illuminator so you can dress the cut again as needed is excellent.

The big problem with fiber is that the light loss from the fiber is very high. The longer the run, the less light ends up where you want it. That's why you may want to "loop" the fiber - bring light in from both ends where it meets in the middle.

I agree with the many good things said on this forum about TeraDek.

Tom

__________________
Tom Williams
Williams Landscape Lighting Design, CLVLT #0424
www.wlld.us

Unique

Illumin FX is the way to go especially for a DIY person. It does not get much easier then their system!!!

Jacey

Been awhile..so most of it is rigged up and looks pretty great..except some of the end lights tend to blind when approached from off angles. Is there a way to glance the light off and still give the affect to the subject being lit? This is still the waterfall project...which is 3-D and viewable from all sides.

Jacey

Been awhile..so most of it is rigged up and looks pretty great..except some of the end lights tend to blind when approached from off angles. Is there a way to glance the light off and still give the affect to the subject being lit? This is still the waterfall project...which is 3-D and viewable from all sides.

Jacey

dang thing duplicated and it won't let me delete...or am I missing somethin

NightScenes

Jacey, there will always be an angle with glare. The object of aiming is to point the fixture so the glare is only visible from the area that is least traveled. I am still trying to get over there. One of those local murders (Mike Allred) was a close friend and this has put a few more kinks in the works for me. I will get there though.

__________________
Paul R Gosselin, CLVLT 0632
NightScenes Corporation www.night-scenes.com
President, AOLP
www.facebook.com/NightScenes

POOLMANinCT

to reduce "blinding"
cut terminating points at an 11degree angle, making a "cone."

I installed a few 300 strand lights last week, HOLY COW!!!!!!!!

how are you guys "training" your master & slave illuminators?

ray

__________________
......Less with the jaw & More with the paw.....

Jacey

Paul, figgered you were tied up..Man, sorry to hear about your friend. I didn't hear anything about it.

Jacey

These are precut...kinda on loan for display only til we can muster some business to use them. That's a good suggestion tho.

Do you have pix of your 300 strand lights? Sounds awesome!

What do you mean..How are you guys "training" your master and slave illuminators.. you talking about a lighting process or do you have people chained up in your basement?