# Blacklight. When is enough enough?



## SweeneyFamilyHorror (Aug 14, 2006)

Are more blacklights additive of brightness? Or is it just a waste. We have an FCG that sits on our porch. Unfortunately we compete with the lights on the yard haunt and a streetlight in very close proximity. So, I'm just wondering if three blacklights is as good as four. Or is five going to "brighten" the display. Thoughts?


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## NickG (Sep 12, 2006)

it depends on the black lights you have. the $1 screw-in incandescent (non flourescent) jobbers are pretty much worthless for making stuff glow...

a single 18" tube can make an area approx 12'x12' glow pretty well (if you have "reatcive" stuff in it) two really make it pop..

two 48" bulbs can light up about 30'x30' worth of stuff. 

it depends on how you use them and where you place them. a single 18" will light up a FCG nicely.

I haven't used the flourescent type screw in ones, so I'm not sure how much they put out.


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## meestercranky (Aug 15, 2006)

I haven't had great results form my 18 incher, I may not even use it this year.

And I learned the hard way from those screw in light bulb blacklights... ultraviolet makes things UNGODLY HOT. yeow. one of the worst burns I ever gave myself.


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## edwood saucer (Aug 21, 2006)

That is the most classic line I have heard in these forums...


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## NecroBones (Feb 10, 2006)

More UV means more glow. But it also depends on the angle and distance from the object you want to illuminate. Probably just need to try it and see if you get the effect you want.


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## Long_Tom (Oct 7, 2006)

If your streetlight is anything like the one outside my house (I hate that thing), you probably would do better to arrange to shade your prop. The stupid streetlight is going to wash out most of the fluorescence, and it's a heck of a lot more wattage than you can hope to throw with a few UV fixtures. Better to keep the glowing prop in as dark a location as possible.


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## BadOleRoss (Oct 7, 2006)

I used a single 48" BL with my FCGs with great results but that was in darkness and i was not competing with a street light.


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## dynoflyer (Oct 8, 2006)

The 48" GE blacklight tubes work best, especially if you paint the inside with silver paint, reflects a little more than the white fixture.


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## Long_Tom (Oct 7, 2006)

If you want the light to be really even, I'd suggest mounting a long tube vertically, so the source of the light is across the whole ghost. By contrast, if you mount the light near one end of the prop (e.g., on the ceiling), the light level will fall off as you near the opposite end of the prop (near the floor), and the glow will fade on that end. (It's possible you might like it that way; the ghost would seem to fade away into the darkness at its feet?)

I have a piece of "ectoplasm" (2 yards of silk on a snap swivel, blown upwards by a big fan; sort of like a silk fire, but long and blue) and I'm having the same problem with the glow level falling off near one end. I think I will need to get a 48" tube and hang it vertically, so it lights up the whole length of silk evenly.


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