By customer request: EB57P HMI ballast from Power Gems
Power Gems has one major advantage over other ballast designers. As an independent company, we are not tied to any one manufacturer of lighting fixtures. We designed our latest ballast, the EB57P to power 200W, 400W and 575W lighting fixtures by four different manufacturers: ARRI, Dedo, Kobold and K5600 Lighting. Compatible with most lighting fixtures, you only need one Power Gems ballast to power them all.
We’re also small enough to give you direct access to the senior management team if you want to request a feature or new product. This is how, the EB57P, came into being.
Several months ago, our friend, Mike Zimmermann, the owner of one of the largest independent rental companies in Germany, LichtHaus Berlin approached Power Gems to see if we could produce a ballast for lower wattage lighting fixtures. These lamps, manufactured by different companies, are still carried by the majority of rental companies around the world, and and Mike challenged us to power them all from one ballast. What a great idea, we thought!
Mike’s request was timely; Power Gems owner and head of design, Phil Ellams, had produced a ballast the EB180PD, which can drive 6 different lamp types using AC mains 95-265V, and also battery power from 48V to 60V. The multiple connector capability, could, he believed, be brought to lower light fittings, enabling rental companies to make full use of the lighting fixtures within their inventories.
Getting Mike’s support and the help of his team at LichtHaus Berlin, provided the impetus to bring to the market a three-connector output ballast to power 200W, 400W and 575W ARRILUX Pocket PAR, Dedo, Kobold and K5600 Lighting fixtures – all from one power supply.
As soon as Phil was happy with the design, time needed to be spent on the execution, and the run up to the launch of the EB57P became a team effort.
Says Phil: “We needed to do a few tricks for the ballast to recognise 7 different fixtures and the manufacturers’ information can be a bit sketchy. It was essential to pull out the various fixtures and test them. LichtHaus Berlin helped identify any problems before the ballast was released in its final form.”
LichtHaus Berlin generously donated time as an expert in different lighting fixtures. Their repair technician, Gillian Holt, worked tirelessly to round up the equipment and simulate the connection scheme, adding the necessary components, so Power Gems could check the EB57P would work in advance of manufacturing.
Following a meeting with Mike, Gill set about mapping the connector arrangements for all the LichtHaus Berlin lamps that were within the power range of the ballast. According to Gill: “We wanted the ballast to cover as many heads as possible, but it was important that there were no conflicts as several heads used the same connector but different pin orientations. We were also keen to use only our existing head cables and not have to make adapters.”
Gill’s colleague Herr Wolters suggested that it might be possible to drive yet another head with the unit but, she says: ‘that would be a 400W head, and it shared the same connector and the same wiring as the ARRI 200W Compact and PAR. I then worked closely with Power Gems to develop a modification to the head that would allow the ballast to differentiate it from the ARRIs.”
Gill says: “I know of no other manufacturer that is so supportive as Power Gems.”
As Phil explains: “We try and keep as many heads as possible for test purposes, but there are so many on the market it’s helpful to have the support of a well-resourced rental company such as LichtHaus Berlin who can pull together such a wide range of equipment.”
Once the initial design and field testing were completed, LichtHaus Berlin issued a significant purchase order, enabling Power Gems to go into full production and add the EB57P to our range of high speed ballasts for AC lamps.
Power Gems would like to thank Mike Zimmermann who has been one of our biggest supporters; the vast majority of LichtHaus Berlin’s electronic HMI ballasts are Power Gems. In fact, Mike has the full product line of Power Gems high speed ballasts available to rent in Germany. Find out more, www.lichthausberlin.com
At Power Gems, we specialise in the design and manufacture of high speed ballasts. Technology pioneered at Power Gems, such as Autoscan, has become the industry standard. We are experts at extending the life of lighting fixtures, get in touch to find out more.
