Thread: Hi everyone, I need help with flickering lights...

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Hello everyone! It's been a while since I've been on here, jeez. It's very good to be back, though.

So, in a few weeks, I'm having about 30 people over for a seance/creepy party. But that's a different story, nevermind...

Cutting to the chase, I would really like the lamps in my house to flicker. But not like a flash circuit or strobe flicker, I want a random to semi-random flicker that looks kind of like old wiring. Is there any type of box that you guys can recommend? Thanks in advance!

Robert

Well, if you can get your hands on a Special F/X Unit (Tree F/X box), you can connect it to an audio source to create a random flickering or pulsating effect for up to 500 W of lighting. As long as your audio player is connected to the audio input jack at the rear of box and you are not using the microphone on the front of the box to input the audio, you don't have to output the sound so that everyone can hear it. Does that make sense?
See this topic: Who sells the cheap lil ligtning FX box?

I use this effect box to make the lamps on my cemetery columns flicker. I love it!

Fright Lite Plus

I made a couple of these over the last couple of years and they've all worked great. The light flickers randomly and is very cheap to build (about $5 if I remember right). The build itself is a little intimidating IMO but it worked for me. It uses incandescent 30w bulbs.

DIY flicker light adapter

super cheap get a fluorescent starter fs5 only any hardware store for $1.19 take the hot side (black wire) of a extension cord and cut it ...thiers 2 little prongs on the starter connect one side of the hot to one and the other side to the other one and plug a 25 watt bulb in and bam!!!!! random flickers all night long

those flicker lightbulbs are carried at most hardware stores.

I bought one of these units from Lights-Alive.

It is a nice flicker box that they have a couple versions that simulate candles, fire, and short circuits: http://www.lights-alive.com/ctrl_miniflicker.html

It is solid state and has a circuit and in my opinion is more reliable than a flourescent starter approach. No offense to those who like like starter approach.

These units are brand new and have 2 plugs that can control different lights at the same time.

no offense taken i used them and never had a problem trust me if i had $70 dollars i'd buy light controller i would i guess its a poor mans flicker.....LOL.....to many prop ideas to spend what i had on a flickering light so $1.19 fell in my budget...

Originally Posted by deoblo

no offense taken i used them and never had a problem trust me if i had $70 dollars i'd buy light controller i would i guess its a poor mans flicker.....LOL.....to many prop ideas to spend what i had on a flickering light so $1.19 fell in my budget...

I use these too. Cheap, works great, and not to mention you also have a ready made extension cord as well.

If you have a set of Christmas lights that chase and do a few other patterns you can use the controller on the lights to make up to 4 lights/lamps do the same pattern. Most have a slow glo, flicker, fade, chase and random along with a few other .

Takes about 30 mins and five dollars to fix this. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate this a 3 in difficultly.