Shop lighting

[Joe K]

Originally Posted by katy

FWIW, I redid the fluorescent lighting in my shop to electronic ballasts and T8 lamps 11 years ago and they're still going strong with lots of use. 10 4 foot fixtures w/4 lamps each.

Not disputing and welcome alternate experience.

It may be a matter of "source." The big-box stores carry a limited selection of replacement ballasts - generally only for those lines which they normally carry - and the quality on those is not rated.

Part of the issue may be the fixtures themselves. Ever frugal, I tend to buy the cheapest possible with a rationalization I can always upgrade later if forced to. The laundry room light is one of those bought cheap and forced to.

The first failure of one bulb was remedied by replacing the "Phillips" brand bulbs ( have green ends) These came with the fixture and hey, a fluorescent bulb is a fluorescent bulb is it not?

Well it is not. With another of those Phillips bulbs (I assumed it was the bulb) I squeezed out another year. And then one of them, same positional one, went on the fritz.

So I replaced it with a GE bulb of higher price but seemingly of higher quality overall (one could see differences in how the end treatment was improved.)

The GE bulb/Phillips combination lasted another two years and then that GE bulb went. Always the same bulb in relative position in the light.

I concluded the light was "defective" in a fundamental way in the ballast - so rather than re-ballast, I replaced the entire lamp (the cost is not much different.)

This time a more expensive fixture with the "grille" over the front and generally improved structurally.

This one is still soldiering along with now TWO GE bulbs, but I see again one of the bulbs is now "out." A twiddle with the fingers got that bad boy going again, but is it a bad fixture contact, or is it some flaw again on a ballast sourced from repeat source and the interruption/twiddle serves as signal to "start" - even though running continuous option may be flawed?

Not much is made in this country anymore - and electronics seems to be the "transfer to the pacific rim" technology of choice.

Maybe instead of buying the whole fixture, like you I should have replaced only the ballast? Might be a completely different manufacturer.

Maybe a higher quality American manufacturer? Naw, not probable and certainly not proven.

For certain things the Pacific Rim does quite well. Others not so much.

Joe K

[Merc Cruzer]

Seems like the normal progression of lighting: carburetor to fuel injection, florescent to LED.

Manufactures are just changing over from making blasts to LED bulbs. Too bad one of our young entrepreneurs can't figure out how make a profit and do it here. Seems like it would be a good use of all the recycled plastic we have.

[Keith True]

Normal progression of lighting it just what it is.I used to get lots of commercial light fixtures,I would take them down just ahead of the excavator doing the demo.People would always buy a quality fixture for their garages for 1/20th of what they went for new.Then I had to give them away,now I don't bother to take them out.I gave the last 25 or so to the scrap guy.I tried to give away a couple hundred new 4 foot florescent tubes,people would call me wanting 2 or 4 of them.They went into the florescent recycle bin at the dump.When I was a kid the janitor at the school would give all of us the old florescent tubes.We would run to the bridge down from the school and throw them in like a spear.They made a huge bang when they hit the water just right.

[Merc Cruzer]

How about making you own LED shop lights?

https://search.aol.com/aol/video;_yl...ac&action=view

[old31]

Originally Posted by Keith True

Normal progression of lighting it just what it is.I used to get lots of commercial light fixtures,I would take them down just ahead of the excavator doing the demo.People would always buy a quality fixture for their garages for 1/20th of what they went for new.Then I had to give them away,now I don't bother to take them out.I gave the last 25 or so to the scrap guy.I tried to give away a couple hundred new 4 foot florescent tubes,people would call me wanting 2 or 4 of them.They went into the florescent recycle bin at the dump.When I was a kid the janitor at the school would give all of us the old florescent tubes.We would run to the bridge down from the school and throw them in like a spear.They made a huge bang when they hit the water just right.

Ahhhhh haaaa. So your the little culprits that polluted the NH waterways We got you now!.