How many par cans do we need?

As a rule of thumb, four cans on a bar wash a typical school hall stage in one colour, and eight give you two colours to crossfade between numbers. Uplighting a hall, allow one can every two to three metres of wall. Tell us the size of the room and what the show needs and we will give you an honest number — and supply it, whatever it is.

Does the UV really work as blacklight?

Yes. UV sits on its own channel, so you can run it alone or mix it into a colour. Fluorescent paint, hi-vis, neon costumes and anything white will glow; ordinary dark fabrics will not, so test your costumes before show day. It is a Risk Group 2 LED fixture, which means rig it like any stage light: pointed at the scene, out of arm's reach, and not somewhere people stare into the lens from close to. The manufacturer's guidance is to keep direct viewing beyond about 3.3 metres, which any normal rigged position satisfies.

Can we plug them into our hall's dimmer circuits?

No, and this matters. These dim internally over DMX, and the manual rules out connecting them to a dimmer pack — a dimmed supply will damage them. They need a hard mains feed. Plenty of school halls have bars wired only through old dimmers, so check before show day. Tell us what your bar is wired to and we will plan around it, whether that is setting dimmer channels to non-dim or running clean power up on a cable.

We have no lighting desk. Can we still get colour?

Yes. The menu on the back runs static colours, colour fades, chases and a sound-active mode, and the cans link together so one drives the rest — set them all to 6-channel mode and the master does the thinking. That covers a disco or a static look for a concert. For colour changes on cue during a show, a small desk is the better answer, and one can be added to the hire.

Home Services Equipment Hire Stage Lighting Hire

LED par can hire — LEDJ Performer 18 Hex

Most stage lighting comes down to the same job: even colour over people. That is what a par can is for, and the Performer 18 Hex is the one we send out. Eighteen six-colour LEDs mix red, green, blue, white, amber and UV, so one fixture covers warm near-tungsten tones, deep saturates and blacklight effects. One can uplights a wall; four on a bar wash a stage. It hires at £8.75 per day, dry or with a technician.

A par can is the plainest fixture on a stage and the one every rig is built from: no zoom, no movement, just a wide, even pool of light pointed at what needs colouring. The LEDJ Performer 18 Hex is the version we reach for first. Eighteen 12W LEDs sit in a cast aluminium housing behind a 40 degree beam, and each LED mixes six colours — red, green, blue, white, amber and ultraviolet — so the same can covers jobs that used to need three different fixtures.

The extra colours are the point. Basic pars mix red, green and blue only, which makes whites look blue and skin look grey. Adding white and amber gets you clean pastels and a warm, believable near-tungsten tone that suits plays and choirs. The UV channel is the party piece: run it on its own and fluorescent paint, neon costumes and anything white glow in the dark, which earns its keep in dance numbers, glow scenes and Halloween discos.

Pars work in multiples. Four across a bar gives a hall stage one even colour; eight gives two colour systems you can crossfade between numbers. We can supply as many as the show needs, and if your hall has nowhere to hang anything, ask about a bar of cans on wind-up stands, ready to plug in. For bigger rigs we bring more in from trusted suppliers.

Control is DMX on 3-pin XLR in and out, so the cans daisy-chain on one cable. Six-channel mode is one channel per colour, which any desk can patch; ten-channel adds a master dimmer, strobe and the built-in programmes. With no desk at all, the four-button menu on the back runs static colours, colour fades, chases and a sound-active mode, and one can will drive the rest as slaves.

Each can draws 220W from an ordinary 13A socket and weighs 2.6kg, so rigging one is a clamp and a safety bond rather than a two-person lift, and the same bracket stands it on the floor as an uplighter. It dims internally: never plug it into a dimmer pack, only into hard power. Fan cooled, and indoor use only. Hire by the day, one can or a rig of them.

If the Hex is more fixture than the job needs, two simpler pars hang alongside it. The LEDJ Alu Zoom Par 64 RGB is the classic Par 64 can with an LED engine inside: 24 red, green and blue 3W LEDs behind a zoom that runs from a tight 10 degrees out to a 60 degree flood, set on the rear menu or from its own DMX channel. It draws just 60W and hires at £7.25 per day, which is why it usually goes out in numbers: a row of them along a bar gives a school hall its colour washes without troubling the mains, and the traditional can shape looks right in an older rig. The LEDJ Performer 18 Quad is the simpler four-colour version of the Performer: 18 quad-colour RGBW LEDs in the same cast aluminium housing as the Hex, a fixed 40 degree beam and 4 or 8 DMX channels. The white emitter keeps pastels clean and gives a proper open white for faces. At £6.50 per day it is the sensible workhorse where amber and UV would never be missed, and all three run happily on the same 3-pin DMX line.

The page also carries the other ends of the par family. The LED Package puts eight Performer 18 Hex pars in one booking at £64 a day — a full stage wash, cheaper than hiring them singly. And for shows that want the old warmth, the classic tungsten Par 64 hires at £3 and the little 12-volt Par 16 birdie at £2: no colour mixing, no DMX modes, just the glow filament light has always had. A floor stand at £5 turns any par into an uplighter.

What you get

The par can with its rigging bracket — the same bracket hangs it from a bar or stands it on the floor as an uplighter

The mains lead is captive, fixed to the fixture, so power always travels with it

A hook clamp and safety bond for every can going overhead — tell us what you are rigging to and we will confirm the fittings

DMX cable to link the cans and reach your desk — let us know the distances and we will sort the run

Not included as standard: a lighting desk, stands or truss, and a DMX terminator. All can be added

No hanging positions at all? Ask about a bar of four cans on wind-up stands, supplied wired and tested

Good for

School and academy productions: the general colour wash over the stage that everything else sits on

Dance school showcases, where saturated colour changes number by number

Uplighting village hall and church walls for shows, concerts and awards evenings

UV numbers: fluorescent costumes, neon face paint, glow scenes and Halloween discos

Am-dram plays that want a warm, believable white wash without hiring a dimmer rack

First rigs: a bar of four pars and a couple of profiles covers a small hall show

What you need to know

What it does

A stage wash: a wide, even pool of colour over people and scenery. The standard building block of a lighting rig — one can uplights a wall, four across a bar wash a stage.

Colour

Six colours mix inside every LED: red, green, blue, white, amber and UV. Warm near-white tones, pastels, deep saturates and blacklight from the same can.

Power

220 watts each from an ordinary 13A socket. Four together draw less than a kettle. Never through a dimmer pack.

Control

DMX on 3-pin XLR, 6 or 10 channels. No desk? Built-in colours, fades and a sound-active mode, and one can drives the rest.

Where it goes

2.6kg in cast aluminium, so it hangs with a clamp and safety bond or stands on its own bracket on the floor. Indoor use only.

Hire rates

Item	Rate
LEDJ Performer 18 Hex RGBWAUV	£8.75 / day
LEDJ Alu Zoom Par 64 RGB	£7.25 / day
LEDJ Performer 18 Quad	£6.50 / day
LED Package (8x Performer 18 Hex)	£64 / day
Floor Stand for Par 64	£5 / day
Par 64 (Tungsten)	£3 / day
Par 16 Birdie (12v)	£2 / day

Rates are per day and exclude VAT. Ask us about multi-day and show-week rates, delivery, and hiring with a technician.

Full technical specification (42)

Manufacturer and model	LEDJ Performer 18 Hex MKII (Prolight Concepts UK)
Order code	LEDJ252B (black housing); LEDJ252BZ white, LEDJ252BP chrome
Fixture type	LED par can
Light source	18 x 12W six-colour LEDs (RGBWAUV)
Beam angle	40 degrees
Output	13,400 lux at 1m; 3,343 lux at 2m, full on
LED refresh rate	2kHz
Dimming	0 to 100 per cent, with variable strobe
DMX channels	6 or 10, selectable
6 channel mode	One channel each for red, green, blue, white, amber and UV
10 channel mode	Master dimmer, strobe, programme select and speed, then the six colours
Standalone modes	Static colour, colour change, colour fade, auto, sound active, master/slave
Data connections	3-pin XLR in and out
Mains connection	Captive power lead; 100-240V, 50/60Hz
Power draw	220
Weight	2.6
Dimensions	297 x 280 x 255
Environment	Indoor use only; Risk Group 2 LED product (EN 62471)
Par 64 — Manufacturer and model	LEDJ Alu Zoom Par 64 II, order code LEDJ114
Par 64 — Fixture type	LED par can, classic Par 64 shape, with adjustable zoom
Par 64 — LED engine	24 x 3W LEDs: 8 red, 8 green, 8 blue
Par 64 — Zoom	10 to 60 degree beam, set on the rear menu or on its own DMX channel
Par 64 — DMX channels	4 or 6, selectable
Par 64 — Operating modes	DMX, static colour, colour change, colour fade, sound active, manual zoom and master/slave
Par 64 — Dimming and strobe	Master dimmer and strobe channels in the 6-channel DMX mode
Par 64 — Connections	3-pin XLR DMX in and out
Par 64 — Power	60W at 240V 50Hz UK mains
Par 64 — Dimensions	222 x 296 x 325mm
Par 64 — Weight	4.8kg
Performer Quad — Manufacturer and model	LEDJ Performer 18 Quad, order code LEDJ252 (black housing)
Performer Quad — Fixture type	LED par can, four-colour RGBW colour mixing
Performer Quad — LED engine	18 x 8W quad-colour RGBW LEDs
Performer Quad — Beam angle	40 degrees
Performer Quad — Output	4,905 lux at 2m, full on
Performer Quad — DMX channels	4 or 8, selectable
Performer Quad — Operating modes	DMX, static colour, colour change, colour fade, auto, sound active and master/slave
Performer Quad — Dimming and strobe	0 to 100 per cent dimming with variable strobe
Performer Quad — Connections	3-pin XLR DMX in and out, captive mains lead
Performer Quad — Power	174W, 100 to 240V 50/60Hz, so happy on UK mains
Performer Quad — Dimensions	297 x 280 x 255mm
Performer Quad — Weight	2.6kg
Performer Quad — Housing	Cast aluminium, fan cooled, with a bracket for rigging or floor standing

Common questions

As a rule of thumb, four cans on a bar wash a typical school hall stage in one colour, and eight give you two colours to crossfade between numbers. Uplighting a hall, allow one can every two to three metres of wall. Tell us the size of the room and what the show needs and we will give you an honest number — and supply it, whatever it is.
Yes. UV sits on its own channel, so you can run it alone or mix it into a colour. Fluorescent paint, hi-vis, neon costumes and anything white will glow; ordinary dark fabrics will not, so test your costumes before show day. It is a Risk Group 2 LED fixture, which means rig it like any stage light: pointed at the scene, out of arm's reach, and not somewhere people stare into the lens from close to. The manufacturer's guidance is to keep direct viewing beyond about 3.3 metres, which any normal rigged position satisfies.
No, and this matters. These dim internally over DMX, and the manual rules out connecting them to a dimmer pack — a dimmed supply will damage them. They need a hard mains feed. Plenty of school halls have bars wired only through old dimmers, so check before show day. Tell us what your bar is wired to and we will plan around it, whether that is setting dimmer channels to non-dim or running clean power up on a cable.
Yes. The menu on the back runs static colours, colour fades, chases and a sound-active mode, and the cans link together so one drives the rest — set them all to 6-channel mode and the master does the thinking. That covers a disco or a static look for a concert. For colour changes on cue during a show, a small desk is the better answer, and one can be added to the hire.

More stage lighting hire

Chauvet COLORband PiX-M LED Batten

Pixel-mappable LED batten for cyc washes, uplighting and colour chases.

£14 / day

View & check dates

Equinox Fusion 260ZR MKII Moving Head Wash

A zooming LED wash head that covers a whole stage in colour.

£20 / day

View & check dates

LEDJ Pixel Storm 12 Quad MKII

A punchy quad-colour LED batten for stage washes and pixel effects.

from £2.50 / day

View & check dates

See the rest of our stage lighting hire stock, or browse everything available to hire.

Talk to us

Tell us the venue, the dates and what the show needs, and we will confirm availability.

Call 0333 404 0621, email sales@1stintheatre.co.uk, or send us the details of your production.