I thought I would share a discovery regarding shop lighting that maybe some of you are not aware of. I work a lot in my garage and have several 48" fluorescent light fixtures placed around the garage. Mine had begun to act up and they have been in use since I have been in the house, almost 30 years. When winter hit, and temps got cold, some wouldn't even light. There is such a thing as cold weather ballasts, but the idea of just buying ballasts didn't appeal to me. The new LED technology was attractive, but buying all new fixtures would be expensive and not in the financial plan at this time. Buying replacement tubes was getting expensive also, even for cheap ones and they just didn't last like they used to.
One day at work, the guy I work with handed me some light tubes to install on one of our 18 head CNC sewing machines. These were LED and a quick look at them showed that they didn't require a ballast or starter, just rewire the fixture for 110VAC on one end and gut the rest out of the fixture. I immediately thought about this being the answer to upgrading my lights.
A phone call to the local distributor got me the price of about 10 bucks each. That sounds expensive, but the light were rated at 2000 lumens, only draw about .14 amps and 50,000 hours of use! At my age, these would be the last ones I would ever have to buy! I have a total of 6, two tube fixtures in my house and garage, and two single tubes fixtures in the garage. To experiment, I found that Home depot carried some of these LED tubes that are called "ballast bypass" or "direct wire" units. They had one that was 12 bucks, but that also included two replacement sockets or what I have seen referred to as "tomb stones." The different types of LED tubes may require what is called a "non shunted" socket or tomb stone." On some of the later florescent fixtures that feature rapid start or instant start, the socket has a connector between the contacts. This is called the shunt. In regular use with some of the newer LED tubes, those can cause the tube to burn out because you are essentially completing the circuit between the line voltage wire and neutral wire all the time. I got one of these to install in one of the single tube fixtures and used the included sockets at a precaution. When I plugged it in, the result was amazing! I couldn't believe how bright the one tube was and how much it lit up that end of the garage. I purchased another one to install in the other single tube fixture. All the was required was to cut out the existing ballast and remove it, remove all the wiring, and install the new sockets. For power, the light plugs into an outlet that is controlled by a light switch on the wall. I just had to connect the line voltage wire to one side of the socket with a length of the old solid wire, and do the same with the neutral side. The tubes do have a single side that must face out, and only one end that the power can be connected to, so install the tube and test it for operation before hanging it. This is all done with common wire nuts and using the old existing wire. I work in industrial maintenance and I'm in the habit of putting a wrap of tape around the wire nuts after twisting them on. I don't think it can be any easier, just pay attention to the details and you are in business.
For the other two tube fixtures, I decide to shop around a little. Brick and motor stores are usually my preference to help the local economy, but there was very little of this type of product out there. Some stores didn't carry anything. Then I discovered SuperBright LEDs.
This is a local company with a building between where I live and where I work. I looked them up on the internet and went through what they had to offer, and they had quite a lot of choose from. I knew that I wanted something like I had already had experience with, 2000 lumens, and single end power connections. A standard florescent light fixture had T-12 tubes, but all the replacements are T-8. The pins are the same and they fit the socket connection. I finally just narrowed it down to their least expensive tube that was around 6 bucks. The odd thing about this place was they did not cater to walk in trade. You had to order on line or by phone, and then arrange pick up, so I did that to save shipping. There was a Presidents Day sale going on at the time so I got a further discount and the total for 12 tubes was 64 bucks. The tube I ordered was being cleared out and I think it was T8B-NW14F, which was a T-8 tube, 14 watt ( the equivalent to a regular 32watt T-12 florescent) that was 2000 lumens, natural white light, 50,000 hour rated and draw .13 amps. I picked them up last week and have been working to retrofit all the lights.
The results have been most pleasing! These lights are so bright, I was able to leave out one two tube fixture! What I have making light now doesn't draw what one of the old two tube future drew by itself! I still may hang the other two tube fixture also. I have four tubes left to hang in my work room in my basement. In theory, I'm finished buying light tubes as long as I live in this house! I'll finish using the new florescent tubes I have (about 4 I think) in my basement fixtures until they are used up unless I can find some on I know that wants them.
So if you are dealing with the same issue and need to make a change, look into Super Bright LED lights or something similar.It's quite easy to do and the results are very pleasing!
Type at you later,
Dan McEntee
Topic: Shop Lighting (Read 567 times)