# Flickering light effect
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flickering-light-effect/759620
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [July 11, 2016, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flickering-light-effect/759620 "2016-07-11T01:49:54Z")
**Posts on this page:** 15
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)
#### Post date: [July 11, 2016, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flickering-light-effect/759620/1 "2016-07-11T01:49:54Z")
OK, I have an unusual and specific request for information. I’m looking to find a way to make a regular incandescent lamp flicker for a special effect. There are two requirements that make it tricky:
1. The effect needs to turn on and off. That is, the bulb should work normally most of the time, then the flicker starts when triggered, then it stops when triggered.
2. The flickering on/off needs to be triggered remotely.
I know you can get a bluetooth plug-in socket that can turn a light on/off with a phone app, which is essentially perfect for this, but instead of turning the light on/off, I want to make it flicker.
Any ideas? Thanks in advance!
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### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [July 11, 2016, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flickering-light-effect/759620/2 "2016-07-11T02:09:29Z")
Man, I love being a stagehand!
ezpz
You can make your own for about $20 if you just follow the instructions for the [spooky flickering light circuit](http://www.floridahauntersforum.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Attachments/Hauntcon_2011_Ramsay_Flickering_Light_Circuit_03_23_2011.pdf).
[Here’s a video showing how to put it together](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLNZhOLgA0U).
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [July 11, 2016, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flickering-light-effect/759620/3 "2016-07-11T02:39:52Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#):
>
> You can make your own for about $20 if you just follow the instructions for the [spooky flickering light circuit](http://www.floridahauntersforum.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Attachments/Hauntcon_2011_Ramsay_Flickering_Light_Circuit_03_23_2011.pdf).
When I was a grip on a music video back in the '80s they had a box about a foot and a half high, and about nine inches square, with a six- or seven-inch [valve wheel](http://i01.i.aliimg.com/img/pb/393/345/775/775345393_854.jpg) on top. It was my job to rapidly and randomly move the wheel that controlled lighting so as to make a ‘flickering fire’ effect.
The circuit looks much easier.
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### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [July 11, 2016, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flickering-light-effect/759620/4 "2016-07-11T02:44:46Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> When I was a grip on a music video back in the '80s they had a box about a foot and a half high, and about nine inches square, with a six- or seven-inch [valve wheel](http://i01.i.aliimg.com/img/pb/393/345/775/775345393_854.jpg) on top. It was my job to rapidly and randomly move the wheel that controlled lighting so as to make a ‘flickering fire’ effect.
>
> The circuit looks much easier.
That sounds like you were using a homemade variac; I bet it looked similar to [these](https://www.google.com/search?q=variac&client=safari&rls=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiFw-6ZserNAhVJ1WMKHbdmAIoQ_AUICSgC&biw=1238&bih=950).
ETA: or maybe it had a brush and plates inside? The more I think about it the more I think it was prolly something homemade but not a variac.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [July 11, 2016, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flickering-light-effect/759620/5 "2016-07-11T03:01:01Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#):
>
> That sounds like you were using a homemade variac; I bet it looked similar to [these](https://www.google.com/search?q=variac&client=safari&rls=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiFw-6ZserNAhVJ1WMKHbdmAIoQ_AUICSgC&biw=1238&bih=950).
>
> ETA: or maybe it had a brush and plates inside? The more I think about it the more I think it was prolly something homemade but not a variac.
No idea if it was homemade or not. It’s been 30 years, but I remember it was not especially easy to turn; so you may be right about the brushes.
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### Author:  [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)
#### Post date: [July 11, 2016, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flickering-light-effect/759620/6 "2016-07-11T13:22:13Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#):
>
> Man, I love being a stagehand!
>
> ezpz
>
> You can make your own for about $20 if you just follow the instructions for the [spooky flickering light circuit](http://www.floridahauntersforum.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Attachments/Hauntcon_2011_Ramsay_Flickering_Light_Circuit_03_23_2011.pdf).
>
> [Here’s a video showing how to put it together](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLNZhOLgA0U).
This is great - so detailed and easy enough that with my limited electrics skills I can probably build it. (I saw a similar video already, actually, but not as good as these directions).
BUT…
It doesn’t meet my requirements. When I plug a lamp into this thing, it will flicker all the time. I need to be able to have a lamp functioning normally, then the flicker effect turns on and off. And it has to be done remotely, no pulling the plug and plugging into something else. (See OP, but sorry if I wasn’t clear there).
Time to _really_ get your stagehand brain working, **Bo**. I’m counting on you now 🙂
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [July 11, 2016, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flickering-light-effect/759620/7 "2016-07-11T13:26:04Z")
Ok, can’t you have a switch or switch plugs off stage by using extension cords?
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### Author:  [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)
#### Post date: [July 11, 2016, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flickering-light-effect/759620/8 "2016-07-11T14:07:28Z")
You could use [this](http://downloads.deusm.com/designnews/2097-Gadget_Freak_Case_95_Build_Instructions.pdf) circuit (I haven’t tried it), and then bypass it using the remote control.
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### Author:  [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)
#### Post date: [July 11, 2016, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flickering-light-effect/759620/9 "2016-07-11T14:29:43Z")
> [@TriPolar](#):
>
> Ok, can’t you have a switch or switch plugs off stage by using extension cords?
For this project, there will be no “off-stage” - the performance will be in (multiple) people’s living rooms. An extension cord might be possible in some places, but I’m searching for a more elegant and definitive solution.
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### Author:  [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)
#### Post date: [July 11, 2016, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flickering-light-effect/759620/10 "2016-07-11T14:31:49Z")
> [@beowulff](#):
>
> You could use [this](http://downloads.deusm.com/designnews/2097-Gadget_Freak_Case_95_Build_Instructions.pdf) circuit (I haven’t tried it), and then bypass it using the remote control.
That is way beyond my meager electrical understanding. :smack: I can send it to an electrician friend, though, to see if he thinks it would work.
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### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [July 11, 2016, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flickering-light-effect/759620/11 "2016-07-11T14:47:40Z")
> [@ShadowFacts](#):
>
> This is great - so detailed and easy enough that with my limited electrics skills I can probably build it. (I saw a similar video already, actually, but not as good as these directions).
>
> BUT…
>
> It doesn’t meet my requirements. When I plug a lamp into this thing, it will flicker all the time. I need to be able to have a lamp functioning normally, then the flicker effect turns on and off. And it has to be done remotely, no pulling the plug and plugging into something else. (See OP, but sorry if I wasn’t clear there).
>
> Time to _really_ get your stagehand brain working, **Bo**. I’m counting on you now 🙂
Okay, I’m not sure exactly what the “performance” will consist off, but it’s trivial easy to wire a switch into the SFLE so that the current is unaltered then flick the switch and you have flicker effect.
That would require that someone else be in on the gag and operate the switch, of course (y’all can start to see how complicated things can get backstage now, eh).
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### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [July 11, 2016, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flickering-light-effect/759620/12 "2016-07-11T14:53:40Z")
Missed the edit window: From the OP, this sounded like something that was to be done for a laugh in a very informal setting. If this is something that is more important than $20 and a half hour of time, you may want to consider purchasing a flicker box (yes, there are a couple of companies that make them). I’ve used [this one](http://www.filmandvideolighting.com/maga2kfldi.html) ($400) and IME it works great. I just thought that $400 for a quick living room gag was prolly more than you wanted to spend.
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### Author:  [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)
#### Post date: [July 11, 2016, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flickering-light-effect/759620/13 "2016-07-11T15:07:39Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#):
>
> Missed the edit window: From the OP, this sounded like something that was to be done for a laugh in a very informal setting. If this is something that is more important than $20 and a half hour of time, you may want to consider purchasing a flicker box (yes, there are a couple of companies that make them). I’ve used [this one](http://www.filmandvideolighting.com/maga2kfldi.html) ($400) and IME it works great. I just thought that $400 for a quick living room gag was prolly more than you wanted to spend.
It’s not just for a gag, it’s for a play that will be performed in living rooms. But $400 is out of the budget range, sadly.
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [July 11, 2016, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flickering-light-effect/759620/14 "2016-07-11T15:14:29Z")
Somehow you could rig up two of those magic light switches to do this. They’re like the clapper but they also come with just a remote switch. If you can get two different bulbs and fixtures into one lamp that would make it easier. Are you providing the lamp? I’ve seen a variety of two bulb desk lamps.
Someone with electronic/electrical experience can help you make something, but it’s a little complicated, may not fit your budget easily. And you have to keep safety in mind if you’re doing this in other people’s homes.
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### Author:  [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)
#### Post date: [July 11, 2016, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flickering-light-effect/759620/15 "2016-07-11T15:14:36Z")
When you get this working, remember to bring LOTS of extra bulbs. This sort of things is basically a worst case scenario for incandescent bulb life.