The specification and ordering questions that stall a first order
Most first orders stop on the same handful of questions. These are the answers we give by email, written down so they can be checked against a specification sheet.
Light, mounting and power
The part that decides whether the unit works on site.
What is an LED balloon light?
An LED array inside an inflated fabric diffuser, mounted on a tripod, mast or cart. The diffuser spreads the output over its whole surface, so the area is lit evenly with no hard shadow and no bright point to look into. The head itself is a modular LED panel, which is why the range runs from 60 W to 1400 W with the same construction.
How much area does one head cover?
A 60 W head is rated for 452 m² and a 1400 W head for 8,171 m², measured at the recommended mounting height. The number that matters is the lux the task needs: 165,000 lm over 4,000 m² is about 41 lux before losses, which is enough for a yard and not enough for a motorway.
Is IP54 enough outdoors?
IP54 covers dust and splashing water, which is what a site head meets in rain and on a dusty job. It is not a submersion rating and not a storm rating. The floodlight heads are IP66 for water jets and wash-down, and the balloon fabric is flame retardant and UV resistant rather than armoured.
Why 5000 K on the white heads?
5000 K is the daylight white most site work is specified at, and it is what the balloon range is built in. The floodlight line runs 3000 to 6500 K, so a site that wants warm light for a public space should take it from that line rather than from a balloon head.
Battery or generator?
Below about 600 W a battery station covers a shift, runs silently and has no exhaust at the lamp. Above it the runtime is too short and a generator or mains is the honest answer. A common site arrangement is a generator charging a station during the day and the station running the lamp at night.
How high can the mast go, and what does wind do?
Tripods run from 2.0 m to 4.8 m with load ratings from 20 kg to 80 kg, and the mobile carts reach 4.1 m. Wind is the limit, not the mast: an inflated balloon is a sail, so the wind speed the tripod is rated to with the head mounted belongs in the quotation.
Does a balloon light replace a metal halide tower?
On output, one 1400 W head at 224,000 lm is close to two 1,000 W metal halide lamps at about 220,000 lm, at 1.4 kW instead of 2 kW plus ballast. What changes is the light: a soft area instead of two glare sources, and no warm up time.
Can the lamp run from a vehicle?
The 60 to 240 W heads take DC 12-48 V as well as AC 100-277 V, which is what makes them usable from a truck or a 12 V system. The larger heads are mains only, and need a station or a generator.
Ordering, samples and documents
What happens between the quotation and the first shipment.
What is the minimum order?
One unit per model. The range is sold to contractors, hire fleets and distributors, and a single unit is a normal first order because a site usually needs one tower before it needs ten.
Can the product carry our brand?
Yes. Branding covers the balloon print, the housing marking, the packing and the manual. Artwork approval is part of the schedule, so late artwork moves the delivery date.
How long does a sample take?
Quoted per build. A standard head with existing tooling ships faster than a custom balloon print, and the sample is where the mount, the plug type and the balloon size are confirmed.
What documents come with a shipment?
Commercial invoice, packing list, the specification sheet for each line item, and the photometric file where one exists. Ask for the list early, because a missing file at the port costs more than the file.
What about warranty and spare parts?
Five years on the lamp, with terms supplied in the quotation. The parts that matter in service are the filter, the diffuser, the feet and the locking pins, and they are quoted with the order rather than sourced later.
One question we cannot answer from here
Which head and which mount your site actually needs. It changes with the area, the lux target, the mounting height and the ground, and a supplier who answers it without those four is guessing.
Send the site type, the hours and the power available. The reply is a head, a mount and a specification sheet, which is the answer you can take to a buyer.
- What to send
- Site type, area, hours, power
- What comes back
- Head, mount, power and sheet
- Turnaround
- One reply, from one person
- What it costs
- Nothing, and no account is created
Still stuck on one answer?
Write the question as you would ask a colleague, and the reply comes with the sheet attached.