I've signed up for a couple of Christmas Craft Fairs / Markets and I'm going to need some lights for my stall. Can anyone recommend any ? What do you use ?
Thanks
Fran
i use two of these ones from ikea
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/10146337/ (http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/10146337/)
light, cheap, look nice and the base isnt big so it doesnt take up much room!
I used to use those led battery lights. A little angled prop at the front of the stall with about 6 lights on it all shining on the lovely pretty things.
Means you don't need a power socket and to have to go through PAT testing.
It also stops little fingers touching anything that's flat on the table.
meant to add tht i also have a set of the LED battery ones for outdoor fairs or just when i cant be bothered taking the bigger ones
What are the battery ones like? My lights are all in various stages of falling apart and I need some new ones.
Quote from: elburnzo on September 21, 2011, 11:14:45 AM
i use two of these ones from ikea
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/10146337/ (http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/10146337/)
light, cheap, look nice and the base isnt big so it doesnt take up much room!
I've got those as well they are very good, alos some clip on lights I bought from there about 10 years or so ago, they are still going strong!! You can't buy them anymore:-( :(
I had mine for 2 years running every weekend and they still work (we moved the lights now into various parts of the house that needed the extra.)
Quote from: ScarletLeonard on September 21, 2011, 11:15:53 AM
I used to use those led battery lights. A little angled prop at the front of the stall with about 6 lights on it all shining on the lovely pretty things.
Means you don't need a power socket and to have to go through PAT testing.
It also stops little fingers touching anything that's flat on the table.
Where can you get those from, I like the idea of battery, specially in places where they charge an arm and a leg for a plug and/or there aren't any! :)
You can get them from Hobbycraft with the daylight bulbs in, I think they're about £10 each though
Quote from: tinker on September 21, 2011, 04:06:42 PM
You can get them from Hobbycraft with the daylight bulbs in, I think they're about £10 each though
Thanks. :)
asda - £2-3 each.
Aha! Thanks. :)
I usually use whatever Homebase has with a long bendy neck so I can get it angled to where I want. Then I discovered these http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/00169635 - and now I've discovered they are in a sale, DH will be going to Ikea again very soon. The freestanding version isn't bad either.
I got some clip on lights from b&q a while ago - might also be worth checking with the fair/ markets as a lot of them ask for them to be PAT tested or/and have low energy lamps to reduce the load on the circuits
I get mine PAT tested, for my own safety as well as anyone elses - a big crate of lights and leads costs me about £25 a year. At least I know I am safe after they've been roughly shoved around for a year. Having said that, the last company that did them said it was a waste of time for lamps wioth 2 core flexes and the test looks for loose earth wires? I do them because I have to, but is that right?
Those bendy ones from ikea are great - two of my little people have them, Seren's is pink and is clipped to the shelf above her desk (where she has hundreds of 'projects' on the go at a time, lots of sellotape and stickers and paperclips and little bits of paper - can't think where she gets it from...), and Quinn has a silver one attached to the side of his bed (he has a high up bed with play space underneath!) so he can read - both have been going strong for a couple of years now, with children pulling them about, changing the angles, yanking the cords etc.
PAT testing checks a number of things, the 'integrity' of the earth connection is one of them. Polarity is also checked (making sure the live and neutral are the right way around!). A less obvious one is the condition of the insulation, tested by putting a very large voltage between the conductors, and measuring how much electricity crosses between the them. A visual check is also made, for loose wires, exposed copper etc. For double insulated appliances (ie ones without an earth), there is not much to be done: visual check, check polarity, fuse is appropriate, run test, insulation test. In short, for small double insulated items, PAT testing is a swizz. But, a legal requirement, to be carried out by a qualified person. So the way around it is to get qualified; it cost me £75 via a distance course, and I am a certificated (certified?) PAT tester. I can stick my own stickers - on anything I want! :)
Sean
Thanks everyone. Looks like another trip to Ikea.....
Quote from: Blue Box Studio on September 21, 2011, 06:48:40 PM
I usually use whatever Homebase has with a long bendy neck so I can get it angled to where I want. Then I discovered these http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/00169635 - and now I've discovered they are in a sale, DH will be going to Ikea again very soon. The freestanding version isn't bad either.
Those look great, cheers! :-D
Sean I agree with all that you have said. I was told by an Electrician some years ago that it was a swizz this PAT testing! Me thinks it's worth Colin doing one of these distance courses on PAT testing! ::) Karin
Sean i never thought of tht! tht is brilliant!
...And then you can charge other people to check their lights (etc) out too!!!
You made me giggle Sean, saying you can put the stickers on anything you want - I had images of little white and green stickers stuck all over everything in your house...!
Tons of battery powered lights here - I've just ordered some for my sister's party as we've been let down by an eBay seller, next day delivery is reasonable too!
http://www.xmasdirect.co.uk/battery-lights?utm_nooverride=1&gclid=CK3mqc_rsKsCFcMOfAodKFPIfQ
In fairness, the electricians over the road from me 'forgot' to charge me last year, so I dropped off some wine for Christmas as I don't want to appear mean spirited. I'm hoping they forget this year as well!
Ok, I'm an electrician I served a 4 year apprenticeship, I've seen the mess some of these cables get in to! yearly inspections by a qualified electrician is not a con it could save both yours and your customers life. The DIYErs are the worse - wrong cables used, incorrect connections, nails for fuses I've seen it all.
PAT testing is not a legal requirement, it's a requirement made by the organisers to cover there own insurance needs. Watch out going on a distance course as the £75 does not cover your insurance for doing the tests for either yourself or others and the test equipment you need is not cheap! If an accident happens and you've put the sticker on it will come back to bite you - you need the insurance as well as the PAT cert. There it's all down to insurance in this world we live in. In my dim distance past I ran a department where all the guys did was PAT test equipment day in day out, the only one that could carry out repairs was good old me, I was the only time served insured electrician amongst them - god that was a boring (though well paid) existence.
Ruth x