Thread: Thunder/Lightning Simulator Test

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Hi all...

I had so much fun with my first garage haunt last year that I'm already working on a bigger one this year. I set up a blog at Jeremy's Halloween Journal to journal the fun, if you're interested.

But that's not what I'm posting about.

I have had a heck of a time finding a good lightning simulator for a reasonable price with good realistic sound and timing, and just successfully assembled and tested the #12 sound to light kit from Electronics123: Audio to light modulator kit . It took some work, but I'm pretty happy with the results. Here's a Youtube vid of my first test with a 60w bulb. Once I put it in the actual haunt, I'll switch to a higher watt flood light--I think that modulator unit can take up to 500w, so I should be able to get pretty creative, maybe one speaker and light inside the garage, and one set outside on the roof for the yard. But I'm so jazzed about how well it works, I had to tell y'all.

Enjoy!

YouTube - Lightning Bench Test

Jeremy, Looks like it works great!, I'd recommend using a photo flood light and a reflector from the hardware store. Photo flood look like a regular bulb but are brighter and whiter. You can get them at Hobby Lobby look in the projector section/art supplies. they cost under $5 and you'll be suprised at the difference they make. When you get the reflector get the one with the clamp and the ceramic socket . Have fun and welcome to the fourm

Thanks for the tip...I'll check that out next time I'm at Lowes...

That's it, I'm so adding a lightning machine to my graveyard. Looks awesome!

Originally Posted by jeremydbrooks

I'll switch to a higher watt flood light--I think that modulator unit can take up to 500w

If you look at the specs for that unit, that 500 Watt capacity is at 220 volts. Max at 110 is 220 watts.

Mark

Looks great ! Can the average person with general electricity skills put this together?
I can do minor wiring and soldering. Thanks for posting you project.

Thanks for the heads-up Mark...I may just do one moderately high-wattage photo flood bulb.

Bobzilla: yeah, I am a total n00b for this stuff. This is literally the first thing I ever soldered, although I've done some household wiring. If you're extremely careful when it's plugged in, and if you can solder a half-decent joint (took me three tries), then it's a pretty easy project. I had trouble, but it ended up being the low voltage from the audio source and not the bad solder joints after all.

Thanks. I think I'll give it a try .

Originally Posted by jeremydbrooks

Thanks for the heads-up Mark...I may just do one moderately high-wattage photo flood bulb.

Bobzilla: yeah, I am a total n00b for this stuff. This is literally the first thing I ever soldered, although I've done some household wiring. If you're extremely careful when it's plugged in, and if you can solder a half-decent joint (took me three tries), then it's a pretty easy project. I had trouble, but it ended up being the low voltage from the audio source and not the bad solder joints after all.

I use a Lightning FX machine hooked up to a stereo for my non-profit haunted maze.
The output on the back is plugged into a outlet box w/ dimmer control. This way I can adjust the brightness of several light sources either up or down according to what I want. For a lightning sound cd, nature thunderstorm cds or BigScreamtv's thunderstorm cd works great! The cd that comes with the lightning fx, is pretty cheesy.

Lightning fx machines can be found almost anywhere around Halloween time. Year round they can be found at Fright Catalog.

Lighting FX < Halloween Props < Fright Catalog, Inc.

Thunder Storm CD